James Lui  雷暐邦

Review on James Lui’s Work

 

Scynge Xing

 

When I first came to know James’s work, I found his position in his way of art-making quite intriguing. The spark of novelty shines through the shield of naivety, while a good deal of seriousness comes from a slight of humorous absurdity.  

 

His technique is not the same as the creation of a general criticism. Aesthetics is a very important part of his creative ideas. Aesthetics and divinity are inseparable from the human aesthetic experience. Cynical's works often appear to be very thin and, to some extent, lack imagination and use anger as motivation to maintain the feeling of survival. This is not in his works. The device he designed himself has its own style and ingenuity. It is not self-contained. Many times the material needed is simple, with personal innocence, although the device will look particularly simple/simple/naive in the ordinary state. However, in photographs that have been constructed over time, they can express a completely different state of wonder. Such a contrast can make one see the kind of feeling of "human chasing God", but this kind of force is not cynical, not cumbersome (at least in his description). This kind of force, under his "lovely innocence" device, would look like a light weight feeling.  Angesus / to have the fish see the sunrise / invisible sketch/the morgue is a combination of personally designed devices and works done by photography. In photography, it actually integrates the dimension of time and discusses a proposition about divinity. There is a kind of “incompatibility with unspoken form”. Force feeling.

It occurs to me, James takes on a gesture as a sort of modern-day priest who persistently navigates his way of art-making through the guidance of the deity whom he worships. Yet, the deity is the unknown, the ineffable entity of nature, while the guidance relies on the artist’s sensibility, the ability to perceive the world in its full spectrum.  

James approaches his idea in a quite deliberate manner with reserved disposition. His works start from a naive yet interesting self-made installation that seems to be very simple, crude, and fragile. The structure is usually made of raw compound wood, electronic devices with easily designed metal welding or interlocking. In the work, Invincible (Sketch), the installation is designed as a metaphor of the artist’s body, like the singular entity of human existence, which is delicate yet insubstantial for weight, and subject to mortality. Presented in time-based medium including long-exposure photography and video clips, the work then introduces time as another dimension, revealing the physical power of time on objects and space. Three guts of wind, as the measurement of time, reveals the bodily relationship between human perception and the environment.UV light, as a visible source of energy, dances with the wind through the installation, which makes it possible to casts light onto something tangible, abstract, and obscure.

The word “Distance”, is what occurred to me when I looked at James’ artwork.  
Human beings are so bound by time and space. Living towards mortality, we inevitably perceive the world through a time-based perspective. How would one compare oneself to the stature of God, the everlasting state of being with its own omnipotence? How would one think of oneself when compared to the power of nature, physics, and gravity? In fact, one may only claim to be a priest, a prophet of the vision; or, to betruly as close as the divine for seconds, then collapses. It is the distance between so fragile an existence call human being and the hidden rules of the world that takes the shape of god. A distance hardly to be penetrated or trespassed. It is also the distance which James in his work persistently aspires to reach and go beyond. 

 

 

 

 

1. About sacred, about nature: If this God who rules everything must have a statue (icon) to exert its power, then this god must be a false god and many times what impressed me is yours. The existence of this statue is never needed in the work, but it still allows me to feel holy [holy] here. This is the most moving place. The true sacrificial priest does not need to emphasize the importance of the image as the believer repeatedly. He only needs to master the principle of the miracle, and as a port of communication, it can be made at a specific place. This is fully reflected in your installation photography work "The Beauty of God's Hand Unparalleled Beauty 2018". I think the real divinity lies in the fact that individuals can break through their narrow limits and realize the connection between themselves and things to achieve a balance in a natural state. There can be tilts like different dimensions, but in the end you can achieve a free flow of multiple elements. Buoyancy, on the other hand, is one of the manifestations of this state. The real core of force lies in the balance between the contact and collision of different substances through volume/area/mass, alternating conversion. This state is naturally beautiful! Imagine that human beings are just a dusty mustard in the world. How can He De can ride the wind and waves, and flow freely in this vast space without destroying and aging? Therefore, if there is, which moment, which one exists, can reproduce this state, how can we not be moved and impressed? !

