在与张小涛接触的过程中，一个比较强烈的感觉他是一位充满激情和擅于思辩的艺术家。每当谈到所谓的艺术问题、中国现实的状态，他都会滔滔不绝地让你插不上话。你也可以看看他写的有关绘画艺术的文章(参见张小涛的“绘画的抗体—浅析中国当代新绘画语言特征”，《艺术当代》2006年第4期)，以及记录他艺术思考的博客，就可见识其想法的活跃生动，语言逻辑的清晰明确了。思考的深入令我们这些以爬格子为业的人都有些汗颜。尽管他不事张扬，为人低调而撪敛。

　　这种反差的印象常常使我追忆与感怀上世纪80年代美术界的一些片断场景，艺术家对艺术的追求充满着执著的冲动，几个人，一杯茶、一瓶酒、几包烟可以“侃”一个通宵的艺术、人生、未来等宏大叙事。在物质与精神同样贫瘠下，80年代实际是意味着理想主义者的现实抉择。然而，时光荏苒，二十年后当我们再一次面临着时代的喧嚣时，但已全然没有了那时的语境。这与把握自己命运、寻求自我实现的群体意识，已逐渐分散到每个人的利益诉求之中而不复存在的今天，形成了明显的对比。而张小涛似乎还在延承着80年代的“情结”，这种“情结”不是个人化解不开的心理状态或感情纠葛，而是那种已自觉意识到的内心愿望。这种愿望就是执著于艺术对“现实”直接的投射和反映，相信现代性能够洞察生活的真相和现实本身。这与中国现代性历史所面对的社会危机是紧密相连的，也是中国的历史必然和中国现代性的特点之一。所谓张小涛艺术的问题意识，在我看来即是指当代艺术的作用在于对历史趋向的反映，在于艺术家个人对现实变化、矛盾冲突的敏感、思考、表达和激情。也就是说，他的创作往往是具有现实的针对性—针对现实社会的转型、时代的变迁所引起的种种社会问题，以及他在这一过程中的处境和体验。这是解读张小涛艺术的主要线索，但张小涛的艺术已不是简单地介入或反映中国社会现实的某个侧面，而是一种自觉地保持一位真正艺术家的“边缘”的态度，疏离于艺术界趋炎附势的媚俗。这种“边缘化”实际上是他坚守在社会文化趋向之外的一种系统或非系统的位置，它与社会主流意识不是同构的，而是立足于对主流社会形态以及由此生发的种种媚俗现象的批判立场，因而自然地处在社会的边缘位置，是在野的。换句话说，由于市场经济、商业大潮乃至文化全球化，以及当代科技的发展而导致的传媒与视觉文化扩张，使文化艺术走向通俗化、大众化。同时，现代社会生活节奏加快，消费主义使人们价值观念走向实用，即时性的多样化消费方式，也使这种直面现实的激情不断受到削弱。而张小涛的艺术其实是形成了与当下现实文化环境相仿佛却又对它构成了批判的一种个人话语力量，或者说他的艺术创作指向都是直接从他的现实生存处境所引起和汲取的。这个特点既有他对边缘、游离状态的自由选择，也有对传统的叛逆和对现实的质疑与忧患。他的作品不是在当下消费文化宰制下的审美趣味，而是在社会现实同心力与离心力之间的相互作用中消长，因此而构成了张小涛艺术的魅力所在。

　　张小涛的一些作品是从“食色，性也”的主题中展开的。比如在他的《天堂》、《116楼310房》、《欲望的图像》、《来自天堂的礼物》系列作品中反复出现的青蛙、金鱼、避孕套，以及小龙虾、蛋糕、草莓以及缠绕的植物等等。青蛙的繁殖能力非常强，多产而多子;“鱼”更是中国传统性文化中带有隐喻与象征的符号;佳肴以它的美味来满足人们的欲望。这些根植于人们本能欲望的象征，其实是我们现实日常生活中消费文化的真实写照。因为隐藏在消费背后的是欲望，所谓开拓无限的消费需求，实际上就是开拓人们对消费的欲望。于是欲望就不再是有限的欲望，欲望不再仅仅局限于食色嗜好的作用，而成为对空虚无限形式的欲望，成为气派与华丽、成功与高贵的欲望，成为和影响到人们的日常生活的想象和对时尚的生活方式的追求之中。从这一角度看，欲望所带来的消费文化在当代消费社会无疑是一种生活方式，即以一种非政治化的、普遍的伦理、风尚和习俗的形式将个人发展、即时满足、追逐变化等特定价值观念合理化为个人日常生活中的自由选择。这是我理解张小涛以直接象征欲望的“食色”，而达到的他对现实文化的针对性。耐人寻味的是张小涛所描绘的食色总是与腐烂的痕迹有关，比如他画的《溃烂的山水》和《来自天堂的礼物》之三等，试图借助于腐烂的比喻，传达出他对这种腐烂所隐含的追逐物欲而发生的种种“贪婪”现象的焦虑，他是以他所描绘对象的景观来展示腐烂，并予以显微化。换言之，他把这些腐烂置放到一个更大的社会背景中来凸现和演绎。因为我们现实的某些现象太腐烂了，而现实远比艺术沉重和复杂。《来自天堂的礼物》系列和《116楼310房》，他以这样的饕餮盛宴后的狼藉场景切入，重新思考人与现实的关系，观照人性生存在社会现实以及在自然中的位置，仿佛是将食物与人类的关系展示为一处共同生存的戏剧，一场人类食与色欲望的共舞。而在《放大的道具》和《水晶》系列中，“避孕套”、废弃的医用针管、吊瓶等玻璃器皿，这些透明、半透明的“二手物质”所演绎出的液状印簕与斑痕，更是构成他许多作品的主要物象和视觉元素。相对来说它比食物和小动物来的更为直接和明确。钟情透明、半透明，其实是人类对神秘事物要求的一种本能的心理补偿，因为透明化解了太多由神秘造成的尴尬与困惑，改变了以往封闭、压抑的感觉。而“避孕套”、废弃的医用针管、吊瓶等玻璃器皿，那是人为的结果，总是与病痛、伤害、报应相关，带有对沉溺纵情欢爱的警惕和控制，否则将陷入刺激增强而身心困乏的窘境。其实中外艺术史上表现性题材或性意识的作品非常多，各有特色。我感兴趣的是张小涛为什么以“性”这个经常在艺术创作中使用的题材作为他艺术创作的切入点?在我看来，好像没有什么比“食、色”更能反映人的本性和欲望了。它们是那么地直接和赤裸裸，而这种直接性恰恰直接地折射出我们的现实生存的状态—对欲望的不间断地追求。张晓涛艺术表现的丰富性本源于日常生活的与人性的复杂混浊，对开放背景中人欲横流景象的衍说，也以一种独特的情景表达了他对物质欲望疯狂增值、精神关怀日益疏理的伤痛。这正契合了我们时代的文化焦点。新世纪的狂欢，现实的魅惑与迷乱，在他的作品中以艺术的话语方式见证、测度和隐伏着他对时代特征的认知、反省、质疑、批判的姿态。

　　我不太认同有些评论家在对张小涛作品的解读中，将他对水的迷恋归结为他儿时的危险经历。或许它与小涛的创作有某种心理上的暗示，但我以为除此之外还有社会学的指意，否则那些画水、画游泳的艺术家是否都有着与他的共同经验与记忆?逻辑上有些牵强，起码是不太全面。我更认为是水本身和水渍的属性而引起了张小涛的兴趣。因为水是动荡的，具有不确定性的状态。当你在水中漂浮或水流过你指间真有“水似柔情”之感，但它又潜隐着巨大的能量。“载人与覆舟”的道理是政治的寓言，作为社会的“人”在之中的浮游有着想象的各种可能的存在空间。我们的现实生存境地犹如一片汪洋，我们每个人都在水中行走、漂浮，甚至是失去方向的挣扎。显然水及水渍是张小涛艺术中隐喻现实处境的凭附。正如他也不时地以蟑螂、老鼠、蚂蚁比附漂泊在北京的体验和感受一样。蟑螂、老鼠、蜥蜴等始终是人类日常生活所厌恶的东西，它们与饮食像自然界生物链的关系一样难舍难分。我揣测张小涛将其抽样放大地入画，实际上是在强化腐烂、恶心的感觉。在虚构中使观者获得的是一种非现实但又具体的关系，在“我”与这些小动物的关系中寻求到某种认同危机的释放，以引起或提示观者通过这样的视觉张力而产生对现实糜烂、精神腐蚀现象的某种警觉。在张小涛的作品中不断出现的蚂蚁，如《蚂蚁搬家》等总是与城市建筑、立交桥等场景相连。