文：马凯臻

贺丹喜欢画人。第一次粗粗浏览贺丹的作品，首得印象，贺丹画了两类人，“一群人”和“一堆人”。不是玩弄文字游戏，因为只要依着贺丹的艺术行旅一路梳理下来，两者的不同一目了然。

显然，如果要给贺丹的创作分期的话，就我现在接触到的贺丹的作品来看，从美院毕业一直到在法国学习（包括在法国学习的初期）这期间，应该算是贺丹艺术行旅的第一个阶段。在这一阶段，贺丹以接近勃鲁盖尔式的艺术旨趣，通过《驴市》（1992年）、《舞尘》（1993年）、《葬礼》（1994年）、《滑冰》（1994年）等作品，努力追忆自己曾生活过的那片黄土地上的旧日歌谣。因此，我们可以把贺丹这一时期的创作看作是他对陕北旧日风情的纪录式遥想。应该说，这一风俗图卷式的呈现方式，对不同肤色与种族，甚至不同时代的读者来说，几乎没有阅读障碍，大家不必凭借太过深厚的生活经验，都不难品察作品中那一群人的生存状态。而且，如果再有相当的耐心，我们还可以大致为那一群人中的每一个人捋出一条不同于别人的生活情节线。就是这样一些人，成群结队地聚集在贺丹的图式文本中，共同呈现洋溢着世俗欢愉的农耕文明的民俗画卷。所以，将这些带有黄土地的族群印记，有着相同的生活方式且又各自展开自己生活故事的人群提供给读者看视，便成为贺丹在这一时期创作的重要标志。

贺丹发生艺术转向的节点是在法国求学期间，几乎像所有前往法国的朝圣者一样，那块特别能够滋润艺术家的土地颠覆了贺丹对艺术的理解，同时也改变了贺丹艺术的精神内涵与文化诉求。

当然，仅从贺丹在图像中继续着成群结队的景观来看，前后两个阶段似乎没有多大差异。但是，除去这条血脉相连的脐带，实际上两者却因承袭了两种完全不同的文化谱系而分别有了不同的意义归属。在第二个阶段的创作中，或者说，在贺丹的艺术蜕变中，有两点应该引起注意：第一，贺丹艺术的觉醒并不是体现在图式的翻新，或者像许多当代艺术家一样，搜寻与调动诸多手段，刻意制造奇崛的陌生化效果，有意无意地使原本明了的图像陷入艰涩的理性空间。贺丹所做的只是将某种悲剧意识与幽默情愫这两种看似难以溶合的美学元素自然弥漫到自己一惯的文本空间中去，从而使读者获得复杂的读解趣味。与此关联，而且更为重要的是第二点，即贺丹笔下人物的身份并没有丝毫的改变，他们的血缘归属仍然带有鲜明的黄土地的印记，并且仍然持续地与现实空间发生着关系。

但是，贺丹的兴趣点已不再是讲述自己同胞的故事，贺丹只是借用他最熟悉的这部分人，去传达自己对人与自然，人与社会，人与未来的理解。因此，被贺丹所熟练操持的乡土的，地域性的语言，一下便被带入到国际化的语境之中，让人们蓦然感受到了后现代工业文明的时代底色。在这种话语策略下，贺丹提供出的人物与场景的意义指向，自然也就超越了对农耕文明的诗意图释，超越了对中国人世俗生活的深情追忆。这时，作为一个族群的存在方式与生存意义，在贺丹的图式文本中就显得那样无关紧要。当然，作为个体尽管他们的体征、情状仍有张三李四的差异，但已殊路同归，各自的命途已被人类的共同遭际所隐蔽。

换句话说，在贺丹那里，每个人的脚下同样有一条路无限延伸，但每一个人面对的路标却指向了同一方向。他们中没有人能够从后现代工业文明的文化境遇中脱身而出，为避免人性的销蚀而躲进刚刚逝去却已十分遥远的农耕文明的桃花源。于是，我们看到，贺丹笔下的原本可以体现不同的生命价值的“一群人”，终于从现实的民俗图景中剥离了出来，瞬间转变成为不可自主命运的“一堆人”。这些灵魂的罹难者或不由自己支配地一齐拥挤在红砖之上，或又不由自己支配地一齐在大树下四处逃散。堆，成为他们的存在方式。作为个体，他们的情感逐渐消亡，他们的生命意义更是模煳不清。

