旅美藝術家「迴廊」紐約驚豔

Burnt bread becomes wall of art

Exhibit inspires reflection on how people approach conceptual art

Dennis Dingman stares at the 100-foot-long wall covered with symmetrically arranged loaves of burnt bread at the Washington Pavilion.

He's dwarfed by the 20-foot-tall artwork but doesn't appear surprised or bewildered. He's expressionless, studying the thousands of blackened baguettes nailed up by New Yorker Lishan Chang.

Munching on snacks during a recent reception for Chang's "LC Bakery" show, Dingman, 70, reveals that he knows a bit about conceptual art but doesn't feel qualified to pass judgment.

"The unique thing about it is how it was made, and how now it's here on the wall," the Sioux Falls art patron says. "No one has seen it before and probably never will see it again. It's unique."

His wife, Carol Dingman, isn't sure how to react.

"It's over the top," she says, laughing. "Just over the top. It is interesting, and it means something, maybe to the artist - something very profound? I don't know."

Chang's work prompts the age-old question, "What is art?" Artists and teachers say art doesn't have to be "beautiful" but should make people think.

Still, some observers think of art only as paintings of a landscape, a barn, pheasants taking off or ducks landing, says artist and retired Augustana College art teacher Carl Grupp of Sioux Falls.

Many area exhibits have challenged the more narrow notion of art.

The August 2006 Pavilion exhibit called "Do Not Fold, Bend, Spindle or Mutilate: Computer Punch Card Art" included cards decorated by artists across the country.

A current Pavilion exhibit features settings Nebraska artist Josh Johnson built from Lincoln Logs and small plastic animals.

And there's Chang, who recently was on-site producing and installing his "blackery," a term he coined referring to the blackened surface of the burnt baguettes.

The process used to make the loaves, then burn them, is as much the "art" as the finished product, says David Merhib, the Pavilion's director of the Visual Arts Center.

The Banquet and Breadsmith let Chang use their facilities to mix, shape and bake the bread. He used 10 electric ovens on the Pavilion loading dock to burn bread for nearly two weeks.

Viewers can use all of their senses to experience the total package: They listen to a recording of the crackling the loaves make as they cool; they smell the burned bread; they touch and even buy the extra loaves; and they inspect huge photographic blow-ups of the rugged patterns on the bread.

While the average viewer may puzzle over the exhibit - some even soundly trash it in the gallery comment book - artists have other opinions.

"I was very impressed," Grupp says.

"He's using the materials like ink. It's just another way of making marks. It reminds me of calligraphy, and he's got some rhythms going there," Grupp says. "It's just another medium. Some people freaked out when artists started using computers, but it's accepted now."

Ceca Cooper, a painter and assistant professor of art at the University of Sioux Falls, calls the exhibit "pretty fabulous."

But understanding and enjoying the display might require some education for folks who have not seen much beyond traditional art, she says.

Some people think artists should create only aesthetically pleasing work, something beautiful to look at, she says.

"No one could possibly understand it unless they know what conceptual art really is," Cooper says. "The end product is not what really matters.

"It's the intellectual thoughts that the artist had behind the piece," she says. "I am excited to see the Pavilion put up something so edgy, and hopefully it will begin to educate the community on what conceptual art is."

Asking the question "Is it art?" sets up a negative connotation, says painter Liz Bashore Heeren, an assistant professor of art at South Dakota State University in Brookings.

"Maybe better questions are: 'Why is this art, what is this teaching us, and is this art that I appreciate?' " Bashore Heeren says. " 'And if I don't like it, then why is that, and what is lacking? Or what good qualities am I responding to?' "

Reactions to an installation often is based on how a viewer was raised to appreciate art, she says. In this geographic region, people's assumptions often have not been challenged, she says.

"My reaction to the installation is that I thought it was very interesting," Bashore Heeren says. She also liked pictures of Chang's other art to compare.

"The burnt bread is such a strange thing: It looks like a sea slug coated in graphite, such an undefinable form when it's burnt," she says. "It's familiar but unfamiliar, and I find that kind of curious. It's like a form of writing I don't understand or can't read."

