文/ 孙建春

从文化层面上说，“失语”这个词有两种理解方式，一是指不会说话，二是指不会用自己的方式说话。在第二个理解的标准里，中国现代性的文化基本上都是处于失语状态的，当代艺术也不例外。相比较古代艺术的创作者们，艺术批评是失职的，创作者们起码构建了现象，但批评家并没有能构建出与现象相对应的话语，当然，我们不能把原因简单地归咎于文字的创作者们，文化生态不是一个完全独立的系统，它一方面有赖于系统内部的积极调整，但对其形成更重要影响的是社会整体的发展和变化。

正在趋于一体化的亚洲市场的一体化虽然在正式的经济、政治制度方面不如欧美完善，但亚洲经济的贸易、投资日益紧密，中国的高速经济增长成为其发展的原动力。目前，整个东亚正处于“制度大转变”的过程中，虽然日本、韩国和中国各处于不同的阶段，但它们都在各自地进行着转变。亚洲的经济一体化作为对美国控制市场的一种抗衡力量，具有非常重要的意义，这有待能纠正诸如南北贸易差别、国际财政不平衡以及由此带来的不稳定等缺陷。欧美资本主义高度发达的社会文明和工业文明造就了高度规范化的政治和经济制度，其一丝不苟和“一丝不可苟”正如一面双刃剑，高度规范同时也高度制约，其发展出现必然的停滞，显然需要新的刺激和规范来调整经济结构，另一方面，亚洲经济的相对“不规范”以及在此次金融危机后的不确定性，使之成为世界经济最具有活力的因素但也是最大的变数，无法预知其走向，同样急需建立新的规范来进入全球新格局下新秩序。全球化语境下判断和决定，可以帮助改变世界和我们自身。我们甚至可以以金融危机为路标，寻找亚洲和中国的方向。

从文化角度说，亚洲国家的现代化进程基本都是以欧美的现代化作为参照的范本来演变的，然而以欧美的价值体系作为评判的标准显然不能满足东方国家的文化诉求，他者的话语对应于有差异的文化背景以及社会现实批判无异于“隔靴挠痒”，文化 “失语”有两个层面的意思，一是指不会说话，二是指不会用自己的语言说话，以中国为例的亚洲国家在现代性的进程里最需要建立的正是“自己的语言”，近30年间里，越来越多的亚洲国家开始认真清理自己的国家遗产、整合新的社会结构下的社会心理，包括艺术，开始慢慢回归到真正地关注自身，关注亚洲人内心的原点上来。新视角重新确认多样的亚洲文明并且进行解读，期望建立新的话语体系以对应有差异的现代性，建立新的亚洲艺术形象。中国的当代艺术发展在此前的30年里同样受到西方视角的左右，正如毛泽东说的：“……社会主义不去占领它，资本主义必然去占领”，海外艺术资本的介入或多或少地左右了当代艺术的格局，以表现中国社会政治信息为主导的一批艺术家因符合西方文化中心主义而备受瞩目，与此同时，艺术的批评话语也基本是挪用和照搬了西方现代主义以后的批评模式和方法论，当代艺术的发生和发展始终没能在中国现代性的进程中“落到实处”。从2005到2007短短的两三年里，当代艺术经历了极度市场化的泡沫，2008年经济危机的来临让艺术市场受到了巨大的冲击也是巨大的洗礼，艺术市场甚至艺术本身都趋于冷静和成熟，09年以来，虽然新的艺术尚且没有完全形成自身的语言的自觉性，但诸多的展览和艺术作品还是显露出了越来越明确的努力。这一年的表面萧条和内在的暗流涌动都似乎表明了一个新的艺术时代的来临。新的资本介入也是个必然的要求和趋势，目前，少许的国内民间资本的进入虽然还不能构成完善的市场，但毕竟一个良好的开端初露端倪。

