Interviewer: Mr. Wei, many of our graduate students are looking forward to the opportunity to interview you, so we have also collected interview questions from students from different majors in advance, so as to make our first issue of "Graduate Teacher's Talk" column as complete and rich as possible, and I hope you will give us advice. This interview is mainly conducted in three parts, the first part is about the research and learning of graduate students. During your master's or doctoral studies, were there any memorable people and events that made you more memorable?
Professor Wei Xiaorong: I'm forgetful, born with a small memory, and many things can't withstand the erosion of time, but I really want to carry it, of course there is, but the intensity is strong enough to affect a lifetime and a half, it doesn't seem to be very much, if you say that there is, it's too literary. Because we are constantly triggered by situations in the flow of life, our actions are mostly instant reactions. Of course, at a deeper level, there is something similar to a riverbed under the flow of life, and in this way, the people and things that can affect us are like stones that are put into a river to change the hydrology, but the direction of the general flow is still the same.
I, like everyone, did have some noble and powerful things, this noble person is to be remembered for a lifetime, for this, my experience is that I don't have to think about it and never forget, the example of the noble person and then return to the surrounding area, return to the future generations, perhaps the best commemoration. As for things, I think a good time is more important than a bunch of good things. For example, during my Ph.D. study, I was immersed in wide-caliber reading, and every day I went up to the Jade Emperor Mountain, and I didn't return when it was dark.
Specifically, because my ** is more out of the circle on the topic, it is more extensive, but my early education came from before the reform and opening up, and I didn't have much to carry with me, and the sociology, psychology, physics and mathematics touched on in the article had to make up for it.
Teacher Wei Xiaorong's daily photo.
Interviewer: Do you have any recommended books? Or for students, how should they find a reading list that is more suitable for them?
Professor Wei XiaorongWhen I was a child, I had "The Gadfly" and "How Steel is Made" at home, and these books can be said to be my enlightenment. Later, when I was in college, I read "Confessions" and "The Three Giants" and "John Christopher" by Romain Rolland, which obviously sparked personality enlightenment and even the germination of emotions, and the threads of emotions often tied up for a lifetime.
Later, the more I read it, the more I read it, the general trend shifted from literature to literary theory, which changed due to the changes in my environment, which led to a new bibliography. The book I'm reading right now is more comprehensive, like a miniature landscape, linking the main points of many disciplines in a meaningful way, and of course more about germination. There are also some cutting-edge theories such as Deleuze, which also construct new maps for us. Of course, Chinese and Western philosophies have an inexhaustible capacity, and it is recommended to understand a little bit and read them in a summary style. There is also our Chinese painting theory and an introduction to ancient and modern literature, which is my industry and industry, and classics such as "The Elegance of Forests and Springs", "Twenty-four Poems" and "Wenxin Carving Dragon" are all necessary to understand.
In fact, I am not qualified to be a youth tutor, let alone open a book list, so when my students ask me for a book list, I can only deal with it in a big and unified way: a world history, a Chinese history, a world intellectual history, and a Chinese intellectual history, which is enough.
Gödel Escher **The culmination of the different walls
Original English (left) Chinese translation (right).
Interviewer: In the second part, we will return to Mr. Wei's own experience as an artist. First of all, from your ** and your paintings, we can feel that ** has a great influence on you. You also mentioned before that "poetry and ** are the core of all art", so in the process of savoring**, how do you capture those spiritual lights, and how do you use them in painting or text creation?
Professor Wei Xiaorong: It's a natural process, and personal likes and dislikes end up creating an inertia in your body. Its energy always has to burst out, not to mention that you always have to bring energy in everything you do, energy is multi-directional and multi-export, control is the key, how to control is ability, and the final control is cultivation. **I want to listen to something light-hearted, enjoyable, such as light**, but I myself am more fond of symphonies and concertos, and the sonata-like structure of the symphony is a paradigm that is easy to activate, and can be a good scaffolding for most artistic soft decorations.
Therefore, when I teach students about creation, I emphasize a sense of design and a symphony. Design is the highest achievement of visual art in the world today, we have to take things from it, you can not design, but you need a sense of design, just like in my field, you can not write poetry, but you must have poetry. The other is symphony, the rich texture, multi-layered, weighty, and profundity in your paintings, whether they are interwoven or superimposed, should reflect a kind of symphony. This is a bit like the concept of "complex giant system" in Qian Xuesen's theory, which is already very complex, and it is a huge system, at least in the painting, you have to be inspired by this concept, and it is valuable to be able to present a little bit on the picture. So I think "symphony" is being able to give a frame to a certain extent, to be able to stuff a little bit more stuff and make your work look more kaleidoscopic, multifaceted crystal effect.
