鲍昆的博客

土地

在中国文化中，“土地”这个词汇，是有着特别的意思的。从本质上说，我们的历史就是与土地之间的关系史。不同于游牧民族和草原与森林的关系，中国农耕的生产方式，注定了我们祖先和具体的土地之间的关系。土地在经济生产中是我们历来的资源，我们的一切历史也是在这个具体的词汇上展开的。在太平洋西岸一片可以耕耘的土地，孕育和滋养了我们的文明。

摄影普及以来，铺天盖地的影像覆盖了人们的生活。但是在无边的影像中，却极少看见认真关注土地的。众多的摄影人，很少意识到土地是需要我们认真注视和观看的。土地在众人的影像中只是一个衬托人物的简单背景，是农村题材影像的必要铺垫，甚至是所谓画面构成的必要元素。我们爱看好看的图片，却忘了让我们安身立命的这片土地。上世纪的陕西摄影，曾经具有表现土地的倾向，但却并未走向深远。

刘立宏先生所拍摄的《土地》，是让我们能够闻得到土地气息的影像。在这些影像中——东北大平原的土地宽广、雄阔，具有史诗般的气度；土地上的东北人们与作物则传达出卓然不同于其他地域的风韵。刘立宏使用了一种压迫性呈现的方式，平面性的单调恰恰是一种强调作者感觉必要的策略。我们在刘立宏的这些影像中，感受到了他对这片土地的理解和一泓深情。

策展人：鲍昆

The Land

In Chinese culture the word “land” has special meanings much beyond the surface.  In essence our history has been a history of our relationship with the land.  Unlike the relationship between nomads and the forest and grassland, our ancestors had a much deeper tie with their land, as determined by China’s farming mode of production.  Land has been the resource in our economic life, and furthermore, the arable land on the east coast of the Pacific has nurtured and nourished our civilization.

   Ever since photography became a popular pastime, images started flooding in and covering people’s lives like never before.  In the vast mass of images, however, little attention is paid to the land itself.  Most are not aware that the land deserves our attention and careful viewing.  In images of most people, the land is a mere backdrop for humans, a necessary background for rural-themed images, or even an element for image composition.  We tend to enjoy pretty pictures but forget the land we live off of.  The Shaanxi photography in the previous century made some attempts but stopped at one step short.

Liu Lihong’s “Land” series bring us the vast and boundless land of Northeast China with epic grandeur, so strong we could smell the fragrance of the earth.  The Northeasterners and their crops give off their unique flavor too.  Liu used an almost oppressive way of presentation, a strategy of using monotonously flat images to highlight the artist’s sentiments.  In these images we unmistakably recognize his emotional attachment to this land.

Curator: Bao Kun