The Abstract

People have asked Wall Lake artist Robert Ruf what his abstract paintings are supposed to be.

"I don't get that kind of comment in Chicago, where they say, 'I like this or those colors,' so it's a different kind of culture in the bigger cities where they are more used to a broad range of art," Ruf says.

His January exhibit, "Surrounded," at the Multi-Cultural Center enveloped visitors inside abstract oil colors and patterns painted on more than a dozen of 8-foot-tall clear plastic panels.

"Since the turn of the 20th century, it would be foolish for people to exactly nail down what art is, like they did in the Renaissance period, because there are so many different mediums you can use now," Ruf says.

"Sculptures used to be made primarily of marble or stone, but today they use all kinds of materials. Today, art covers a lot of ground."

Pavilion visitor Dingman continues to munch reception snacks while looking at the exhibit.

"It's hard for me to comment on this, because downstairs I was just looking at the lithographs and paintings which I like, and I really enjoy the photo exhibit down there, too," Dingman says.

"This looks to me like it should be forming something up there, the way they are arranged - like letters or something," he says.

The artist Chang, 37, is nearby, smiling and greeting visitors.

He speaks of eliminating the bread's utilitarian function and adding his own artistic language.

"In a way, this process rather resembles painting," Chang says. "I take the medium and convert it into an artistic material. I look at the space and soon have a map in my mind. I know beforehand what I'm going to do with this space."

Dingman turns away from the work and looks at huge photographs of individual burnt loaves on the facing wall.

"I kind of like these better than the installation," he says. "The close-up photos of the textures are more intriguing to me."

Reach reporter Jay Kirschenmann at 331-2312.

皇后美術館推出張力山手札

【大紀元6月20日訊】(大紀元紐約訊)為服務皇后區華人民眾，皇后美術館於六、七月，每個週日下午2時至4時，舉辦一系列免費的當代藝術入門課程。邀請藝術家張力山主講。主題為「藝術家手札」，希望引導參與者自其日常生活中發現新媒材，並運用自選媒材，創造出特具個人風格的藝術家手札。

張力山出生於臺灣，1997 年移民到紐約。他曾獲得許多榮譽，包含2007 年遴選為台灣文建會第八屆之出訪藝術家、同年獲Franconia 雕塑公園的Jerome 獎助金，2008 年榮獲freeman 基金會設立的亞洲藝術家獎助金，以及日前，從4500 名申請者中，脫穎而出，獲頒紐約文藝基金會2008 藝術家獎助。2008 年5月底，他在南達柯達州蘇佛市華盛頓科學藝術館的個展，榮獲該市市長以展覽名稱，頒訂開幕日為LC BAKERY DAY （力山麵包坊日）。除此之外，他也進駐、參與過許多重要的藝術工作室，包括紐約下城文化委員會的藝術家工作(LMCC) 、紐約ISCP 策展與藝術家工作室、芬蘭的SUMU/Titanik 工作室、以及Vermont 藝術村等。

此次課程「藝術家手札」，六月份的上課地點為法拉盛圖書館地下樓 C & D 室，地址為41-17 緬街，電話1-718-661-1200 。七月份上課地點在皇后美術館內，詳細上課地點請恰皇后美術館的Sara Guerrero 1-718 592 9700 x135。

144 NY Artists, Including Painters, Playwrights & Choreographers, Receive Nearly $1 Million in Unrestricted Funds from NYFA

New York, NY (June 2, 2008) – New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), New York's leading provider of unrestrictedfunding to individual artists, has awarded 136Fellowships to 144New York artists representing eight artistic disciplines that cover the visual, performing and literary arts. Reflected in the total are eight artistic collaborations. A NYFA Fellowship comes with an unrestricted grant in the amount of $7000.

For the second consecutive year in the 23-year history of the program, called Artists' Fellowships, the greatest number of awardeeshail from Brooklyn – a distinction that has typically gone to Manhattan. Attached please find a complete list of the 2008 NYFA Fellows,which indicates each artist's county of residence. 

