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反思性主體的反思:侯俊明作品中的再現策略、主體觀與社會批判 Reflection on Reflexive Subjectivity: The Representation Strategy, Subjective View and Social Critic in Chun-Ming Hou's Work

作者
盛鎧
Author
Kai Sheng
關鍵詞
摘要

作為曾代表台灣參加威尼斯雙年展,且作品近年來在市場上屢創高價紀錄的當代藝術家侯俊明,他的知名度乃至台灣美術史上的地位,可謂同輩間的佼佼者。但是,對於侯俊明的評論與研究,似仍有所不足:有的較看重其早期創作,認為他的《極樂圖懺》(1992)與《搜神記》(1993)中的性愛題材與怪誕畫風,勇於突破社會禁忌,正呼應了解嚴前後台灣社會之氛圍;有的則認為他近期以個人生活經歷與內心體驗為主題的創作,較為細膩且具深度。然而不論何種看法,似乎仍單純地僅從主題的角度對侯俊明的創作進行解讀,而忽略其再現方式、文字與圖像的搭配、系列作品的總體構成以及風格運用等形式要素,故只是片面地將侯俊明定位為「叛逆者」或「修行者」而已,未能更深刻闡發其再現策略(如《搜神記》對古書樣式的戲仿)與怪誕美學背後的深意,以及他的作品對現代主體意識的反思與批判。因此,本文將以侯俊明1992年的《極樂圖懺》至2007年的《侯氏八傳》期間創作的代表性版畫作品為研究重點,探討其中的再現策略與風格形式,以及當中的主體觀與反思意識等相關議題,以了解其真正批判性所在。

Abstract

Chun-Ming Hou, who once was chosen to represent Taiwan in La Biennale di Venezia (the Venice Biennale), and whose prints sell at record high prices, may be described as one of the highest achievers in the history of Taiwanese art. Yet Hou has received relatively little critical attention to date. Some art critics have focused more on Hou's earlier works, pointing out how his grotesque drawings and sexual themes in Erotic Paradise and Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals defy social taboos and resonate with the social atmosphere in pre/post-martial law Taiwan. Others believe that Hou's recent printmaking works, which reflect more of his personal experiences along with his inner thoughts, are more refined and sophisticated than ever before. In any case, the critics are more concerned with the themes of Hou's work and base their interpretation on these criteria, neglecting other aspects such as the representation of the work, the arrangement or collision between texts and images, the structure of the series, and his auteur style. The critics thus reduce Hou to a “heretic” or “Buddhist practitioner” instead of exploring his strategy of representation (an example of this may be seen in Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals in which he imitates Chinese script in a parody called “Liu Jiao Hou Shih” or “Mr. Hou with Six Feet”), the meanings behind his grotesque aesthetics, and how his work provides reflects or critically reviews individual consciousness in our modern state. In this article, therefore, I will focus on the representational strategies and styles of Hou's prints to explore issues pertaining to individual consciousness and self-reflexivity so as to offer a fuller art critical understanding of his art.