展言
 
经历岁月的磨砺，却对流逝的时间一无所知。被揭开，但它仍然保持着深眠的姿态。

作为开头，容许我以这样抽象的句子来定调这次展览，希望在看完展览之后，我们能够将这个当下所感受到的“空白”，适当地填充一些。

坦白说，古道具展览的展言并不好写，策展也比以往更具备挑战。从散步时刻Gallery，一家当代艺术画廊的角度来说，更是如此。当下的大环境充斥着太多对于古道具的不同诠释，很多时候也是片面的理解。仅是单独一场展览，更不可能一下子就将这些谜团统统解开。

所以我想用另外一个角度来进入这次在散步时刻Gallery呈现的特展。

古道具，沉睡的“物”

与当代艺术不同，做出如今在你面前这件古道具的人，大多不在了，也没留下太多的”作者性”。这样的“物”，它是安静的，是与世无争的。“道具”就意味着，它的诞生是被人们拿来“使用”的，而不是被拿来“观赏”的。也因为这样，古道具和民艺经常被交互替用，凑在一块，形成了对于某种古物风格的审美共识。

若一定要用“美”的尺子去定义这次的展品，那它们大概是在经历了岁月的磨砺之后，一种平凡的美，一种属于民众而不是贵族的美，一种在深眠中的美。

那为什么原本不被用来观赏的“物”，如今却变成了一种可以进入画廊空间里的作品呢？如果它们并非价值连城，收藏意义非凡的古董/古美术藏品的观众在这些作品中所能收获的又是什么呢？

古道具到底是不是艺术？

提到古道具时，常会有另一个词伴随出现：侘寂（Wabi-sabi），一种生活的哲学和审美概念，“生命是有限的，一切都终将凋落”。

侘寂，描绘的是一种残缺之美。广义上，它是一套面对生活的哲学；狭义上，它属于一种审美概念。古道具和民艺作品大多顿循着侘寂这套“系统”。残缺、破败、不圆满的表面，内在指引着对于寂静、朴素、谦虚、自然等等的思考，对生命的思考。

“古”和“旧”只是这些“物”的表象，一种被短暂定义的风格。但在深处，它们从于内在价值，从于个人。每个人都可以透过自己独特的审美视角与喜好去挖掘侘寂，在空间和生活里诠释它。

准确来说古道具并没有既定的风格，或者说——不应该有。不同的材料、工艺，来自不同文明和时代的作品跟产物都可以通过个人对于侘寂或审美的理解，从而被挖掘出来。空间性和时间性的转变，重新定义了这些“物”的审美价值，让它们从原本的生活物/普通用品，上升到一种触及哲学思想的艺术藏品。

完美的非物质性，才是最理想的状态。

这是古道具和艺术品最大的共性。不在意功能性，没有所谓的进步。作品的价值来自作品本身物质价值之外的东西。在漫长的时间里，穿梭无数场景与空间的古道具，使我们去思考它的存在、我们的存在、存在的意义或者无意义。在古道具身上，过去、当下与未来都凝聚在与沉睡的它，面对面的那一刻。

散步时刻Gallery这次展览的初衷是希望从古道具的视角去呈现艺术、审美和生活的另一种可能。秉持着我们的信念：“艺术是多元的”，我们希望不断地尝试去打开更多的黑匣子，让观众可以用不同的方式去体验艺术和生活。 


In a state of slumber, roughen by age, yet unaware of the passing years. Uncovered, still they remain asleep.
As a start, let me begin with such an appropriately abstract statement to set the tone for this exhibition. Perhaps upon the viewing of this exhibition, we may be able to fill in some of the “blanks” in which we feel at this moment in time.

Frankly speaking, an exhibition of Furudōgu items isn’t exactly easy to construe, and to curate a exhibition of such a theme in a contemporary art space like the Champochic Gallery, it is even more so challenging. Furudōgu (ふるどうぐ) or also written as 古道具 refers to a specific “category” of antiquity, that has its roots in the Japanese language. A simple translation would be old/antique props or tools.

There are too many different interpretations of Furudōgu in the current environment, and more often than not, they are oversimplifications of the term. Of course, it is unlikely for a single exhibition such as this occasion to solve all the mysteries at once.

Therefore, through an special exhibit at the Champochic Gallery, I would like to explore an alternative path, taking us into the world of the Furudōgu.

Furudōgu  - Sleeping "Objects"
Unlike contemporary art, most of the people who made the Furudōgu in front of us today are long gone, and such pieces of work don’t usually leave much "authorship" or traces of individuality in the art form. These "objects" are quiet and uninvolved with its surrounding world.

The characters 道具 imply props or tools, as such, these items were born to be "used" by people, not to be "admired" by the eye. Often, Furudōgu and folk arts are applied interchangeably, and together they form an aesthetic consensus on a certain rustic style of antiquities.

If we must use the ruler of "beauty" to define the exhibits, then they represent a kind of “ordinary” beauty, a beauty that which belongs to the people and not to aristocracy. A beauty that is deep in its sleep.

So why is it that an "object" that was not originally intended to be admired has now become a kind of work that can entered into the gallery space as exhibits of art? If they are not valuable beyond common comprehension, or possess significant meaning as an ancient artistic relic or for a collection, what significance and value do they hold for the audience?

Furudōgu  considered to be art?
When referring to Furudōgu, we are often accompanied by another terminology, wabi-sabi : a philosophical and aesthetic concept of life.

"life is finite, and everything will eventually wither".

Wabi-sabi depicts a kind of beauty that embraces incompleteness. Broadly speaking, it can be a guiding philosophy on how one chooses to face life; or in a narrower sense, it’s an aesthetic concept. Most Furudōgu and folk art artifacts follow the "system" of wabi-sabi. The outer appearance of incompleteness, worn, and imperfection is guided by the inner thinking of silence, simplicity, modesty and nature etc. It’s a thinking on the question of “What is life?”

"Ancient" and "old" are surface appearances of these "objects". However in the depths, they come from a set of intrinsic values and standards set by the personal and individual. Everyone can explore wabi-sabi through their own unique aesthetic perspective and preference, and thus form their own interpretation of life and time.

To be precise, Furudōgu do not possess an exact aesthetic style, or rather - there shouldn't be one. Different materials, artistic techniques as well as works/products from different civilizations and eras can be excavated through one’s personal understanding of wabi-sabi or aesthetics. It is the trans-formative moving nature of space and time that redefines the aesthetic value of these "objects", allowing them to rise from ordinary objects of the daily life to become art works that touches upon philosophical ideas and thoughts on human experience.

“Perfect immateriality is the ideal state.” This is the greatest commonality between Furudōgu and contemporary art.
Moving away from functionality, and progress as a value, the value of these exhibits come from something other than the material value of the work itself. Furudōgu or contemporary art, they both define themselves similarly this way.

Over the cumulative sum of time, the objects of Furudōgu shuttles through countless scenes and spaces drawing us in, to think about its existence, about our existence, about the meaning or meaninglessness of existence. The past, present and future, all condensed into one single moment as we come upon, face to face with these “sleeping objects”.

Champochic Gallery showcases this exhibition with an intent to explore the different possibilities of art, aesthetics and life, through the perspective of the Furudōgu theme. Adhering to our belief that "art is diverse", we hope this exhibition will open up the audience to experience art and life in new ways.