Of course, as a balance, I also like some simple and simple pictures, a few line drawings and other stick figures, which is also a good style, we not only have to make the wrong color and gild, but we also want to get out of the water hibiscus.
Teacher Wei Xiaorong creates.
Interviewer: In many of your paintings, you can actually feel the concerto of this symphony that you are talking about. So is there a painting that you are more satisfied with, in which you can play the most fun and enjoy the integration and transformation of this ** and art?
Professor Wei Xiaorong: The best play is my doctoral graduation creation "A Poet's ** Life", because this theme is very clear, that is, to combine a ** nature, a poetic nature, these two properties into the painting, and then present it in a pleasing style. I didn't hesitate at the time, I didn't lose anything, I just released this energy in exchange for a good time. Of course, in addition to the traditional exercises, if I want to do something new, many times I am more accustomed to taking into account some ** elements. For example, the melody in ** is actually the line of the poem we paint, the kind of wrist strength, relying on the movements of the wrist and fingers to make some beautiful turns, at this time the poem and the melody are the same thing.
Our blank space, in fact, has a great formal relationship with the rest of the ** and the time gap between the paragraphs, which also includes their voices and our chapters, and the overlap of those voices, which is also related to our composite chapters and the superposition of color and ink on various techniques, so these are all principles shared.
The Life of a Poet".
The work of Mr. Wei Xiaorong.
Interviewer: Mr. Wei's sharing just now also answered a question I have always had in my heart, that is, how to achieve the conversion between cross-media materials, paintings, and words? So, in the kind of ** you want, does it also affect your actual choice in the creative process (for example, you chose the Zhejiang School of figure painting)? Or is it a choice in your life situation?
Professor Wei Xiaorong: My idea is: "academic school in Zhejiang", which means that our academic school in Zhejiang is the most representative, leading and exemplary. If we talk about "Zhejiang school", it seems to be the concept of Zhejiang's geography, and in terms of our volume and quality, this kind of formulation is obviously aggrieved.
I remember when I was **, there was a question about "What kind of life is the most worthwhile?" This national discussion was later recognized as Liang Qichao's output, that is, a kind of "artistic life", which was generally considered to be the most worthwhile. Artistic life is the complete integration of life and art, and his state is that life can be art, and art can also be lived, and they go in both directions, and finally form a way of life and a style of life with a high happiness index.
A corner of Mr. Yu Xiaorong's studio.
Interviewer: Along with the "Zhejiang School" and "Academic School" you mentioned, how do you view the so-called "Southern Sect" and "Northern Sect"?
Professor Wei Xiaorong: The matter of the division of the north and the south is an old problem, which originated in Chinese Zen, Zen can not be said, and scholars do not dare to judge lightly, if I want to say, I can only say that it should not be said and forcefully said, the division does make us feel a certain clarity, and it seems to be in line with the phenomenon, however, this kind of mention is only a description of the phenomenon, not very essential, the logic is there, but it is only a superficial logic that changes with the environment, which can be put into the frame of reference, and can also be hung high. What's more, division and conjunction are nothing more than a symptom of time rotation, and they are also a one-time presentation. Dong Qichang is a wise man, he used his great sense and intellectual surplus to prescribe an interesting intellectual question, adding tons of talented articles, that's all, because there are too many exceptions, so it is not appropriate to take it too seriously. If you want to think about it, it is better to study the north and south Zen.
Interviewer: Earlier, you also said that you read some philosophical works every day, so what are the most enlightening aspects of our traditional Chinese philosophical concepts, such as Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Zen Buddhism, Theory, and Xinxue?
Professor Wei Xiaorong: I followed up with what I just said about the "Southern Sect" and "Southern Sect", and I obtained more nutrients in the "Southern Sect". I came out of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the hometown of the Southern Song Dynasty, and naturally there were more southerners. Of course, you have to get through a lot of rational things, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism must be taken together, and even Chinese and Western philosophies cannot be absent. For example, the Song and Ming Dynasty had a profound influence on Chinese landscape painting. Then came to Wang Yangming, his mind emphasizes that there is nothing outside the heart, and the world picture is actually sufficient in your heart, and it may also be presented in a lightweight way in the picture.
