mMK

近日看了一本幾好的書,頗值推薦,是劉紹麟寫的香港的殖民地幽靈-從殖民地經驗看今天的香港處境,雖然收筆於董下曾上,卻更中其主題.其把雞變做鴨或然難解,睇檔人思維之說卻更使我想到菠蘿油王子中那睇檔間變成個佬的一幕.還有如對between colonizers等的挑戰說法,從台灣獨立的風險評估到直昇機救高樓技術開發等例子也是怪筆,行文有點洪清田的風格.

Guy Debord is really dead
Jonathan Napack died
先後收到兩個死為題的email,
找回聽到的這段,湊夠成三.
剛成為全球最老人瑞的波多黎各人托羅周三逝世，終年115歲。托羅在上月才接棒成為全世界年紀最大的人瑞，接替當時離世的116歲美國女人瑞博爾登。在博爾登及托羅相離去世後，現時全球最老人瑞是美國康涅狄格州的114歲女人瑞蒂爾曼。
還有半小時完結一天,電視提到甘地當年今日被刺殺,三還是被湊成四.

[激~]什麼都一腳踢.搞掂了設計送了去印.才收到來覆內容有問題.真吹脹.第一次有designer的惱火.

[廢~]剛才去了茶果嶺一地痞茶餐廳,仍有人在內抽煙,牆上竟還有部平幕電視,雖然接收跳吓跳吓.

[噚~]有晚到樓下美心進餐,發現有個大banner賣年糕,標榜有六四折,原來無人再對此數字有避忌.

Few paragraphs from Seeing Dollar Signs Is the art market making us stupid? Or are we making it stupid? by Jerry Saltz in the Village Voice:

In the 1970s, conceptualist Joseph Kosuth said, "The only people who care about art are artists." That's changed. But is the art world of greater interest to people outside of it because art has become more interesting or because art is a hot property? Is the market creating a competitive atmosphere that drives artists to produce better work or is it mainly fostering empty product?

Consider the lame-brained claim made by Sotheby's worldwide head of contemporary art, Tobias Meyer, who recently effused "The best art is the most expensive because the market is so smart."

The market is now so pervasive that it is simply a condition—as much a part of the art world as galleries and museums. Even if you're not making money—as is the case with most of us—that's your relationship to the market. To say you won't participate in the market is like saying you refuse to breathe the air because it's polluted.

很沮喪的去睡,發了個惡夢醒.
起來寫blog.
藝術文化政治,我的夢關事嗎?算入個人意見可以嗎?
昨天去了牛棚,又走訪富德樓.是不是來個報導更有意思?(對別人,對自己於別人的身份有意思?)
個夢使我憶起幾次俾人話,我唔回大陸是把人民和國家政權混淆,我完全唔同意.一直覺得是倒番轉才真,我唔想他們生活在那政權下.
生活太多沒意思的東西.什麼也向幾樣價值傾斜.藝術也不例外.
為了種種要向別人交代(不失別人面子)的事,很忙,事實上,這會令我無時間把手頭的自己的東西做好,真是本末倒置.
今個星期只陪了阿媽一日,但想無人(除了我幫到的)會理,我只是另一個的人民.而人人有本自己難諗的經.

walked pass the old star ferry and queen pier more than twice yesterday. for only on my detoured way home, remember I have a dance show at City Hall to watch. the show ended with lennon's imagine, another anthem for addressing the social political, the humanity.
On my way home, decided to torn down my own little work. it too, is mission accomplished. will try and think out something else.

