博友Gravel回應前敝博文<愛恨塗鴉>時提出兩個發人思考的問題:
A) 什麼是藝術?
B) 有何方法成為一個出名的藝術家?
- 言行出位, 標新立異, 以達驚世駭俗｡
- 不斷重覆自己的風格, 直至它變成一種主義(-ism)｡
- 於創作比賽中奪標而揚名｡
- 盡量將作品公諸於世｡
- 攀附一位富貴的贊助人, 讓他推銷你的作品｡
藝術畛域浩如煙海, 範疇不勝枚舉, 如: 寫作､語言､繪畫､雕塑､建築､音樂､舞蹈､設計､服飾､飲食…, 豈能一言以蔽之? 自知對藝術方面認識貧乏, 所知亦是管見, 冒昧回應Gravel列出的問題, 未免貽笑大方｡不過我倒想在此說說一件未必為廣為人知的逸事 --- 混世魔星希特勒(Adolph Hitler)｡
希特勒是二戰時德國納粹黨黨魁, 他高舉優生學與種族主義的大纛, 恣意屠殺了1100萬至1400萬人，其中包括猶太人､波蘭人、吉普賽人、工會成員、共產黨員、異議份子、抵抗組織、同性戀、肢體或智能障礙者、精神病患者､蘇聯戰俘、耶和華見證人信徒及基督徒等。但有誰知道在他踏上政壇嚐到權力滋味之前, 竟然是一個沉醉於繪畫､希望以繪畫為職業的藝術家? 而且他還繪了不少取材自聖經的畫作｡
希特勒年青時曾立志成為一名職業畫家, 但兩次投考藝術學院(The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna)都失敗而被拒諸門外(考官嫌他的聖經畫太多景物而太少人物, 應改行去讀建築)｡失意的他曾一度以沿街兜售自繪的名信片作生計, 並且流連於藝術家聚集的咖啡館, 希望能獲得某位藝術名家賞識而帶自己踏上藝術之途｡可惜事與願違, 最終讓他走上政途｡
根據歷史文獻記載, 希特勒於二戰開戰前跟英國駐德大使Nevile
Henderson的一次談話中說: "I am an artist and not a
politician. Once the Polish question is settled, I want to end my life as an
artist." (我是藝術家, 並非政治家｡一旦解決了波蘭這問題, 我將會以作為藝術家终吾餘年｡) 這個看來無足輕重的個人命途轉折, 卻帶來一場人類浩劫, 可說是命運的弔詭､歷史的一大諷刺｡
希特勒的畫作今仍存在｡有些被拍賣, 投價以千萬計｡戰後美軍亦沒收了不少, 現今為美國政府保存｡ 現在來看看希特勒溫和的一面, 你或許會不相信這些畫作竟是出自一個殺人魔王之手:
我搜集了一些歷來不同藝術名家對｢藝術｣的感言, 雖未能概括藝術的涵義, 或許從中可以一窺藝術的堂奧: (附上敝中譯, 幸勿見笑):
The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily
life off our souls. --- Pablo Picasso
藝術的目的在於從塵俗中洗滌我們的心靈｡
Vision is the art
of seeing what is invisible to others. --- Jonathan Swift
眼光是一種能洞悉他人所看不到的藝術｡
This world is but
a canvas to our imagination. --- Henry David Thoreau
世界只是一張為我們的想像力而舖設的畫布｡
If you hear a
voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that
voice will be silenced. --- Vincent Van Gogh
假如你內心有一把聲音說你不會作畫, 那就盡量去畫吧, 那聲音自會沈默下來｡
The aim of art is
to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward
significance. --- Aristotle
藝術的目的並不在於表達事物的表像, 而是它深層的意義｡
Drawing is the
honesty of the art. There is no possibility of cheating. It is either good or
bad. --- Salvador Dali
繪畫是藝術上的忠誠｡個中沒有欺騙的可能性｡它只有好或壞｡
The artist is a
receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from
the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web.---
Pablo Picasso
藝術家是來自四面八方的激情的容器: 來自天與地､一張紙頭､瞬間的影像､一張蛛網｡
Without
tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it
is a corpse. --- Winston Churchill
沒有傳統風格, 藝術只是一群沒有牧人的羊｡沒有創新, 藝術只是一具屍骸｡
Every artist dips
his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures. --- Henry
Ward Beecher
藝術家以畫筆從自己的靈魂中蘸上油彩, 以自己的本性注入圖畫內｡
The essence of
all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude. --- Friedrich Nietzsche
所有出色而偉大的藝術的精髓就是感恩｡
Every artist was
first an amateur. --- Ralph Waldo Emerson
每個藝術家最初都是外行人｡
If art is to
nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow
his vision wherever it takes him. --- John F. Kennedy
假如藝術在於滋養文化之根芽, 社會必須讓藝術家們自由地隨心去追尋自己的夢想｡
A great artist is
always before his time or behind it. --- George Edward Moore
偉大的藝術家永遠走在時代尖端, 否則落在後頭｡
The mission of
art is to represent nature not to imitate her. --- William Morris Hunt
藝術的使命是表現自然的真性, 而非模仿｡
Art is not a
thing; it is a way. --- Elbert Hubbard
藝術不是一件東西, 而是一種方式｡
There is nothing
new in art except talent. --- Anton Chekhov
藝術沒有什麼新意, 除了天賦,｡
Painting is a
nail to which I fasten my ideas. --- Georges Braque
藝術是一口我用以繫上我的意念的釘｡
Painting is just
another way of keeping a diary. --- Pablo
Picasso
繪畫只是寫日記的另一種方式｡
Love the art in
yourself and not yourself in the art. --- Constantin Stanislavski
熱愛你心中的藝術, 而不是藝術中的你｡
Art is not a
handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced.
