受格哈德·里希特启发的抽象绘画
格哈德·里希特 是我们这个时代最杰出的在世艺术家之一。在课堂上经过关于艺术功能以及现代与当代艺术发展历程的长期讨论后，我向学生们展示了里希特从具象程度最高到最抽象的一系列作品。我们探讨了抽象绘画本质上取决于艺术家的选择，而非技巧。另一个有趣的角度是：摆脱创作目的的束缚，单纯依靠绘画行为本身、依靠创造过程中的惊奇感、依靠“动手实践”所带来的意外之喜。
引用格哈德·里希特的话：“当我绘制一幅抽象画时（这一问题在其他情形中也基本相同），我既无法预先知道它最终会呈现何种样貌，也无法在作画过程中明确自己意欲达成的目标，更不知该如何抵达那个目标。”——格哈德·里希特
观看这段视频，了解艺术家实际的创作方式后，我们为自己的抽象绘画实践归纳出三个步骤：
- 用三至四种纯色绘制背景，形成饱满、自由流动的慢速形体；
- 在一张硬纸板条的边缘涂上一至两种浓重颜料，该纸板将充当刮刀；所选颜色应与背景色形成某种对比（明/暗对比，或色相上的对比色/互补色）；
- 将满载颜料的纸板“刮刀”缓慢地单向滑过画面（自上而下、自左向右，或反向），过程中变化其倾斜角度与施加压力。
此次“抽象”实践结束后，我们交流了面对空白画纸却无指令、无限制、无预设方案时各自的感受，以及对最终结果之意外性的反应。有人因如此自由地作画而感到不适，有人则体验到喜悦与亢奋；有人觉得第三步是在毁掉自己的画面，另一些人却从中发现了新颖的色彩组合与出人意料的画面深度。但有一点我们全体认同：我们玩得很开心！
以下是本次实践的视频记录：三步走近格哈德·里希特
Abstract painting inspired by Gerard Richter
Gerhard Richter is one of the most outstanding living artists of our time. After a long discussion in class about the role of art, and about the developments of modern and contemporary art, I showed the students the works of Richter, from the most figurative, to the most abstract. We talked about how the abstract painting is a matter for the artist’s choices, and certainly not the skills. Another interesting aspect was to break away from the purpose of the project and simply rely on the action of painting, on the wonder of creation, on the surprise that “doing” can give.
Quoting the words of Gerhard Richter: “When I paint an abstract picture (the problem is very much the same in other cases), I neither know in advance what it is meant to look like nor, during the painting process, what I am aiming at and what to do about getting there.” -Gerhard Richter
After watching this video on how the artist practically works, we defined the three steps for the creation of our abstract work
- paint a background in three or four colors, with solid colors and free-slide slowform shapes.
- put one or two thick colors on the edge of a strip of cardboard that will serve as a spatula. Choose colors in order to have some kind of contrast with the colors of the background (light / dark, or contrasting colors / complementary)
- slide slowly your cardboard “spatula” full of paint over the painting, in a single direction (from top to bottom, from left to right or vice versa), varying the inclination, and the pressure.
At the end of this “abstract” experience we talked about how we felt in facing the blank page without instructions, limits or projects, and how we reacted to the surprise of the result. Somebody felt discomfort in painting so freely, somebody has felt joy and euphoria. Some seemed wasting their picture in the third phase, someone else has discovered color combinations and surprising depths. On one thing we are all agreed: we had fun!
Here we have the video of our experience: Gerard Richter in three steps