早些時已留意到林夕填詞的李克勤的《天水、圍城》,林夕雖在訪問指特首的施政報告也承認該區城市規劃不完整,但我的感覺歌詞這種全憑勤力/血路/照做/進步,走出困境精神更像是政府委托的軟性宣傳.就像李克勤上次歌裡叫我們要去保護基本法,乜唔係由基本法來保護我們的麼?近日濕地公園公佈入場人數大超預期,但我反留意到一則氣憤新聞,就是西鐵補償濕地欠缺管理,大部份為乾旱草地,在鐵絲網陣中有潭死水的那片,長的也非濕地植物.乘搭西鐵去的濕地公園,不過又是一個把原有的生態去掉,趕入主題公園的一個發展邏輯.
可惜有禽流感,否則把西九作為港灣的人工濕地,這絕對是一個世界級地標.

在Amsterdam的muziekgebouw音樂文化中心一間Café

星期三看了第一晚節目,見人不多,本想在這裡宣傳一下第二晚的節目,但幫了手搞友人中學美術交分的衝刺,忘了,結果第二晚更精彩的節目,一樣人不多,真是可惜.所講的節目是
色即是......
由舞者方俊權、吳詩韻、龍植池及楊春江在一輪jamming後的一場即興演出,如此的演出在本地實在難得.

看了從圖書館借來的胡恩威的香港風格,很覺平平無奇,visual culture大概有其直率的道理,我想起的是peter cookson smith的the urban design of impermanence: streets, places and spaces in hk裡的插圖.雖然這種素描圖似從相片加工而來,不像舊一輩的寫生有味,但其截取的城市景觀依舊引人入勝.
不知不覺間近日看了還有潘國靈的城市學,和茹國烈的給城市寫信(blog),小西網介的許日銓在文明單位講皇后碼頭 .還有一本待看的是建築的社會場域(socius).另上陣子還留意到有本民政事務局委約文化界人士以獨立編輯委員會方式出版的「香港點滴系列」的《THE 逼 CITY 》內裡有篇oscar文章,一直想要找找來看.
我常埋怨,藝術系沒有教,卻在當代藝術佔有份量的,除了fluxus外,就是situationists.peter wollen的mapping:situationists and/or conceptualists是我的下一篇閱讀目標.

俾立法會中的孫明揚激死.政府唔改動城規規劃,唔聽現有市民要求原址保留皇后碼頭,原來因怕萬一有人反動原址保留皇后碼頭,程序會拖,所以一切計劃依舊.

Visited only the 2 Wah Luen Block this year. Not feeling too comfortable while on my way, not used to so much people and crowds, but turn out feeling quite gd when leaving, must be because of the works I saw. don't know if it will draw even more people over three weekends or then able to spread them out a bit.

3 Must See

Embassy Project A/B 4f19
though lp do not like it, I thought it could open up the local options in exhibition format, the works (as with the theme) aren't bad either. Must be T.H.'s Energy Yes criteria deep down again. (a link mentioning it here)

the galleryMill A 15f1
The usual and ever more refine Sara Tse, plus a nice Chester Chu piece.

Loft 21 A 6/21
An almost perfect solo show of ivy ma, perhaps, because of its solitude. a world so close so farway, of poetic transformation (which usually was not my taste). maybe the act of getting those "goods" from charity stores already touches me.

Stuffs to see
615 B 6f15
Mr. 221 A 2f21

5 with something that might worth seeing
=(o-otter studio A 4f22 (find an article by wwy on her works here)
Yi Liu Painting Factory A 15f21
Tone Quarters A 15f20
5@5 B 5f16
Mountain Loft B 17f7

I guess and do hope this list won't be surprising at all.

借了<<評論音樂評論>>來看,對於樂評的式微,似乎大家都無計,但我想,這跟寫開的人有什麼關係沒有.當然,大環境才是主因,書當中有篇劉志剛的文,提到一個近來很熱的睇法,就是中產階級崩潰.而周凡夫從心理狀態來論評論人,或者正是對大談評論專業化的一個大諷刺:

