艺术是生活的反映，艺术作品所呈现和表达的总是艺术家对生活的某种理解，只不过这种理解是通过独特的艺术形象展示出来。在此意义上，一部艺术史其实就是一部活生生的人类自我理解、自我解剖的人类生活的形象史。

　　Art reflects life, what the artwork presents and expresses are often an artist’s understanding on life, only such understanding is expressed through unique artistic modes. To which, art history is in fact the human’s understanding about themselves, a portrayal of dissecting their own lives.

　　江衡作品呈现的一个主题形象便是形形色色的时尚都市美女。而时尚美女其实也正是当下生活中的一个主题形象，或者说是消费社会时代的一道独特的风景：各类商品广告、各类电视娱乐节目以及种种选美活动、各种层次的“小姐”、形象代言人等等，构建了当下社会生活中“时尚美女”的时尚。这种时尚以其不可抗拒的诱惑魅力和巨大的冲击力铺天盖地席卷而来，可以说已渗透到生活的每一个角落，乃至于几乎我们每一个人——不仅仅是女人，也包括男人——都不由自主、不同程度地被卷入其中，并且或多或少、或自觉或被动地推波助澜，成为这一时尚的建构者的同谋或一份子。这就是我们当下生活的现实。而隐藏于这一时尚背后的其实是赤裸裸的商业利益和被刻意建构、煽动起来的物欲。这也正是我从江衡作品中所读到的东西。

　　The main theme presented in Jiang Heng’s works depicts the fashionable urbanites of beautiful women of all forms. These fashionista embody the current thematic image, in other words, they are components of a unique landscape in this consumption society: the various product advertisements, various television entertainment program and beauty pagan competitions, the “miss” of all levels, image spokesperson and etc all contribute to the current social life. Such fashion and its irresistible attraction and its powerful impact rush toward us, that filter through in all aspects of our lives, to everyone – not only to women, but to men as well – are all involved unconsciously to certain degrees, and have assisted its formation, and a member of such conspiracy. This is the reality of our current life. What is hidden behind it are the naked commercial interests and the purposefully constructed and promoted material desires. This is what I have understood from Jiang Heng’s artworks.

　　江衡的系列作品以明快艳丽的色调，平面化的构图、卡通式的夸张，塑造了一系列各种“”的时尚美女，这种刻意追求的非写实的艺术手法，使得作品中的美女与现实中真实的美女拉开了距离，给人一种直觉的虚假的观感。因此，观看这些作品的一个直觉反应是联想到商场里的塑料衣架模特，而其某些作品(如《偶像时代——1、2、3》等)似乎在形象直观上也隐约地做出这样的诱导暗示。俗话说，眼睛是心灵的窗户;而江衡作品中的众多美女形象虽造型各异，但有一个共同的东西——空洞的眼神，大大的眼睛中似乎镶嵌着一个没有内容的玻璃球。被刻意夸张了的一双大大的空洞的眼睛，似乎在向人们诉说着：我就是一个没有灵魂的人造玩偶。并且这种诉说并非是“戚戚惨惨怯怯”的，而是快乐的、惬意的，甚至是一种幸福自豪的诉说，因为时尚美女们呈现给人们的明快的笑颜。这是一群失落了灵魂的维纳斯，是消费时代炮制出来的玩偶式的时尚美女。

　　Jiang Heng’s works portray a series of various “,” fashionable women with bright vibrant colors, flat composition, and cartoon-like exaggerations. Such intended non-realistic artistic approach distanced the femme fatale in his paintings from those found in real life that provides the view with a faux impression. Therefore, the immediate association of viewing these paintings prompts one to imagine the mannequins in a store, whereas Jiang Heng’s other works (Idol Era I, II, III, IV) seem to have literally alluded to such associations. As the saying goes, eyes are windows to one’s heart; although the feminine figures in Jiang Heng’s paintings come in all shapes and forms, however their common characteristics is their empty gaze, all of their big eyes are ornamented with soulless glass balls. Those purposefully soulless eyes seem to tell people that, “ I am a soulless fabricated doll.” Moreover, such outcry is notdolorous and timid but joyful and agreeable, or even with certain sense of pride because of the smirk they present to the viewers. They are like Venus who lost her soul; they are the doll-like femme fatale produced by the consumer era.

