黃燕的纖維密碼

祝融融

纖維藝術，貫穿著整個人類文明的發展歷史。在文字被發明以前，它是遠古時代先民們記錄已知信息的工具;在絲綢之路上，它是貿易繁榮和文化發展的代表性符號;在現代人的手中，它是細小而綿密的針腳，是一個個漂亮的鉤花，是充滿了愛意與溫情的表達……

纖弱的線，在這個時代又能夠創造多少價值？對此，作為中國美術學院纖維藝術專業負責人的黃燕給出了答案：從一根線開始敘述。

深呼吸，一次實驗性的嘗試

口罩、防護服、核酸檢測……一個個名詞，構筑起新冠肺炎疫情背景下人們的集體記憶。你還記得，自己有多久沒有好好深呼吸了嗎？

“我不僅想通過這件作品表現自己當下的生活狀態，更希望觀者能通過它體悟到時間。”《深呼吸 · 2021》是創作于2021年的一件墻面裝置作品，運用了線、著漆板、LED燈管、電壓控制器等材料。裝置正中豎向嵌入了兩條日光燈管，黃燕根據深呼吸的頻率，用變壓控制器控制燈光從明到暗的變化。

今年2月底，《深呼吸 · 2021》入選第七屆全國青年美術作品展，并作為50件作品之一，獲第十四屆全國美展展區直送作品資格。黃燕直言，創作之初并沒有預想到這件作品的最終呈現效果，但當那兩根燈管被嵌入作品的預留部位時，她心里頓時感覺“對了”。

“這其實是一次實驗性嘗試。”黃燕表示，《深呼吸 · 2021》是她第一次嘗試在直線布局中加入燈光，并且選擇讓燈管直接暴露。深呼吸的頻率控制燈光從明到暗，再從暗到明重復循環，一呼一吸之間，仿佛在與時間同頻共振。

“空氣、光影、時間、空間，這些對象雖然看似虛無縹緲，卻始終圍繞著我們，人永遠被囊括在其中。只是由于物理顯現的特殊性，這些對象很容易被忽略，但事實上我們卻又無時無刻不在體驗。深呼吸就是一種體驗它們的好途徑。”黃燕說 ：“燈光發揮作用的時候，我想觀眾們應該會有諸如此般的切身感受。”

黃燕坦言，自己的創作還處在“進行時”的狀態中，這次作品入選，并獲直送全國美展的資格，對她而言是意料之外，也無疑是莫大的鼓勵與認可。

不設限，為自己創造更多可能性

黃燕自2004年開始從事當代纖維藝術創作，師從施慧。她對線的特殊偏好尤其顯現在近年的系列作品中，盡管在其創作早期，線原本是一種幫助軟材料塑型的輔助性工具。黃燕沒有將自己禁錮在線的材料屬性或是公眾認同中，而是致力于在藝術表現語言上探索創新。

2015年，黃燕考察了諸暨大唐襪業的生產車間，在轟鳴的機械運作聲中，她反差性地感受到了線的另一種力量，這種力量完全區別于生活常態中的“慈母手中線”。當數以萬計的線順應機器操控，以同一頻率在空間中震動、伸縮，工業的集成化和機器所控制的秩序瞬間沖擊著她的感官。

“在那個環境場中，人是消失的，像被蒸發了一般。”黃燕自述，“那一刻，我整個人的神經仿佛都被抽緊了。也是在那一刻，我看到了直線的力量。”時至今日，直線這個意象一直在黃燕的腦海中揮之不去，也促使她在內心生發出一種將其與藝術勾連的沖動，希望創造一種凌駕于生活常態之上的、用線敘述的方式。

黃燕對弦理論、三角學頗為感興趣，畢達哥拉斯學派“萬物皆數”的主張啟發了她對創作中數、量、比例等抽象關系的思考。這些抽象事物之間有著恒定的邏輯，并與美學息息相關。相比形態萬千的世界，它們更接近于黃燕所渴望的精神維度，讓她抽離于生活和日常。

2017年博士畢業時，她創作了《灰色光》——一件占幅8米寬的墻面裝置作品。黃燕在慣用的絲線與木板框架基礎上，創造性地加入了標尺圖示，暗示著對平面維度中時間與空間的衡量。“光影，有著類似‘灰空間的意向，仿佛一個抽離于現實的、被擠壓的扁平化世界。”她如此闡釋道。

《灰色光》是黃燕在用直線敘述上的一個創作拐點，兌現了對平面世界的挖掘，但也讓她陷入了一長段被平面化禁錮的瓶頸期，直到《深呼吸 · 2021》的出現——“這件作品雖然有著桎梏化的外形，卻因為燈光和呼吸頻率的加入而變得有彈性了，不僅啟動了視覺體驗，更啟動了感官體驗。”黃燕表示，《深呼吸 · 2021》讓她掙脫了光影視覺層面的藩籬，轉向另一個開闊的語境。