when leaving fotan yesterday, chat with Leungpo a little about this and that. she has attended the briefing at HK Museum of Art that morning on the coming guest curator project. (I was not invited, so whether my future opinion on this is sour grape, it is up to you to decide.) Leungpo said that the guest curatorship idea has been proposed by the circle for a long time. I am not sure however if it began already in the round of protests when the museum just opened, but it does bring in the show in 2000 (which is of course not the same thing in people's mind). In the lunch meeting I attended much earlier (as noted in another entry), I did propose the museum to start a series of guest curating project, but what I have in mind, is based on the "kabinettstücke" model of the Städel (see the one that I saw here). One that is not of any full-blown scale, low budget (even with existing collection), allowing hence some experimental stuffs, without too much failure pressure on everyone's part. the success won't be any spectacle, but delicate execution and insights. What will the present model leads to, I have no clue, ask those who attended the briefing to speak out (the circle have such rights, they have this responsibility), I just hope it won't be another 004.

...that number is proportionally the same as seventeen milliion in the US. ... - tobias berger

watching an interview of Bush and found him talking like Tung Kin Wah, not trying to win popularity, believing himself to be right despite polls said otherwise, tobias' above words immediately came to mind. Unfortunately 7.1 happened in HK, which has not get the political structure change, while there is this elected president in US, no people this magnitude came out.
is there a direct relationship behind, either one or the other?

If not having met Wu Shanzhuan in person,
maybe I might find this mis-information about him most revealing about his art?

那天才還在向友人怨自己買太多書,今天卻還是忍不著手,在流動風景二手書店的樓梯特價櫃上把它買回來,雖然明知唔會攞起佢讀.但見佢流落到我面前,就是感覺非買不可.
一本德文版的de Duve的Pictorial Nominalism.

隨手翻看了張炳良的公共管治政策(cup出版),唔見得佢條議商式權力之路有得行,對著中國大陸就尤其是,苦口婆心不等於各方死結能解,低度整合可改變,說跟陶君行有計傾又如何?不同的是,佢現在有分共治,在民主黨時無.

This is a web magazine p.w. passed on to me,
http://www.trauma-interrupted.org/ctrlp/issue3.pdf
the magazine is dull as a model for what I proposed, but I found the images of Obrist's Nano Museum in it much more interesting. I will make one myself, anyone like to show their work this way?

座談會內容　
政治藝術在台灣的懸欠，可視為是台灣藝術的一個重大徵候。然而，政治藝術的缺席並非是政治因素（political factor）在藝術的缺席。在台灣，政治力作用的不可為，外加上在全球化過程中在地文化不得不放在國家性的括弧中展現。台灣在命名（naming）上的匱乏，可見於台灣從1980年代以來作為一個不完整能指──非國家性的國家──之窘境註腳的發展。如果，真正行進於政治領域中的藝術，將足以切中在地文化的實性；然台灣在政治上的不可為（或者政治藝術的缺席），卻促使了藝術以「政治寓言」的方式呈現，從這個角度觀察， 1990年代末到現在台灣當代藝術中的無厘頭、Kuso（惡搞）、Otaku（御宅族、宅男）等等講求自我表現，卻又喃喃自語的寓言狀態，看似特意規避政治力，但實已某種構成「所欲無可為之」的政治展現，一種「困頓、沮喪於現狀」的表態，一種台灣（年輕）藝術家們作品中特有的政治寓言空間。我們大膽以「頓挫藝術」（Art of Frustration）這個名詞作為思考的關鍵字，來幫助我們重新釐定出一個新的台灣藝術發展脈絡。這也是對於將台灣當代藝術便宜行事地置入一個表面的文化多元主義並且沾沾自喜的一種抵抗 ；相反的，這是一個將藝術重新放進在地文化的企圖，一個新的啟蒙狀態。

finished the article on dance and translation, late again for a half day, for at this age, really not wanting to work overnight again. At tea time, got finally time to finish off the few pages left in Liu Xaofeng's bk on Schmitt. Surprise to see, he chose to mention in the last footnote of the bk, a supplementary chapter on German Weimar crisis, a gossip about Hong Kong (on what happened to the education system that triggers him away?). Under Liu's view, Schmitt seemed so much a defender of democracy (just as how the New School portrait Leo Strauss in the conference I attended), against the Nazis from taking over, the incident which what Regina Yip has been infamous for saying.
So, what's stay is the worry that the interpretation that National Security thus has its priority over Parliamentary Democracy.

