枯荣——木质媒介艺术第二回展 前言

    世间生灵唯草木岁岁枯荣，往复而生生不息。苍劲松柏、妖娆花朵、曼妙留香皆为木本生命之外现。于周遭中所见，除去满目树木苍翠，更加与人接触密切的却是“木材”。古来，木之为材造作，历史悠久，亦见于多元文化之中。而其所以为材不仅因其取之广泛、易于雕琢、性质舒适，更因木之于五行循环及其文化涵义与人相合。木为自然所化，自修华滋，层层相裹，立地擎天。其气绵劲不伤人元，更往来天地，顺抚紫气，其意更胜其用。制木技艺百代相传，若不论砍伐之凶，足谓大道。

    时下景观迁变频繁，多显人之其性而不见其心。效率的意识冲淡了思辨。技术的普及抹煞了古拙。物欲之下必为功利，众多所工仅为应景。故而木之所用多为叠替，终向废材与金、石无二。文化之木化身为树之尸体，二三理通反观生人谁为血气方刚？

    本展所汇二十人，作品皆以木为媒，造就艺术奇观。观念的差异造就别样景象，或雕琢逼真，或绘幻浓艳，或机智动力，抑或劈砍成像。同人而不同敏，同手作而不拘古法。观念玲珑却不失造型法度，形态逻辑尽皆时下精神物化。艺术之妙重塑枯木今朝繁荣。

    丝丝喋语难改世风跋扈，刀刀啄木足见心路赤诚。

Revitalized Glory

The 2nd Wood Artworks Exhibition

    Among the life on earth, only grass and woods perish and become revitalized year after year. Their life is reflected in the longevity of pine trees, and the blossoming and fragrance of bewitching flowers. Although our habitat is dominated by trees and grass, we form a closer ties with wood. From antiquity, objects made of wood have been with us in a many a culture. Easy to obtain and carve as a material, wood has a soothing nature, partly because of its cultural implication as one of the five elements. Standing proud and talk, woods are made by nature and woven from layers upon layer of growth rings. With tactile vigor and softness, wood is beneficial to mankind, linking earth and heaven. Its significance is more powerful than its uses. The application of wood has been passed on for generations beyond count and, if the cruelty in logging can be discounted, the technique in wood application is truly magical.

    In the modern age, landscapes change fast, reflecting on the nature of human beings rather than their ethos. The drive for efficiency has dampened the thinking process, and the ready availability of technology has dwarfed the ancient skills. Materialism driven, people are after economic interests and vanity, and many things that have been made were done so on the spur of the moment. As a result, the application of wood is often tedious and overlapping, likening wood to junky material, similar to metal and stone. Culture therefore becomes like the corpse of a tree. Who has the vigor and energy to uphold the truth?

    By 20 artists, the fantastic works on display at this exhibition are all based on wood. Their different artistic concepts have resulted in a myriad of works: dainty, witty, glaring in color or striking in workmanship. Even works by the same artist vary in conception, and different in technique from ancient practices. The concepts are exquisite without distorting contemporary spirituality, indicative of the materialism that characterizes the world we inhabit. What the works embody cannot change the world we live in, and yet what the artists are trying to depict reflect their unfaltering belief.