于崇信談藝錄

編者：您覺得藝術的目的是什麼？

于崇信：我認為藝術的目的是應當喚起人們對意識，牽動心靈，賦予想像，讓人們觸到一點在他們生活時空中真正出現到事物。藝術家應關切與感受發生在他們周圍的一切事物，傳達真理及智慧，並把心靈深處的思想表達於作品之上。

編者：您認為要達到藝術的目的，有哪些要素？

于崇信：在我看來，大概有六個要素，分別是創造、表現、靈感、形式、直覺和觀念。

編者：請您具體展開談一談。

于崇信：好的。先講創造。在人生路程中，追求藝術理想，取決於個人的修養、感應與領悟。我們知道創造性乃是藝術的主要特徵，藝術的價值也就是意境或美感，不僅需要富於創造性的心靈來創造，同時也需要具備創造的心靈來分享。

編者：那您認為藝術的表現是什麼呢？

于崇信：在藝術中，表現情感是非常重要的，如果不能藉著作品來表現個人情感，作品就會變得虛空而無內涵。也可以說，憑他們的作品，更可了解他們的為人。生活的體驗也是絕對重要的，在過往的生活經驗裡，缺乏真實感受，是絕對表達不出泣血的感情來的。只要藝術家把某種東西貯藏在他的作品中，如果欣賞者從他作品中所取出的，正是他所貯藏的，那麼藝術家在這種情況下，便已圓滿地達成了他表現的目的。表現雖然是情感的活物，但在創作時，必須經過一番自製的工夫。先把自己沈靜下來，思想才能有系統地表現出來。

編者：您覺得靈感在藝術創作中的表現是什麼樣的？

于崇信：靈感的觸發雖然多半是外在的或偶得的，可是當藝術的創作活動一旦發動之後，藝術家的內心情感，便如潮水般湧起來，不斷地傾注入他的作品之中。

編者：繪畫中的形式是怎樣一種存在？

于崇信：凡屬完美的作品，其中所含的元素，無論是線條的曲折，質量的輕重，空間的遠近，體積的大小，色彩的濃淡，或光線的明暗，形式的結構觀念，便自然產生在我們的心中，舉凡與之相違的事物，不僅顯得無意義，同時也冒犯了秩序與比例感。有人對純粹的形式關係特別敏感，對這些善於感受形式的人而言，這些關係自有其意義，而且能激起十分強烈的感受，安排形式系統，從而能全心建立各部分之間的完善關係。因而能善於感受繪畫形式之語言的人只關注他如何被表現，並把他要表現的加以純粹化，而不管何物被表現。

編者：直覺在繪畫中重要嗎？

于崇信：人類心靈的記憶是有限的，如果不設法將心中的直覺加以保持，難免要被遺忘。于是藝術家藉心外之物，將心中所存在的直覺表現出來。畫家之所以成為畫家，是由於他見到別人只能隱約感到，或依稀瞥到而不能看清的東西，而加以發揮表現，產生人我共賞的境界。

編者：最後一個要素是觀念？

于崇信：對，我要強調一點，觀念是智慧的累積和運用。在於一個人是否有觀念，而不在於這個觀念是否被表現出來。觀念是一條思路，觀念清楚的話，一切必能迎刃而解。

編者：您有什麼樣的藝術主張？

于崇信：藝術的創造與表現必是出於個人的氣質與修養，必須真誠地相信，只畫那些個人心靈所見到的東西。

編者：應該怎樣欣賞您的抽象畫？

于崇信：在從事藝術創作時，材料、工具、畫題，都是次要的，主要的是在於個個獨立思想的灌入。什麼是獨立思想？就是畫家整個人和他的生命。他應該在繪畫裡表現內心的感情與修養，使繪畫的形式與原則變成他呼吸一樣的自然，向人傾露內心深處的思想，是屬於心靈的表現與交談。所以我是把我的情感，移注到作品裡，我的畫就是我生命過程裡的一部分。內容是絕對的、必然的、內在的。至於外表的印象，只不過是藉以表現內在感情的媒介而已。依據抽象的形、色、線條，互相的關係，比如對稱、均衡、對比、節奏、單純、完整等的安排，會產生協調與微妙的性質，表現出內在的感情，達到內在感情的造型。因而抽象的繪畫不是外界物像的再現，自然不與外界物像有相對的關係。它的構圖是個獨立的空間，所以我個人的作品，無法依靠解釋說明，使欣賞者去了解內容，乃是依靠欣賞時，由各視覺元素喚起欣賞者心裡的反應，並觸發其內在感應，而達成溝通思想，與了解我的人生經歷和感受的目的。

An Artistic Dialogue with Batu Jagchid

Editor: What do you think the aim of art is?