现代社会的经济和文化一样都不是孤立存在的，财富的积累和支配从来都是一个重要的社会问题，英国古典政治经济学的主要代表亚当·斯密的《国富论》早在18世纪就创建了西方政治经济学的科学体系。中国经济现代性的进程和文化一样，都到了一个需要进行结构调整的阶段，和欧美社会不一样，中国的社会个体和企业的财富积累时间和态势都相对要短、也迅猛的多，并没有与财富相对应的伦理制约，没有和财富支出相对应的慈善事业和文化投资等等，在中国传统的社会形态中，大户和乡绅们都遵守着修桥铺路、办学放赈等约定俗成的义务，现代西方社会的财富支配制度更为完善，除了各种各样相对应的慈善事业，文化投资也是各个大的财富集团重要的社会公益支出，戴姆勒-奔驰、BMW每年都有巨额的艺术品收藏；古根海姆、洛克菲勒这些大财团甚至拥有自己旗下非常有影响力的美术馆……中国的新贵们在迅速拥有财富的同时却并没有被规定的责任和义务，加之这一代的财富拥有者几乎无一例外地经历了社会主义早期物质极其匮乏的年代，所以在财富的支配上甚至会有报复性的不健康心态——这一代人早年发过最多的誓言基本都是以“等老子有了钱……”开头的，中国的企业在这一点上和个体并没有大的差异，绝大多数的企业也正是从个人产业发展扩大而成，个体财富伦理欠缺的基因一样被遗传到企业的结构当中，类似前不久中石化大楼“天价吊灯”之类的传闻和暴发户的高消费行为如出一辙。同时，企业的管理者们在利益和情感的矛盾中无法平衡，这无形中就把企业工人和企业的收益变成一组有对立的关系，没有社会公益的平衡支配，企业很难自上而下地建构出一个人性化和科学化兼备的企业文化。由于历史文化和现实情境的差异，中国的企业很显然无法完全复制西方的企业精神，一方面，我们要学习发达资本主义国家的企业的人性化管理和人性化企业精神，另一方面，我们又要冷静面对由高度规范导致的人性制约，对应于中国的社会现实建立既符合本土精神又符合国际化规范的企业文化，这让新的企业文化本身成为了一门艺术。

尽管亚洲的文化和经济是一个庞大到几乎无法被阐释的主题，但我们解读亚洲首先回到本土，解读本土首先回到自身的经验，解读自身的经验就需要有足够的时间和资料的累积、信息的比对。从各方面看，我们都需要一个由经济和文化共同建构的良好生态，民营资本和本土的当代艺术之间需要一个桥梁来相互促进，本土的民营资本的参与可以帮助文化建立自身良好的市场生态和艺术话语的自我生产力；而文化可以帮助企业完成企业形象和企业文化的转型，建立起相对人性的管理模式和企业精神。

正是基于这样的愿望和目的，由伊比利亚当代艺术中心和北京锡恩企业管理顾问咨询有限公司共同参与组织了“丰田艺术计划”，这是由文化研究机构和企业管理的研究机构一起进行的一次全新的尝试，是对中国当代艺术未来生态和企业文化建设的一种共同努力，这个展览中的20位不同年龄的艺术家，以丰田汽车公司的生产模式为范本展开文化和大工业之间的社会反思，我们不妨把此次的计划当成一个 “亡羊补牢”的内在需求，毕竟，一切都在和我们昭示一个事实：亚洲、中国急需建立和完善新的制度和规范以对应世界格局，我们需要有自己的新的时间表和新的路标。

2009年11月17日

Asian Landmark — Toyota Art Project of Iberia and CN

Text / Sun Jianchun

In cultural context, the word “aphasia” can be defined in two ways: the inability to use language, or the incapacity to speak in a way one wishes. The present culture of modernity in China is generally diagnosed as the latter kind of aphasia; contemporary art is no exception. Comparing to artists, art critics have been delinquent in constructing a narrative in keeping with art trends formed by artistic creators. Certainly it’s unfair to simply impute the failure to art writers as cultural ecology is far from an independent system, which is not only subject to the impact of positive self-modification, but also, more importantly, to that of evolution and transmutation of the society on the whole.

Although the structure of economic and political systems in the gradually integrated Asian area is far from complete, the high-speed economic growth in China has been fueling the increasingly active trade and investment in Asia economy. Despite of the different stages Japan, South Korea and China are going through, their respective changes have put the entire East Asia into a common “critical structural transformation”. The integration of Asia economy is playing a decisive role by exerting a counterforce against the controlling power of the occident over the world market, which is expected to have a potential to revise defects in world economy, such as the imbalance of international finance, the North-South trade relation as well as the instability they’ve caused so far. The highly developed social and industrial civilization based on capitalism in the occident has built a set of extremely standardized politico-economic systems, and their pursuit of absolute precision and the “prohibition of any infringement of rules” just like a double-blade sword, while specifying everything, also constrain possible transformation and growth. That inevitably results in economic stagnation and then new incentive and regulation is needed for a modified economic structure. From another perspective, the relatively “irregular” nature of Asia economy and the instability following the late financial crisis has made the future condition of this region most promising but at the same time most unpredictable in world economy. The unpredictable future gives rise to an urgent need to set up new standards and rules in order to keep up with new orders in world patterns. The judgment and decision made in the context of globalization could help the world and man take a change for better. Or even we could take the financial crisis itself as a landmark searching for a new direction for Asia and China.

