吴琼的作品主要有三个系列：《生于80年代》、《齐步走》与《中国制造》。这些作品的主角都是儿童：玩耍的儿童，成人装扮的儿童，背着书包阔步走在路上的儿童。

　　从古至今，儿童一直是艺术家创作的重要题材：从宋代货郎图、婴戏图，到近代丰子恺的漫画、张乐平的三毛，都是表现儿童的佳作。这些作品描绘了现实生活中儿童的种种形态和遭遇，或表现儿童的纯真、可爱，或表现底层儿童的无助悲惨，以此来寄寓艺术家对儿童身上那股纯真之气的向往、揭露社会的黑暗。特别是1980年代以来，随着文化艺术的蓬勃发展，中国当代艺术出现了越来越多的以儿童为题材的艺术作品，如张晓刚的《血缘大家庭》系列、唐志冈的《儿童开会》、《中国通话》系列、崔岫闻的《天使》系列等等;在这些作品里，从儿童的形象到儿童题材表达的主题都发生了一个转变。从形象上来说，艺术家不再单一的描绘现实生活中的儿童，儿童被置于各种想象空间;从主题来说，通过儿童来揭示社会问题，表达亲情的关爱，表现个人在当代社会的生存处境;主题跳出了儿童本身，指向艺术家的生活境遇，社会问题。

　　这个转变使得儿童形象在新时代变得更自由，儿童开始出没于各种或虚或实的场所，变换着形象与表情，越来越丰富多彩;身躯还是孩子的，但样貌举止却不再止于天真稚气，他们似乎有了成人般敏感的内心和成熟的情感。儿童告别了纯真年代，艺术中的儿童形象和实际生活的儿童仿佛越来越远，他们变成了艺术家笔下的富有主体性的儿童。

　　这也正是吴琼作品中儿童的特点：将儿童置于虚拟空间，借儿童形象指向成人的经验感受、指向社会问题乃至历史意识。就如他自己所言，如果我们的绘画作品表现的更加具有强烈的情景化和叙事性，让大众可以看到从画面中流露出的某种“超现实主义”气质，作品变得更加感性和私密。

　　童年记忆

　　在吴琼《八十年代》这一系列作品中，孩子们在抽陀螺、打雪仗、滚铁环、踢毽子、跳房子，正如作品的标题，这是八十年代人的童年记忆。是老北京的童年记忆。

　　画中的儿童闭着眼睛、昂着头，周围是轻盈的蓝天白云，仿佛是在梦中玩耍。虚幻与轻盈是作品传达的主要感受，而这感受也正是童年的感觉：无忧无虑玩耍的快乐，没有责任的快乐。这种轻盈的快乐只有在童年时才能获得。

　　米兰昆德拉在《不能承受的生命之轻》中讲到轻与重的问题：“负担越重，我们的生命越贴近大地，它就越真切实在。相反当负担完全缺失，人就会变得比空气还轻，就会飘起来，就会远离大地和地上的生命，人也就只是一个半真的存在，其运动也会变得自由而没有意义。”所谓存在之重，即存在的沉重感、压抑感。在生命的旅程中，伴随着成长，人有了欲望、理想、责任、义务与由此而来的种种束缚，于是便饱尝痛苦、磨难、深重与压抑。然而，实际上，生命只有一次，逝去的不会再来，在昆德拉看来，存在之轻才是存在的真实境况，存在之轻源于存在的毫无意义。

　　生命是轻盈的，轻盈得无法承受。它就像一幅草图，甚至连草图都不是，因为它的存在无法作任何的修改，因为生命只有一次。对于生命旅途来说，我们一直都是“孩子”，一直没有离开迷糊的童年，一直浮在虚空中。然而，即使明白这一点，我们还是有种种丢不掉的沉重包袱：大到世间名利，小到生活中的衣食住行。对成人来说，轻盈的存在可以认知却无法体验，当我们越来越多的认识它的时候，我们已渐行渐远。

　　中国制造

　　还是闭着眼睛昂着头、一脸惶惑的孩子。衣冠不整手里拿着糖葫芦、穿着官服蹲在地上、和新娘子拉着手，和朋友勾肩搭背。看着这些场面仿佛看着每个普通的中国人的人生。为吃、为名、为传宗接代、为几个一起喝酒聊天的狐朋狗友……

　　个人的生活内容，大多受到社会规诫，是文化营造的结果。儿童们是接受规诫式训诲最多的对象，那些在当时价值文化与社会条件影响下的成人世界的理想与憧憬被不断地灌输给下一代：要读书，要做官，要生儿子延续家族香火;要讲忠孝节义……