Every two months, you see me disappearing for some days, sitting back to write for the Dance Diary Column in the HK Dance Journal. (Actually my first and only (after quitting ampost) column, since 2002).

Only today, as I was researching for related materials, it came to me, why not pose what I found interesting or relevant stuff here as well?

Review : Testimony (CCDC)

Departed and betrayed, Martin Scorsese's "The Departed" does not live up to its model?

The plot, in its glorious improbability, acts as a guarantor for the genre itself. The plot is nothing but the means to an end, and the end is the production of a minutely subtle mechanism of suspense. But while its starting point is the same, "The Departed" seeks more than just a mechanism. The plot never stops hitting back, however, as its improbability consistently undermines all efforts at seriousness. ...
ultimately the whole film seems like one big feature-length cliché

(I have not seen Depart,) but wasn't it what the hk version is about? and failure of the Depart, if it is so, already there in the "Infernal Affaris"?

看到jeff的香港視藝刊物難存,又想起edwin說作者無疑有重刊版權,想到一個點子,不如大家一同keep住留意有什麼好文章,每兩個月就邀作者給轉載權,或加上一些我總唔望會出到街的新文章,又或相關相片,砌成一定期的香港視藝文章集,放在網或供下載,等大家有個閱讀的焦點,唔會miss左d乜?

After an indefinite delay, the Hong Kong Art History Artist's Book Project is finally moving again. It is going to happen around mid- March at Asia Art Archive, once they moved in to the new premises. A forum on the topic of HK Art History will follow in around April.

Anyone who like to know briefly about the project, pls see the link here (as the one on yr left). If you are still interested to join, pls contact me asap, while I could still get you a copy of the book for this project.

I have this idea for some time now, to put Paul Chan's work to a test,
or
some works do function, because they are now in a gallery/museum art space?

met with a heavy-weight in our field this morning,
he said he is working on a project.

Only after I left, I suddenly remember one of the question that this year Documenta posed:
Is modernity our antiquity?

BANG!

拿免費索取的出版刊物,常有驚喜.

660期hkmagazine,抗議我們社會的流民主云云,今期內裡大部份東西(除卻資訊listing),統統都是假的,作的,流的.唯一real的就是it is being printed!!!
rating: *****(果然極夠膽色,同佢俾周星馳新戲一樣:五星!)

003期众獨(www.3man.hk)有幾版講一個搞事友仔.
rating:*(見報太多之故?)

37期香港書畫報,刊了驚世書法對聯
rating:無以置評

那天看新聞,內地用炸藥拆樓,原因是,也不是,為了發展,原來當局下令,西湖旁邊的樓宇不能高於某新定的樓數,於是舊有的都要拆.這和早前廣州話取締電單車,說出就做了,一堆堆本仍可用的電單車就在棄車工場拆件.香港說出做到了,卻是拆天星,九龍半島任其高樓一座一座的蓋,看見使人痛心.港島海畔很可能快看不到獅子山.海港的地標都是人工化的.
古玩,在內地竟可以有電視遊戲節目.叫作天下收藏,讓人們拿藏品上節目,把三個專家的鑑定結果傳真過來,現代贗品就當場打碎,真的就有一萬的護寶獎金.當然真品就都不祗這個數目,卻因(那僅贗品才冒的)風險而不用脫手多賺一筆,邏輯倒有點奇怪,以一萬下拿真品上節目就穩賺了.這統統不過都是節目單位的安排?還是真的讓平民買了平價品有了免費鑑定的機會?還是對文革護寶(分分鐘賠上命來)有功者的賠償?

