身体的塑形

周爱民

 

身体是表征意义的符号，是社会意识、文化观念乃至政治权力角逐的场所。身体由灵与肉的二元论观念向社会学的认知转向，与身体有关的崇高理念、信仰及精神象征退隐而出，时尚和消费主义的欲望控制支配了身体形象的塑造。在石巍的《骨感美人》系列作品中，那些青春女性的身体形象柔弱、纤细和苍白，她们或冷艳，或酷味，或性感，是消费主义的身体形象的再现。

 

女性的身体形象是艺术创造的重要对象和题材，特定时代的社会意识和审美趣味或隐或显地烙印在身体形象上。二十世纪五、六十年代，新中国的女性形象一般与劳动场景或劳动工具结合在一起。在骄阳下，她们脸色红润，身体结实，气概饱满。年轻女性们一般有着粗壮的胳膊，挺拔的身姿，还有她们乐观自信的精神状态，表明她们享有与男性一样的社会主义劳动者的权利和力量之美，这样的形象成为新生的社会主义国家的一种象征。到后来，文革时期，男女青年一色的绿军装，在红色的海洋中，在广阔的社会主义天地间，女性的身体形象以标准和统一化的方式出现，她们无差别化的服饰、表情和笼统的欢快心理是国家意志和集体主义信念的一种化身。

 

九十年代以来，中国当代绘画中的女性身体形象发生了变化，消费、时尚和欲望成为建构身体形象的重要因素。女性身体形象的变化，反映出人们认识身体观念的变迁。首先，男性与女性的平等，不再反映为两者形象的无差别化，而是承认男性与女性有着生理上的差异。男子汉气概和女性气质明显有所不同，身体的性别差异和性感意识成为消费主义塑造身体形象的基础。其次，身体形象与趣味、品好及生活方式有密切的联系。消费主义建立起另一种无差别的社会关系——无差别的市场，在丰裕社会人们可以自由地选择自己的所需和所好。但是，这种自由并不表明社会阶层的消失和社会成员享有均等的权利。趣味、品好和生活方式潜在地制约着多极化的社会关系，臃肿和苗条的身材，浅褐色和白色的肤色，粗俗夸张和典雅得体的身体姿态------反映出不同的生活习惯和生活品好。

 

这些身体观念的转向是我们认识石巍绘画创作的基础。从《江山美人》、《视觉暴力》、《视觉变异》到《骨感美人》，石巍的绘画创作一直以女性的身体形象作为画面的主题。《江山美人》将女性身体与传统山水、老虎等猛兽形象重叠在一起，制造了视觉上的重重冲突与矛盾关系。《视觉暴力》与《视觉变异》，则是通过当代的图像技术处理，直接再现出女性身体的变形，表达出当代技术对女性身体形象的侵蚀和伤害。在《骨感美人》系列作品中，石巍除以图像技术强化身体变形外，还意图剖析制造骨感美人的深层的社会意识。

 

骨感美人是消费女性身体形象的欲望想象。T型台上的模特，不只是展现服装，也展现服装与身体的完美搭配，高挑，纤腰，步履舒缓——在聚光灯的照射下，模特们高贵、典雅，万人注目。这样的服装和这样的身体展示，既是生活品味的象征，也是一种奢华与耀眼的生活方式的想象。消费主义的欲望逻辑就是不断地制造生活的想象，不断地制造时尚的幻像。为了塑造自己身体的苗条，时尚追逐者必须控制饮食，控制体重，参与健身和美容。对身体的精心呵护，使她们在满足时尚趣味的同时，越来越远离了自然的身体。对美白亮丽面容的渴求，相应地也使她们对化妆品产生依赖性。这种依赖不只是生理上，也是精神意志上。石巍的作品表现出来的骨感美人们肢体无力、目光散漫，如同嗜毒者。显然，石巍并不是描绘真实的吸毒者。吸毒产生的是欲望的虚幻满足，嗜毒者在上瘾的过程一点一点地侵蚀自己的身体，而由消费主义建构起来的欲望何尝不是刺激身体和灵魂的毒剂呢？尽管这种毒剂看起来更为温柔美丽，并隐蔽得更深。

 

在《骨感美人》作品中，美人们处于私密的空间中，她们肆意地展露性感。而这种性感如同冷灰的背景一般，是冰冷的，而不是有血有肉的。美人们的身躯如同环绕着她们的物什一样，有形态，而无生命——生命和性感都已经物化。如同安迪·沃霍尔不断地复制马丽莲·梦露的头像和《钻石灰尘鞋》一样，尽管它们看起来奢华和性感，但是它们是类像，是消费欲望复制出来的形象，仅此而已。

 

消费时代一方面创造了丰盛的物质、舒适的生活，另一方面也使人在身体、心理方面产生新的压迫和扭曲。《骨感美人》是消费时代类型化的美人，她们美艳性感，但却空洞无物，她们的形象是这个时代的一个符号，铭刻着此时此在的生活观念、生活方式，以及人们在精神上的困惑与不安。

 

 

The  Molding  of  the  Body

                                            Written by Zhou aiming

 

The body is the mark of symbolism, it is the social consciousness, the cultural idea and the place for the contention of political authority even. The idea that the body is made of the spirit and clay has changed to the sociological cognition, the lofty idea, the belief and the spiritual symbol related to the body has withdrawn, the desire of the fashion and the consumption has controlled to mold the image of the body. In Shi Wei's "the Skinny Beautiful Woman Series”,the image of the young girls' bodies is weak, slender and pale, they are indifferent and sex,which displays consumption characteristic.