值得注意的是这些作品名称也由颇具象征意味的《人群》、《大树》等取代了如《集市》（1995年）、《滑冰》（1994年）、《葬礼》（1994年）、《过黄河》（1995年）《垒砖窑》（1995年）等这样一些直接描述生活情状的名称。在这样一批作品中，人们以“堆”的存在形式呈现着人的生命的缺席，人的肉身与意识像沙砾一样，被一股自然的、社会的，或其它不可知的潜在势力推来搡去，人们根本无法按照生活固有的逻辑展开行为和实现生命的价值，这使他们的一切行为统统变得徒然。在这样一种生命境遇中，他们或者一律沉默甚至木然，或者一律焦虑甚至惶然，或者一律喧闹甚至狂躁，或者一律无聊甚至无奈……更有甚者，在《黄带子》（创作中）、《刮黄风》（2000年）、《人群之二》（2004年）中，他们生命的气场竟被一条柔弱无比的黄带子绝对阻滞，甚至被撕裂成生命的碎片，或变作无生命的沙砾。

有一点须格外提出，在贺丹呈现的图像中，每一个人都因身不由己地卷入这一人生遭际而显得特别无辜。每一个人，当然也包括贺丹本人。因为我们在贺丹笔下那一堆含煳不清的人物形象中，常常蓦然发现贺丹的身影藏匿其中。我们知道，美术史中常有拉斐尔、德拉克卢瓦这样一些巨匠或多或少都有将自己画入作品中的纪录。但贺丹与他们的文化出发点有所不同，分析具体的画面可知，贺丹将自己扯进图式文本的意义空间，不仅仅是借此坦露自己的人生焦虑，更是证明那“一堆人”并没有被他者化。有意思的是，贺丹前期的创作却不是这样，在他1993年创作的《舞尘》中，虽然也把自己搁进画中，但为了使自己区别于那群狂舞者，贺丹不惜让自己架了一双拐，以确定自己旁观者的身份。然而近期的创作，贺丹再也不可能把自己择出来，他不得不承认自己与“一堆人”的众生一体。更微妙的是，这种把自己择出来，又搁进去的心理游戏，不仅使图像陡增些许幽默情趣，更是使贺丹的表达呈现出虽然敬畏宇宙、自然、人生，但从不恐慌的精神内质，它使得原本缠绕在贺丹作品中的一缕叔本华式的悲观主义情绪，不仅因了这种暧昧呈现而在某种程度上得以化解，更为重要的是，这种精神内质也有效遏制了贺丹对现实世界的或惊悚呈现或轻率否定，以至避免了滑向无所凭藉的空。

现在似乎应该得出这样的结论，尽管在贺丹前后两个时期的创作中，对人的关注是一贯的主题，但前者展示的是人的生活图景，后者则是关注人类的生存境遇以及由此产生的内心映象；两者的文化根须同样结结实实地扎在现实生活中，同样敏感于对生活细节的发现，但后者更以宏观的视野与文化的自觉，理性地抹去生活的细节，拒绝向读者抛售由浅阅读带来的愉悦，以智慧、从容、幽默的书写姿态，使掩蔽的生活本真从纵深显露出来，从而自觉地回应了当代性的召唤，完成了以后现代工业文明为时代底色的当代文本。当然，贺丹并没有止步于人类当代境遇的简单呈现，他还不断地在图式文本中注入自己地追问——人类的未来是诗意还是犬儒地栖居大地？人类不断进步的终点是生命的极尽芳华与绚烂，还是生命的必然衰败与毁灭？就像在贺丹工作室我看到的那件尚未完成的作品《空客A380》，贺丹企图通过它把我们引向对人类命运的无限遐想，这架完美展示人类智慧的大飞机，究竟会将机翼下的芸芸众生带向何方？我们回答得了吗？贺丹，你能回答或回答得了吗？

From the secular pleasure of "a group of people" to the victim soul of "a crowd of people"

-- The interpretation of He Dan's Art

He Dan likes to draw people. The first time I watched He Dan’s art work, my initial impression was that He Dan painted two types of people, “a group of people” and “a crowd of people”. I am not playing word games. I just follow the example of He Dan's artistic creation and development. The difference between the above two types of people is clear to me.

