文/朱炯 Zhu Jiong
Meeting with the Ordinary People
The Temporary Performers depicts the most ordinary people. The aged faces and bodies were imprinted with life experience. We may meet them in streets, buses or subway trains. As long as you are willing to look at those around you, you may find a mid-aged woman, with a little female charm remained and the unavoidable worldliness radiating from the fat body wrapped up by laced dress. You may also find a man in military uniform, who has been acting as a hardliner in society for long, but unconsciously revealed some tiredness and helplessness in front of life and aging when looking directly into your eyes.
Virtual Portraits Showing Real Strength
ZHANG Wei, the creator of the images, honestly tells a truth: He created the portraits by re-combining digital images. These are not faces from real life, and their sense organs were transplanted, i.e. Zhang’s eyes and Li’s nose were moved to Wang’s face. The new faces were well made by ZHANG Wei, but he said technically, it is not demanding, only a little challenging when crafting the figures’ facial expressions. No audience has questioned the authenticity of the fake faces, because the serial photos touched us with the immediacy which we unconsciously avoid when facing others, or say the authenticity we want to erase. The figures demonstrate the ugliness and vulgarity we don’t want to see. Even so, they are still quietly looking at the camera, and showing straightly the ugliness of the ordinary, and the vulgarity of the bottom class. Their expressions and bodies are honest, and hiding their struggles for living. Everything in them is radiating the power of humanity. What ZHANG Wei seeks for is to powerfully visualize the invisible strength of reality. It is the power of reality that constantly pushes him to create the virtual figures.
Portrait, the Section of Destiny
Portrait is a section of an individual’s destiny, and a section of a whole society. In the clear and revealing images, the “temporary performers” cannot hide their sagged eye bags, red eyes and twisted faces. The rough faces look dull but distinct, and the eyes seem quiet but never penetrating. Their bodies are even more plain and simple than their faces, showing their true states. The uncared fat, thin, strong, weak, straight or bent bodies wrapped in seemingly stylish clothes are posing differently one from another. The aging bottom class is existing really and absurdly. Being helpless and powerless in the society, they have given up struggling against fate. But their spirits are still alive. Maybe their eyes no longer show any courage, but their bodies still disclose their secret struggles in life. They are human, but have lost something in human nature.
Deverbalization and Visual Spectacle
ZHANG Wei practices deverbalization in creating visual spectacles, and gradually developed it into his own style. The serial portraits are some flat front images, medium shot, front lit, light toned and whitish. The artist used the simplest visual language, or even tended to deverbalize the photography. The photography free from any skills usually creates the purest and most powerful images. When we couldn’t see any light, tone and even instaneous dynamic, we tend to directly face the portraits and feel the figures to the maximum, as if they are coming right towards you. The artist adopted the large format to show the smallest details. Thus the wrinkles of skin and the texture of cheap clothes are fully revealed in front of your eyes. The artist wanted to zoom the images out to an extraordinary scale, in order to fully present the appeals of the portraits. But after the sense organs were re-organized, the visually unpleasant feeling is intensified. The astronaut and the burned man together build the visual spectacle. The set of photos are consistent in color and style. In the light tone, the local lighting brings out the vividness, like the red lining of the old woman’s skirt, striking but evocative.
Temporary Identity and Dream
ZHANG Wei is a dream seeker who came study photography in Beijing from Shangluo, Shaanxi Province, and later settled in Songzhuang to practice photography. He employed some “temporary performers” waiting for jobs at the former site of Beijing Film Studio as his models. The fame and money dreamers accepted the costumes, props and make-ups provided by the photographer, and looked at the lens as the temporary performers.
The concept of “temporary performer” is defined by the artist as the role people cannot play in the fast-evolving society. In this sense, everybody is a temporary performer. ZHANG Wei, as a “temporary artist”, was working with the “temporary performers” to realize their dreams together in the week before the Spring Festival. Different social groups with different dreams share the same life experience.
A photo maker observed to choose his subjects, and expressed his own cognition with the subjects’ bodies. The temporary performers helped others to express their intentions. In the process, their self-awareness conflicted with others’ thoughts, which can be recognized here or there in the photos.
Reality is the Motive Power
ZHANG Wei selected some temporary performers for his photography. One reason was they could provide different images, and second was it was a highly feasible way. The Temporary Performers is not to tell the life of the “temporary performers”, but to analyze the artist’s own artistic exploration. He was recording himself, and providing a reference for people reflecting on their own roles in life with an image. “Reality” 不放。He intends to forcefully express his feeling in real life. By designing the performers’ costumes and facial expressions, he not only directed the shooting, but also changed and re-produced their actual faces later on. However, the reference and supreme goal are as powerful as the reality. The contradicting method adopted by ZHANG Wei raised a very good question for the contemporary photography: To what extent the image is possible to express the reality? What is the relationship between the virtual image and the real life? With the forged images, the Temporary Performers realized even more realistic and striking visual effects than the real images did. In the digital era, the visual images were developed as a tool. But where is the virtual reference coordinate positioned? In the photographic creation of ZHANG Wei, the reality is the reference coordinate of the virtual images, and the reality provides the motive power for him.
