羅旭和他的“土著巢”

（文）李小山　南京藝術學院教授，南京藝術學院美術研究所所長、南京藝術學院美術館館長

羅旭和他的“土著巢”

（文）李小山南京藝術學院教授，南京藝術學院美術研究所所長、南京藝術學院美術館館長

去年夏秋之際，我在昆明。葉永青和毛旭輝都向我談及一個名叫羅旭的“怪人”。他們用了很多形容詞，所以未見面我就有了一個先入為主的印象。初見之下并沒有什么特別，一個黑黑瘦瘦的漢子，年齡與我相仿，說話不多也不少，像我結識的許多藝術家一樣，說“怪”不怪。--我想等熟悉之后，他的“怪”或許就會如狐貍尾巴一段一段地暴露出來。

終于，等我了解了這位“怪人”的一些想法后，不禁有點肅然起敬，記得當時我脫口而出問到，這么大的范圍和地盤，這么奇形怪狀的建筑，這么多的藝術創作，這么大的狗全是你的嗎？--說實在話，我真的沒有料到在中國還有這樣的藝術家，在根本不懂建筑原理的情況下弄出幾千平方米的“建筑物”，而在其“建筑物”內堆積了無數由他創作的藝術品：雕塑、繪畫、數碼作品......我簡直難以相信一個人能夠具有如此旺盛的精力和體力，除非他吃喝拉撒之外從來不睡覺，否則他怎么會做出這么多活？

說起他的“建筑”，羅旭似乎有點靦腆，聲稱自己對建筑一竅不通，但又立即補充，某位美國建筑學家參觀過“土著巢”后，指著高樓林立的昆明市區說，如果發生地震，所有的樓廈全部倒塌，“土著巢”仍然會巍然屹立。他這是在證明，“土著巢”雖不是精確計算和嚴密設計的產物，卻是按人對力學概念的直覺判斷完成的。從外觀上看去，一撮撮一堆堆乳房樣的形狀很難與“居住”聯系起來，倒像土著的祭祀場所或燒陶的窯爐。我沒有數過有多少個參差錯落的形狀有異的“乳房”，只是設想里面的通風采光如何解決。幾十米高，圍圈大小不一，主要是形狀太讓人奇怪了，這叫什么建筑啊！--當我走進去，問題似乎一下子煙消云散，而且我馬上就喜歡上了這里：石柱、穹壁、花崗巖地面、四通八達的臺階、高高的穹頂......通風、采光全被恰到好處地加以利用，令人懷疑置身于中世紀的城堡，和神話傳說中的異域......我不想過多地對“土著巢”進行描述，因為它的異樣已超出語言能夠表達的范圍。我只想說，它是當今最奇特最怪誕的建筑。當初，它的主人是在沒有設計圖，沒有施工方案的情景下，手持一根數米長的竹竿，領著一群民工，依者高低不平的地勢，指到哪造到哪......

羅旭更感興趣的是雕塑。在他的“土著巢”里，弄不清他究竟搗鼓出了多少作品，成品、半成品、石膏、陶土、油漆、圖片、玻璃鋼......我看到一堆又一堆的被破壞的作品殘骸，--真是驚人的數量。羅旭的雕塑基本上延續了現代主義路數，形式內容很統一，講究人文內涵，突出作者的思考和感受，手法上顯得比較單純，而表現的精神則十分個人化。羅旭的圖式已經形成，女人的腿是他最愛沿用的素材，無論是單個的還是重疊的，紅色的還是白色的，都是他用來觀照生活及藝術的窗戶。另一些作品，同樣離不開性別，離不開女人的軀體。當然，他還做過許多燒陶制品，規模巨大。照他的解釋，他自己是這些作品的總指揮，就如一個樂隊的指揮一樣。題材并不決定一個藝術家的思想，但與整個當代藝術的前沿相對照，羅旭在觀念上存在著某些距離，他的自我封閉使他高大，也使他迷失。--我不是指他對民間、民俗的迷戀，是指開創性的觀念，這是一個玄而又玄的東西，它有個指標：是否具備前沿的性質。