Batu: The aim of art is to enlighten the conscience and ideas of mankind, to touch the heart and soul, to provide the power if imagination. At the same time, it will guide people to feel and understand the true phenomenon which they meet in the space and time of the lives. An artist has to be converted and react with sensibility upon all matters that exist around him, to communicate truth and wisdom, and to express the feelings in the depth of his heart through his work. 

Editor: What do you think are the elements to achieve the aim of art?

Batu: In my opinion, there are about six elements, which are creation, expression, inspiration, form, intuition, and concept. 

Editor: Please talk about it in detail.

Batu: All right. Let’s talk about creation first. In the journey of human life, the seeking for the ideology of art is determined by personal cultivation, response and understanding. We know the main character of art is creation, and the value of art is the beauty, or perfection, in the mood of the mind. There is not only the need for a creative spirit to create, there is also a need for a creative spirit to share the appreciation. 

Editor: Then what do you think the expression of art is?

Batu: The expression of emotion is very important. If one is unable to express a personal feeling, the work itself will become a matter of emptiness and contain no constituent element. That is to say: “By these works shall ye know them.” However, the experience of life is also another very important factor. Unless there is a real feeling in the experience of life, it is impossible to express the emotion of blood and life. If the artist has put something into his work, and the one who appreciates this work obtains the very thing that the artist has put in, only then, under this condition, the artist can fully reach the goal of his expression. Although to express is the movement of the feeling, at the time of creation it has to go through the stage of self-control. It has to quiet down oneself first and then it is able to carry out a systematic way of expression. 

Editor: What do you think is the expression of inspiration in artistic creation?

Batu: Sometimes the touch, or the spark of the inspiration, is something exterior or accidental, however, when an artist begins to start his creation, then his internal feeling will unceasingly pour into his work as a spouting tide. 

Editor: What kind of existence is the form in painting?

Batu: In enjoying a perfect work, the cursive of the lines, the weight of the quality and quantity, the distance of the space, the size of the volume, the density of the color, and the structural conception of the form will naturally occur in the heart. Any matter that opposes this will appear not only meaningless but also as a contradiction to the feeling of order and proportion. Some people are especially alert to the exclusive relationship of form. As for those people who are sensitive to the form, these elements naturally are meaningful. It is not only meaningful, but also able to stir up a powerful feeling and to direct the organization of form. Then it is able to establish wholeheartedly the perfect relationship pf all the parts. One who is proficiently sensitive to the language of the form of painting is concerned not only how it will be demonstrated, but also how it will not be demonstrated; moreover, he will purify the matter that he plans to demonstrate. 

Editor: Is intuition important in painting?

Batu: The memory of human spirit is limited. If one does not struggle to maintain the intuition of his heart it will be forgotten eventually. Therefore, the artist by means of matters external to his heart demonstrates the intuition inside his heart. The reason that a painter is an artist is because he observes deeply and demonstrates magnificently the thing that can be seen or felt by other people only in an obscure of dim sense. The painter is the one that provides the realm of appreciation for both others and himself. 

Editor: The last element is the concept?

Batu: Here it might be  necessary to emphasize that concept is the accumulation and the intelligence of wisdom. Concept is a way of thinking. If the concept is clear enough then everything will be shown sharply and easily. As for an artist, it is not only important whether he has the concept, but also whether the concept has been expressed or not. 

Editor: What kind of artistic proposition do you have?

Batu: The creation and demonstration of art must originate from the nature, endowment and cultivation of an individual. The artist himself must sincerely and faithfully believe that he paints what he has really seen through his heart. 

Editor: How should you appreciate your abstract paintings?

Batu: In the creation of art, the materials, tools, and even the subjects are all secondary elements, and the important thing is the flowing of each independent thought. Then what does an independent thought mean? It means the artist himself and his life. He has to express his internal feeling and cultivate through the form and elements to make it as natural as his own breath, and to pour out his deep feeling. It is expression and talk that belong to soul and heart. Consequently, I pour my emotion into my work. My painting is a portion of the course of my life. Its content is absolute, inevitable and internal. As for its outward impression, it is nothing more than a transmitter through which my inner feeling will be expressed in accordance to the inter-relationship of abstract shapes, colors and lines. The form will be governed by the principles of symmetry, balance, rhythm, simplicity and contrast. When the organization is completed, a profound statement of harmony will be produced. Thus, it expresses my inner feeling and completes the form of my internal emotion. Because abstract painting is not the reappearance of external phenomena, naturally there is no relative relationship with the external phenomena. Its composition is an independent space. Consequently, there is no way to make the appreciators understand the content of my work through explanation. It depends upon the response in the heart of the appreciator aroused by visual elements that touches his inner feeling and fosters a mutual understanding to comprehend the experience of my life and my feeling.