微妙
2008.8.30 － 2008.10.12
策展人：凱倫·史密斯
參展藝術家：艾尼瓦爾，何岸，胡曉媛，賈藹力，仇曉飛，王衛，蕭昱，徐若濤，莊輝
開幕酒會：2008年8月30日4：00PM
展覽地點：站台中國當代藝術機構主展廳A & B
“……拒絕虛假或幼稚的解釋與尋求更好、更正確的因果關係理論一樣重要。我們只有首先掃清地面的垃圾才能再去建立。”[1]
沒有人可以絕對地界定藝術。對於什麼是藝術和什麼不是藝術，每個人都有自己的見解；它可以是可接受或不可接受的形式，對它的界定可以接近但不應該雷同或交叉。後現代主義的理論大大突破了這些界限，正如現代主義在它的時代所做的一樣。後現代主義又比它之前的任何理論都更進一步：在“什麼是藝術”這個問題上解放“自由”——至此藝術可以是藝術家宣判的任何東西。今天，人們忍不住想到藝術家們那種無政府狀態似的積極精神已經變得索然無味並且“自由無稽”。兩者之間——如成功與不太成功，勝利與希望落空，保持常青和僅僅紅極一時——界線非常完美：簡直微妙至極！大多數人可能同意以下兩點：1.藝術家是帶著理解去創作作品的人；2.藝術品是被創造出來公開呈現給觀眾的。在第一條中，始終存在著輝煌，始終都有崇高的啟示和光榮的創造。但是由於界限的轉移和消失，一些它們曾經所界定的要素也隨它們的消失而消失了。導致“藝術品被創造出來公開呈現給觀眾”的複雜過程得有一個趨勢。現今，刻板正式的考慮並不如事件本身、環境、或作品暗示或時不時公開發表的問題更重要。概念性的作品都與稍縱即逝的瞬間和當下的事件分不開。藝術作品不再一味地尋求獨立和超越它本身的時代説話，是這樣嗎？我們正處在一個日趨全球化和普遍認知的時代，難道不是嗎？再次重申，是這樣嗎？也許不是，但回避不了這樣的問題：什麼是藝術的無限價值？眼下什麼才是重要的？藝術家們都參與到一場正在進行中的、非常個人化的、他們認為正確的探尋，這正與他們不斷清掃的新領地相符合。
《微妙》想要探討的便是這個過程。從展出的9位先鋒的當代藝術家的作品裏，我們發現各種各樣的想法、思維過程和敏感意識。這些作品將喚起觀眾的微妙本性，也引發人們對是什麼將永恒的藝術與當下趨勢區分開的思考：是探索的重要性，以及在已經逝去事物上有所建樹的願望。
[1]選自1991年企鵝出版社《藝術史的方法論——我們時間的主題》，作者Phaidon
Subtlety
2008.8.30 － 2008.10.12
Curator: Karen Smith
Artists: Aniwar, He An, Hu Xiaoyuan, Jia Aili, Qiu Xiaofei, Wang Wei, Xiao Yu, Xu Ruotao, Zhaung Hui
Opening Party: August 30, 2008, 4:00PM
Venue：Platform China Contemporary Art Institute Main Space A & B
"… [the] rejection of false or naive explanations is as important as the search for better and more correct causal theories. We must clear the ground of rubbish before we can build."[1]
No one can define art absolutely. Everyone has an opinion as to what art can or can not be; of the acceptable and unacceptable forms it can take; the boundaries it can approach but neither ought to touch or cross. Post-modernist theory did much to break through those boundaries, just as Modernism had done in its time. Post-modernism also went one step further than anything prior to it: unleashing a ‘freedom’ as to what art could be—anything the artist decreed. Today, one can’t help sensing that what began as a positive spirit of anarchy has descended into a vapid, untrammelled ‘anything-goes’. The line between the two—between success and not quite succeeding; between triumph and falling just-short-of-the-mark, between enduring power and temporal punch—is so very fine: so subtle. Most people would agree with the following (1) An artist is a person who participates with understanding in the making of a work of art. (2) A work of art is an artifact of a kind created to be presented to a public audience. In terms of the first, there is always brilliance, there is always sublime inspiration and glorious invention. But increasingly, as the boundaries shift and fade, certain elements they once served to define are fading with them. This has a tendency to result in a complex process of navigating these ‘artifacts of a kind created to be presented to a public audience’. Today, formal considerations are less important than the events, contexts or issues to which a work alludes, or blatantly illustrate. Many works pivot on concepts tied to fleeting moments and temporal events. Art works no longer seek to stand alone, to speak beyond their time. Does it matter? We are in an age of increasing globalisation and universal understanding, are we not? Again, does it matter? Perhaps not, but it does beg the question: what are the enduring values of art? What is important today? Each of these artists is engaged in an on-going, very personal search for what they feel to be correct, in line with which they are constantly clearing new ground.
"Subtlety" sets out to explore this process. In a group of commissioned works from nine leading contemporary artists, we find a diverse range of ideas, thought processes, and sensibilities. The works ask the viewer to respond to their subtle nature, and consider what distinguishes enduring art from temporal trends: the importance of the search, and a desire to build on what has gone before.
莊輝/描摹吳哥/紙本水墨/ 82x58cm / 2008
Zhuang Hui/ Describing Angkor/ Ink on Paper / 82x58cm / 2008
徐若濤/北京昌平七里渠收容所/動畫/10分鐘/2008
Xu Ruotao / Temporary Shelt/ Animation / 10'/2008
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