在自然界，蚂蚁的造化是群体的分工劳作，孜孜不倦地觅食、造窝和繁衍，显示出超越个体的团队精神与自然的力量。之所以他不断地利用它们的形象，除了有着比附人类芸芸众生劳作的意味，或许也具有中国传统的“愚公移山”寓言象征。某种意义上也透视出一种张小涛从四川到北京的“他乡”之感，或也存有对眼前的都市风景、生活方式、存在秩序表示困惑惶恐怀疑不安乃至抗拒排斥的意味，不过这种迁徙所带来的心理上的失缺常常没有固定的原因，而是某种抽象的对都市的陌生与疏离。从蚂蚁这种更为具体感性的角度触及都市生态与现代人心态之间的复杂关系，我以为这些从抽象意义或具体感性细节上隐含了他对城市体验的切实感受。尽管张小涛画了很多令我们厌恶的东西，但其中有一个我颇感兴趣的细节，就是他对蛋糕、小龙虾、草莓以及蟑螂、老鼠、蚂蚁本身的描绘却是充满着美丽，仿佛是从腐恶的残物里粲然丛生的花朵，抑或也闪烁着唯美主义的暧昧与颓废的神态。这是构成张小涛艺术特点的另一条线索。这种暧昧、颓废既是伦理的，也是艺术的，它既来自消费文化的沉迷和感官释放的快感呈现，又是对过去既已流失的精神追求的惆怅，还有对未来无法把握的迷茫。这种唯美对于历史与现实处境有一种含混的模糊，他将时代转化为个人命运中的沉浮和际遇的变迁，通过一些列作品的视觉形象变成了一种无尽的感慨。

　　张小涛始终迷恋于油画手绘的感觉，我们可以从他的《天堂》、《谁之骨?》到《溃烂的山水》等作品中看到他画面中细腻的日常纹理，这显然取决于他洞察描绘对象的深入程度。这在艺术表达手段与媒介不断花样翻新的当今，显得保守和令他有些隐忧。因为代表新的生产方式和价值观念的文明进步，正在改变着手工性浸润其中的土壤和根基，人类身心合一的手工性所带来的快乐逐渐丧失。尽管如此，张小涛并不排斥新媒体艺术的魅力，也在实验着一种将手工性的精神运用在他的装置与影像艺术的作品中。他的装置作品《内心的风景》使用了大量的现成品，这些现成品的选择，既有他在架上绘画中一直描绘的器物，也有新加上的视觉符号，由此构成了他心目中现实的“微观现场”。但我们不必按图索骥地去寻找它们的象征涵义，它们只是被他繁复密匝地呈现在你的面前，使你能够真切感受到现实充满的美丽与混杂。如果说张小涛的这件装置作品是以现成品来明喻现实的景观，以一个在场的位置揭示了物欲膨胀的现实情境下现代人的尴尬处境，以及提示出的警觉，带有现实主义的客观性和具象性特征，那么他的影像作品《夜》则更多的是以一种来自内心的意向性的显现。在喇嘛们诵经的背景音乐中，在波谲云诡的影像语言里，透露出情感的乌托邦与物欲时代的绝望。影像中的烟囱、气体、罂粟花、蝙蝠、骷髅与他的架上画图像的叠加重合，用一种影像和动画的诡异且唯美的抒情片断，排斥着现代文明带给我们的焦躁、苦闷、隔膜与落寂。这种矛盾与惶惑以及对未来期冀的相互交织，来自于一个新的中国梦的生成和展开。因为当下是未来存在于现实的展开之中，现实存在于未来的承诺之中。于是现实和未来的混淆正是问题的关键所在。这就是中国当下的景观，它的出现是前所未有剧烈变化的结果，虽然充满了问题和矛盾，但也充满了活力和欲望。它不是一潭死水，却是到处勃发着美丽的混乱。从而提供并展现了张小涛艺术想象力的能量。这种跨越媒介、界限的能量转化，诱发出我们的历史和虚拟、现实和未来之间的各种荒谬、困惑和希望。我以为张小涛之所以这么做，不是简单地在媒介和叙述上由绘画转入到装置、影像的新实验，而是以此强化艺术批判性的有意义的尝试。

　　本雅明曾将边缘化的文人比喻为“拾垃圾者”(参见本雅明《发达资本主义时代的抒情诗人》，三联书店，1992年，第38页)。当然，张小涛并不是处在朝不保夕的生活状态，他的创作对社会的贡献相应地也得到了某些回报。但他自觉地与时代喧嚣保持一定的边缘、疏理位置，以及对社会现实反思的态度，通过他创作中对现实问题意识的介入和图像的处理，表现出了一种追求的焦虑，一种来自自身的处境和状态的切近和逼人的视觉张力，而体现的是一种悲情的力量。不过这种悲情已不再延伸到历史的宏大叙事之中，而是潜植于现实生存的局部细节之处，带着救赎意味和体恤的情怀，象征地寓意着中国在现代性历史进程中的潜在冲突。这乃是对当下中国状态的具有某种戏剧性的表现，所以，可以说张小涛的艺术和这些作品在有意识地为我们的时代描绘了他自己的体验和见证。

　　During contacts with Zhang Xiaotao，I sensed strongly that he is an artist full of enthusiasm and good at argument. When we are talking about the so-called art issues，or the state of reality in China，he is so talkatively repelling that no one could plunge himself into the conversation You could also be able to read his articles about the paintings (See his article The antibody of Paintings----，issued on the 4th edition of “Art Contemporary”of 2006)，or retrieve on his internet bokee which keeps down his art thinking as well to detect out his idea activities and the clear logic of his language. That he thinks so deeply makes us writers who do writing as our profession feel ashamed. He is very so conservative，low-pitched and introspective.

　　This kind of contrasting impression makes me often recall some scenes and situations within the circle of fine arts of the 80’s last century in which artists were striving for their art with stubborn impulse. At that age，any some ones could talk over a cup of tea，a bottle of wine，several cigarettes all night the subjects of art，life，future or anything grandiose or expecting. Spleen of materials as the spirit，the 80’s saw himself a realistic choice for idealism in a matter of fact. However，with the flying of time，when we confront ourselves once again with the din of the age 