　　快乐而没有灵魂，或者说没有灵魂的快乐，或许这就是我们当下消费时代的时尚?生活在这样的一个时代，是我们的幸运还是我们的悲哀?

　　We are happy yet soulless, in other words, a happiness without spirituality. Perhaps this is the fashion of this consumer era. To be living in this era, are we fortunate or should we be sad about it.

　　在艺术史上，女性形象常常与“美”结合在一起的，她既是人们对所处身时代的理想 “美女”形象的一种表达，也是对其时代的美的理念的一种表达，例如《断臂的维纳斯》、《维纳斯的诞生》、《蒙娜丽莎》、《泉》等等均是如此。在此意义上说，江衡作品中的时尚美女则可看作是对我们当下时代的美女理想和美的理念的一种表达。显然，作品所渲染的这种“美”，是浮浅的、表面化的、没有内容的“美”，是虚假的、肥皂泡式的美，作品的平面化构图和非写实的夸张手法，在一定程度上也暗示、强化着这一理念的表达。这一点，如果把江衡的作品与上述经典作品相对照的话，就能更为清晰地显现出来。黑格尔曾有明言：美是理念的感性显现，而“时尚美女”所展示的“美”，显然是没有什么“理念”的，只是一种单纯的“感性显现”，其空洞与虚假也就是自然而然的事了。

　　Art historically speaking, the feminine figure is always associated with “beauty”, she is an expression of people’s understanding of ideal “beauty” of their era, and also an expression of the aesthetics of that era. For instance, Venus, Birth of Venus, Mona Lisa, and Stream are all as such. Therefore, Jiang Heng’s femme fatales can be seen as the expression of the ideal beauty of our era and the concept of aesthetics of our time. Obviously, the beauty depicted in these works is shallow, superficial and meaningless, false, or bubble-like. The flattened composition and its non-realistic approach to a certain degree hint to and strengthen the expression of such concept. For this reason, if we compare Jiang Heng’s work with the aforementioned classics, one would obtain an even clearer picture. Hegel has once stated that, “Beauty is the sensational representation of sensations.”  Whereas the “beauty” represented by the “femme fatales” are obviously lacking any “concept”, but simply “representation of sensations, which explains its emptiness and falsehood.

　　时尚美女体现的是美女时尚，而美女时尚体现的是我们时代的美的理念。之所以说这种“美”是虚假的，是因为时尚是由隐藏着的物欲所建构的;因此由时尚所精心打造出来的“美”，不过是物欲披着的一张遮羞的外衣罢了。我们处身于一个消费的时代，一切事物都被转换为消费的对象，“美”自然也不能例外。而当美成为一种消费的对象时，美也就名存实亡了。这于具体事例而言，我们身边已有太多受时尚诱导的通过各种美容术、化妆品打造出来的人造美女，而这一趋势正方兴未艾，可以想象，当你身边充斥的全是一张张相似的精致打造的“美脸”，就如同江衡作品中的系列“美女”一般，你不可能再有真正的审美感受，有的只能是麻木和疲惫。事实上，现代社会以“美”的名义打造出来的各种“美的时尚”，已经导致时下人们所常说的“审美疲劳”。20世纪以来，艺术之所以不再表现美，究其根源是因为在现实生活中，“美”早已随风而逝，替代的是打着美的幌子而其实是为日益膨胀的物欲开道的“时尚”。