看到一些普通人
《临时演员》这组肖像向我们展示着一些极为普通的人。这些面孔和身体，多是有些年纪，生活的历练在他们身上留下深深的痕迹。这些人我们似乎会在街头巷尾遇到，或者在公车和地铁中，只要你愿意抬头看看身边的人。你会见到这样的一位中年妇女，女人的妩媚在经历了岁月的洗礼后还残存着些许芬芳气息，而圆滚的身体在蕾丝花布制成的流行衣服包裹下，滋生出无法摆脱的俗气。你还会碰到穿着类似军队制服的一个男人，长期在社会中不自觉地扮演强硬角色，当他以无力的目光直面你时，释放出来的是难以掩盖的生活疲惫和承受无情衰老的无奈。
虚拟肖像展现现实力量
影像的创造者张巍，坦率地告诉大家，他是用数字影像后期重组的手段，制造了这组肖像。这些面孔其实是不存在的，他们的五官都经过了替换，也就是说，张三的眼睛和李四的鼻子挪到了王五的脸上。张巍把新面孔做得严丝合缝，据他说，其实技术上不难，难的是人物神情的把握。作为观众，似乎没有人对虚假面孔进行质疑。因为这组照片触动人的，是我们面对一个人时所不自觉回避的那份直接感，是我们所希望抹平甚至抹掉的那份真实——照片中的人物有着种种令人不愿去面对的粗陋和失衡之态，但是，他们目光平静地注视镜头，坦率地展露出普通人的丑陋，底层人的粗俗，他们的神情和身体是如此诚实，毫不遮掩在生存中的挣扎，这些都迸射出人性的真实力量。张巍制造虚拟肖像所追求的，是将现实的无情力量有力地表现出来。现实的力量，推动了他创作虚构的人物。
肖像，命运的切片
肖像，是关于个体人物命运的一个切片；肖像也是整体社会的一个切片。在清晰锐利的影像语言描绘下，“临时演员”们几乎都有松弛的眼袋、涨红的双眼，变形的面部。在他们粗陋的面孔中，表情有些呆滞却不乏个性，目光平静却没有穿透力。他们的身体比面孔更朴素、更随意地展现出他们的真实状态。胖、瘦、粗、细、弯、直不等，没有讲究，没有呵护的身体，穿着看似时尚的衣服，摆着很个性的姿势。衰老的底层人，荒诞而实在，无力面对社会，也放弃抗争命运。但是，他们还有自己的精神在，有时目光已经失去了锐气，身体却倔强地表达着抗争的秘密。人，非人。
去摄影语言化与视觉奇观
张巍在影像风格的把握上，是去摄影语言化与视觉奇观的并置。整组肖像非常平面化，人物正面形象，中景景别，顺光，影调浅亮、泛白。视觉语言最简化，甚至有去视觉语言化的明显倾向。贫穷的影像也是单纯的影像，最有力的影像。我们看不到摄影光线的塑造、看不到影调结构，甚至也看不到瞬间动态。我们只是面对了这些肖像，最大程度地感受这个人，好像他就来到你的面前了。作者采用大画幅拍摄，追求展现最多的细节。于是那些皮肤褶皱，那些廉价衣服的丰富肌理都被推到了视觉的最前沿。作者还渴望将作品放很大，超出常人比例。这样肖像自己的魅力是被充分呈现出来的。而人物的五官经过重组之后，视觉的不悦感被扩大了。人物的姿势、动作，常常有出人意料的情节设计：戴着拳击手套的男人，宇航员，一个烧伤的人，这些都建构了视觉的奇观。这组照片的色彩风格统一，浅色影调笼罩下，局部的光线也非常生动，如同那张老年女人裙子里面的红色，刺人眼目也令人回味无穷。
临时身份与梦想
张巍，一名从陕西商洛来到北京学习摄影，然后到宋庄住下，坚持着影像创作梦想的人，从北京电影制片厂旧址前等活的“临时演员”中招募了模特来拍摄。这些怀揣着名利梦想的人，很职业地接受摄影师提供的服装和道具，接受化妆，以他们临时的身份注视着镜头。
“临时演员”的概念，被作者解释为人们在快速运转的社会中无法选择扮演的角色，因此，每个人都是临时演员。张巍，一个“临时艺术家”在那一年春节前的一周，与一些“临时演员” 共同实践着他们各自的梦想。不同的梦想，不同的社会人群，却有着某些相同的人生境遇。
一个影像创作者，基于观察选择了创作对象，将自己的认识借助对象的物质身体为载体来表达。那些临时演员，将自己交给他人来完成他人的表达，拍摄过程中其自我意识与服务他人意识的冲突，在照片中也可以隐隐看到。
现实是原动力
艺术家张巍，选择临时演员的群体来完成拍摄工作，是因为他们的形象丰富，是因为这样的可行性更高。《临时演员》系列，不是通过影像讲述那个“临时演员”群体的生活，而是在进行一个自我剖析的艺术影像探索。他在拍摄自己，以及给所有思考自己生活角色的人提供一个影像的参照。“真实”不放。 他希望能够将他对现实的感受真实有力地表现出来。他给演员设定服装，引导他们的表情， 他不仅导演了这些片子，还在后期进行了完全改变人物真实面貌的再创作。但是，他的参照对象和最高目标是如同现实一样有力。 张巍的这一矛盾手法，为当代影像提出了一个很好的问题。影像在真实的层面上有多大的表达可能性？虚拟的影像与现实的关系是什么？《临时演员》，假人的影像，获得了比真人影像更真实有力的视觉效果。在数字的时代，虚拟影像的手段被开拓出来，而虚拟的参照坐标定位在哪里呢？对于张巍的影像艺术创作，现实是虚拟的参照坐标，现实是原动力。