策展人:

薛丹青

艺术家:

布克哈德•冯•哈德

Curator(s):

Xue Danqing

Artist(s):

Burkhard von Harder

迂回与距离 Detour+Distance

上升的一切必将汇合
薛丹青

布克哈德•冯•哈德（Burkhard von Harder）是一名德国当代艺术家，创作媒介跨越摄影、影像和装置等。作为自1989年柏林墙倒塌后世界进入后冷战时代的观察者，他的创作不仅聚焦德意志集体文化的反思与重建，更以殉道者的姿态提供了一个坦诚的案例——那些兼具独立个体和纳粹后裔双重身份的艺术家，如何在时代进程与个体命运交错时穿越对抗、抵达和解？德国作家席勒曾言：“悲剧是将善恶打结，再抽紧，这时只有上帝才能解开。”布克哈德是极度分裂的，一方面，作为一个具备独立是非观的个体，当他直面父辈历史时产生的“原罪”痛苦，是依靠常识和逻辑无法解开的，这构成了一种亲情层面的撕裂；另一方面，在他的成长过程中，社会外部的民主结构与家庭内部的法西斯结构无法兼容，这使得他在社会化身份认知层面冲突不断。多重矛盾裹挟下的布克哈德，如同一个被抽紧的死结，徒劳捕风，试图奋力抓住虚空中的上帝。那么理所当然的，作为上帝给人类的礼物，艺术成为布克哈德唯一的出路。然而，布克哈德的创作并非循例卡尔·雅斯贝斯（Karl Jaspers）关于“集体罪恶感”（Collective Guilt）的论著进行当代再解读，他走得更远更决绝，通过诸如拍摄长达16个小时电影的冥思，高度提纯出人类集体命运中的尼采式悲剧，完成了自身从个体叙事至宏大命题的心灵转化。

本次展览命名《迂回与距离》，集中展出超过20件作品，媒介涵盖装置、摄影和影像，全面呈现了艺术家35年来的艺术探索。在艺术家自述中，布克哈德将自身的艺术创作比喻成中式针灸——通过勘探不可见的深层的神经疼痛引起的创作动机，来挖掘由内心驱动力牵引的创作可能，最终承载于作品的是突破事物客观表象抵达生命本质的主观叙事，而每一次的勘探都基于因缘际会的神迹。布克哈德的创作有其不可言说的高度精神性和内在性，使得具象化呈现他的精神之旅成为一个挑战。因此，策展方案不可避免地引入剧场概念，通过搭建垂直和横向两条叙事，来形象化艺术家克服和穿越庸常以及陈词滥调最终实现向上的精神升腾。在这里，布克哈德仿佛一名虔诚的朝圣者，他从青年时代的印度恒河水畔出发，穿越过凝重不堪的德国历史与家族史，于花甲之年来到了中国北京，然后重重地放下了企图避而不谈却无法绕道而行的“原罪”包袱，如初生的婴儿般获得了纯粹艺术的金钥匙。这是终点，亦是起点，展览名称《迂回与距离》由来于此。

除此以外，标题《迂回与距离》还高度总结了艺术家与中国的缘分关系。作为一名德国艺术家，布克哈德不惧社会议题设置的禁忌，颇具勇气地从自身的纳粹家庭出发，重现了德国人急于扫进历史地毯的二战史，更以艺术家的纯粹人文理念关照了战后德国人的集体心理意识以及精神状态，紧扣当下议题的难民问题亦被统摄进入创作体系。有趣的是，这些作品的首次亮相是在中国，而非在德国或者是任何白人主导的语境，置换了的展览空间所激发的未被提及的纬度又因为自身的有机性而开发了全新的语境——在这里，不同国家受众之间由文化曝光导致的差异似乎被有意抹平，展览聚焦点亦不在刻意贩卖德国纳粹标签，而是忠实且诚恳地按照艺术家所希冀般呈现这趟坎坷之旅。迂回与距离，是绕过大西洋获得共享的超越地理人文的普世警醒；迂回与距离，是冲破家族叙事以及出生桎梏直抵纯粹的精神共鸣；迂回与距离，亦是艺术创作者对创作冲动使命必达所付出的“西西弗斯”式虔诚劳动。

本次个展最大的亮点当属艺术家基于画廊空间打造的颇具展览野心的装置作品——《解构电影》，将线性时间空间化处理的创作手段是贯穿布克哈德创作的核心概念之一，此次他将摄影、影像、音乐等元素糅杂于一体，完成了一件里程碑式的代表作。首次公开展出的摄影系列《归家》，则受到德国作家卡夫卡的影响，艺术家以疏离却不失怜悯的眼光，还原德国当代社会中被孤独感隔绝的个体形象，而由布克哈德原创的通过蜡像再现人物形象后进行戏剧化拍摄的艺术语言，亦为摄影媒介提供了新的探索可能。本次展览最为惊心动魄的部分应当归属子空间呈现的关于德国战后集体叙事的摄影系列，配合艺术家毫不妥协的观念取材，展览布呈挑选出多幅反应德国现当代史的作品，犀利、深刻、反讽、抵抗的独立态度在此呼之欲出。

