Bill Henson

超越“做俯卧撑”的《景.观》. 區志航

超越“做俯臥撑”的《景.觀》

區志航


近半個月來，一直忙於如何盡己所能為痛定思痛的汶川大地震災民做些實事；為著名藝術家舒勇的偉大作品“生命之花”助一把力；為廣東新聞頻道新一輪新銳人物訪談錄《寫真》的錄製做準備……一方面頻繁用網絡寫博，另方面又無暇瀏覽更多。



正納悶昨天《華西都市報》記者忽然電話採訪我一年前與艾未未、舒勇、趙半狄、安迪等著名當代藝術家聯合參與的《身體媒體當代藝術展》的作 品《景.觀》系列（原稱《志航.中國》系列），今早舒勇從京來電，問有沒注意到網絡正熱炒《名主持人“身體為力量”裸體俯臥撑俯看鳥巢》？打開網絡一看， 才知道因6月28日，貴州瓮安縣出現嚴重打砸搶燒突發性事件,“做俯臥撑”迅速成為網絡最新流行語，我以裸體俯臥撑介入中國最具影響力城市標誌性人文景觀 的觀念攝影系列，順理成章成為焦點。



沒想到這篇為迎合“做俯臥撑”有點“八卦”的文稿首先出自“向來正經”的《南方日報》（7月2日）。真的很高興廣東黨報也有這方面觀念的 改變和敏感度。之後，網易、阿里巴巴、奧運中國網、科技資訊網、和訊網等幾乎所有網站都轉載或可點擊查詢。到7月6日本博發稿止，該新聞在和訊網48小時 和一周新聞排行均列第四位。網易等網站還以此為話題在討論區展開討論，好不熱鬧，不理解和反對的居多。



觀念攝影作為當代藝術的一部分，同樣具有標杆性和先鋒性，剛開始必然不被大多數人理解。對此，我早有心理準備，任由嬉笑怒罵。引起了關注 與思考，干預了傳統觀念，顛覆了傳統思維，已證明了作品的力量！去年在廣州展出時，我有過一些顧慮，甚至做好了廣東電視台因此而不讓我做主持人的準備。結 果被廣州的媒體和大眾平和的接受了，還得到不少的肯定和鼓勵，激勵著我繼續“走火入魔”。



我愛我的祖國，也愛我的身體。我以自己渺小的身體和行為作公器，用人們熟悉的，體現著積極、運動、健康和虔誠的俯臥撑，不斷重複於中國不 同時期堪稱“奇蹟”和“世界之最”的標誌性人文景觀，並與之對話，讓原本無足輕重的個體彰顯出偉大的意義。這時的我，已屬於泛指的人。 《景.觀》在創造充滿史詩性和儀式感新景觀的同時，將有限的生命融入並串起無限的奇蹟，引發人們重新思考中國乃至人類的過去、現在和未來，以及人類生命的 脆弱與精神的強大……



我做俯臥撑與網絡流行語“做俯臥撑”的含義是截然相反的，希望大家都來做“區式俯臥撑”——積極關注和思考我們的國家與社會。

Bill Henson

Bill Henson

the Australian photographer
Background

Henson's art has been exhibited in many locations, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Venice Biennale, the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia and the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. His current practice involves holding one exhibition in Australia every two years, and up to three overseas exhibitions each year.

Henson's artworks reflects an interest in ambiguity and transition. The use of chiaroscuro is common throughout his works. His photographs are painterly and often presented as diptychs, triptychs and other groupings.

Henson's works often meditate on the categories of and relationships between male and female; youth and adulthood; day and night; light and dark; nature and civilisation. His images often use flattened perspective and tend towards abstraction. The faces of the subjects are often blurred or partly shadowed and do not directly face the viewer.

According to Crawford, Henson presents “adolescents in their states of despair, intoxication and immature ribaldry”. He has said that these “moments of transition and metamorphosis are important in everyone’s lives”.

Henson's intention is to use photography for creative expression. He states that he is not interested in a political or sociological agenda, although the viewer cannot help but relate his works to their own stance on these issues. Henson, however, is not intending his photographs to be authoritative evidence but rather to suggest endless possibilities and cause people to wonder.

Controversies

On 22 May 2008, the opening night of Bill Henson's 2007-2008 exhibition at the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Paddington, Sydney, was cancelled after eight individual complaints were made to Police voicing concerns about an email invitation from the Gallery to a "Private View" that depicted an explicit photographic image of a nude 13-year old girl. Hetty Johnston, a child protection advocate (Bravehearts), also lodged a complaint with the New South Wales police. On the same day, Sydney Morning Herald columnist, Miranda Devine, had also written a scathing article in response to viewing the email invitation, which precipitated heated talk-back and media discussion throughout the day. In the process of removing the images from the Gallery website, Police found more photographic images of naked underage children on exhibition among various large format photographs of nonfigurative subjects, which they later sought to examine for the purposes of determining their legal status under the NSW Crimes Act and child protection legislation. Following discussions with the Gallery and a decision by Henson, the Gallery cancelled the opening and postponed the show.

It was announced on 23 May that a number of the images in the exhibition had been seized by police local Area Commander Alan Sicard, with the intention of charging Bill Henson and/or the Gallery with "publishing an indecent article" under the Crimes Act. The seized images were also removed from the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery website, where the remainder of the series can now be viewed online.

On 25 May, The Age published uncensored the image which was used on the print and email invitation, accompanied by an article by John Elder.

NSW DPP declines to file charges

On the 5 June 2008, the former director of the National Gallery of Australia Betty Churcher said it was "not surprising" that the New South Wales Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) would announce its official recommendation that no charges be laid regarding the Sydney Roslyn Oxley9 gallery's collection of photographs by artist Bill Henson.

Ms Churcher says it would have been ridiculous to drag the case through the courts:

I'm very pleased that the public prosecutor has decided that it's likely to end the debacle because they always do, as soon as you take art into court it never works ... The court is not the place to decide matters of art.

On 6 June 2008 it was reported in The Age that police will not prosecute Bill Henson over his photographs of naked teenagers, after they were declared "mild and justified" and given a PG rating by the Office of Film and Literature Classification, suggesting viewing by children under the age of 16 is suitable with parental guidance.