Basically from a cultural point of view, the course of modernization in Asian countries displays a similarity to that of the occident. Nevertheless, the value system based on the occidental criticism of modernity obviously cannot meet the cultural needs of oriental countries undergoing a radical change at the moment. To a different cultural background and social criticism, the discourse of “the other” would be nothing but attempting an ineffective solution. Cultural “aphasia” has two layers of meaning, the inability to use language, or the failure to speak in the way one wishes. For the Asian countries, taking China for example, the urgent task is to find “her own language”. In recent 30 years more and more Asian countries begin to reposition their national legacy in a new context and embrace new social psychological climate in a search for the origin of the Asian spirit, of the humanity, and of the art. The new perspective allows us to reaffirm and interpret diversified Asian civilization and the expectation of building an independent discourse system in line with a different modernity manifest in the efforts to build a new image for the Asian art. The western angle has dominated the growth of Chinese contemporary art in the last 30 years, just like what Mao Zedong said, if socialism doesn't occupy the battlefront, capitalism surely will. The participation of overseas funds more or less has influenced the formation of contemporary art market. Artists working with social and political subject matters have received considerable attention as their works cater to western-oriented cultural value. Similarly, most critical writings are appropriating and copying post-modern critical modes and methods. The emergence and development of contemporary art has never been implemented in practice during the process of modernization in China. In the past two or three years from 2005 to 2007, contemporary art has created a market bubble and after being attacked and baptized by the 2008 financial storm the art market and even the artistic production have cooled down and started to grow mature. Even though the consciousness of an original art language has not been fully awakened yet, apparent signs of such efforts are shown in more and more exhibitions and artworks. The recession on the surface and the undercurrent below seem to forecast the advent of a new art era, when the inflows of new funds will become an apparent demand and trend. Presently the investment from domestic enterprises is not big enough to constitute a sound market chain, but it indicates a good start.

In modern society economy just like culture is tied to many other factors and the accumulation and distribution of wealth remains to be a major issue. Since the 18th century the prestigious British classical political economist Adam Smith has created a scientific system of western political economics in his book The Wealth of Nations. The formation of economic and cultural modernity in China has entered a stage of restructuring and reform. Comparing with the occidental countries, the time-span for individuals and corporations in China to accumulate wealth is relatively shorter and it happens in a more drastic way. Consequently there has been no time to build ethical boundaries in keeping with the expansion of wealth and a huge gap appears between the large sum of financial expenses and investment in cultural undertakings and support to charities. In Chinese traditional social structure, wealthy families and country gentlemen had agreed to undertake obligations such as building roads and bridges, running schools and providing charity relief, etc. In contrast, western modern society has a more advanced wealth distribution system. Apart from various philanthropic initiatives, cultural investment has become an important part of their contribution to the public good. German carmakers Daimler-Benz and BMW have annual budgets for collecting artworks; Tycoons such as Guggenheim and Rockefeller even have their own prominent museums…Despite of the rapid expansion of individual wealth, the new Chinese rich have failed to be engaged with social responsibilities and cultural obligations. Moreover most wealthy people of this generation have experienced the situation of scarcity in the early stages of socialist construction, which leads to an unhealthy, punitive mentality among them. The vow they very often took in their youth would start like this: “Oh damn, if I get rich one day…” As most enterprises in China are developed from individual business, the absence of wealth ethic is genetically inherent in the structure. Recent rumor about the Sinopec “buying a chandelier at a sky-high price” shows that this behavior is no different from the public display of wealth of those parvenus. On the other hand, unable to find a balance point between industrial profit and moral values, owners of private enterprises stuck in the fact that the company’s interest is antagonistic to worker’s benefit. The loss of balance caused by the lack of contribution to public welfare has made the formation of a corporate culture that is humane and scientific, more difficult. Due to innate differences in history, culture and social reality, a corporate philosophy borrowed directly from the west obviously would be inapplicable to Chinese enterprises. While learning from the humanized managerial models and entrepreneurship of the developed capitalist countries, we also should be aware of limits caused by high standardization so as to create a corporate culture that is tailored to the local spirits and realistic needs of China, but also conforms to global standards. The work aiming to build such a new entrepreneurship is truly an art.

Given the fact that Asian culture and economy is an inexhaustible subject, we are advised to come back home and examine local experience accumulated in the past, seeking to reach a conclusion based on comparative information. The above viewpoint leads to a consensus that what we need is the balance between the growth of economy and the development of culture and a connection bringing together both the constructive force of private capital and the redemptive power of contemporary art so as to build a healthy market ecology for culture and complete the construction of a self-contented art institution. In return, culture provides coordinate efforts for the renewal of corporate concept and image in favor of a more humanitarian management model and spirit.

It is also the purpose of the current initiative “Toyota Art project”, presented by Iberia Center for Contemporary Art in collaboration with Beijing CN Management Consulting Company. This is a brave new initiative between a cultural research institute and an enterprise management consulting body, a joint effort for the construction of the future ecology of Chinese contemporary art and corporate culture. The twenty artists of different ages ignited a reflexive social debate on the relation of culture to the industrial world based on the productive model of Toyota Motor Corporation. This program is deemed to be a necessary act of mending the sheepfold after loosing sheep. In short, the fact is becoming more and more obvious that the changing world pattern is urging Asia and China to develop a new system and standard. To achieve the goal, we definitely will need an updated agenda and new landmarks.

17-Nov.-2009