诗意地栖居在大地上

——北水的《中国花园》

文/米尼

“人，诗意地栖居在大地上” ，这是因为一种美的存在，也是因为其道出了生命的深邃意义。我们希望有这样的地方，虽然我们人类始终还依附在地球上，可是让我们“诗意地栖居”的大地，在今天这样充满物质和精神危机的时代，并不是能够用“那是一种奢侈”的开脱便可以打发走我们油然而生的诗意地栖居的念头。人原本就栖息在大地上，正如画面中那无数的圆形，是花朵，是生命，也是隐喻一种生命在自然中无限的繁衍和膨胀。秩序因为疯狂而瓦解，疯狂是因为物欲横流而激进，中国花园的空间不仅仅只是让我们感受城市的迅速扩张带来的种种心理和身体上的压力，也带来新生的喧哗和浮躁以及对城市中人流、车流的忧患，危险的情感地带的红色警钟已经敲响，蔓延着的红色，渲染的红色氤氲气氛，那是情绪，是生理亢奋，是性情噪动，是被物质欲望包围后身心疲惫至极而又无法宣泄的矛盾冲突体，于是对自然的向往，对自然的憧憬，对自然的认识，人们在要做出决断的时候才发现：回归自然其实是两难的诀择。我们“诗意地栖居”着的大地，就正如画家那张《黄昏湿地》所描述的，许多美好的就驻留在过去的那一瞬间。

艺术家工作室的后面本来有着池塘和树林，栖居着快乐的鸟类。走出屋子后门，伸展、呼吸、静思，那是一种享受。当这一切在最近几年中迅速消逝，一个梦幻般的迷幻世界也在艺术家的心灵世界中时空并移。谁能拥有12个太阳？5个黑烟囱象征什么？鱼和花有多重要？当你沉思的时候，即在内心创造了一个世界。内在更让人激动，因为它和世界的联系,得到自然的回响，因此欣赏这些作品是一种欣慰。再则，面对艺术家“玩弄”出来的这些丝网版画，我们需要清楚的意识到，这绝对不是艺术家已有作品的简单复制，作为一个严肃的艺术家，北水先生利用的只是一种新的表达介质，它让画家暂时离开画架，可思考着的依然是我们的自然和生命。

自然万物，皆幻化为万千意象。美丽外表下的花园里，到处充斥着变异的形象和诡异的符号，这里的“美丽”与众不同，这里的风景非同寻常，这里的花朵分明是诱惑，闪烁着脱去鲜艳色彩外衣后的本性———花是生命存在的象征，在一幅幅作品里，看似所有物质性的成分，在永恒的絮乱中渗透进人性的种种表现形式，而一切人性的成分却又像是在本能的、幽暗的生命物体内得到精神的升华。

北水先生挖掘的“欲望花园”，那种人类与自然的纽带, 无论在空间和时间的范畴中，构建的是浑然一体的精神家园，对纯净自然的强烈渴望，对生命的深度探索，今天哪怕是一个普通人心中的境界，也是感悟颇深，欣赏之余，让我们再回味德国那位十九世纪初叶的抒情诗人荷尔德林写下的诗句：

如果生活是全然的劳累，
               那么人将仰望而问：
               我们仍然愿意存在吗？
               是的！充满劳绩，
               但人，诗意地栖居在此大地上。

2011年4月14日 星期四 于杭州

Man Dwells Poetically on This Earth

About Bei Shui’s China Garden

          Mi Ni

Man dwells poetically on this earth. There is a kind of aesthetics, about the meaning of life. We wish we could have this kind of pure place to live. Let’s dwell poetically on this earth. Living in this era which lacks resources and spirituality. We can’t just give up our dream. Man dwells on the earth, just like the round shape on his work, whether flowers or lives, they imply living beings are reproduced and expanded. Orders break down due to madness. Madeness is radical due to extreme materialisim. The China Garden gives us pictures of the growth of cities, crowds and cars in the cities, the pressure from psychological and physical, and the red alarm has already rang. Red is too excited, and too tired from desire of the material. Then people are longing for nature, and dream of going back to nature. When it comes to decide where to go, it’s still hard to choose. Man dwells poetically on this earth, just like artist’s Marsh at Dusk, lots of beautiful memories are just in the past moment.

There were ponds and trees behind the artists’ studios, also birds live in the area around there. Then, if artists walked out of studios, they can stretch their bodies, and have some fresh air. It’s a kind of pleasure. These years the interpretations of the world from the artist has changed while everything else has changed quickly. Who can own twelve suns? What is the meaning of five black chimneys? What’s the matter with fish and flowers? When you think about the world, in fact, you created one. It’s exciting to see what the artist’s interior related to the outside world. To appreciate these artworks is a comfort. These series were not just copy. As the serious artist Bei Shui, he used a new media to express his thoughts—which are related to our nature and life.

Everything in the world all has its own nature. There are beautiful flowers in the garden—here the beauty is a little different: the changing shape and secret symbol. The scenery is not common—flowers are so seductive, you can seize their nature without the gorgeous appearance. Flowers are the symbol of lives. From the artworks, --the flowers themselves imply the human nature, and all characters and souls of the human nature which can be founded from living things.

Bei Shui explored something which connects human and nature from his Desire Garden. He created a spiritual world—longing for the pure nature and explored the deep meaning of life. The common people can be touched by his artwork. This reminds me a poem from a German poet Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843):

                  If the life is all about hard working

                  Then the people will look up and ask:

                  Will we still want to be in the world?

                  Though he has to earn a living,

                  Man dwells poetically on this earth

                                         Thursday April 14^th, 2011 in Hangzhou