This year's 144 NYFA Fellows – who were chosen from among over 4,500 applicants –include architects, choreographers, composers, fiction writers, painters, photographers, playwrights/screenwriters and video artists. The Fellows were selected by peer panels, which were assembled according to each artistic discipline. 

For 38 year old Brooklyn painter Allison Gildersleeve, the award is potentially career changing. "Getting a grant from NYFA is more than the financial boost," she said. "We all need more money – to buy supplies, for studio space, and to purchase that most precious commodity: time to make work. But wrapped up with that check in the mail, comes the icing on the cake, that outside affirmation all of us need when we're sequestered in our studios trying to figure out what to do next – that you have been picked out of the most competitive pool. This is New York after all, and now you share recognition with artists that you've respected and admired."

Overall, NYFA awards Fellowships to artists representing sixteen disciplines – eight one year and another eight the next, but always the same 16. Past NYFA Fellows include Spike Lee, Tony Kushner, Julie Taymor, Carroll Dunham, Todd Haynes, Tamara Jenkins, David Hammons, Junot Diaz (author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao) and many others. Since 1985, over 3,700 New York artists have received NYFA Fellowships. 

"Whether it's Brooklyn, Manhattan or Queens, one thing is certain - New York is the place to be for all artists, emerging or mid-career," said NYFA Executive Director Michael L. Royce. "New York is Warhol. New York is Spike Lee. New York is Gershwin. While we hope that our unrestricted grants help to perpetuate that reality, we also hope that they do something far simpler – give talented artists the time and space needed to create their next great work. When they do, New York will be all the better for it."

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About New York Foundation for the Arts

New York Foundation for the Arts provides more support and services to artists and arts organizations in all disciplines than any other private organization in the country: nearly $7 million annually. Nearly one out of every five public, modern artworks created for the New York subway and regional rail system was done by a former NYFA Fellow. 

Major funding for NYFA's 2008 Artists' Fellowships is made possible by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency Major funding has also been provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the Lily Auchincloss Foundation. Additional funding has been provided by the Milton & Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, Alex G. Nason Foundation, Norton Family Foundation, The Buddy Fund at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, an anonymous donor, and individual donors.

Lishan Chang is one of the 2008 NYFA Fellows in the category of  Architecture / Environmental Structure.

May 30th 2008--LC BAKERY DAY -- in Sioux Fall, SD

紐約廉價舊廠 孕育世代藝術家

中國時報 　2008.05.25

王良芬／紐約

7號地鐵出了紐約市中央車站，約5分鐘後進入皇后區長島市；走出韓特點(Hunters Point)車站，放眼望去盡是老舊的工廠倉庫，酷似曼哈頓的蘇荷區，也宛如布魯克林區的威廉斯堡。好幾棟老倉庫改成工作間裡，正滋養著21世紀的藝術家。

33歲的雕塑家努斯班(Josh C. Nusbuam)從小生長在紐約，但他仍必須像多數藝術家一樣，在一片荒涼的舊廠房中尋覓棲身地。這裡就是因為天花板挑高，可以創作大件雕塑品。

窩居創作 唯一的椅也是作品

皇后區長島市房價低廉，近年來吸引許多藝術家進駐，都是工作間兼住家。努斯班在2004年找到現在的工作間，僅有500呎見方，裡面擺滿他的作品，兩張工作桌分靠著窗邊，各型刀子、磁粉、強力膠、保麗龍、毛布、針線等，散落在桌子上。

牆上、地面到處都是他的雕塑作品，角落有張舖了黑床單的中型床，10來件衣服整齊掛在架子上，這就是他的全部家當，藝術家的清寒襲面而來。

努斯班泡了熱茶待客，因為唯一的一張椅子也是藝術品，我們席地而坐，舉目盡是獨特的藝術品，主題強勁繁複、材質多樣豐盛，讓人不敢小覷他的精神內涵。

長島市附近都是工廠，努斯班經常外出尋找材料，從廢棄的材料中找出創作元素。工作間的地上有許多樹木外皮，他檢視暗沉木皮形狀，然後決定要雕刻什麼。他說：「在曼哈頓就沒有這樣的機緣。」