20 years later we find that the context in which we were exists no longer. This makes a remarkable contrast to the present reality of today where one tries hard to be his own master，to search for the collective consciousness of self realization and to search for his or her interests in all his or her pursuit. Zhang Xiaotao seems to extend still the “feeling”of the 80’s which stands not for the individual entanglement of his psyche or emotion，but for the inner longings himself sensed. This longing is the direct projection and reflection of the “reality”of an artist doggedly stuck to his art ，and he confides that the modernism could envisage the real of life and the reality itself. This is closely linked with the social crisis which the modern history of China faces and also stands for an indispensability in the history of China and the one of the features of time in China. What we called the issue consciousness of Zhang Xiaotao is to me the reflection exerted on the historical trend of the modern art and an artist’s sensitiveness and his reflection，expression and ardent on the changes of reality and conflicts. That is to say，his artistic activities tend to be of some concrete aims on reality----on the social issues happening during the time of society transformation and changes ass well as his experiencing and being at this process.. This is the main clue for interpreting Zhang’s art. However，Zhang’s art concerns itself no longer merely with the involvement or reflection of certain aspects of the social reality in China，but keep a attitude of a real artist should have a in a conscious way，an attitude of “being a margin” a distance away from pleasing the powerful and flattering vulgarness in the art circle. This “arginal stand”is actually his holding-on the position of a system of a more or less one，a system standing outside the tendency of social culture. It is of a different structure to the social mainstream consciousness and it is of a criticizing position against the social mainstream ideology and the flattering phenomenon out it，a natural thing for him to stand aside and to be an opposite. In an other word，due to the development of market economy，riding of the commercial trends，cultural globalization as well as the extension of mass media and visual culture because of the progress of science and technology，the culture and art are becoming vulgar and popular. While at the same time，with the speed-up of the life rhythm，consumer’s behavior makes men more practical and instant also weakened constantly this kind of ardor facing against the social reality. At this context，Zhang’s art is in fact constituting an individual verbalism similar to the circumstance of the present day’s cultural reality but also of a criticizing capacity. Or the aiming of his artistic activities are all ignited by his real existence circumstance or drained from it. This feature is both of his free selection of being a margin and wandering-about，and also of his rebellion against tradition and the doubts about reality and worries. His works is not for a taste of the aesthetic culture in prevailing，but a wrestle between the social forces pro and against the social reality which is fighting hard，and that is the real charm of his art.