毫無疑問，羅旭是一位被埋沒的優秀藝術家，是一個創造力極其旺盛的怪才。他身上有一種天然的素質：民俗、民族藝術和現代藝術巧妙地熔為一爐，達到了相當的高度。我在結識他的第一時間內就產生了這個強烈的念頭，要把他介紹給更多熱愛藝術的人，熱愛人生的人和懂得人生的人。

I was in Kunming sometime between last summer and fall. Both Ye Yongqing and Mao Xuhui mentioned a “weirdo" named Luo Xu. They used a lot of adjectives to describe him. So I had a pre-established impression of him before we met. At frst sight， there was nothing special about him， who is a dark and thin man about my age. He talked neither too much nor too little， and just like many artists I knew， there was nothing “weird” about him. I thought his “weirdness" would probably be revealed little by little like the tail of a fox after we became acquainted with each other.

Finally， I was filled with respect for this “weirdo” after getting to know some of his ideas. I remember that I blurted out “are this large area， these buildings with strange shapes， these artistic creations and this big dog all yours？” To be honest，I never thought there would be such an artist in China， who managed to create these “buildings” of several thousand square meters， without knowing anything about architectural principles. Inside these “buildings”， there are countless artworks created by him: sculptures， paintings， digital works… I could hardly believe that a man could have so much energy to create so many works， unless he never sleeps in his life.

When talking about his “architectures”， Luo Xu seemed a little shy， claiming that he knew nothing about architecture， but he immediately added that an American architect， after visiting the “Earth Nest”， pointed to the urban area of Kunming full of high-rise buildings， and said that if all buildings collapsed in an earthquake， “Earth Nest” would still stand as firm as a rock. What he tried to prove is that although “Earth Nest” is not a precisely calculated and strictly designed product， it was completed based on intuitional judgment about mechanics. In terms of appearance，it is hard to associate the groups of breast-like buildings with “residence”， and they look like sacrifcial places for aborigines or kilns for making pottery. I did not count the number of these unevenly-distributed “breasts” with diferent shapes， and only wondered how the ventilation and lighting inside was resolved. These buildings are dozens of meters high， with enclosures in diferent sizes， and the strangest thing about them is their shape. What kind of architecture are these？

When I walked inside， my doubts seemed to disappear all of a sudden， and I began to like this place right away: stone pillars， dome walls， granite foor， steps extending in all directions， high dome…Ventilation and lighting is appropriately utilized， and one would get the feeling of being in a medieval castle or an exotic land from myths and legends… I do not want to describe “Earth Nest”too much， because its weirdness is beyond words. All I want to say is that it is the most peculiar and bizarre architecture nowadays. It was built by its owner extemporaneously， who held a bamboo pole several meters long， and led a group of migrant laborers to build the houses according to the uneven terrain， without a design drawing or a construction plan…

What Luo Xu is more interested in is sculpture. In his “Earth Nest”， it was impossible to figure out the exact amount of works， finished products， semifinished products， gypsum， pottery clay， paint， pictures and fiberglass he had made. I saw piles of destroyed works， and the amount was astonishing. The sculptures of Luo Xu basically follow the approach of modernism， and are unifed in terms of form and content. They emphasize humanistic connotations， and highlight the thoughts and feelings of the author. The techniques seem to be quite simple， while the spirit is very personalized. The schema of Luo Xu has taken shape. Women's legs are his favorite element. Whether separate or overlapped，in red or in white， they are a window through which he observes life and arts. His other works are also closely associated with sex and the female body. Of course，he has also made many pottery products on a huge scale. He explained that he was the commander-in-chief of these works， just like the conductor of a band. The theme does not determine an artist's thoughts， but compared to the frontier of contemporary arts， Luo Xu's ideas lag behind in some way. His reclusiveness makes him tall， and makes him lost. What I mean is not his infatuation with folk and folk customs， but pioneering ideas. It is a mysterious thing， for which there is an indicator: whether it is of a cutting-edge nature.

Without a doubt， Luo Xu is an outstanding artist unknown to the world， and a maverick genius with endless creativity. He has a natural quality: he ingeniously integrates folk customs， folk arts and modern arts to a considerably high level. Immediately after I met him， I had a strong intention to introduce him to more people who have a passion for arts， and who love and understand life.

Luo Xu and His “Earth Nest”