Obviously, we can divide He Dan’s artistic production into different stages. I would like to start with He Dan’s art work looking at it from the graduation of the Academy of Fine Arts to the period of studying in France (including the early stages of studying in France). It is the first stage of He Dan’s artistic career. At this stage, He Dan created paintings like "Donkey Market" (1992), "Dancing with ash" (1993), "Funeral" (1994), "Skating" (1994). Through these works, he strives to reminisce about the old times on the Loess Plateau that he once lived. Therefore, we can regard the art production of He Dan during this period as a record of and nostalgia for the traditional folk customs of northern Shanxi. We can call it a typical genre painting style. For people in different regions and cultures, and even across different ages of audiences, there is almost no barrier to understanding these paintings. People don't have to rely on too much education and life experience, it is not difficult to see the living status of the group of people in He Dan's works. Moreover, if we had a considerable amount of patience, we could roughly draw  lines of life being different from each other for everyone out of the group of people. In such a way a group of people is gathered in the image content of He Dan´s painting and presenting an image of agricultural civilization full of joy as typical for this genre. Therefore, it is an important symbolic expression of He Dan’s art process and production during this period to present people with the characteristics of the Loess Plateau. These people share the same life style and individual life stories as the audiences watching them.

The turning point of He Dan’s artistic career happened during his study in France, almost likely to many of the art pilgrims who went there over time. The new situation, that living there it was particularly possible for the artist to live from his work, was naturally subverting He Dan’s understanding of art and changing the spiritual connotation and cultural appeal of his artistic production.

Of course, concerning the „spectacle of the crowd of people“ in He Dan’s painting there seems to be no difference between the two stages in the development of his artwork. However, in addition to the deep connection to the people of his origins he felt strongly related to, the two stages have different meanings due to relating to two completely different cultural paradigms. In the second stage of He Dan´s art production, or in other words, after the transformation of his take on painting , there are two points that should be noted: First, the awakening of He Dan’s art does not rely  on a complete change of his schemes, in this respect it is unlike the ones of many contemporary artists. Searching and mobilizing many means, he was deliberately creating a „defamiliarization effect“ out of being a stranger, a feeling getting stronger, with the effect of intentionally or unintentionally emerging within the original image and resulting in a difficult rational space. What He Dan did was to diffuse the seemingly incomprehensible aesthetic elements of tragic consciousness and humorous feeling into the content  of his own work, forcing  the audience to involve themselves into complicated possibilities of interpretation. Related to this, but much more importantly, the second point underlines that the identity of the characters in He Dan´s paintings has not changed in the slightest. Their kinship affiliation still bears the imprint of the distinct Loess Plateau, and it continues to occur in a relationship with the real space.

However, He Dan’s interest is no longer, to tell a story about his fellow countrymen. He Dan only uses these people that he is most familiar with to convey his general understanding of people and nature, people and society, people and the future. Therefore, the local and regional language He Dan was skilled in using, is brought into the context of internationalization, transmitting an impression of the backgrounds of post-modern industrial civilization. Influenced by this discourse strategy, the meaning of the characters and scenes provided by He Dan naturally shifts towards a poetic interpretation of the farming civilization and transcends his deep memory of the Chinese secular life. The contemporary living and survival strategies of a group of people have no significance, in He Dan's artistic take they do not matter. Of course, despite their similar emotions and feelings there are still differences between the individuals. But as the saying goes „all rivers run into the same sea“ and so, their destination has been concealed by any human being’s common destiny. In other words, in He Dan's artistic creation, there are also infinite variations of all the person's feet, but the road signs addressing each person always point in the same direction. No one of them can escape from the cultural situation of post-modern industrial civilization. In order to avoid the erosion of human nature, they can try to hide within the peach-blossom sources of the farming civilization that has just passed away. Therefore, we can see that the "group of people" He Dan was drawing can reflect different values of life but have finally been stripped from the realistic folklore scene and instantly has transformed into a "heap of people" who cannot be independent. These victimized souls cannot be crowded on top of the red bricks, nor may they be able to escape under the big trees. To be a crowd, they have to adapt to their same way of being. As individuals, their emotions are gradually dying and their meaning of life is even more ambiguous.