　　Some of his works develop themselves in the theme of “Eating and sex is the human nature”For example，the frogs，golden fish，condom，lobsters，cakes，strawberries and the entangled plants and so others appeared in his works like “paradise” ，Room 310 of Building 116” “Image of Lust”and “Gifts from Paradise” Frog is of a high productivity; Fish is a metaphor in China’s traditional culture; Delicious dishes are for the satisfaction of human desire. All these symbols of desire deeply rooted in our instinct are actually the realistic description of our routine life of a consummation culture. Because behind the back of consummation it hides desire，and so-called exploring an infinite demand of consummation is really an exploring man’s desire for consummation. At this extent，a desire is no longer a desire of a finite one，and a desire restrained itself no longer to his mouth or sex，but a one for a hollowness without a form or shape，a one for being grandiose or splendid，a one for being successful and noble. It is a desire of a high influencing power in a man’s imagination of his daily life and his pursuit for a life of vogue. Viewing from this angle，the consumer’s culture brought about by the desire is without doubt a way of life under the present day’s consumer’s society，that is the things like an unpoliticalness，the formation of a vogue and custom make a rational choice for a being’s individual development，instant satisfaction，pursuit of changes in his daily life. This is what I understand Zhang’s “eating and sex”by his direct symbols of desire which is quite contradictory of his point to the cultural reality. What is more of significance to that is that all the desires he depicted are connected with the traces of decaying，as we could see in his works of “Decaying Mountains and Water”and “Gifts from Paradise”No.3. He tried to，by the help of a metaphor of decaying，show his anxiety over the materialist lust the metaphor implies and the various“greedy”phenomenons out of it. He showed this decaying by his description of the scenes of his objects and make it micro. In an other word，he puts this decaying into a greater social background for a beating and effective expression. Because in our reality some phenomenon are too decaying and the reality is far graver and more complicated than art itself.In his “Gifts from Paradise”series and “Room 310 of Building 116”he cut into the subject by a scene of a disorder of a left banquet by graters in which he re-contemplates the relationship of man to his reality. And in it he reflects the social existence reality of a human being and his position in the nature. He seemingly displayed the food and its relationship to the mankind as a drama of coexistence or a dance of duet of a man’s desires of eating and sex In the series of “Magnified Stage properties”and “Crystals” condom，deserted medical tubes and transfusion bottles and other glass utensils are all actors. The liquid stains