张巍：怪异假像的生产者
文/杜曦云
从《临时演员》、《人工剧团》等作品来看，张巍很重视对人性的洞察，这可能与他的生活经历和知识储备有关。他的这些看似客观记录的摄影人像，其实经过了大量的电脑后期处理，呈现出一种微弱的荒诞感。因为貌似客观记录，这种介于真实和虚拟之间的微弱荒诞感，在感觉上更加牵动人心。
张巍曾经是画家，但这几年选择了摄影。与其说张巍是位摄影者，不如说他是一位以摄影的方式制造虚拟图像的人。再纪实的摄影或录像，都不是客观物象本身，因为镜头充满着机器和人的种种局限，影像生产技术也毕竟只是客观物象的替代物、虚拟物。但摄影因为和客观物象的接近程度，比绘画要“逼真”的多，也比绘画要方便、快捷的多。张巍放下画笔，拿起相机和鼠标，驱动他的主因应该是旺盛的表达欲，而不是对画笔/颜料、相机/胶片本身的迷恋。
张巍的这些图像，精致而怪异，有浓厚的“艺术”趣味，但有一定人生阅历和知识储备的观者，又能感觉到混杂在艺术趣味中的文化政治观念。那些不同程度扭曲的面孔，和社会处境、文化氛围、欲望诉求等有着直接或间接的联系。观看这些怪异、阴郁、压抑、扭曲的人，人们不难想到孕育他们的社会、文化、历史母体。从他这几年制造出的大批图像来看，张巍有沉重的历史负担和生存体验，他有很多体验和思考，在积极寻求表达、传播、交流的方式和渠道。但他懂得“魅力”的重要性——这些沉重的、令人不悦的、劳神费心的观念，如果以直白的方式出现，很可能让人望而却步。当把它们掺和在富有直观吸引力的感性形式中时，才可能被吸收、消化。
在绘画/摄影、拍摄/制作、真实/虚拟、正常/反常之间，张巍在精心调节着尺度，让这些图像保持着动人的张力。他的作品散发着迷人的异趣，有游戏的轻松和戏谑的快感，又夹杂着浓厚的悲情，抑或是绝望。
2013年10月6日
Zhang Wei: a Producer of Grotesque Images
By Du Xiyun
Judging from his artworks such as Extras and Artificial Theatre, Zhang Wei puts a premium on the penetration of human nature, which is probably related to his life experiences and knowledge reserves. His photographic portraits of seemingly objective recordings actually went through numerous post-processing, presenting a sense of weak absurdity. Because of its seemingly objective recordings, this weak absurdity between the real and the virtual could even more affect people’s emotional response.
Zhang Wei once was a painter, but in recent years he has chosen photography. He is a creator of fictional images through photographs rather than a photographer. No matter how documentary the photos or videos are, they are not objective themselves, because the lens is full of limitations from machinery and human beings, and the productive technique of an image is just the substitute or the virtual image of the objective image after all. However, because photographic pictures are more close to objective images, they are more “real” than paintings, and also more convenient and efficient than paintings, Zhang Wei put down his brushes and picked up camera and mouse. The main reason motivating him should be his strong desire for expression, rather than his obsession with brush/paint, camera/film.
These images by Zhang Wei are delicate and fantastic with a strong “artistic” taste. But those viewers who have certain life experiences and knowledge reserves could sense the cultural and political concepts mixed in with the artistic taste. Those faces distorted in various degrees have direct or indirect connections with social situations, cultural atmosphere and desired aspirations. Looking at these absurd, gloomy, depressed and twisted figures, people would easily think of the societal, cultural and historical matrix which gave birth to them. From the large number of images that Zhang Wei has created in recent years, he has a heavy historical burden and survival experiences. He has a lot of experiences and thinking, actively seeking methods and channels to express, disseminate and communicate. However, he understands the importance of “charming” these heavy, unpleasant, troublesome concepts, which, if presented in a straightforward way are likely to be daunting. Only when blending them into a sensual form which is rich in visual appeal, could they be absorbed and digested.
Among painting/photography, filming/production, reality/ virtuality, normal/abnormal, Zhang Wei carefully adjusts his scale so these images maintain a moving tension. His artwork emits a different flavor. There is relaxation of games and playful pleasure, and also a mix of strong sadness, or despair.
October 16, 2013