That's why we often talk about "do you know".What do you know? What I know is the "Tao", and I once wrote a humble article "Painting has a Painting Tao", which also diluted this truth. You have to understand, what is "Confucianism, Taoism, and Interpretation" in our paintings? If you look at each genre, you can find the corresponding ideas in the form of a flat visual form and an image on the picture. In the same way, all ideas can find a symbolic correspondence, which is not a false proposition. The Tao fills the spiritual content of the painting, and the two are mutually reinforcing.
The work of Mr. Wei Xiaorong.
Interviewer: The next question is raised by many students who are engaged in practice, that is, now that everyone pays attention to a theory, how do you think that when students in the graduate school read some painting theories, including some philosophy books, how should they feel and analyze the idea behind these paintings?
Professor Wei XiaorongFor students, I think that at this stage, the ideology does not have to be too strong, students mainly practice shaping, practicing techniques, and obtain a package of shallow kung fu, everyone must consolidate all stages, plus a good connection, you may succeed. When you are young, although some people are young and old, they are more precocious, and they enter the period of mental sharpening first, which is also very good. But the main thing is to learn the technique, and after that, you have a few decades to find a good style, and then use this style to carry your thoughts and situations.
It's true that there are natural phases in the process. When you are young, you should do a good job of the technique, when you are middle-aged, you will do the best in the party, and in your later years, you will play the realm, which is a whole operation from form to spirit.
Interviewer: You mentioned the characteristic of "geography" just now, so you were born in Fuzhou, what kind of influence do you think your hometown has brought to your artistic creation in terms of content, technique and style?
Professor Wei Xiaorong: Painters are particularly sensual animals, for this group, hometown is the taste on the tip of your tongue, and the taste is lifelong, which can be called "rootedness". Our roots, the virtues of our hometown texts, are not only rooted, but also rhizometic, presented as the dual qualities of perseverance and extension.
In the process of painting being guided by literature, we often magnify the influence of nostalgia on life. As an artist, his career should be to break all solidification and move towards the realm of spiritual freedom. It is not difficult for us to see that some people who have come out of the isolated countryside have become far-sighted industry elites after several transformations, and there seems to be no clue in the clues of their lives, and there is no need to see them. I think it doesn't matter if a person starts from the beginning, or even at the end of the world, it is important to always maintain an upward trend.
Interviewer: We see that a long part of your experience was done in Hangzhou. So, corresponding to your hometown, what do you think is the impact of Hangzhou, the city where you studied?
Professor Wei Xiaorong: One is nurturing and the other is rebuilding. Hometown is nurturing, here is recreational. If you want to be motivated, you must have a strong inner ability, and you must also have the ability to subvert yourself. At this time, you are like a multi-section rocket, the second quarter eliminates the third quarter, and the first quarter eliminates the second quarter, so that you can rise step by step. The time I have lived in Hangzhou has greatly exceeded the time I spent in Fuzhou, and when we are in Hangzhou, our vision should also go beyond Hangzhou, just like Mr. Zhou Youguang mentioned that "the world sees China", which is a wise flip, and these revelations are very important. I think that if you have been in love with your hometown for a long time, it will become a fetter of the mind, which is the same as the love brain. I preach transcendence, including transcendence of oneself, renewal of oneself.
The work of Mr. Wei Xiaorong.
Interviewer: Thank you for your answer, and let's move on to the third part, about your thoughts and suggestions for the future and young people. In today's era of artificial intelligence, do you think the development of Chinese painting will be affected?
Professor Wei Xiaorong: I don't think there will be a fundamental impact in 20 years, but it's hard to say in 20 years. Because art is the creation of personality, inspiration is the soil, the unpredictable is the atmosphere, and the irreproducibility is the guarantee, it is a "mistake is also wonderful" cause. Artificial intelligence is the extract of all past civilizations, and although its capabilities are infinite, it is difficult to completely get rid of the sense of setting and command, and the only way for art to live is to be parallel to science and never intersect, although that intersection will make us extremely excited. I also think that human beings, like their art, have an undying desire to reject and welcome technology, and if the intersection of science and art becomes a reality, it can only be regarded as a reincarnation, and art will begin a new round of escape. And every escape is nothing less than a declaration of the last dignity of human beings. In general, each painter is a personal project, and can only look up to God's perspective as much as possible, and regard the possibility of science only as the achievement of Caesar. Successful painters can only achieve satisfactory solutions, and the optimal solutions that cannot be obtained are always in the hands of God, and artificial intelligence can probably only approach the optimal solution with a paranoid attitude. If artificial intelligence is thousands of years old, it must be ashamed to look at 100 years old, so it is not difficult to see that its underlying logic is humanized, of course, this conclusion may be exposing the limitations of people.
