杜象創作觀與中國古典美學的對話──現、當代西方藝術的中國轉化(I)

A Dialogue between Duchamp's Theory of Artistic Creation and the Classical Chinese Aesthetics: A Discovery of the Absorption of Some Classical Chinese Aesthetic Concepts in Contemporary Western Arts (I)

本篇論文，在於通過杜象（Marcel Duchamp, 1887～1968）創作觀對柏拉圖（Plato）以降西方傳統美學的顛覆與反思，從中嘗試抽繹其創作觀所隱含的解構思維和東方意象，進而探索橫梗在東方古典時期與西方當代藝術之間可能存在的審美交集，乃至其可能的會通與轉化之道。文中對於中國審美的提問方式略作整理，包括四個層面，並將此四個層面縮小至先秦，尤以老子、莊子為論述重點。第二段落以杜象創作論述為主軸，並分別將四個層面的提問對照於所涉及的西方當代藝術創作觀。四個提問及其相關對照。首先是「觀物取象，立象見意」，通過中國傳統對於「象」的審美觀，對照西方二十世紀的形式符號美學，並且藉由當代符象的解構特質，試圖找尋其與老、莊之間可以對話的論述。其次是擷取老子無為觀念及莊子遊刃有餘的自由心境，探尋二者與杜象作品之尋求「偶然」（chance）的共通特質。第三部份述及莊子心齋、坐忘的審美觀照，及其與杜象「現成物選擇」觀念的契合。再其次是經由「味」的體驗進而敘述其衍生的「品味」與美學判斷，最後談及老子的「有無相生」與杜象「無藝術」（non–art）觀念的交集感通。創作者的意象常無定論，或許可視為一隱藏的潛在因子，然而當代藝術的多元創作特質，杜象被公認是最具哲性思維與影響性的創作者，其顛覆性的觀念是當代多元創作的開先，有鑑於此，本篇論述乃通過杜象的創作觀以及與之相應的中國古典詩性哲學進行闡述分析，並試圖找尋其間觸及當代西方藝術與中國古典美學交互轉化的因子。

This study is an attempt to unfold the concepts of deconstruction and the Oriental images implied in Marcel Duchamp's (1887-1968) theory of artistic creation, which rebels against and contradicts the traditional aesthetics of the West since Plato. It also tries to explore the possibility of finding some common aesthetic notions shared by both the classical Oriental aesthetics and the contemporary Western arts or the ways to construe the similarities or the counterparts between the two. The first part of this study is to discuss, in four aspects, the Chinese aesthetics of the Pre-Chin period, especially the concepts and theories in the works of Lao-tze and Chuang-tze. The second part is to focus on Duchamp's works and theories concerning the artistic creation and to find the corresponding concepts in the contemporary Western arts to match with the four aspects of Chinese aesthetics discussed in the first part. The four aspects of Chinese aesthetics and their corresponding concepts in the West discussed here are: first, the concept of “image” in the traditional Chinese aesthetics which is represented in the proverb, “ to concretize things into images which are imbued with meanings,” is discussed side by side with the twentieth century Western aesthetics of forms and signs. A dialogue between some concepts of deconstruction in the contemporary studies of signs and the aesthetic theories of Lao-tze and Chuang-tze will be sought in this part of discussion. Second, Lao-tze's concept of “Non-action” and the free mental state of Chuang-tze's “moving a knife freely in a very narrow space” are associated with the concept of “chance” which is pervasive in Duchamp's works. Third, the aesthetic insight gained by Chuang-tze's “mental concentration” and “beyond and above the mind and its objects” is matched with Duchamp's concept of “choosing the ready-made things.” Finally, Lao-tze's idea of “the interdependence of existence and nonexistence” is considered to correspond to Duchamp's concept of “non-art.” Even though the infinite potential interpretations of an author's images may be regarded as a covert factor contributing to the multiplicity in the contemporary artistic creation, Duchamp is commonly acknowledged to be the most philosophical and influential creator of contemporary arts and his innovative theory of artistic creation is considered to be the groundbreaker in the multiplicity of the contemporary artistic creation. This is the reason why Duchamp's theory of artistic creation is chosen to represent the contemporary Western theories of arts in this comparative study of the classical Chinese aesthetics and contemporary Western arts.