A Tale of Two Nations
兩國演
Acrylic, ash, bronze, and iron on canvas
114 × 195 cm, 2022
“There are, at the present time, two great nations in the world which seem to tend towards the same end, although they started from different points: I allude to the Russians and the Americans. Both of them have grown up unnoticed; and whilst the attention of mankind was directed elsewhere, they have suddenly assumed a most prominent place amongst the nations; and the world learned their existence and their greatness at almost the same time.
All other nations seem to have nearly reached their natural limits, and only to be charged with the maintenance of their power; but these are still in the act of growth; all the others are stopped, or continue to advance with extreme difficulty; these are proceeding with ease and with celerity along a path to which the human eye can assign no term. The American struggles against the natural obstacles which oppose him; the adversaries of the Russian are men; the former combats the wilderness and savage life; the latter, civilisation with all its weapons and its arts: the conquests of the one are therefore gained by the ploughshare; those of the other by the sword. The Anglo-American relies upon personal interest to accomplish his ends, and gives free scope to the unguided exertions and common sense of the citizens; the Russian centres all the authority of society in a single arm: the principal instrument of the former is freedom; of the latter servitude. Their starting-point is different, and their courses are not the same; yet each of them seems to be marked out by the will of Heaven to sway the destinies of half the globe.”
— Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1835
Apr. 16, 2022
“托克维尔的这个预言让我想起了《老子》。”
“This prophecy of Tocqueville’s reminds me of the Tao Te Ching.”
“阴阳相生相克。”
“Opposites engender and counteract one another.”
“美的原则。”
“Yes—and that is an aesthetic principle.”
春心
“想画什么？”
“画《庄子》的混沌之死，画一喉两歌的半部《红楼》……画一封给艺术的情书，就叫它《洛神赋》……画苏轼的《记梦》，画……文字里的华夏文明。”
十七岁逃出国后，我不交同胞，不沾国语，无条件吞咽西方一切。然而却在古希腊哲学中窥见先秦诸子，在文艺复兴里遥望天水一朝，在现代主义美术中思慕文人画，游京都，梦宋唐，穿越基弗的废墟邂逅红楼梦，透过黑格尔、尼采、荣格触摸老庄……我的文明在我出生时已消逝；如今身处异乡，透过他人的语言，追寻属于我的––––阴阳正反的美……但愿今生与前世，能在支离破碎中重逢 。