2. The work of "The Unparalleled Beauty of God's Hand" focuses on the multiple definitions of beauty between the two devices of installation and photography.
In my opinion, your installation is not just for photography. The beauty of the image is important, but it is only about the light and time, the 4-dimensional steering of the two-dimensional surface. The installation works precisely reflect the creator's overall unity and balance of physics, the interaction between things, and the multiple reflections in the four-dimensional space. This is crucial. The work "The past, present and future aesthetics of the wind, October 2, 2018" is actually a work that has further expanded your thinking about installation works, buoyancy, and fishing. Here I saw that you started to think through materials and space, and in your work, you are thinking about fishing and the relationship between things and things in space. I can see that some bold and straightforward attempts and expressions are a good direction.

3. Regarding your sketch video, its straightforward political propaganda reminds me of my discussion of political metaphors with my friends. Still about the difference between God and false gods. The truly touching miracle is that you don't need a pope/a symbol/an icon to teach you that it is a miracle. People will unfold the true miracles that come together. Because power will naturally flow from the source to the heart, no need to say much. This is why God does not need a specific image, God can be everywhere. Whoever has mastered the way he communicates with him can walk with him for a journey. Therefore, I think that the most taboo in art works is to directly convey to the audience the kind of instructional symbol that A is B. This is not a good sacrifice (laugh).

Only a power organ caninstill ideology into people without thinking, such as "freedom, democracy, prosperity and harmony.
“The political slogan. And I feel that if an artist wants to criticize such a political/right system, his work must not be in the same way. It must be a softer and more delicate way to deal with the relationship between metaphor and image. If you want to introduce something about Christianity into your work, you must also infiltrate it in a delicate way, and never by propaganda (although I don’t think it is necessary at all)

 

 

 

James Lui的作品回顾

刑云馨

当我第一次认识James的作品时，我发现他的艺术创作方式非常有趣。新奇的火花通过天真的盾牌闪耀，而大量的严肃来自轻微的幽默荒谬。

 

他的手法是与一般批判性质的创作是不一样的，美学在他的创作理念是很重要的一部分，而美学与神性，与人类的审美体验是分不开的。 Cynical的作品很多时候会显得很单薄，某些程度上会显得想象力匮乏，以愤怒作为动力维持生存的感觉，这在他的作品里是没有的。他自己设计的装置很有自己的风格和巧思，不流于俗套，很多时候需要的材料很简单，带着个人化的天真，虽然在普通状态下装置会看起来尤其简单/简陋/幼稚，但是在有时间构建的摄影作品里，又可以表达出截然不同的奇妙状态，这样的反差，会让人看到那种“人追逐神的那种较力的感觉”，但是这种较力却不是cynical的，不是笨重疲惫的（至少他的表述里没有看出来）这种较力，在他“可爱天真”的装置下，会看起来像是举重若轻的感觉。Angesus /to have the fish see the sunrise / invisible sketch/the morgue这几个都是用个人设计的装置结合摄影完成的作品，而摄影里其实结合了时间的维度,讨论一个有关神性的命题，有一种“与无法言说之形相互较力”的感觉。

在我看来，James以一种现代牧师的姿态出现，他通过他所崇拜的神灵的指导持续地导航他的艺术创作方式。然而，神只是未知的，自然界不可言喻的实体，而指导则依赖于艺术家的敏感性，以及在全方位感知世界的能力。
James以一种非常慎重的态度接受了他的想法，并保留了自己的意向他的作品从一个天真而有趣的自制装置开始，看起来非常简单，粗糙且脆弱。该结构通常由原料复合木材制成，具有易于设计的金属焊接或互锁的电子设备。在作品“无敌（草图）”中，装置被设计成艺术家身体的隐喻，就像人类存在的单一实体一样，它精致而无体重，并且容易死亡。以时间为基础的媒体呈现，包括长时间曝光摄影和视频剪辑，这些作品将时间引入另一个维度，揭示时间在物体和空间上的物理力量。作为时间的衡量标准，三道风揭示了人类感知与环境之间的身体系。紫外线作为一种可见的能量来源，与风一起在整个装置中舞蹈，这使得可以将光投射到有形，抽象和模糊的物体上。