“剛接觸這一領域的時候，我也不理解什么才是纖維藝術。但在不斷編織和建構的過程中，我明白藝術創造是無限的，只是看你如何去思考、如何去選擇，才能帶給自己更多的可能性。”正如黃燕所說，所有的藝術創作都是藝術家內心的直接表達，憑心而作，不為自己設限，才能激發更豐富的創造力與可能性。

天地人，關于藝術的不懈追問

纖維，或者說織物，是最接近于人們日常生活的。外婆織的毛衣、媽媽繡的花，或許是大眾理解纖維藝術最容易的途徑。然而，纖維藝術發展至今，已然從簡單的編織工藝向更廣闊的概念延伸，走向“無界”的實驗之路。

對于纖維藝術今后的發展趨勢，黃燕有自己的看法：“與科學技術相結合，這不僅是纖維藝術未來的發展方向，也是技術導向之下人類未來的發展方向。”一方面，從最早的棉花、亞麻等自然纖維，到提煉于石油的腈綸、氨綸，再到數字纖維、碳纖維，藝術創作所使用的材料在不斷變革;另一方面，多媒體影像、機動裝置、數碼編織等新媒體、新技術手段的介入，也在轉變人們看待纖維藝術的眼光。

2019年，黃燕所創作的場景裝置（結合影像）《敘序-2》在“混響時間：第三屆纖維藝術新銳展”中展出，這是她第一次嘗試結合影像來呈現大型場景裝置。除了大尺度的空間結合影像外，她還在其中加入了運用數碼編織技術制成的編織文本《敘序-1》，引書寫之章、棋盤之局和阡陌交通之境，詮釋經緯縱橫之意。觀者是其間的穿行者，一如人類在天地間的穿行。

天、地、人，這個亙古有之卻又歷久彌新的議題，也呈現在黃燕的藝術思考中。“我時常在想，古人腳踏大地、仰望星空那一刻的感覺，與當下的我們、未來的人類之間有什么差異？”黃燕說，“我是從一個連接遠古與未來的舞臺意向上來創作《敘序》的，像是創造某種介質通道，在數個紀元后得以搜索一些人類文明的痕跡”。3BD9E3CE-382E-4E03-A011-C5653442A612

如同閱讀一本書不能僅看華麗的辭藻一樣，當代藝術的表現手法和形式包羅萬象，很多藝術理念也要求觀者具備相應的知識背景。然而，當代藝術所具備的實驗探討性和對藝術過程式的呈現力，也正是其魅力所在。

“如果單純依賴視覺感知去解讀當代藝術，雖然是常態，但無從談共鳴。倘若得以從時間維度上回望當代藝術，那它便如藝術發展脈絡中出現的種種現象，折射出人們在生活基點上的思考。”談及如何看待當代藝術難以被大眾接受這一現象時，黃燕這般解釋道：“在這一層面上，纖維藝術恰恰凸顯了它的特殊性。因為它自人類文明建立之初，甚至更早以前，便與人相捆綁。”

一根線，連綴起古今與未來;一代人，亦有一代人的新使命。他們穿梭于細密的針線之間，鉆研著經緯之道與人們日常生活、文化、審美之間的聯系;他們又手執日新月異的材料，搭建起一座座跨越時空的橋梁，編織著航行于浩瀚藝術世界的思想之舟。

為無形的思想構建一個形態，似乎是纖維藝術家的使命。而向人們普及藝術與知識，鼓勵更多的人走進展覽現場，則是這一代青年藝術家的責任與擔當。

路漫漫其修遠兮，我以我手織我心。從一根線開始敘述，是黃燕心中最踏實的創造方式，也是她從事纖維藝術所體會到的樂趣。

黃燕與她所熱愛的纖維藝術，也正在走向新的春天。

鏈接：

黃燕現為中國美術學院纖維藝術專業負責人，博士、副教授、策展人。

作品《霓》獲第十三屆全國美術作品展進京作品。

作品《深呼吸·2021》入選第七屆全國青年美術作品展。

Starting from a Strand of? Thread：

Huang Yans Fiber Art Quest

By? Zhu Rongrong

Fiber art is as old as human civilization. Before writing was invented， it was used by early human ancestors to record information. In the history of the Silk Road， it was a symbol of thriving trade and cultural prosperity. In modern times， it embodies densely stitched crochet patterns， an exquisite expression of love. How much value， then， can a strand of fine fiber create in this era？ According to Professor Huang Yan， chairwoman of the Department of Fiber Art at China Academy of Art， the answer lies all in her fiber art stories.

Facial masks， protective coveralls and nucleic acid tests have been part of our collective memories of the COVID-19 pandemic. Do we still remember since when we havent dared to breathe deeply？ In 2021， Huang created Deep Breath 2021 as a mirror revealing her condition of life then and her perception of time. Made of threads， painted boards， LED tubes and voltage controllers， this wall installation art featured two vertical fluorescent light tubes in the middle， flashing on and off at the rhythm of deep respiration.

In late February 2022， the work was selected for the Seventh National Youth Art Exhibition and included among the top 50 works shortlisted for the 14th National Art Exhibition. Huang said she didnt know what to expect when she started the work， but she knew it was exactly what she wanted the moment the two tubes were installed as designed.

