“本根的创造性”与“意义的复合性”--从中西方创新差异看当代中国艺术评判基本标准

“Creativity Rooted in Tradition” and “Composite Meanings”: Comments on the Critical Standards of Chinese Contemporary Art from the Perspective of the Difference Existing in “Inventiveness” Between Chinese and Western Art

来自西方的当代艺术是以不断否定前行者的创新模式来加以推进的,而中国主流艺术仍主张在传承中加以继承发展,这恰是中西之别,也有古今之异。当代中国艺术的评判标准,第一是要有创造性,也就是自本土生根;第二是要呈现出复合性的意义。由此,所谓"本根的创造性"(creativity rooted in tradition)和"意义的复合性"(composite meanings)便成为了衡量当代艺术最重要的两个标准。这个标准的获得得到了美国美学家阿瑟·丹托的启迪,但是丹托的艺术定义对于中国仍是一种"理论霸权",他认定如果在东方与西方艺术之间的任何差异都不能成为艺术本质的组成部分。在全球化时代,当代的中国艺术在确立本土与全球的双重价值的时候,必须应对的来自西方艺术的理论与践行的挑战。

The misinterpretation of National Art Exhibition from Western critics is precisely due to the different "effective system of inheritance" functioning respectively in Chinese and western art. Consequently, the progression of western contemporary art come into being by constantly denying the inventiveness of its predecessors, while the mainstream of Chinese art still advocates the development through inheritance. It is precisely the different progressing mode of occidental and Chinese art, as well as the difference between Chinese antiquity and modernity. The critical standards of Chinese contemporary art firstly call for creativeness, that is to say, Chinese contemporary art is expected to take its root in tradition, meanwhile to deviate from it;Secondly, Chinese contemporary artworks are required to present composite meanings. Therefore, the so-called "creativity rooted in tradition" and "composite meanings" have become the two most essential standards to evaluate contemporary arts. The institution of the standard was inspired by the American aesthetician Arthur Danto, but Danto’s definition of art is still a kind of "theoretical supremacy" for China, and he believes that if any individuality between oriental and occidental art cannot constitute the essence of art. In the age of globalization, Chinese contemporary art has to meet the challenge of western art theory and practice when establishing the dual value of local and global.