The image of the female body is the important object and theme of the artistic creation ,in which the social consciousness and the esthetic interest at the specific time either hides or embodies. In the 50's - 60's of 20th century, the female image in new China was generally linked with the work scene or the instrument of labor. In the scorching sun,their faces were red,they were healthy and strong and their spirit was full, which indicated they enjoyed the same worker's right and the strength with the male in socialism, such image had becomed a kind of symbol in the new-born socialist countries. During Great Cultural Revolution time,both the young men and young women wore green military uniform, in the broad socialism world, ,the image of the female body appeared in standard and unified way, their same clothing, expression and the general cheerful psychology were the national will and one kind of incarnation of collectivism faith.

Since the 90's of 20th century, in the chinese contemporary drawing the image of the female body has changed, the consumption, the fashion and the desire becomes the important factor to construct the image. The change of the image reflects that the people's opinion about the body has altered.At first, the female is equal to the male , the image of the female is no longer identical with the male, and people acknowledge that there is the physiological difference between the male and the female. The spirit between them is obviously different, the sex difference and the sexy consciousness are the foundation to portray the image of the body. Next, the image of the body is closely related with the interest and the life style. The consumption has established another kind of  identical social relation and identical market,now our society is in plenty,where people can choose freely what they want. But this kind of freedom does not indicate that all the members enjoy the equal right and there are the different social strata. The interest and the life style is latently restricting the multipolar social relations, extremely fat and slender stature, shallow brown and white skin color, the vulgar and elegant body posture ,reflect the different habits of the life style and the interest.

These changed opinions about the body are the base of which we understand Shi Wei's works. From "Landscape and Beautiful Woman", "Visual Violence", "Visual Variation" to "the Skinny Beautiful Woman", the image of the female body is the important theme in Shi Wei's artistic creation.In "Landscape and Beautiful Woman",the female body is superposed with traditional scenery or the beast such as tiger, making the visual conflict and contradictory relations.In "Visual Violence" and "Visual Variation",through the contemporary processing of picture technology, the female body becomes deformed, which expresses the contemporary technology to corrode and  injure the image of the female body.In "the Skinny Beautiful Woman", Shi Wei does not strengthen the deformed body by picture technology only ,but also analyses the deep social reason why there are the skinny beautiful women.

The skinny beautiful woman is the desire imagination of the image of the female body.The models on T-stage unfold not only the clothing, but also how the clothing and the body match perfectly,they are tall,their waists are slender and the steps are slow;In the spotlight,they are noble,  elegant and spectacular.

Such clothing and body is the symbol of the life savor, it is also a kind of imagination to the luxurious and dazzling life style. The desire of consumption is unceasingly making the life imagination and the mirage of the fashion. In order to shape the figure, the people pursuing the fashion must control the diet and the body weight, they must participate in the body-building and the cosmetology. Protecting the body carefully causes them to be satisfied with the fashion interest, but they are more and more far away the natural body. Seeking having a beautiful white face ,they also depend on the cosmetics correspondingly. This kind of dependence is not only in physiology, but also in the spiritual will.In Shi Wei's works the bodies of the skinny beautiful women are incapable, their vision is sloppy, as if they were the drug addicts. Obviously, Shi Wei does not describe the real drug adicts. Addiction may make people be satisfied with the desire illusorily, the drug addicts are corroding their own bodies gradually during they are addicted to drugs , but we can say the desire constructed by the consumption is the toxicant to stimulate the body and the soul, although this kind of toxicant looks like gently and beautiful, and it hides deeply.

In Shi Wei's "the Skinny Beautiful Woman Series”, the beautiful women are in the private  space, exposing the sex appeal recklessly. But this kind of sex appeal is similar to the gray background, it is ice-cold without vivid. The body of the beautiful woman is similar to the substance surrounding them, it is the form without life --- the life and the sex appeal have already objectified.Just as Andy Warhol duplicated Marilyn Monroe's head portyait unceasingly, although they look like luxurious and sexy, but they are a kind of picture, which is duplicated by the desire of consumption, no more than this.

On the one hand the time of consumption has created the sumptuous matter and the comfortable life, on the other hand it also causes people to have the new oppression and the distortion both at body and in the psychological aspect. The skinny beautiful woman is the type of beautiful woman in the time of consumption, they are beautiful and sexyl, but actually devoid of content, their image is the mark at this time, which represents the life idea and life style of this time, as well as people's puzzlement and restlessness in spirit.