top of page

Exhibition 疊藝術展覽

「壞狗狗」蔡瑞恒個展

"BAD DOG" Cai Ruei-Heng Solo Exhibition

展期 | 2017 / 12 / 16 - 2018 / 01 / 21
地點 | Telling Arts | 疊藝術 台北市光復南路415巷40號
開放時間 | 星期一至日，下午1時至8時

「曾養過一隻臘腸狗，每次看到牠過著吃飯睡覺散步的日子，狗一般單純的生活著，我很忌妒。為什麼牠可以這麼爽。 

就在牠離開我後，除了對牠瘋狂的思念外，也開始思索我和狗之間的分別。為何人們常說活得和狗一樣、累得和狗一樣。那牠是否也曾企圖改變些什麼我的掌控? 或是我造成牠壓力時，又做出了什麼樣的宣洩和表示呢。 

我一方面忌妒我的寵物狗過著單純的狗日，另一方面又覺得牠其實也和人類一樣卑微，被規定著散步的動向、能吃的食物或是交配對象等。當感受到上對下的壓力卻又無力完成改變時，便會做出各種『主人』所認定的『壞事』來舒緩。感受到牠的生命和我的工廠經驗好似一樣。面對壓力和自己無力達成各種要求，焦慮和不安彷彿自己就像隨時都要墜毀的飛機般。為了消彌這樣的不適應，在創作的工廠世界內做點小奸小惡、無傷大雅的遊戲，企圖以幽默和自嘲方式對制度製造些許的斷裂和混亂，卻又不至於改變些什麼。因為制度是如此的龐大，而他們的搗蛋又是如此的渺小。被規則帶著走，只能於制度內進行宣洩和小搗蛋，卑微且不企圖撼動些什麼。 

我想成為一隻狗這件事，和我覺得狗和我自身處境有著異曲同工，相互矛盾了吧。 我和狗的身分交織混雜，成為狗但好像又沒什麼改變。尷尬混亂的狀態讓我創作出模糊不清的狗型，長得像我，既是狗又像豬又像人的。」 ── 蔡瑞恒

文/陳泓鑫 (私藝術空間負責人)

匈牙利學者盧卡奇·捷爾吉（Lukács György）從馬克思的論文中推衍出物化（thingification）的觀念，認為人在資本主義社會下，須把個人當作工具使用，成為可控制、分解、操弄、交換、消費、生產…的東西，進而得到身為勞動工具的報酬。 

當代人類的物化採取了商品化（commodification）的形式，人們用商品化來改造自身，更便利了物化的深度、速度與強度。時至今日，人們已不能完全控制自身的物化，物我、人我關係遂成為所有人文領域的一大討論主題。

蔡瑞恒大學工業管理系的背景讓他有深刻的物化感受。也因此，探討物性文明下的個人主體性及人性，甚至尋找自我，成為他一貫的創作脈絡。

在本次「壞狗狗」的展覽中，蔡瑞恒筆下的狗，明顯有著擬人論（Anthropomorphism）的思維。蔡瑞恒畫的人像自己，畫的狗又像他筆下的人物。總是帶著遲鈍鄉愿的笑意，像個憨傻的大孩子。這使他的作品不僅是生活的片斷書寫，更具有肖像的深度。

當代的生活情境已不可能擺脫物化、商品化，相對個人主體性的失落更加顯著。自我的缺失、都市生活的疏離孤獨、晚婚與未婚、少子化等，讓人不自覺地移情與孩童相似的寵物。因為寵物在人心中除了是永不背叛的親人，更是物性文明生活下的人性失落補償，維繫生而為人的一絲想望。

以壞狗狗之名，我們或者能從展覽中嗅到一絲賣萌但不萌的故意，畫人反類犬的裝瘋賣傻。蔡瑞恒透過創作，鋪展開一段針對現實的「不反抗運動」。藉著荒謬來反應世界的荒謬；藉著不相信來獲得尊嚴和理性。如此，才能堅持著潮流中那渺小的自我。

喃喃自語、機靈而又孤獨的批判性...，敏感的個體靈魂。如果你對蔡瑞恒畫中的憨傻有所共鳴…，那或許你也是當代社會的狄奥根尼（Diogenes）。當大人物擋住陽光時，自己默默的走開不就好了？

“I once had a pet dachshund. Every time I see how it lives life, filled with food, sleep, and walks, I feel envious of its simple and carefree life.