　　对生活在这样一个大而坚实的伦理道德体系中的个人来说，从生到死都已被面面俱到的安排好，不需要去考虑个人的意志，在这个社会里，我们只是个被过分照顾的孩子。但平时这些涉及我们生活方方面面的价值观，在被我们反思时，又是显得如此荒唐可笑，这就是我们在一直坚持、捍卫、努力争取的东西：一串糖葫芦、一袭官袍、一个老伴儿、几个可以一起喝酒吃肉的朋友。可笑却也无奈。

　　齐步走

　　这一系列描绘了表情行为类似的三拨儿童，从他们的衣着可以辨别他们属于民国时期、文革时期和八十年代。

　　在这里，我们看到的是不同时代家庭、社会对儿童的教育塑造。中国自古就有幼教的传统。《礼记》<曲礼•内则>中指出婴儿时期应教一些左右男女之类的基本概念，家庭教育的内容以敬老礼让等行为规范和数字、方位、日历等生活常识为主;正式读书就学，则在十岁以后。上古典范之外，宋儒高倡修养与教育价值，幼教主张大抵仍衍礼记的方向，注重规矩和行为的训练。幼教类设计的重点，锁定儿童的人格培养及道德规范为主。读书识字等智识教育在当时其实是次要而后续性工作。宋儒幼教的理想，在明清政府确立以科举取士为任用人才之途径之后，出现了新的转变。当读书仕进成为决定家族向上流动之契机，使得明清的士族重新调整了幼教的目标和内容，发展出一套特别的幼教程序和方法。明清许多增补或新编的蒙学教材，其编辑或著作者在序言中不约而同地表达了将过去各家教子课女的私自需要转化为一种公共资源的需求与责任。儿童逐渐从家庭私属的辖管之下脱离出来，成为家庭之外的团体(众人或社会)或制度(学校或教育)关怀用力的对象，这使得儿童更容易受到社会变革的影响并参与到其中。

　　中国以前常表示为了“列祖列宗”而教养小孩，后来又加上“社会福祉”、“国家富强”等理由。到了近代，儿童教育成为一项公共事业，孩子的存在仿佛是为了孩子之外的原因，或者说在时代的框架下，任何一个个人之人生，其意义都在于自己之外。这样的孩子丧失了个体性，作为群体的一份子存在，与周围的人一起“齐步走”。然而，对于成人来说，未尝不也面临这样的问题。

　　为八零后正名

　　从整体看来，儿童并不是吴琼一贯的题材。而以儿童来质疑我们的生存处境也并非是他一贯的主题。在他2006年的毕业作品中，我们看到的是一个苦闷的青年。《瞬间》是一系列痛苦表情的速写，模糊的五官、残缺的面容，散发着抑郁、苦闷。在《无题》、《呐喊》中，这种压抑表现的更为明显。但同时期的作品《茫然的C大调》、《诗人说梦》却像是那团狂躁之后的无奈与妥协。如果抱怨、愤怒改变不了什么，那就用快乐的笔调去调侃、反讽、揭露。把捆绑自己的所谓“文化”、“价值”、“传统”摆在观众面前，让大家一起在笑声中反思。在《八零还是八零》中，吴琼写道：“我用快乐的画面来表现开心、悲伤、警示、自嘲。”他通过画面中的儿童形象实现了这一点。

　　作为八零后的年轻艺术家，被质疑、论断都是不免的，他的新作品《八零后的我》正是对这种境况的写照：一个小孩独自赤露的站在礁石上，后面是碧海蓝天，只是周身被拍打的浪花包围着，小孩在试探着，在颤抖的环抱着身体。用他自己的话说：“正是用我独特的艺术语言在回应着社会对八零后的种种抨击，我与大海对比凸显自我的渺小，但孩子还是要站出来，赤裸的迎接着拍打，这也是我想让观者所了解的八零后精神。”

　　吴琼的绘画创作在某种程度上矫正了共名化的批评。共名化的批评习惯于以生物学代群来虚拟艺术群体的标志，获得命名权力，而无视艺术当代性最重要的思想元素。共名化的批评通常认为80后有一种共性和惯性，说他们是在城市里长大的一代人，他们已经习惯于以城市为中心看待一切，他们的观察视角更多来自书籍、影像、传媒和圈子，他们谈论时装、建筑、政治和八卦，但似乎时刻保持着虚无主义的立场，他们像一个处于游离状态的阶层，既缺少90后那样轻松自如的生活本能，也不愿像前辈们那样胸怀集体使命感，与生俱来的压抑和对自由的诉求不离不弃，恰恰是这一代人的宿命。这些说法听起来很有概观的感觉，其实同样很八卦。毛病是忽略了人的个体主体性，而当代艺术的当代性不是别的，恰恰是艺术家个体主体性所努力表征的思想元素。优秀的思想和艺术皆无国界、无代际，甚至无古无今。吴琼自从新加坡留学归来后，除了看问题有了清晰的国际视野，更重要的是不断确立自己的立场，汇入到一个时代的潜流中。

岛子

2008年-暑期

　　Wu Qiong’s “Chinese Children”

　　Wu Qiong’s work mainly consists of three series: Born in the 1980s, Marching Forth and Made in China.