努斯班創作題材多關於人，常需要去曼哈頓觀察人們，韓特點距離曼哈頓僅需搭地鐵兩站，地理優點雷同布魯克林的威廉斯堡，如今威廉斯堡已被華爾街族進佔，低廉的長島市成為藝術家的最佳選擇。

藝術家紛紛搬離昂貴的威廉斯堡之際，有不少仍繼續留在布魯克林，有的轉往綠點(Green Point)，自成另一藝術家聚落，堅持布魯克林派的藝術傳承。

也有些往紐約上州發展，沿著哈德遜河而上，有些小鎮漸成藝術家村。還有不少因創作性質及自身經濟條件，反而成了游牧藝術家，甚至大膽前進曼哈頓。

來自台灣 他成了游牧藝術家

旅美台灣藝術家張力山1997年底來紐約，最先落腳在布魯克林Earth工作室，在威廉斯堡地區浸沉多年。他因從事行動藝術，作品通常需要很大空間，近年來經常因主題不同，必須變更工作空間，成為遊走的行動藝術家。

張力山著名的作品Stop Transition－in Warehouse，以倉庫為創作空間，他在布魯克林承租了一家倉庫，裡面有起重機、貨運機械、卡車等等，藉著幫客戶執行搬家業務，以多元媒體紀錄行動過程。倉庫月租一萬美元，原先計畫紀錄5年，但到了第4年半，不堪虧損累累只好提早收工，但這項行動藝術卻讓人印象深刻。

張力山的「力山麵包坊」則為另一項巨作，需要的空間更大。2003年他突發奇想，買了許多長麵包，用不同火候以烤箱一一燒製，經過不斷的實驗，終於做出期盼的質感。2004年四月，首度在皇后美術館的聯展中推出。

為了這項展覽，張力山每天早上4點半到麵包工坊捏塑麵包、放入烤箱。下午2點取出成型的麵包，再用家用烤箱烤成碳焦麵包，總共花了兩個多月，烤出2300多條布雷克力，最後一天，還發生遭人舉報、消防車按鈴來訪的插曲。

目前「力山麵包坊」在南達科達州華盛頓藝術科學館(Washington Pavilion for Arts and Science)展出，該館動員所有館員並協同十位義工，混麵粉、揉麵團，烘烤成長條麵包，進而烤成碳焦麵包。接著將全程以多重角度呈現。

逆勢操作 搬到曼哈頓好賣畫

韓裔抽象派畫家鄭熹珍原住布魯克林，在布魯克林工作室租金日漲的時候，她卻逆向操作，2006年搬到昂貴的曼哈頓上西城。鄭熹珍說：「威廉斯堡地產被炒作得不像話，房租和曼哈頓相差不遠，既然如此，何不搬到曼哈頓？」

畫家不需要那麼大的空間，鄭熹珍從事抽象畫創作，但仍需挑高的空間，以便放置大型畫作。她將起居間當成畫室，擺滿各類抽象畫，厚重的帆布推在牆邊，因為作品實在太多，臥房、浴室、廚房都當作展覽空間，廚房一角是臨時倉庫。

