| 摘要: | 德國攝影家Andreas Gursky，以充滿精密細節與鮮亮色彩的大型攝影呈現當代社會壯麗的人造景觀，成為現今藝術攝影最受矚目的明星之一。本論文採用「全視之眼」一詞作為標題，為的是突顯Gursky兼具宏觀與微觀的攝影，使觀眾得到如同眾神俯視世間萬物一般的視覺經驗。Gursky於1980年進入杜塞多夫美術學院學習攝影，並於次年開始接受Bernd與Hilla Becher的指導。Becher夫婦將他們的攝影稱為「類型學」（typology），其冷靜客觀、專注於拍攝對象自身形式的風格可以連結到威瑪共和時期的新即物（Neue Sachlichkeit）攝影。Gursky在色彩的安排與構圖方式上，受到美國新彩色攝影一定程度的啟發。其於80年代中期到90年代初的作品經常運用以幾何造型為主的構圖、色域策略，以及使用座架式照相機自遠距離拍攝風景，這些形式特徵都可以在新彩色攝影的作品中找到先例。 在作品的形式美感方面，Gursky的大型彩色攝影可以被歸類為80年代開始出現的畫型（tableau form）攝影潮流的一份子。在展覽時，畫型攝影以巨大的尺幅占據整面牆壁，產生作品與觀者之間的正面衝突感。而畫型的概念更可以向前回溯到十八世紀狄德羅的藝評，他認為畫型作品應具備專注性（absorption），畫中人物呈現被吸納入自身所從事事件的狀態，忘卻觀者的存在。而捕捉當代場景的Gursky也在作品中展現並轉化了這些特色。Gursky的作品大量運用數位修片，創造出主題真假難辨的影象，也引發了索引性與真實性的探討。借由數位技術的輔助，攝影脫離了傳統科技實體，蛻變為後攝影（post-photography）。Gursky的作品結合了被科技擴張的視界與人對攝影真實性的期待，在誇張的形式之中創造出另一種真實。如此人機合體的視象正創造出一種當代的「全視之眼」。 由於Gursky經常鎖定世界各地的證券交易所、演唱會，與連鎖飯店等場景作為主題，許多評論者皆以「後現代」、「消費主義」、「全球化」、「晚期資本主義」等概念來解析作品，然而這些太過輕易地連結拍攝主題與社會理論的論述往往忽略了形式，無法完滿地解釋其作品。最後，本文推測Gursky的作品在市場上大受歡迎的可能因素。在無法接觸到交易內部運作的情況下，就作品本身而論，作品的尺幅、美術館收藏與複數的限量是造成高價的主因。而拍賣公司亦著力在目錄文字引用學者著作，壓抑本身的商業性、強調作品經過名人的收藏，以及將作品與老大師的經典繪畫並列比較。這些手法大多訴諸收藏家對「名牌」與肯定的需求，增加他們對藝術品價值的信心。 Andreas Gursky’s large-format photographs represent grand artificial spectacles with dinstinct details and vivid colors, and the works made him one of the stars of contemporary photography. I use the term, “the all-seeing eye,” as the topic of this thesis, for pointing out that Gursky’s photograph combines macroscopic and microscopic vision, and they form the visual experience almost like an Olympain god’s for spectators. Gursky entered Düsseldorf Kunstakademie in 1980, and was instructed by Bernd and Hilla Becher in the following six years. The Bechers defined their photography as “typology,” which concentrates on the forms of their objects, and avoid any personal touches in representation. This objective style could be linked to Neue Sachlichkeit photography in Weimar Germany. Since there were no predesessors of color photography in Germany in 1970s, Gursky might be inspired by New Color Photography in United States in terms of arranging colors and form. From mid-1980s to early 90s, his works exhibit some prominent features of New Color Photography, such as the geometrical order of composition, color field, and using view camera to capture landscape from a long distance. Concerning the aesthetic of the form, Gursky’s work could be categorized as the photograph of “the tableau form.” The photograph of tableau form hangs on the wall in exhibitions, and produces confrontational experience for spectators. The concept of tableau form could be traced back to the art criticism written by Denis Didrot in the 18th century. He stresses that the tableau should exhibit absorption, which means the figures in the painting are absorbed by what they are doing, and obliviate the presence of the spectator. And Gursky’s photograph, which takes contemporary spectacles as subject, also delivers and transforms these traits. Futhermore, Gursky uses digital technology to create images that are beyond the perception of human eyes, and it leads to the discussions on indexicality and photographic truth. With the improvement of digital technology, photography abandoned its traditional technological entity, and becomes post-photography. Gursky combines the visual field which is broadened by technology, and our expectation of realness from photography, thus he creates an alternative truth in his photograph. The images are like visions perceived by a cyborg, and they create the all-seeing eye in contemporary form. Since stock markets, concerts, and hotels around the world are subjects of many Gursky’s photographs, critics tend to use discourses of postmodernity, consumerism, globalization, and late capitalism to analyse these works. However, some of the critics put their emphasis on the subjects alone, and neglect the importance of the form in their discussion, so the linkage they built between the subject and the discourses is not always convincing. Finally, in the second part of chapter three, I would point out some possible causes of the phenomenon that Gursky’s works made top prices in the auctions. Without access to the inside information of the auctions, this part would focus on photographs themselves. There are three major factors that would affect the prices, which are the scale of the work, limited editions, and whether the other editions of the work have been collected by well-known museums. And in the catalogues publiched by Sotheby’s and Christie’s, the authors quote academic researches frequently, for diluting the commercial characters of the auction houses. They also emphasize that the works have entered the collections of important collectors, and compare the works to the paintings of Old Masters. The purpose of these strategies is to create a brand which the buyers could recognize and identify with, in order to increase their confidence in the value of the artworks. |