After the dog left, apart from missing my dog, I started contemplating the difference between dogs and me. Why do Chinese-speaking people often say, ‘live like a dog,’ or ‘as tired as a dog?’ Perhaps dogs have thought about changing our control over them? How do they react and express themselves when I become their source of pressure?

On the one hand, I envy my pet dog for its simple lifestyle, but on the other hand, I realize that the lives of dogs are as trivial as human life, with routine walks and fixed routes, limited food options, or mating. When facing pressure from a superior source and their own inability of changing the situation, the dogs rebel against their ‘masters’ with certain ‘bad behaviors’ to release pressure. This empathy towards a dog’s life makes me realize its similarities with my experience of working in a factory. Faced with pressure and various demands that cannot be met, the anxiety and restlessness turn me into a plane that may crash at any minute. To eliminate this discomfort, I perform small acts of harmless rebellion and games within my factory of creativity, attempting to create fraction and chaos within the system through humor and self-deprecating jokes, despite the fact that these attempts are unable to create real change; the system is so massive, and the nuisances are too small. Led blindly by rules and regulations, these catharsis and trouble-making attempts within the system are so petty and incapable of creating real change.

The fact that I would like to become a dog is connected with the similarities between my situation and a dog’s; this is indeed a paradox! My identity is intertwined with a dog’s, but turning into a dog would not change anything. These awkward and messy situations make me create blurred images of dogs. These dogs resemble me; they resemble dogs, pigs, and human beings at the same time.” ── Cai Ruei-Heng

Essay by Mr. Chen Home-Sing (Director of Unique Art)

Hungarian scholar Lukács György’s theory of Thingification was inspired by one of Karl Marx’s research papers. György believed that within a capitalist society, human beings are used as tools, becoming objects that can be controlled, deconstructed, manipulated, exchanged, consumed, and produced. In turn, these people are compensated for their labor.

With the commodification of the materialized contemporary human being, people reinvent themselves through commodifying themselves, leading to the deepening, accelerating, and strengthening of materializing people. Today, people are unable to control the process of being materialized; therefore, the relationship between humans and objects, the self and others, have become a major topic for the humanities.

Cai Ruei-Heng’s background of majoring in industrial management during his undergraduate studies has given him a deep awareness towards the process of being materialized. Therefore, throughout his creative career, Cai has always explored the subjectivity of individuals and humanity under material civilization, as well as the search for self.

During exhibition “BAD DOG”, the dogs created by Cai Ruei-Heng are presented with an obvious sense of anthropomorphism. The people under Cai’s brushstrokes resemble himself, while his paintings of dogs are like people who have a silly, childish, and obtuse smile. With these qualities, his works are not merely fragmented depictions of life but are further embedded with the depth of portraits.

It is now impossible for our contemporary world to escape the forces of being materialized or commodified; this leads to a relatively deepened sense of loss for individuals. The loss of self, the loneliness and alienation of urban life, late marriages and lack of love life, all lead to the unconscious projections of affection towards pets, which are in some way similar to children. To humans, pets are not only loyal family members but also a compensation for humanity in this material civilization, a thread of hope for us as human beings.

Through “BAD DOG”, we may sense a hint of balance between deliberate cuteness and authenticity, a quality of silliness amid the effort of portraying humanity through dogs. Through these creative works, Cai Ruei-Heng embarks on a movement of “non-resistance” toward life, reflecting on the absurdity of life with the absurd and gaining dignity and reason through distrust as a method to protect the self amid the currents of life.

A murmuring, witty, and solidary critique…, the sensitive soul of the individual. If you are touched by the silliness within Cai Ruei-Heng’s works, then maybe you are also the Diogenes of our contemporary society. When the sunlight is blocked out by significant figures, all we have to do is walk quietly away.

Artists
bottom of page