鄭熹珍以油料、壓克力、磁粉當顏料，運用刀子、刷子和手指作畫，由於畫風新穎，得到一些藝廊的賞識，已經賣出不少畫作，在美國畫壇正嶄露頭角。

她說：「住在布魯克林的時候，很難請得動畫商或收藏家來看畫，搬到曼哈頓後，因為地點方便，來看畫的人相當多，收入比過去好太多，這些都是住在曼哈頓的優點。」

鄭熹珍的公寓是戰前建造，大樓的門面即是《慾望城市》女主角米蘭達的住處外景。天花板特別挑高，很滿足藝術家的要求。

鄭熹珍多在午夜以後創作，她說：「作畫不是外人所想的那麼安靜，我拿著刀子在畫布上用力刮顏料，聲音之大會吵醒鄰居，好在鄰居有些也是藝術家，能夠理解我的情況。」

最麻煩是要參展前的兩個月，鄭熹珍在家用榔頭釘畫布、架子，敲敲打打，鄰居以為是她家在裝修，她只得歉聲連連。

鄭熹珍說：「畫家根本像幹黑手，每天動刀動鑽，身上的工作服老是髒兮兮的。」好在曼哈頓居民見多識廣，對於這名夜半家中發出怪聲，拿刀、拿榔頭的女畫家，已見怪不怪了。

Bread Burner

南達科他州蘇佛市藝術館 化身張力山麵包坊

旅美藝術家張力山用碳焦麵包在牆面形成的裝置作品受矚目。南達科他州蘇佛市的華盛頓藝術科學館邀他展出作品及創作過程，藝術館成為張力山的麵包坊。// 中央社 九十七年五月十六日

【大紀元5月16日報導】（中央社記者林琳紐約十五日專電）

旅美藝術家張力山二零零四年四月在紐約皇后美術館展出用碳焦麵包在牆面形成的裝置作品「屮」深受矚目。南達科他州蘇佛市的「華盛頓藝術科學館」邀請張力山在該館展出作品及創作過程，藝術館成為張力山的麵包坊。

裝置作品「屮」的特色之一是它的媒材。二零零四年創作這項作品時，張力山有兩個月的時間每天早上四點半就到附近的麵包工坊捏塑麵包造型、放入烤箱、烤出熱騰騰的長麵包，下午兩點將做好稍涼的麵包取回公寓中，再用家用烤箱，一條一條烤成碳焦麵包。兩千三百多條碳焦麵包就是作品的媒材。「華盛頓藝術科學館」的策展人認為，張力山這項作品的創作過程與作品一樣精彩，所以決定以「力山麵包坊」為五月三十日到九月七日個展的主題。藝術科學館幾乎動員了館方所有人員，外加十位義工，在現場製作媒材，從混麵粉、揉麵團，到烘烤成長條狀麵包，進而烤成碳焦麵包。展出的形式將是以多元的形式，包括行為、裝置、香味、聲音、攝影等更全面的樣貌呈現。更有趣的是，展覽期間，販售碳焦麵包也是展出計畫的一部份。

張力山說，以碳焦麵包為媒材源自二零零三年的一個突來奇想。他在不斷尋找新媒材的過程中試驗性的將由店家買來法式長麵包用不同火侯並控制烤箱時間燒製。經過不斷的實驗，終於成功地做出他所期盼的質感。幾個月後，在二零零四年四月，他用碳焦麵包創作的裝置作品首度呈現在皇后美術館的聯展中。美術館白色巨牆上的巨幅裝置作品「屮」，寓意深刻又充滿趣味，獲得觀展者好評。

皇后美術館展覽之後，張力山仍繼續發展碳焦麵包的其他呈現手法。同時，賦予碳焦麵包一個新名詞，叫做「佈雷克力（Blackery）」，為LC Bakery 的變位字。LC，則是張力山英文全名的首字母。由於烤出來的麵包，大多是黑色，因而得其名，也代表是從力山麵包坊（LC Bakery）所製作出來的產物。一九九七年由台灣來到紐約的張力山，多年來一直執著於實踐藝術創作的理想，總有新意的創作已逐漸得到主流藝術界的認識，近幾年的展覽活動相當頻繁。他的創作曾在紐約的皇后美術館、蘇格拉底雕塑公園、韓國文化中心畫廊、明尼蘇達州的法藍克尼亞雕塑公園，台灣的國立美術館及關渡美術館展出。他曾進駐的藝術村包括佛蒙特藝術村、紐約的國際藝術家與策展人中心及曼哈頓下城文化委員會藝術家工作室。最近他也應皇后美術館的邀請開班教授當代藝術入門課程。

Burning bread for art

By Lisa May

If you were downtown Sioux Falls on Sunday you might have smelled something burning. It was actually burning bread and it was no accident.

Ten ovens outside the Washington Pavilion were used to burn baugettes for an upcoming art installation. Lishan Chang, an artist from Taiwan, plans to use the charred bread to create a one of a kind work of art on the south wall of the Everist gallery in the pavilion.