So we don't have to be too afraid, often the stronger the strengths, the stronger the disadvantages. At this stage, artificial intelligence is generally the commonality replaces individuality, regularity replaces contingency, unity replaces miscellaneous, and steel replaces all human weaknesses, which is equivalent to divinity destroying human nature. Now the question arises: what is the mission of art? It seems that art is the last reserve of the ecology of human civilization and all its glory.
Interviewer"Philosopher" is an artistic group that has many admirable superb skills and liberal arts minds, and it is also the foundation of our national beauty, representing the ingenuity of creative labor and the academic height where it is located. As an artist who has always been deeply involved in the field of art education and has won the Philosopher's Gold Award, what kind of characteristics do you think today's young painters should have? At the same time, as a young student of Gome, how should I follow up on the concept of this philosopher and the concept of Gome people, do a good job in my own works, and do my own academics?
Professor Wei XiaorongThe word "philosopher" can be separated, "philosopher" is to think deeply, "craftsman" is to do well, and the two are deep and good. This is a realm, a state of active will, so it is a realm of people.
I think that in fact, this goal should not be too high for students all at once. Because there are layers to this matter, for example, the first is the goal, then the blueprint, then the ideal, and finally I don't know what it is, probably the religious realm. You set a goal first, and it is divided into big goals, small goals, short-term goals, and long-term goals, so let's start with small goals. For example, as a student, first solve the basic modeling, and then paste your professional vocabulary to achieve such a goal, probably you have entered middle age, during which you think about the word "progress" all day long, throughout middle age, you should touch the bypass, move the wonderful, should think about the word "transformation" all day long, to the old age, and then use all your learning and perception to do a "regression" that is, "progress" thing, that is, a clever subtraction, to be reduced to a high-dimensional floor, on which you can build a tower, this tower is the decay method, It's a blueprint, but it's just a personal clue, and you also have to consider the positive meaning of your actions to the crowd, which counts as ideals.
Interviewer: Thank you, Mr. Wei, for your answer. So in addition to the above questions we have collected, does Mr. Wei have anything else to say to the current young students?
Professor Wei Xiaorong: It's hard for me to say, it's too personal, it's about the individual's real situation, energy reserves, the position at this time, the choice of destination and the navigation system chosen.
However, as a student, it is advisable to be in awe of academic regulations, reverence for tradition, reverence for new things, and even reverence for all things that are alien to oneself, you can either seek them or stay away, and rejection is better than tolerance, because rejection is also energy-intensive. I'm more and more convinced of this, and a lot of things confirm it, that you don't take things that are different from you, and you don't have to hedge with them energetically, except to assert your cultural will. There are many things that you only need to know after you get in, why that thing has vitality and why it is maintained.
In addition, I would like to say that the right to make a suggestion: there is nothing more than the word reason in the world. And the artist has only one lever, that is, "emotion", "reason" is only relative, it does not have to be absolute, it can take care of "emotion" on the side. The important perception of our life is often out of "emotion", but not "reason", and the criterion of a good work is, in the final analysis, whether it can pry the emotions of the audience. Therefore, I firmly believe that people who engage in art should be honest and kind, integrity is free from vulgarity, kindness is susceptible, and the two can work together to make the work touching. In a word, you can be cowardly, but please be upright; You can be faulty, but you have to be kind. The Sixth Patriarch said: "The benevolent person is moved", and the heart is promising.
Interviewer: Professor Wei Xiaorong, could you please write a sentence that you would like to say to the young graduate students of GOME?
Professor Wei Xiaorong: I'd like to take the back waves on the shore!
Teacher Wei Xiaorong took a group photo with the team of interviewers.
*: Graduate Student Association of China Academy of Art).
Artist Profile
Yu XiaorongBorn in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province in 1957, he was admitted to the Chinese Painting Department of the China Academy of Art in 1977. Since 1986, he has been teaching at the China Academy of Art, successively serving as the head of the Department of Chinese Painting and the dean of the School of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy. Second-level professor. Supervisor of master's and doctoral students. Deputy Director of the 4th Chinese Painting Art Committee of the China Artists Association. Specialists who enjoy *** special allowances.