According to Huang， the work was her first attempt to include lighting into a linear design. The exposed lights that go on and off symbolize a complete cycle of inhalation and exhalation， which conveys her concept of time.

“Void or ethereal as they are， air， light and shadow， time and space encompass us in every moment of our lives. But due to their special physical properties， they are easily neglected. To breathe deeply makes a good way to feel them， which the audience will realize when seeing the lights on and off，” said Huang.3BD9E3CE-382E-4E03-A011-C5653442A612

She believes that she is only halfway through her creative journey. For her， Deep Breath 2021， being selected and shortlisted， came as an unexpected reward as well as great encouragement and recognition.

Huang started to study fiber art under Professor Shi Hui at China Academy of Art in 2004. Her preference for threads is conspicuous in her recent series of works. Instead of being limited by the physical property and the common identity of threads as auxiliary for shaping soft materials， Huang exerted herself to exploring new language in fiber art.

In 2015， she went on a field trip to hosiery workshops in Datang， a town in Zhuji city， Zhejiang province. Standing in the roaring factories， she felt a different type of power in threads， quite unlike what people usually feel about the kind of “thread” in the hand of a loving mother. She was considerably impressed by the sight of thousands of threads vibrating at identical frequency on the machines with their integrated and mechanical order.

“Right then and there， I could hardly feel my own existence. I saw only the power of straight line threads，” Huang recalled. To this day， that image is still lingering in her mind， motivating her to integrate straight line threads into her art， and she hopes to create a means to narrate stories with threads hovering above mundane life.

Huang has given a lot of thought to the abstract relationships such as number， quantity and proportion in her art， inspired by string theory and trigonometry， and especially by the Pythagorean theory of “everything is number”. With an intrinsic logic between them， they are closely related to aesthetics. Compared with the multi-form world， the above abstract concepts make Huangs works transcend the world of everyday life， as they are closer to the spiritual dimension that she desires.

When she graduated with a PhD in 2017， she created Gray Light， an eight-meter-wide wall installation. Apart from her usual silk threads and wood boards， she added ruler icons to indicate the measurement of time and space on a two-dimensional surface. “Light and shadow present an image similar to ‘a gray space， symbolizing a squeezed flat world detached from reality，” she explained.

Gray Light marked a turning point in her use of straight line narration as it was her first attempt at two-dimensional space. After that she ran into a long-term bottleneck of 2D space until Deep Breath 2021. “Conventional as it may seem， it appeals to perceptive experience like a visual one by adding light and breathing rhythm，” Huang said. It allowed her to break free from the shackles of light and shadow and dive into another field.3BD9E3CE-382E-4E03-A011-C5653442A612

Initially she did not have a clue about what fiber art was. After repeated attempts， she came to see the boundlessness of artistic creation. There are infinite possibilities as long as one is willing to adopt a different perspective or explore a different narrative form. She believes an artist will find boundless creativity and endless possibilities if they follow their heart and set no limits on themselves.

Fibers surround us in our everyday lives — from the sweater your grandma knits to the embroidery your mom makes， two most common types of fiber art. However， modern fiber art has passed from the initial stage of weaving to the experimental stage of exploring boundless possibilities. Huang believes the future of fiber art lies in integrating science and technology into its creation. On the one hand， fiber art materials have witnessed tremendous changes. On the other， new media and new technology are transforming the way people look at fiber art.

In 2019， Huangs scene installation （combined with video） Preface-2 was put on show at the 3rd Fiber Art Exhibition for Emerging Artists. Featuring a woven text and an image of a chessboard， it was her first attempt to incorporate digital images into extra-large fiber installation. Huang displayed a symbolic relationship between the audience walking through the artwork while viewing the text and mankind traveling along myriad paths under the sky.

The symbolic relationship between heaven， earth and man is a recurring theme in her artistic reflection. “I often wonder how the ancients felt when they stood on the ground and looked up into the starry sky and how that is different from how we feel now and how humans will feel in the future，” said Huang. “Preface is a symbol of medium linking the ancient past to the future world， through which traces of human civilization can still be recognized after a few epochs.”

Contemporary art encompasses diverse forms of artistic expression. Therefore， viewers need to develop an understanding of background knowledge before they can appreciate varied art concepts. Artists experimentation with various narrative forms and the representation of their creative processes are what contemporary art is all about.

“Misunderstandings of contemporary art are inevitable if viewers try to interpret it by solely visual elements， and resonance with contemporary artworks is even harder to achieve. Nevertheless， if interpretation is a chronological approach， viewers will find that they mirror the time period and society in which they are created. In this regard， fiber art is a different story as it has been closely connected with everyday life since the start of human civilization — or even earlier.”

In fiber art， threads are used to bridge the past， present and future， and artists of this generation are expected to promote art and expand presence in exhibition halls. The road ahead for Huang Yan is long and she will urge herself on to seek her dream of fiber art. Starting from a strand of thread， her artistic quest has brought her great fun and joy along the way.3BD9E3CE-382E-4E03-A011-C5653442A612