Chang pulled off a similar sculpture in new york four years ago and says the entire project is time consuming.

"In 2004 I had an installation in Queens Museum," Lishan Chang says. "I burned 2,000 pieces of bread. It takes about one month."

Chang's bread exhibition will be on display from May 30th to September 7th.

晾書報導--世界日報

台灣藝術家張力山的裝置藝術「摺疊圖書館」(The Folding Library)，目前正在布碌崙公共圖書館中央分館展出。張力山表示，取名「摺疊圖書館」的裝置藝術都由他的手繪作品製成。它們都是1999年至今所作，包括用鉛筆、墨水、水彩記載的各類裝置作品、行為藝術、美學觀念等，以草圖、素描、書法等形式展現，這些圖形可說將他的個人經歷、想法到夢境全部描繪出來。他用台灣買的佛經本創作這些圖形，總共有40多本，而這次展出的只有10多本。

張力山說，他喜歡在佛經本上畫圖和思考，人的思維是連續性的，而佛經本展開很長，很適合記載有時間感、延續性的題材，表現過去、現在和未來。張力山說，他的每部作品都包含了身為藝術家要問的問題，答案可能很獨特，或者有點似是而非，連他自己經常也感到驚訝。他鼓勵不解其意的觀眾多加審視，也許會豁然開朗。

張力山生長於台灣，1997年移居紐約，曾獲得多個榮譽，並在皇后美術館、蘇格拉底雕塑公園、明尼蘇達Franconia雕塑公園、皇后區公共圖書館畫廊等多個藝術機構展出過作品。

「摺疊圖書館」展至6月14日。布碌崙公共圖書館中央分館地址：布碌崙大陸軍廣場10號(10 Grand Army Plaza Brooklyn, NY 11238)。

來源：世界日報

旅美藝術家張力山紐約展出「藝術書」

【大紀元4月23日報導】（中央社記者林琳紐約二十三日專電）旅居紐約的台灣藝術家張力山，以多年來摸索創作的紀錄為本所製作的「藝術書」，從昨天起到六月十四日在紐約市布魯克林區圖書館展出。
張力山在昨天晚間的開幕式上，向觀展者介紹這些有如中國古代摺疊式書本的藝術書的主題。他表示，他從一九九九年起開始創作藝術書，每一本書紀錄一項他的行動藝術或是裝置藝術的概念、美學觀點及創作的計畫，可能是素描、中國書法，甚至是信手拈來的筆頭與橡皮在紙上隨興所至按下圖案印記的趣味構圖。

嘗試過多種媒材創作室內及室外大型裝置的張力山，在紐約展出的作品就屢有新意。由布魯克林圖書館展出的藝術書可以認識到他以烤焦的法國麵包創作裝置的過程、在南達科他州駐村創作時的心境、及如何在紐約蘇格拉底公園以膠膜創作出「飄浮」的境界。

一九九七年來到紐約的張力山，近年來愈見成熟的創作風格獲得藝術界肯定，除了經常受邀展出新作，他也獲得紐約市及其他州的藝術單位邀請駐村創作。

Artist Talk by Lishan Chang "The Folding Library"

Opening of HUMAN RESOURCES exhibition

The show features works by a great group of artists:
Manuel Acevedo
Jane Benson
Michael Cataldi
Lishan Chang
Carola Dertnig
Nicolás Dumit Estévez
Terence Gower
Hoon Kim
Yoko Inoue
Catarina Leitão
Diane Meyer
Shelly Silver
Shinique Smith

@SEAPORT!
located at 133 Beekman Street (entrance on the corner of Beekman and Front Streets)*
Jan 8 - Feb 3, 2008
Hours: Tuesday - Thursday, Sunday 12pm - 5pm
Friday & Saturday 12pm - 7pm
Opening Reception: Thursday, Jan 10 2008, 6 - 8pm
Space Provided by General Growth Properties

Attached images: Nicolás Dumit Estévez "Help Offered," 2004 (initially performed in Jamaica, Queens as part of Jamaica Flux: Workspaces and Windows)