The “New Species VIII: Transcendence in Presence” – 2024 Mixed Media Art Invitation Exhibition held its opening ceremony and symposium at the Times Art Museum – Chengdu Section on October 19, 2024.
Nine guest speakers from diverse fields—including art, literature, media, philosophy, and religion—exchanged views on the art exhibition and discuessed whether the development of technology would lead to the formation of a “new species.”
Among them, Professor Zha Changping, an art critic and biblical scholar, currently works at the Christian Research Center of Institute for Studies of Taoism and Religious Culture in Sichuan University. His academic focus includes art criticism, biblical studies, and worldview logical theory. He has published over 200 academic papers and several monographs.
In the first round of discussions on the "New Species" exhibition as a phenomenon-level event, Zha said, "I very much agree...that Chinese contemporary art is a 'surface layer.' Not only contemporary art, but contemporary Chinese society as a whole is also a 'surface layer' within the context of traditional Chinese thought."
Zha summarized works exhibited into three categories. The first includes works aiming to embed Chinese contemporary art, the “surface layer,” into history, focusing on the history of civilization. The second category features works created from the perspective of social history. For instance, the “Facial Make-up” series portrays the medium as a symbolic communication between people, illustrating how individuals living in metaphorical “caves” are opened up by the aid of the medium, and thus are provided a pathway from the self to others. The third category encompasses works on the level of personal growth history, reflecting individual histories and showcasing personal growth.
He said, “The development of art is definitely related to our personal growth. However, I suggest we avoid relying solely on images when creating artwork. Let’s reflect on the purpose of each image we use. I hope contemporary art can delve into this sense of self-historical awareness, social-historical awareness, and spatial-historical awareness.”
“Contemporary art must take root in an awareness of history; otherwise, it will be rootless,” continued Professor Zha. To explain the need for a deep understanding of cultural history, he exemplified a work that dynamically illustrates the creation process of Leonardo da Vinci. To create this work, the artist needs to learn the similarities and differences between da Vinci’s culture centuries ago and ours, the homogeneity worth inheriting, and the heterogeneity that needs to be discarded.
In the second round of the symposium, on “whether the rise of technology will become a new species”, Zha stated bluntly, “Technology is definitely not a new species. If technology becomes a new species, it will lead to fatal problems.”
He mentioned a study conducted among children aged 12 to 16 by a scholar, which found that children who played with their phones for four hours a day had significantly different intellectual levels after four years compared to those who played for only 40 minutes a day.
“People who play with their phones for four hours a day are likely to be ruled by those who only play for 40 minutes. We are indeed controlled by technology today. We spend most of our time on our phones, consuming valueless ‘junk information,’ which is actually a process of enslaving ourselves.”
Zha further discussed why technology has dominated us and become part of our lives. It is because our subjective power of negation has been suppressed. In other words, if a person’s life is not rooted in the history of their own growth, real life, and human civilization, their roots are too shallow to resist the overwhelming control of technology over humanity.
“We must move in the opposite direction of the so-called ‘trendy’, and art is precisely the force for this,” Zha said. When everyone is celebrating, art should refuse to go with them. If art follows, it is called “the art of following the crowd.” In history, such arts were many but were subsequently eliminated.
“Technology is not a ‘new species’; it is always only a parasite, and the key lies in our attitude,” Zha said. If people turn themselves into parasites, technology will control them. If people view technology as a parasite, they can subjectively control it. He advised people to reduce daily smartphone use, especially for valueless junk information, so that they can become the subject and master of their own lives.
- Translated by Charlie Li
2024年10月19日，《第八届新物种：羽化现场》跨媒介当代艺术邀请展于时代美术馆•成都馆正式开幕并举行研讨会。在研讨会上，9位嘉宾就本届艺术展及技术的发展是否会形成“新物种”等话题进行了跨界交流，受邀请嘉宾的研究领域涉及艺术、文学、媒体、哲学、宗教等方面。
其中一位嘉宾查常平教授是艺术批评家、圣经学者，现四川大学道教与宗教文化研究基督教研究中心教授， 学术方向为艺术评论、圣经研究、世界图景逻辑理论，发表学术论文200多篇，出版多本专著。
查常平教授作为本届艺术展的受邀嘉宾，在第一轮针对“新物种”展览作为现象级展览发表看法时，说到：“我很认同魏言老师讲的中国当代艺术是‘草皮’这个观点。不仅中国当代艺术，中国的当代社会在中国的传统思维里面都是一个‘草皮’。”
查教授将本届参展作品总结为三类。第一类，希望将中国当代艺术这个“草皮”植入到历史中的作品，这类作品关心文明史。第二类，在社会史的角度上创作的作品。比如“脸谱”系列作品，用媒介寓意人与人之间的沟通，表达了社会现实中住在洞穴的人被媒介打开，有了从自我进入他者的一个通道。第三类，个人成长史层面的作品。这些作品反映了自我的历史，是个人生命成长的展示。
他说：“艺术的发展一定和与我们个人的生命成长相关。但我建议做艺术作品时尽量避免依图说话…思考每件作品，我们使用这个图像究竟是为了什么…希望当代艺术可以深入到这种自我历史意识、社会历史意识、空间历史意识里面。”
“当代艺术必须要在历史意识里面生根，否则它就没有根，”查教授继续说到，他以展示对达芬奇创作过程动态的理解的一件作品为例，说明需要深入的了解文化史，比如几百年前达芬奇时代的文化和我们的文化的异同，里面值得继承的同质性以及需要抛弃的异质性，这些每个艺术家都需要深入思考。