再次帶了本mMK藏書,本打算去探梁寶監,結果得知監倉太受歡迎,票也售罄.似乎只有坐囚,才有機會真的多看看書,問題是訪客也不要太多?(上陣子友人就問我若被拉要不要申請保外就醫,我說,你有機會就幫我向中聯辦擲多兩個蕃茄(雞蛋也成)就好了.)
提早下車,在ac買張舞蹈的飛,看了阿麥別館一陣子,上了歌德圖書館,桌上又放了些舊的faz讓人拿.我拿來翻一翻,吃驚我手頭這輪乘車行路也拿在手讀,感覺和身處社會完全不協調(從作者到書種,甚至到書本本身)的書的主角Carl Schmitt,竟然在德國的報章副刊仍可以有跨頁的篇幅文章談論(Doug Aitken倒獨佔之後一整版),不知又有幾多人在德國街頭拿起來讀呢?
文章出現的版頁,今次卻不是sachbuch類,而是一新欄目,叫Bilder und Seiten.我也立即拍了張照,為此encounter作紀念.














回程時從書中得知,這名公法學家CS封筆前的最後一篇文章,也是刊在報上,論的卻是(浪漫派/政治)詩藝.

Two or three things about Hong Kong II :
Hk.cityu.hk
An art exhibition by Luke Ching and Tozer Pak

Curated by: Sabrina M.Y. Fung
Presented by: CityU Gallery, City University of Hong Kong
Opening: 1.11.2007 (Thursday), 18:00
Date: 1.11 to 2.22, 2007
Time: 10: 00 - 19:00 Monday to Sunday
Place: CityU Gallery, City University of Hong Kong,
83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

http://www.zorpia.com/jasparlau/album/723781

前衛藝術，其實一直也在意反思人們的生活模式。1997年德國的第十屆文件展(DocumentaX)，把展覽舉辦城市卡素爾(Kassel)作為檢示對象，其中包括討論城市逐步被汽車主宰(auto-governed)的問題。亦記得有篇文章，就揭示參展藝術家之一Reinhard Mucha的作品中涉及鐵路系統的集體性思維，來和私家車代表的個人主義文化作比較。可是偏偏就在那幾年間，連Walter de Maria早年打入地底一公里的作品，也要遷就地下停車場而移位，不再座落於被保留的廣場的舊正中央。

今日香港天星碼頭被拆又或油麻地警署面對的，也是為建P2路網絡、中九龍幹線的交通理由。填海當日若只是為了交通，填海區沒有新廈落成，交通的壓力自也不會如現在的大，於是有人說「造成中環塞車，是因為多了 ifc 此等巨型建築，再多一幢摩地大廈，又會造成更多的交通問題。為什麼我們要拆去舊的去服務新的?不如倒轉頭，拆去 ifc 以舒緩塞車問題! 」面對將要起的另一幢反摩天卻蠻攔路佔地的摩地大廈，製造另一個惡性循環之前，這一點也不是什麼笑話。

由美籍建築師Cesar Pelli跟香港建築師嚴迅奇合作設計的IFC，作為填海區交通量的罪魁禍首，已使友人們對於嚴迅奇的招牌感到失望。嚴迅奇早如在香港柏林的交流展覽中的作品，在文化界建立一定口碑。今年夏天其還有份兒代表香港參與威尼斯建築雙年展，作品以香港城市建築物的「新陳代謝」為題。但天星可以如何新，IFC可以如何謝，大概都是痴人遐想?建築師和城市規劃師於展覽呈現的時代性視野，不本該是他們專業行事時的那套價值?