and spots depicted by these transparent or semi-transparent “second-hand substances”constituted many of his main image and visual elements in his works. It is of more direct and specific than foods or small animals comparatively. Love for transparency or semi-transparency is actually an instinctive compensation of psyche for the mysterious things of human nature，for a too much clearness resolves those embarrassments and puzzles made by mysteries in which the sense of hermit and dismay get its change. Condoms，deserted medical tubes and transfusion bottles and other glass utensils are all the man=made result，mingled with pains，harms and retributions，a warning against and a restrain from addiction of lust and sex otherwise one will get trapped in a state of being physically strong but mentally weak. As a matter of a fact in our art history the subjects for sex or sexual consciousness are many and of various features. What I was interested in Zhang’s art is why he chose “sex”which is frequently beaten as a subject for his cutting into the artistic activities. As to me，nothing could be of more suitable for the reflection of human nature and desires than “eating and sex”They are such a direct and naked fact that they just in their right refract our existing state of reality----a constant chase for desire and lust. The abundance Zhang shows in his art expression originated from a complicated mingling of routine life and human nature and from the derived lust of a man out of the openness background. And he showed in his unique scene the pains for a mad multiply of material desires but a lack of spiritual care day by day. This matches very well the cultural focus of our age. The carnival of new century，the puzzle of reality and the bewilderment show themselves in his works by a way of witness，measurement of his recognition of his age as well as its retrospection，questioning and criticizing posture in his typical art language.

　　I am not quite on the side of those critics who think that they owe his affection of water to one his childhood experience which endangered his life. Maybe it pose some of the psychiatric implies in his works，but I think that it has some sociological clues beside that，otherwise those who also painted waters or swimmers in water shared his common experiences and memories? It is of something of a forcing logic，at least not a complete interpretation. I prefer to hold that the water itself and the water marks make arising of Zhang’s interest. Water is turbulent and is of an uncertain nature. When you put yourself among the water or let the water flow your fingers you really feel a sense of “soft water like soft emotion”while at the same time it seals a great potential. Water of both ?loading a boat and turning over a boat? is a political maxim，the “people”in the society who swim it has a variety of existence spaces imagined. The world in which we are living is just like a vast water，every one is marching，roaming or struggling for directions in it. Obviously water and water marks are his metaphor for his artistic situation，just like other