--- Leo Tolstoy
藝術不是一件工藝品, 而是藝術家傳遞自己經驗所得的情感｡
The artist who
aims at perfection in everything achieves it in nothing. --- Eugene Delacroix
事事追求完美的藝術家, 終是一事無成｡
Only through art
can we emerge from ourselves and know what another person sees. ---- Marcel
Proust
只有通過藝術我們才可以擺脫自己, 並且了解他人的觀點｡
A work of art has
no importance whatever to society. It is only important to the individual. --- Vladimir
Nabokov
一件藝術品對社會並不重要｡其重要性只是屬於個人的｡
The sculptor
produces the beautiful statue by chipping away such parts of the marble block
as are not needed - it is a process of elimination. --- Elbert Hubbard
雕刻家斫去大理石上多餘的部份, 造出一尊美麗的雕像 --- 這就是篩除的過程｡
Where the spirit
does not work with the hand, there is no art. --- Leonardo da Vinci
手與心不互相合作, 不成藝術｡
Good art is art
that allows you to enter it from a variety of angles and to emerge with a
variety of views. --- Mary Schmich
好的藝術讓你從不同角度進入其中, 從而帶出多樣化的思維｡
To create one's
world in any of the arts takes courage. --- Georgia O'Keeffe
能於不同的藝術領域中創造自己的世界, 這需要勇氣｡
A picture is a
poem without words. --- Horace
一幅圖畫是一首無字的詩｡
Trying to force
creativity is never good. --- Sarah McLachlan
勉強壓搾出來的創作絕對不是佳品｡
An empty canvas
is full. --- Robert Rauschenberg
一張空白的畫布, 充滿意念｡
I'm afraid that
if you look at a thing long enough, it loses all of its meaning. --- Andy
Warhol
觀看一件東西過久, 它將失去所有的意義｡
Life beats down
and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one. --- Stella Adler
生之厄困壓垮人之心靈, 而藝術提醒我們的心靈仍在｡
When one paints
an ideal, one does not need to limit one's imagination. --- Ellen Key
描繪理念之際, 無須限制你的想像力｡
The art of art,
the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is
simplicity. --- Walt Whitman
藝術中的藝術, 那感情的光輝, 那亮麗文字之耀眼陽光, 一一在於簡樸｡
Art begins with
resistance - at the point where resistance is overcome. No human masterpiece
has ever been created without great labor. --- Andre Gide
藝術始於反抗, 成於克服阻力的一刻｡沒有一件傑作是不經艱苦完成的｡
Abstract art: a
product of the untalented sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered.
--- Al Capp
抽象主義: 出自無才華之手､售自無原則之人､落入徹底地困惑者手中的產品｡
When that shutter
clicks, anything else that can be done afterward is not worth consideration.
--- Edward Steichen
相機快門咔嗒一聲, 之後你所能做的一切已不值得考慮｡
No great artist
ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.
--- Oscar Wilde
偉大的藝術家不會單看事物的表象, 否則他不是個藝術家｡
The principle of
art is to pause, not bypass. --- Jerzy Kosinski
藝術的原則在於歇下來細察, 不是無視而繞過｡
What art offers
is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit. --- John Updike
藝術提供的是空間 --- 一種讓心靈喘息的空間｡
A man paints with
his brains and not with his hands. --- Michelangelo
以腦繪畫, 不是用手｡
To an engineer,
good enough means perfect. With an artist, there's no such thing as perfect.