　　The fashionable femme fatale represents the fashion of these beautiful women, and such fashion represents the concept of aesthetics of our era. The reason such “beauty” is false is because fashion is constructed with hidden material desire. Therefore, the “beauty” formed through fashion is nothing but a coat to cover one’s timidness. We are living in an era of consumption, everything is transformed into an object to be consumed, and of course “beauty” is not an exception. When beauty becomes the consumable object, beauty becomes nothing but an empty void. As for specific examples in our everyday lives, there are many fashionable entice of plastic surgeries, cosmetics and such to sculpt the fabricated beauty, a trend on the incline. One can image, if one’s life is surrounded with similar and sculpted “beautiful faces”, just as Jiang Heng’s “beauty” series, one might not share the true aesthetic experience. Some would remain dumb and exhaust. In fact, the “fashionable beauty” fabricated in the name of “beauty” has already let to aesthetic exhaustion for many people in this era. Since the early 20th century, the reason why art no longer represents beauty is essentially because in real life, “beauty” has already departed us, moreover, replaced by the gradually inflated “fashion” run by material desires in the guise of beauty.

　　早在20世纪30年代，本雅明在其《机械复制时代的艺术作品》一文中曾对传统艺术和现代艺术进行了一个著名的区分：传统艺术具有一种独一无二性的“光晕”，这正是其艺术魅力之所在;现代艺术的本质则在于其“可复制性”，复制导致艺术“光晕”的消失。在此我提及本雅明并不是要对其理论进行评述，而是想借用他的区分来区分“美”和“时尚”。在我看来，美的事物都散发出一种独一无二的“光晕”，这种光晕隐含着某种不可穿透的神秘，使其构成独特的无可替代的“这一个”，而令人流连忘返，心神迷醉。而“时尚”的本质恰恰在于其无穷的可复制性，独特的“这一个”从来就不可能成为某种时尚，正是某种东西的不间断的复制，汇聚起来便形成一种时尚。

　　As early as the 1930s, Benjamin’s Artworks in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction has made the infamous distinction between traditional art and contemporary art: traditional art has a unique sense of “glory”, which is represents its artistic beauty; the essence of modern art resides in its producebility, that causes the glory of art to disappear. The reason I mention Benjamin is not to explicate his theories, but to appropriate his distinction to distinguish “beauty” and “fashion”. In my view, the beautiful objects all emit unique “glories”, such glory includes certain impenetrable kind of mystery allowing it become the unique and irreplaceable “this”, capturing one’s attention and inebriates them. whereas,  the essence of “fashion” resides in its endless reproducebility, the unique “such” could never have became any fashion. It is precisely the consistent reproduction of certain objects gathered will slowly form into a type of fashion.

　　消费时代是时尚主导的时代，而时尚是一种没有内涵的“纯形式”的直观存在物，正因为如此，才构成其方便的可复制性;因此时尚也是非理性的，对于时尚，不需要理解，不需要灵魂，只是跟随就行了。裹挟于时尚潮流中的正是“人云亦云”的大众，人们在一种相互复制相互模仿中，获得一种“我在时代潮流之中”的空洞的自我肯定和自我陶醉。

　　The consumer era is an era driven by fashion, moreover fashion is an empty “form” of literal objects. For this very reason, which conveniently became its reproductability. Therefore, fashion is also irrational. As for fashion, one does not need to understand. It does not require a soul, but devoted followers. Those who roam about in Fashion are the public who talk about it. while reproducing each other, people obtained a type of sense that “I am part of the fashion trend” by which to confirm or inebriates oneself.

　　在此意义上说，江衡的作品可以看作是对我们当下时尚社会的一种形象表达。作品中一系列相互复制、没有个性、没有灵魂的快乐时尚美女形象，恰恰构成对时尚本质的一种揭示。

　　For this reason, Jiang Heng’s art can be seen as a figurative expression of the current society. The mutual reproduction, lack of characteristics, soulless happy and fashionable female figures, composes into the revelation on the essence of fashion.

　　摘之《艺术家图像志·江衡》

作者：董志强