　　Since ancient times, from the Song dynasty paintings of Street Vendor and Children Playing to Feng Zikai’s comics and Zhang Leping’s Sanmao in recent years, children have been an important subject matter for many artists. All are outstanding works depicting children.” These works depict the various situations and encounters of children, render their naivete and loveliness, or even the helplessness and tragedy of children living in lower tiers of society. Through which, the artists express their longing for the purity of children while revealing the dark side of society. Especially since the 1980s, as art and culture bloomed, more works with the theme of children emerged in contemporary Chinese art, for instance, Zhang Xiaogang’s Blood Family series, Tang Zhigang’s Children’s Conference and Chinese Fable series, Cui Xiuwen’s Angel series, and etc. Among these works, there has been a shift in focus from depicting children to using children thematically as a subject matter. The artists no longer simply portray children in real life, but have placed them in spaces of imagination. Through the theme of children, social issues are revealed, the sentiments of love and concern are expressed, an individual’s condition of existence in the contemporary society is conveyed. The subject matter transcends children per se, but instead refers to societal concerns and the life experiences of the artists.

　　This transition in the new era allowed for a more free representation of children. Children began to appear in quasi-realistic situations, with changing appearances and expressions that were increasing rich and diverse. Their bodies were still that of children, but their behavior were no longer naïve and childish. They seem to have taken on the sensitivity of adults with their mature emotions. The depicted children bid farewell to their years of innocence, as there seemed to be distancing from their real life counterparts. They became objectified under the artists’ brush.

　　These are the characteristics of the children in Wu Qiong’s work. He sets children in fictional scenarios and, through the appropriation of images of children, makes references to adult experiences, social issues or even historical consciousness. As the artist claims, if our paintings could be represented with more vivid scenario and narration, allowing the audience to perceive a certain “surrealist” quality, the artworks would be more sensational and discrete.

　　Childhood Memories

　　In Wu Qiong’s Eighties series, the children are whipping tops, having snowball fights, rolling iron rings, kicking shuttlecocks, playing hopscotch. Like its title, these are childhood memories of those born in the 1980s – memories of childhood in the old Beijing.

　　The children in these images have their eyes closed and heads lifted with the airy blue sky and cotton clouds surrounding them, as if playing in a dream. Illusion and gracefulness are the main impression conveyed in this work, an impression fetched from our childhood—the joy of carefree playing, the happiness of not having any responsibility. It is a joy and gracefulness only available in one’s childhood.

　　Milan Kundera discusses the question of lightness and weight in the Unbearable Lightness of Being, “The weightier our responsibilities are, the closer our lives are to the earth, it is more realistic. In the contrary, when responsibility is absent, people would become lighter than the air, they would float, and be distanced from the earth and lives on earth, and people would become pseudo-being, and their movement would also become free and meaningless.” The so-called weight of being refers to the burden and oppression of life. In the journey of life, as one matures, one seeks out desires, ideals, responsibilities, and duties, with which comes various limitations and consequences, such as pain, tribulation, burden and oppression. In fact, we only live once, what is irreversible lost is, in Kundera’s view, the lightness of being—the true condition of being. And the lightness of being originates in its meaninglessness.

　　Life is light, unbearably light. It is like a sketch, or not even a sketch, because not much change can be made, since life can only happen once. On life’s journey, we have always been “children,” we have never left our vague childhood, but are still roaming in a void. Yet, although we are well aware of it, we still can’t abandon certain heavy burdens, which can be as significant as fame and benefits and as insignificant as the necessities of life. For adults, the lightness of being can be acknowledged but cannot be experienced—as we get to know the lightness better, we have already begun to walk away from it.

　　Made in China

　　With their eyes still shut and heads lifted, the children look perplexed. They are sloppily wearing official dress, holding glazed fruit sticks, squatting on the floor holding hands with the bride, or hanging out with friends. Looking at these scenes is like a glimpse into everyday Chinese life - for survival, for fame, for the next generation, for friends to drink and chat with

　　The content in one’s life is mostly regulated by society, a result of cultural production. Children are taught mostly through regulations. Children are constantly indoctrinated with adult world ideals and expectations that are influenced by the current cultural and social conditions. For example, they must study, take office, have a son to continue their lineage; as well as following principles of loyalty, filial piety, propriety, and etc.