--- Alexander Calder
對機械師來說, ｢夠好了｣就是完美｡藝術家卻沒有完美這回事｡
Even a true artist
does not always produce art. --- Carroll O'Connor
最上乘的藝術家也未必能屢次創造出藝術品｡
Art, like
morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere. --- Gilbert K. Chesterton
藝術有如道德規範, 視乎能於某處劃上界線｡
So vast is art,
so narrow human wit. --- Alexander Pope
藝術何其浩瀚, 人腦何其狹隘｡
Art is the only
way to run away without leaving home. --- Twyla Tharp
藝術乃不用離家出走而能自我解脫的唯一方法｡
I choose a block
of marble and chop off whatever I don't need. --- Auguste Rodin
我撿起一塊大理石, 斫掉任何我不需要的部份｡
Painting is easy
when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do. --- Edgar Degas
不懂繪畫, 下筆容易｡懂了便難以落筆｡
Great artists
suffer for the people. --- Marvin Gaye
大眾乃藝術家之患｡
Lying in bed
would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored
pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling. --- Gilbert K. Chesterton
假如手中有一枝長得可以讓我在天花板上繪畫的顏色筆,
那麼躺在床上是一個多麼完美､至高無上的體驗｡
I don't paint
things. I only paint the difference between things. --- Henri Matisse
我並非繪畫, 我只是描繪事物之間的分別｡
Artists
themselves are not confined, but their output is. --- Robert Smithson
藝術家本身沒有局限, 只是囿於自己的作品｡
Art is either
plagiarism or revolution. --- Paul Gauguin
藝術不是抄襲便是革命｡
A work of art
that contains theories is like an object on which the price tag has been left.
--- Alexander Pope
附上理論的藝術品, 有如一件仍未除去價錢標籤的貨品｡
Art produces ugly
things which frequently become more beautiful with time. Fashion, on the other
hand, produces beautiful things which always become ugly with time. --- Jean
Cocteau
難看的藝術品往往經年而變得美麗｡ 時尚帶來美物, 但時間一久便變得難看｡
The business of
art is to reveal the relation between man and his environment. --- D. H.
Lawrence
藝術之道在於展露人與其四周狀況之間的關係｡
The best artists
know what to leave out. --- Charles de Lint
上乘的藝術家深明略去之道｡
Art is the
unceasing effort to compete with the beauty of flowers - and never succeeding.
--- Gian Carlo Menotti
藝術有如不懈地去跟花朵爭妍鬥麗而永不成功｡
A great artist
can paint a great picture on a small canvas. --- Charles Dudley Warner
偉大的藝術家能於細小的畫布上繪出非凡的作品｡
The principles of
true art is not to portray, but to evoke. --- Jerzy Kosinski
藝術的原則不在於描繪, 而是在於激發感情｡
Life is the art
of drawing without an eraser. --- John W. Gardner
生活是一種不帶橡皮擦去繪畫的藝術｡
You must not
fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war. --- Napoleon
Bonaparte
不要經常跟敵人打仗, 否則你將會教曉他你所有的戰略｡
Creative without
strategy is called 'art.' Creative with strategy is called 'advertising.' --- Jef
I. Richards
不含策略性的創作是藝術｡含策略性的創作是只是廣告｡
People discuss my
art and pretend to understand as if it were necessary to understand, when it's
simply necessary to love. --- Claude
Monet
人們討論我的作品並裝作了解, 似乎有必要去了解｡其實只需愛它便行｡
In art, the
obvious is a sin. --- Edward Dmytryk
作為藝術, 露骨是一種罪過｡
Literature is the
art of discovering something extraordinary about ordinary people, and saying
with ordinary words something extraordinary. --- Boris Pasternak
文學是一種從普通人身上發掘其不平凡之處､ 以平淡語言寫出非凡文字的藝術｡
The art of
pleasing is the art of deception. --- Luc de Clapiers
討好的藝術是欺騙的藝術｡
I don't listen to
what art critics say. I don't know anybody who needs a critic to find out what
art is. --- Jean-Michel Basquiat
我不理會藝術評論家說什麼｡ 我不知道誰需要靠藝術評論家去明白什麼是藝術｡
What the mass
media offers is not popular art, but entertainment which is intended to be
consumed like food, forgotten, and replaced by a new dish. --- W. H. Auden
大眾媒體提供的並非通俗藝術, 它只是一種娛樂, 只供消耗､食後即忘､另換一碟新菜的食物｡
Art is never finished,
only abandoned. --- Leonardo da Vinci
藝術永遠沒有｢完成｣這回事, 只有放棄｡