similes as cockroaches，rats，and ants for ones?experiences and feeling in Beijing as wanderers. Cockroaches，rats，and lizards are always the disgusting species in man’s daily life which are also inseparable to our life as a part of food chains in nature. I guess that Zhang is intensifying a sense of decaying and disgusting by magnifying them in his pictures. It is for a purpose that it could make the viewer obtain a unreal but concrete feeling and search for and out a certain common crisis and release among those small animals in which he could remind the viewers of some warnings against the decaying of reality and against the spirit corrosion by such a visual tension. In Zhang’s works there appeared many times the ants and the ants are always connected with the scenes like urban construction sites and flyovers as like in The House Moving of Ants?In natural world，ants are the species of collective hard laboring in different functions who are constantly searching for foods and store them，building houses and multiplying themselves which demonstrate very well a group spirit and a natural force. The reason why he did not stop utilizing them is perhaps，along with a symbol for the plain laboring people，that he also wants to show a spirit of “Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains” a spirit of stubbornness and hard work which is a Chinese traditional fable. To some meanings it reflected his feeling as being an “alien”in Beijing since he moved into from Sichuan. Or it exists also some senses of puzzles，worries，doubts，anxieties and even rejections when facing the urban sceneries，life mode and surviving orders in front of him This psychiatric sense of being lost brought about by migration is often devoid of specific reasons，but a certain sense of being strange and alienated facing the urban life. He tackles the urban ecology and the modern human social relationship between man and man which is more and more complicated out of an angle of ants of being more concrete. I think it reveals his experience and real sensing of urban life in the way of those abstract significance and specific touchable details. Though Zhang Xiaotao has drawn many things which we disgust，there really exist in them some details which I am interested in. He painted cakes，lobsters，strawberries，cockroaches，rats and even ants beautiful in a way that it seems out of these decayed flowers are flourishing，or out of them it is shining a sense sign of amour for the aestheticism and the decadence. This is another clue which makes itself one of the compositions of Zhang’s art features. The amour and decadence are of significance both of ethics and of art which come from an addiction for consumer’s culture，for a organic pleasures outbursts and from a melancholy upon the past lost spirit pursuit and a puzzle for a uncertain future. There exist in this kind of aestheticism an unclear vagueness between history and reality，and he saw the age into a transformation of a being’s destiny and his undergoing changes in his life which he displayed through a series works in the visual images.

