【怒加。科幻。評論。藝術設計。藝術。解構 "Pillar of Shame"﹝國殤之柱﹞】

解構 "Pillar of Shame" ﹝ 國殤之柱 ﹞ ﹝05-06-1999﹞

　　筆者分析一件作品，先要留意作者的意念，及其表達手法能否將它的意念就出來。另外，藝術家通過一件作品，能否與欣賞者有交流；同樣，欣賞者通過一件作品，能否跟藝術家有交流，才最重要。

作者意念

　　周麥雕塑家 Jens Galschiot 做過幾條 "Pillar of Shame" ，據他所屬藝術組織的官方網頁所說
"Pillar of Shame"的創作動機如下：
　　現在資訊發達，世上有太多侵犯人權的事，當媒體報導了一件後，很快又被另一件取代了。因此，作者要造一條 Pillar of Shame，去提醒我們每一件令人羞恥的事，要世人不可重蹈覆轍。
　　其全文如下，小弟沒有時間作出翻譯：

Background

Our world - and conscience - is becoming more and more influenced by the availability of information. The media have shown an amazing ability to bring directly into our living-rooms the news of a catastrophe, attack or event anywhere in the world, only hours after it has occurred.

The sheer volume of information makes it difficult for us to handle all these horrors and events. Human rights violations happen all the time, and the media have to find and choose the news in order to get a 'good story'. We blank out and forget in order to endure the world. At the same time we are getting used to an absurd way of thinking which implies that, when, for example, the atrocities in Rwanda are no longer broadcast, the stench of corpses and death no longer exists either. The event has ceased to exist when the spotlight has gone.

Concept: a Sculptural Outcry

Over the next ten years, a Pillar of Shame will be mounted once or twice a year to remind us of a shameful event which must never reoccur. The Pillar is a dark obelisk-like sculpture, eight metres tall, consisting of people twisted in surreal grotesque positions. It is simultaneously beautiful and frightening. Each sculpture will be provided with a base to place it in the concrete local context.

It will thus be a reminder of the event that has occurred at that specific place, a reminder of history. The Pillar is to remind us:

that there are considerable human consequen ces and costs when we choose to use violence to achieve our goals.
that we - as humans - are responsible for the treatment we allow human beings to undergo.
that a violent event which has taken place ought not to be forgotten.

The purpose is not necessarily to make one feel ashamed or to turn oneself into a judge, but to mark a dreadful event that has had painful consequences for the civilian population. It is up to the individual observer and the new 'owners' of the Pillar to decide who is to be blamed for the atrocity.

The Pillars of Shame, set up as 'markers' on the Earth, create a special sort of continuity. In virtue of their special magnetism and location, the sculptures will be connected to each other and this will endow each with a unique ability to make us remember.

Symbolism

The Pillar of Shame is a sort of Art-happenings' Amnesty, but instead of writing letters, we set up sculptures at the scenes of crime against humanity. The symbolism of each sculpture will depend on the circumstances in which it is mounted, and what it is intended to mark. The symbolism works at different levels:

The torn and twisted bodies of the sculpture symbolize the degradation, devaluation and lack of respect for the individual.
The black colour symbolizes grief and loss.
Each Pillar of Shame will quickly become locally, and later globally, the symbol of the very event it has been mounted to mark.
The sculpture, which represents the victims, expresses the pain and the despair of the event. It can be used by both sides in complicated conflict situations, where it can be difficult to point out the guilty party.

In situations where the authorities have committed the atrocity, the sculpture (representing the victims) will be very difficult for them to move. Whatever their reaction might be, it will have a symbolic value. If they hide the Pillar away in a warehouse, they will be insulting the victims by sentencing them to oblivion. They will thus be adding to the power of a symbol that is meant to highlight the struggle of the bereaved for remembrance. If they blow it up, they are displaying brutality when they probably are more interested in keeping a low profile. They risk appearing extremely aggressive if they repeat their atrocities, this time against the symbol of the event. On the other hand, if they accept the sculpture, they accept a monument in memory of events that they probably would prefer to forget.

The Pillar of Shame represents a good deal of money: the only symbol which commands global respect. Monuments of this calibre are normally set up in memory of 'heroic' deeds. However, here the sculpture is mounted to serve as a continual reminder of a shameful act which must never reoccur. The Pillar of Shame is impossible to ignore as a symbol of an atrocity and its victims. It is a kind of Nobel Prize of Injustice.

個人感受

　　 "Pillar of Shame" 要代表侵犯人權的事，侵犯人權，大多有死人的後果。筆者覺得一具具扭曲的人臉，一條由死人堆成的屍柱，將侵犯人權的事的結果，具像化地表現出來，作者不含蓄，很坦白的要人去面對這些侵犯人權的事，雖然他強調 The purpose is not necessarily to make one feel ashamed ，但筆者感受到，身為萬物之靈的人類，竟做到自殘同類的惡行，令筆者替人類感到汗顏。
　　作者強調，這件作品，要配合展覽當地所發生的事去「執行」 ﹝ Execute ﹞ ， "Pillar of Shame" 來到香港，就被演譯成「六四事件」的紀念。「國殤之柱」的中文譯名。亦是在香港加上的。國殤即是舉國悲痛的大事，六四絕對是國殤。因此「國殤之柱」只不過是這件作品在香港所代表的事情去起譯名，如果單以「國殤」二字去理解 "Pillar of Shame" ，會有偏差。
　　另外，作者強調，他要表達的訊息 ﹝ 讓世人記住侵犯人權的事 ﹞ ，不是單憑作品完成便可，作品往後能一直展覽下去，也是他的創作過程的一部分。因此讓 "Pillar of Shame" 在香港長豎下去才能夠讓創作完成。這是近代藝術創作的潮流，讓欣賞者參與作品的創作。所以撇開政治的考慮，讓 "Pillar of Shame" 在香港長豎下去，筆者看成是作者跟欣賞者的參與跟交流，亦十分支持這種藝術的創作手法，藝術創作者不應封閉自己的去創作。

後話

　　政治大多是黑暗污衊的，讓藝術沾上政治的陰險動機，是對藝術及藝術創作者的侮辱，身為一個熱愛藝術，熱愛設計的人，都是不希望見到的。