　　Living within the confinements of such a moral system, one’s life is predestined from life to death; it becomes unnecessary to consider individual will. In this society, we are just children with excessive attention. Although, if we reflect on these societal values in various situations, they seem rather absurd and laughable. A glazed fruit stick, the official costume, an old companion, a few friends to drink and chat, this is what have been safekeeping, protecting and striving for—laughable yet helpless.

　　Marching Forth

　　This series portrays three groups of children with similar expressions and behavior. From their attire, we can categorize them into different eras: the Republican period, the Cultural Revolution period and the 1980s.

　　Here we witness different education models, familial and societal, for children in various periods. There has been a tradition in ancient China to educate children. In the “Rites of Qu” in the Book of Rites, household rules included toddlers being taught basic concepts of men and women. The content of education should be centered on respecting the elders, comity and other rules of behavior, as well as numbers, geography, calendars and other basic knowledge of everyday life. Once the children enter school, which was usually after ten years of age, besides learning the classics, the children are taught Neo-Confucianism ideals and the value of learning. In teaching children one should follow the Book of Rites, and implement rules regulating behavior. The focus of education is on cultivating their character and morés, whereas acquiring knowledge was secondary and a continuous process. After the Qing government established its examination system, there were changes in the Neo-Confucian education of children. As becoming a literati became the opportunity to move up the social ladder, the Ming and Qing dynasty scholars had to readjust the goal and content of childhood education and developed a new system of pedagogy and methodology. During the Ming and Qing, many supplementary materials were made for early education. The editors and authors uniformly expressed in the prefaces of their writings the need and responsibility of transitioning private education for one’s children to a type of public duty. Children were gradually breaking away from private family teaching, and becoming the object of concern outside of the family unit (the public and society) or system (school and education system), which allowed children to be easily influenced by the change in society and become its participants.

　　There is a Chinese expression stating educating children for the “various ancestors,” and later it was also for the purpose of “social benefits” and “prosperity of the nation.” In recent years, childhood education became a public project. The existence of children seems to serve the purpose beyond children themselves. In other words, within the framework of this era, the meaning of every individual’s life is beyond him/herself. As such, children have lost their individuality and exist as members of a collective that are “marching forth in unison” with those around them. Yet, for adults, aren’t they also confronted with the same issues?

　　Rectifying the 1980s Generation

　　Overall, children have not always been a subject for Wu Qiong. Moreover, the appropriation of children to scrutinize our conditions of life isn’t necessarily his usual theme. In his 2006 graduation project, we see a depressed young man. Moment was a series of sketches of sad expressions, convoluted facial features, inconsistent expressions, dispersing oppression and sadness. In Untitled and Cry, such oppression is displayed more apparently. Puzzled C Major and Poet’s Talk on Dreams of the same period demonstrate the helplessness and compromise in post-hysteria. If complaint and anger did not change anything, then why take on the playful angle to banter, satirize and reveal? The artist takes the so-called “culture”, “value” and “tradition” that binds him and places them in front of an audience, allowing everyone to reflect while laughing at them. In Eighty or Eighty, Wu Qiong wrote, “I am using playful images to express happiness, sadness, alarm and self-parody.” The artist expressed these things through the images of children.

　　As a young artist from the 1980s, scrutiny and judgment was inevitable. His new work, Born after 1980, is a manifestation of that situation: a small child stands alone on a reef, behind him is the blue ocean and sky, only his body is pattered by the waves, and the child looks out and wrapped his body with shivers. Using the artist’s own words, “I am using my unique artistic language to respond to the various attacks on the 1980s generation from this society, by contrasting it with the ocean to highlight my insignificance. But the child still stands out and welcomes the rush of the ocean. Thus, I hope the audience would learn about the spirit of the 1980s generation.”

　　To a certain degree, Wu Qiong’s paintings have rectified a common criticism—the tendency to categorize art groups according to their biological age and neglecting the most important element of ideas in the contemporaneity of art. The common criticism of the ‘80s generation is their shared and habitual characteristics. They are claimed to be a generation that grew up in an urban setting; thus, they refer to cities as the center, their observations are based on books, films, the media and their own circle. They talk about fashion, architecture, politics and the tabloids, and they seem to maintain a hedonistic stance. They resemble a class in exile, who not only lack the instinct to live in carefree fashion as the ’90s generation, but also do not wish to carry any sense of collective responsibility like their predecessors. Their innate sense of oppression and their persistent pursuit of freedom is precisely the destiny of this generation. These claims seem to be quite the generalization of this generation, but they are just as speculative. The problem is ignoring the subjectivity of the individual, and the contemporaneity in contemporary art is none other than the subjective ideas expressed by the artist. Outstanding ideas and art are without borders, transcends generations, or even time. Since Wu Qiong returned from his studies in Singapore, in addition to his clear international perspective, he is, more importantly, constantly defining his position, injecting it to the undercurrent of this era.

Daozi

Summer 2008

作者：岛子