同樣也到過威尼斯(視藝)雙年展的另一建築師李民偉，近日也聯同香港社區組織協會，於一深水?舊唐樓作一板間房的博物館展覽，並在天臺疊床架屋作裝置。但老街坊幫手搬搬抬抬那些新簇簇的帆布摺床，就使人聯想到文化博物館早前籌劃的「香港設計系列」的「四頭家」展覽一些擺設，彷似把同一款東西堆疊產生的空間感觀，縱無意思也可以叫人有點視覺震撼，不知這其實往往只叫人想到浪費的消費主義，自曝藝術介入的多餘，僅成為在景觀社會中爭逐媒體的視線的手段?

其實在這次保留天星運動中，我們一方面見到政府程序如何僵化，但打破專業無能程序主義的抗爭跟依靠專業提出的反建議，兩方面其實同樣需要。近日選委會的選舉，為助梁家傑參選特首，泛民不但沒再杯葛，反向專業界別搶灘，有人看了結果而提出新的專業階層意識說法。但文化界別中唯一的民主黨候選人落敗，縱使是人選問題，但這也揭示文化界根本頗難以功能界別(狹隘專業階層利益思維)的方式來動員，涉足與那潭令天星陸沉的政治死水。

在無謂的忙碌中四處走,多了在交通運輸上的時間,同時在刨幾本書,包括找回在sf買的E.B.F.Midgley的The Ideology of Max Weber看,雖然我其實不太清楚副題的A Thomist Critique指什麼,但單第一章Philosophical critique of Weber by Eric Voegelin and Leo Strauss就叫我非看不可.若果Carl Schmitt和Leo Strauss在lxf前漢語界沒什麼人研究,Eric Voegelin現在亦然,當然,如此數下去,lxf碰到的其他學界人物大多亦然.我一直也很慶幸在早期寫梁美萍時就引用過此仁兄的一些想法.有趣的是,似乎thomist的批判,立場本身,用現代角度看,也是一種ideology,以為Leo Strauss比weber的fatal立場較to be perferred,我卻愈看愈覺得weber仍是了不起些,現代(價值之爭)不正是(古代的)諸神競爭?雅典/耶路撒冷的對立,反是這些猶大教學者(或天主/基督教各門派)和異教/哲學的(現代人回到古代的)自我挑戰.問題是,這反意味沒有現代性這回事?Midgley以為Strauss未可以好好回應的Machiavellianism,本就在城邦(politics的古希臘字義)之間發生.

而嚼lxf的Schmitt論著,在其論到歐洲學界與北美不可同日而語的深度研究前,什麼強國家,國家主義,我真的愈讀愈擔心,重看他書中關乎搞Schmitt時機的前言,對於設想劉小楓是否想參與國家政制正當性的重建感到有些驚懼不解.(順提早前讀政治理論在中國時,湊巧在石元康的天命與正當性:從韋伯的分類看儒家的政道一個注中,發現石元康從實證法positive law上規範了legitimacy作合法性的譯法.)不過首章論到最後,lxf的方向目的似乎變得清楚起來,尤其Strauss給Schmitt的書評而使Schmitt的論著重修,始終還是回到古今之爭的問題視野,這就使lxf的Schmitt討論若是真的在國家政制正當性討論上出奇地生作用,在此之下,其實也是場革(意識形態的)命的宗教反革命.

至於lxf在評John P. McCormick(不知跟寫現代性美學的Peter J. McCormick是否同一人?)時,抽了McCormick引用的一段Vaclav Havel出自the power of the powerless的論述,以更大段的引述來反駁其斷章取義,展示Havel背後的形而上秩序理念.Havel的the power of the powerless不但是我大學畢業階段的心水文章,及後在寫吳山專時,就因其引用的口號和超市的蔬果,使我回想起篇首就講那掛在蔬果店上的世界工人統結起來標語而將其引用到文章中.

似乎引用,作為祕傳性寫作一種,正在不同的極權下等待被解讀(解放).本地公教報也有過一篇社論,題為七一將至/義不容辭(第3001期)正引用了這位前捷克總統的話:

人類比某一國家更為重要……國家是人的產物，而人是天主的創造品。

希望所有天主教徒緊記.