从策展角度出发，展览从垂直和水平两个方向构成空间结构，而内容叙事部分则被划分为三大板块，1）纵向线由装置作品《解构电影》贯穿整个教堂空间，它形似脊椎，又神如翔龙，暗示艺术家不断升腾的精神之旅，而画廊入口处安置的艺术家年轻时旅行至印度恒河水畔留下的摄影作品，则象征了艺术家精神追求的基石。2）画廊的二楼以及三楼构成横向线索，二楼划分出三个子空间：第一空间展出的是反应家族叙事的摄影作品《归家》，中间的走廊空间展出三联摄影系列《潜水》，第二空间展出反思德国战后社会现状的系列摄影作品。第一、二空间旨在平行铺陈艺术家分别对于家族和德国历史的思考，这是他必须穿越的历史负担，中间的三联摄影则暗示精神上的净化过程，亦呼应入口处的恒河水意象，串联起艺术家一以贯之的内在线索。3）三楼的子空间只展出影像作品《迂回中国》，该作品点题艺术家与中国的关系，因其完全剥离了其他空间的叙事性而呈现出的高度概括性和精神性，使之成为艺术家创作至今的一个重要拐点——他穿越了过去，放下了执着，站在全新的起点，无所畏惧，义无反顾。

布克哈德从出生起就是一个死结，良好的出生使得他免于烟火烦扰，而生而为人的直觉却不断将他置于善与恶的夹击中揉搓，这使得他不断出逃，逃离出厂设置的“原罪”，企图与一切既定议题维持距离并抱有怀疑。倘若上帝无意为他解开死结，又怎会赐予他艺术，而通过艺术不断上升、无止境寻找上帝的过程，恰恰是对最终答案的持续悬置，于是解开死结的礼物放佛变成了画地为牢的自缚。但布克哈德是有能力绕过实在界直抵其底片处埋伏的想象与象征的，他被某种信念支撑着，那便是上帝通过艺术呢喃着的“上升的一切必将汇合”之暗号。

Detour + Distance
By Xue Danqing - translator Hana Iverson

The exhibition Detour + Distance, is an appraisal of the work of Burkhard von Harder, portraying his singular artistic journey into and away from his German family history, fraught by the guilt carried by the post- World War II generation. This path is a spiritual one that is inspired by his interest in mystical traditions, carrying the artist through his creative exploration towards a state of transcendence. Spanning his 35-year career, Detour + Distance, is the first major survey of Burkhard von Harder’s oeuvre, presented here in Asia.

Burkhard von Harder has developed a unique language that demonstrates and reveals a source of immanence, merging it with visual language. This intimate semiotics suggests a plurality, a constructing and deconstructing of form - of his work and of himself. The exhibition draws on the artist’s practice of constructing layered, conceptual approaches to installations, photographs, and videos, including the new projects created for this exhibition. These works represent varying phases of expression mined from the artist’s individual and idiosyncratic path, viewed through a prism that align the disparate threads that appear in his work from the 80s to the present. Each section of the exhibition looks at a fresh interpretation of subjects that consume him, altering the perspective and form of the work, as he re-addresses these ideas and topics.

In order to accurately present the chronicle of Burkhard von Harder’s work, a dramatic layout has been applied to the space with the intention of deconstructing the three-floor gallery into a vertical and horizontal storyboard. This approach highlights the tension between speaking of personal memory versus employing enigma(c strategies that obscure direct reference; that dialectic is incorporated into the passageways that intersect, creating a symbolic physical juncture between what is hidden and what is revealed. The resulting crossroads create a vertical ‘axis mundi’ or celestial pole that is bisected by the horizontal world. These complex meanings and shifts within the work explain the challenging task of presenting Burkhard von Harder’s work in a comprehensive yet crystal-clear way.

Detour + Distance derives from the artist’s statement that his creation is a process of ‘marking,’ extracting moments brought forward from a tireless preoccupation with probing into the hidden histories – personal and cultural – that were once seen as taboos and covered by silence. The horizontal line combines three cabinets; each holds a specific theme ranging from family references, to cultural abstractions, with a trio of three massive pieces of photography linked together that symbolize a spiritual ‘purification.’ The ver(cal narrative begins with the artist’s initial ‘vision’ while standing at the edge of the river Ganges, leading to his ultimate deliverance when returning to the east, and rebirth in his art. Thus, detour is an essential concept for an artist whose history is tied to the idea of homeland. Without the ability and will to detour and travel ‘elsewhere,’ Burkhard Von Harder would never have been capable of overcoming the family and country that bound him to the past.

Detour + Distance also refers to Burkhard von Harder’s initial and lasting serendipity with China. As a German artist, he has challenged the status quo – particularly of his society - by confronting what lies underneath the polished surface, thwarting his support from many still existing personal and professional structures. However, the artist has found artistic understanding and inspiration in China, a country far away from Germany and the West, alike. The detour of the exhibition itself proves that a shared common humanity can provide an acceptance of bold expression, and appreciation for a great artist who lives beyond boundaries.

Although the forms of Burkhard von Harder’s artwork are constantly evolving, he was initially trained as a photographer and studied briefly film in New York (NYU) before leaving the official path. Through the 1980’s and 90’s, he began to develop his practice by experimenting initially with the large format camera and staged photographs; in the 2000’s, his work combined photography, film and installation, exploring the DIY artist book and appropriation. This lyrically depicted body of work does not relate to any commonly applied categories but suggests that the protagonists represented, whether human or object, speak as symbols that lead us into the private and public, the present and past, the realms of darkness and the divine. For Burkhard von Harder, this fluctuating journey eventually leads to reconciliation with himself, in the form of art, an expression from the heart of a pure artist.