当我看着James的作品时，“距离”这个词就是我想到的。
人类受到时间和空间的限制。朝着死亡的方向努力，我们不可避免地以时间为基础来看待世界。我们如何将自己与上帝的身份相比较，那就是拥有自己全能的永恒存在状态？与自然，物理和引力的力量相比，人会怎么想呢？事实上，人们可能只声称自己是一名神职人员，一名视觉先知;或者，要真正像神圣一样接近秒，然后崩溃。它是如此脆弱的存在称为人类的世界与以神为形式的世界隐藏规则之间的距离。距离很难被侵入或侵入。这也是James在他的工作中始终渴望达到和超越的距离。

 

1.關於神聖，關於自然：如果這個主宰萬事萬物的神必須需要一個神像（圖標）才能發揮其力量，那麼這個神，必定是個偽神而很多次能夠讓我印象深刻的便是，你的。作品裡從來不需要這個神像的存在，卻依舊可以讓我感受到聖潔【聖潔】此處光澤沐人。這才是最動人的地方。真正的祭祀神官不需要像信徒反复強調神像的重要性，他只需要掌握神蹟出現的原理，並作為傳達的端口，於特定地點時刻製造神蹟就可以了。這一點就充分體現在你的裝置攝影作品“上帝之手無雙的美2018”裡面。我覺得真正的神性在於，個體可以突破自身狹隘的限制，去體悟自身與事物之間的聯繫，達成一種自然狀態下的平衡。這裡面可以出現像不同維度的傾斜，但是最終一定可以達成一種關於多種元素的自由流轉。而，浮力，大抵便是這種狀態的其中一種表現形式浮。力真正的內核，在於不同物質之間通過體積/面積/質量的接觸與碰撞，交替轉換，最終達成的一種平衡。這種狀態，自然是極美的！試想，人類不過是世間一粒塵芥，何德何能可以乘風破浪，行雲流水般自由流淌在這個廣袤的空間中，而沒有發生毀滅與衰歲呢？而因此，如果有那，哪一刻，哪一種存在，可以重現這種狀態，我們又怎麼不會為之動容，印象深刻呢？！

2.“上帝之手無雙的美”這個作品的重點在於裝置與攝影兩種媒介關於美的多重定義。
在我看來，你的裝置作品並不是僅僅為了攝影服務的，影像上的美感固然重要，但是那個僅僅是關於光與時間，4維轉向2維的表層的呈現。而裝置作品，恰恰是充分體現了創作者對於物理，對於事物之間的相互作用，對於4維空間裡的多重思考而形成的整體上的統一和平衡。這一點，至關重要。作品“風的過去，現在和未來美學，2018年10月2日“其實是承接了你對於裝置作品，浮力，垂釣的思考，進一步拓展的作品。在這裡我看到了你開始通過材料以及對於空間的思考，在作品裡呈現你對於垂釣，以及那種物與物在空間上的關係的思考。我能看出來一些大膽的直抒胸臆的嘗試和表達，是個好的方向。

3.關於你的素描視頻，它直截噹噹當的政治宣傳讓我想起了我和朋友關於政治隱喻的探討。還是關於神與偽神的區別。真正感人至深的神蹟是不需要一個教皇/一個符號/一個圖標來教條式的告訴你這是神蹟的。人們會不約而同的真實的神蹟歸攏。因為力量會自然而然從源泉流淌至人心，無須多言。這就是為什麼上帝不需要一個具體的形象，上帝可以是無處不在的。誰掌握了和他溝通的方式，誰就可以與他相伴走過一段旅程。因此，我認為藝術作品裡，最忌諱的就是直接了當的向受眾傳達甲就是乙的那種指令性符號，這不是一個好祭祀應該做的事情（笑）。

只有一個權力機關才會如此不假思索的向人灌輸意識形態，就比如“自由民主富強和諧“的政治口號。而我覺得如果一個藝術家想要批判這樣的一種政治/權利體制，其作品必定不能採取同樣的方式，一定是要更加柔和的更加細膩的處理裡面關於隱喻關於影像的關係。正如，如果你想要在你的作品裡引入關於基督教的東西，也必定要以滲透的方式，細膩的方式，而絕不是以宣傳的方式（雖然我覺得這根本不需要）