在第二轮关于“技术的兴起，是否会成为一种新物种？”的讨论中，查教授直截了当地说：“技术绝对不是一种新物种，如果技术成为新物种，那就会导致很致命的问题。”
他提到一位学者在12-16岁孩子中做的一项研究，发现每天玩4个小时手机和每天玩40分钟手机的孩子，在四年后他们的智力水平完全不一样。“玩4个小时手机的人很可能被玩40分钟的人所统治。我们今天的确被技术所控制，我们大部分时间放在手机里，看那些废弃的‘垃圾食品’，这实际上就是把自己奴隶化的一个过程。”
查教授进一步谈到技术为什么统治了我们？变成了我们生命的一部分呢？因为我们主观的否定性力量被否定了。就是说如果一个人的生命不植根于成长的历史、现实生活的历史、人类文明的历史，那他的根太浅，就不能否定那种强大的技术对人的控制。
那人应该怎么办呢？“我们只有逆向而行，艺术在这一点上正好就是力量。”当所有人欢呼的时候，艺术要拒绝鼓掌；如果在所有人都欢呼时，艺术跟着鼓掌，这叫“鼓掌艺术”，这在人类历史上太多了，但自然就被淘汰了。
“技术不是一种‘新物种’，技术永远都只是一种寄生物，关键取决于我们人的态度，”查教授说到，果人把自己变成一个寄生物，技术就会控制人，如果人看技术是寄生物，就可以主观地去控制它。他建议每天少看智能手机，尤其是垃圾信息，人就会变成主体，成为自己的主人。
艺术批评家查常平：中国当代艺术要在历史意识中生根 处理好艺术和技术的关系
The “New Species VIII: Transcendence in Presence” – 2024 Mixed Media Art Invitation Exhibition held its opening ceremony and symposium at the Times Art Museum – Chengdu Section on October 19, 2024.
Nine guest speakers from diverse fields—including art, literature, media, philosophy, and religion—exchanged views on the art exhibition and discuessed whether the development of technology would lead to the formation of a “new species.”
Among them, Professor Zha Changping, an art critic and biblical scholar, currently works at the Christian Research Center of Institute for Studies of Taoism and Religious Culture in Sichuan University. His academic focus includes art criticism, biblical studies, and worldview logical theory. He has published over 200 academic papers and several monographs.
In the first round of discussions on the "New Species" exhibition as a phenomenon-level event, Zha said, "I very much agree...that Chinese contemporary art is a 'surface layer.' Not only contemporary art, but contemporary Chinese society as a whole is also a 'surface layer' within the context of traditional Chinese thought."
Zha summarized works exhibited into three categories. The first includes works aiming to embed Chinese contemporary art, the “surface layer,” into history, focusing on the history of civilization. The second category features works created from the perspective of social history. For instance, the “Facial Make-up” series portrays the medium as a symbolic communication between people, illustrating how individuals living in metaphorical “caves” are opened up by the aid of the medium, and thus are provided a pathway from the self to others. The third category encompasses works on the level of personal growth history, reflecting individual histories and showcasing personal growth.
He said, “The development of art is definitely related to our personal growth. However, I suggest we avoid relying solely on images when creating artwork. Let’s reflect on the purpose of each image we use. I hope contemporary art can delve into this sense of self-historical awareness, social-historical awareness, and spatial-historical awareness.”
“Contemporary art must take root in an awareness of history; otherwise, it will be rootless,” continued Professor Zha. To explain the need for a deep understanding of cultural history, he exemplified a work that dynamically illustrates the creation process of Leonardo da Vinci. To create this work, the artist needs to learn the similarities and differences between da Vinci’s culture centuries ago and ours, the homogeneity worth inheriting, and the heterogeneity that needs to be discarded.
In the second round of the symposium, on “whether the rise of technology will become a new species”, Zha stated bluntly, “Technology is definitely not a new species. If technology becomes a new species, it will lead to fatal problems.”
He mentioned a study conducted among children aged 12 to 16 by a scholar, which found that children who played with their phones for four hours a day had significantly different intellectual levels after four years compared to those who played for only 40 minutes a day.
“People who play with their phones for four hours a day are likely to be ruled by those who only play for 40 minutes. We are indeed controlled by technology today. We spend most of our time on our phones, consuming valueless ‘junk information,’ which is actually a process of enslaving ourselves.”
Zha further discussed why technology has dominated us and become part of our lives. It is because our subjective power of negation has been suppressed. In other words, if a person’s life is not rooted in the history of their own growth, real life, and human civilization, their roots are too shallow to resist the overwhelming control of technology over humanity.
“We must move in the opposite direction of the so-called ‘trendy’, and art is precisely the force for this,” Zha said. When everyone is celebrating, art should refuse to go with them. If art follows, it is called “the art of following the crowd.” In history, such arts were many but were subsequently eliminated.
“Technology is not a ‘new species’; it is always only a parasite, and the key lies in our attitude,” Zha said. If people turn themselves into parasites, technology will control them. If people view technology as a parasite, they can subjectively control it. He advised people to reduce daily smartphone use, especially for valueless junk information, so that they can become the subject and master of their own lives.
- Translated by Charlie Li
Christian Art Critic Zha Changping: Chinese Contemporary Art Must Root in History, Balance With Tech