It is worth noting that the names of these works have also been replacing the symbolic “Crowd” and “Big Tree”, such as “Market” (1995), “Skating” (1994), “Funeral” (1994), "Through the Yellow River" (1995) "Build brick kiln" (1995) and other such titles that directly describe the status of life. In this batch of works, people represent the absence of human life in the form of "crowd". The human body and consciousness are like gravel and are pushed by a natural, social, or another unknown force. In the past, people simply could not act according to the logic inherent in life. And they could not understand the value of a life which made all their actions in vain. Under such conditions, they were either silent or even sorrowful, or they were all anxious or even stunned, or they were all clamor or even manic, or they were all bored or helpless... What is more to say, is that in "Yellow Belt" (in production), in the “Yellow Wind” (2000) and “the Second Part of the Crowd” (2004), the environment of their lives was absolutely blocked by a weak yellow belt, and even torn into pieces, or changed into the lifelessness of sand.

One thing that must be pointed out is that in the paintings presented by He Dan, everyone is particularly innocent because of being involuntarily involved in this life. Everyone, of course, also includes He Dan himself. Between the ambiguous figures of people in He Dan's painting we often can see He Dan's own figure  hidden. We know that in the history of art, this happened more often before and that some art-giants such as Rafael or Delacroix have done more or less the same in their own works. However, He Dan has different cultural roots when we compare their respective artwork. An analysis of the specific image shows that He Dan has pulled himself into the content space of his image context, not only to confess his own life anxiety, but also to prove that the motive of "a bunch of People“ was never being used by others in the same systematic way. Interestingly, in the original creation of He Dan this was not always the case. In his "Dust of Dust" created in 1993, although he put himself in the painting, in order to distinguish himself from the group of dancers, He Dan did not hesitate to say „I made a turn to determine the identity of my onlookers“. However, in the recent creation, He Dan did no longer choose to have himself in the image . He had to admit that he himself is integrated into the people of just a „bunch of people." More subtly, this kind of psychological game he chooses and puts  in, not only makes the image a little humorous, but also makes He Dan expressing his fear of the universe, of nature and life, but still never panic. The spiritual, internal quality, which originally wrapped a pessimistic sentiment of an unspoken Chinese style into He Dan's works not only resolved to some extent by this kind of ambiguity, but more importantly, this internal quality also effectively curbed He Dan’s horror or rashness into the real world, so as to avoid slipping into nothingness.

Drawing conclusions there is to say that despite the dividing of He Dan’s art production into two stages, the one before and the one after his visit in France, his close attention to people is a consistent theme.  The first one demonstrates the picture of human life and the latter one focuses on the living circumstances of human beings and is resulting from an inner image. In both cases the cultural roots of the two schemes are firmly tied to real life and are equally sensitive to the details of life. The paintings of the latter one show  more consciousness of a macroscopic vision and culture, and rationally is erasing details of life, refusing to sell  easy pleasure to the audiences brought by shallow and superficial reading. Instead He Dan is aiming to make life visible as covered by wisdom and calmness with a humorous painting position. It is revealed from the depth, and consciously responds to the call of contemporaneity, completing the contemporary subtext of modern industrial civilization as the background of the time. Of course, He Dan did not stop at the simple presentation of a contemporary situation of mankind. He also constantly emits himself into the context of asking whether the future of mankind will be poetic or cynic. Will the end of human progress consist of utmost glory of life or much rather of inevitable decline and destruction? Like in the unfinished work "Airbus A380" that I saw at He Dan´s Studio, he tried to lead us towards a contemplation of life and human destiny. This big plane perfectly displaying human knowledge, where will all mortal beings be brought to? Can we answer it? He Dan, can you answer or answer it?