　　Zhang is always finding himself catering good for a good painting techniques. We could detect them in his fine textures in his works like “Paradise” “Who’s Bones”and “Decayed Water and Mountains” which seemed a little conservative and worrying in contrast of present day’s art techniques and the media development. New ways of production and the concept changes of values and the civilization progress are constantly changing and eroding the earths and foundations of art craftsmanship in which people are losing the unity of mind and hand-making artifice out of which enjoyment could be enjoyed. In spite of this，Zhang did not resist the charms of neo-media art and he is also experimenting a combination of his hand-making artifices with his installations and screening works. In his installation works of “Inner sceneries”he employed a plenty of ready made objects. And among the selection of these ready-made there are both ready objects he drew on his easels and some visual signs newly added which all compose a realistic “micro site”od his inner world. But we need not to search their origins and sources or their implies，they are simply a beauty and an imbroglio which he presented before your in a repeated way in order that you can sense and feel them. If we can say that this installation speaks of a reality scene with ready-hand objects，in which he reveals by an on-spot presence an embarrassing situation of a modern person under a material lust circumstance，and is of some meaning of warning which is a realistic feature and symbolic，then his screening works “Night”showed more an appearance of a man’s inner mind willing In the background music of monks?scripts reading，in a language of smokes of tricks of screening it revealed his wishing for an utopia of emotion and the desperation of the age of material lusts. In the screens，the chimneys，gases，poppy flowers，bat flies，skeletons and the pictures on his easels are repeatedly overlapped and combined for a showing of our anxieties，sufferings，obstacles and solitude brought with to us by the modern civilization in the techniques of screening and cartoon animated lyric fragments. These contradiction and puzzlement and a expectation for future are interactively woven and they are originated from a generating and an unwrapping of a China dream.In present history，today is a future which exists in the development of reality，and reality exists in a promise of a future. So the consusion of reality and future is the key point of the question. This is just the scene and site of China today，its appearance is a result of an unprecedented undergoing changes filled with problems and conflicts and also of vitality and desires. It is not a pond of dead water，but a disorder which is flowering beauties everywhere. This provides Zhang with the energy and art imagination which he is really showing. This transformation of energy of interactions of media and profession boundaries inspired our plenty of absurdities，puzzles and hopes which are happening in the course of time progressing of history，today’s reality and future. What I am holding is that，the reason why Zhang is doing like this is not simply out of his new practice of transferring of painting to a narration of media and screening，but out of a endeavor for strengthening an art critics of a significant one.

　　Benjamin once put those margined literals into “garbage picker-up”Zhang is of course not a person which is struggling for his surviving，and he is well repaid with his excellent works contributed to the society. But he purposely and in a clear consciousness keeps a certain distance in a margin from the social noises. He is still keeping his retrospective attitude toward society and he is showing his worries on the way of his pursuing through his involvement sense upon the reality issues and his image treatment. And he is showing a sorrowing force by his own situation and his demanding tension out of that state of situation. However this sorrow feeling no longer extends itself to or into a grand story-telling of history，but deeply plants itself in the details of segments of real existence，with a sense of redeeming and caring feeling，symbolically implying the underlying conflicts in China on its path of modern history. This is a display of the present day China’s reality which is of some dramatic effect，we can say that the art of Zhang Xiaotao and his works are consciously speaking of his experiences and witnesses of his own for the sake of our age.