寫生 Drawing Life
2020-2021
紙本素描 Pencil on paper
共366幅，每幅21x29.7cm 366 drawings, 21x29.7cm each
鄭波的《寫生》系列作於2020年，是由366幅每日不間斷描繪的植物所組成。鄭波顛覆了向來關注人類生活為主的藝術實踐，將注意力集中在人類自身以外的事物。起初，他嘗試運用應用程式、網站和書籍來辨識他所描繪的每一種植物，但最後他改變了方法，轉而與他稱之為「群體」（the collective）的植物共處。
對鄭波而言，「寫生」意味著獲得某種身體層面的體驗，這種體驗與過往持續移動的快節奏生活相反。由於全球新冠肺炎蔓延，在疫情迫使下他卻能得到更多的時間待在家。他經常去家裡附近散步，先沿著步道走20分鐘，而後轉進一條古老的小徑，去探索生長在大嶼山的成千上萬種植物。素描成為一種讓他與不同的物種坐在一起的方式，放慢腳步，仔細觀察，欣賞大自然。
鄭波強調了素描作為一種簡單實踐的永續性，「我只需要一張紙和一枝6B鉛筆。這一年裡，我只用了三枝鉛筆，這樣的實踐只需要非常少的資源。」（本文節錄自葛羅庇烏斯美術館（Gropius Bau）的介紹文字）
This series of 366 daily drawings is called Drawing Life, a title that inverts the artistic practice of life drawing in which people are depicted, signalling instead how Bo Zheng focuses his attention beyond the human. Bo Zheng would initially try to identify the species of each plant that he was drawing using apps, websites and books. However, he subsequently changed his approach to just being with what he describes as “the collective”.
For Bo Zheng, this means having a physical experience opposite to the fast-paced life of constantly moving. The COVID-19 pandemic forced him to spend more time at home. With thousands of plants growing on Lantau Island, he would hike for twenty minutes before leaving the main route for an old trail. Drawing became a way of sitting with multiple species, slowing down, looking carefully and appreciating nature.
The artist has emphasized the sustainability of drawing as a simple practice. He says, “I only need to have a piece of paper and a 6B pencil. For one year, I have used only three pencils, so this practice needs very few resources.” (Excerpted from the introduction text of Gropius Bau solo exhibition)
寫生
去年春天，疫情來襲，我總算不再遠行。我早想用些時間瞭解身邊的植物──我的草木鄰居──但來自京都、上海、臺北、廣州的邀約一直令我逃逸。
現在我終於有時間每天到村後的山上走走。山路不長，約需二十分鐘。我離開步道，斜上一條古徑，據說是囚犯鋪就的。
一路上花草叢生，樹木豐茂。看到吸引我的植物，我就坐下來畫畫。畫什麼植物其實並不重要──每株植物都是那麼迷人，即便是凡花俗草，只要我用心相對。畫只是為了看見、感覺、記錄生命，儘管記下的永遠不足。最初癡迷於求知，我忙著查找祖先和學者為植物起的名字。我訴諸一本書、兩個網站、兩個應用程式，力求準確。過久我醒悟到，重要的並不是記住他們的名字。
我常勾勒一片草木生境，而非一株植物個體。香港地處亞熱帶，植物繁茂蔥鬱，處處可見攀爬纏繞的藤蔓。只挑一株植物來畫，是說不通的。
我喜歡靠近他們，這樣才有身體的親密，但視線也變得有所侷限。我留意的常是身形嬌小的花草，而不是高大的喬木。（到了柏林我才開始畫樹。）
畫畫是個簡單的舉動，紙、筆、夾板。一年過去我只用掉三支鉛筆。這是一件開心又低碳的事。
在山上畫畫是好生活。香港有時暑氣逼人，但只要坐一會兒心靜下來，便可感受到微風吹拂，蝴蝶和其他微小生命常落在紙上，和我相伴。
最近生活慢慢回歸「正常」，我又忙碌起來，越來越騰不出時間畫畫了。
如果白天沒空，晚上我會畫畫村裡的植物。
今年春夏，村裡的荔枝、黃皮、龍眼樹花繁果碩，我喜歡畫他們。美琪姐看到，便叫我畫她家的芒果樹，是她已故父親種的，今年也在盛開。
去冬十二月七日至二十日，節氣「大雪」。我連續畫了同一株植物。我們和十三歲的約克夏從柏林回到香港，要隔離十四天。從葡萄牙帶回的一小株樹蕨在酒店房間慢慢生長，隨畫可見一片嫩葉緩緩舒展。
草木或許並不在乎我畫與不畫。畫畫純是為了我自己的修行。但說不定他們也喜歡我來作伴，他們肯定能感受我的氣，知道我內心是否平靜。
寫生已展出幾次，通常一組或兩組。大家的關注讓我有點訝異：每個讀藝術的學生都可以畫出這樣的作品。或許在「人類世」，重點不再是會不會畫，而是願不願畫。我們願不願坐在萬物身旁，為其作畫。
鄭波
二零二一年五月於大嶼山
On Drawing Life
Last spring, when the pandemic hit, I finally stopped traveling. I had wanted to spend some time getting to know the plants that live around me – my plant neighbors – but I had always been tempted by invitations from other places, Kyoto, Shanghai, Taipei, Guangzhou.
Now I finally had time to go up the hill behind the village every day. It’s a short hike, about twenty minutes, and I would get off the main trail and walk up an old path, made of large stones supposedly laid down by prisoners.
I would encounter thousands, millions of plants. When something caught my attention, I would stop, find a place to sit, and draw. But I also know that it doesn’t matter what I decide to draw – every plant is fascinating when I really look, even the most common one. I’m drawing living plants. It’s a practice to see life, to sense life, and to record life, albeit in a very limited way. Initially I was curious to learn the names that our ancestors and scientists have given to the plants. I used two apps, one book, and two websites to make sure that I got the right identification. After a while, finding out the name was no longer important.
I would often draw a habitat, not a single individual. Hong Kong is a subtropical place. Plants grow densely together. There are many vines. It doesn’t make sense to single out an individual plant.
I like to sit close to them, to be physically intimate. This limits my scope of vision. So I tend to draw small plants, rather than large trees. (Only in Berlin did I start to draw trees.)
Drawing is a simple practice. All I need is a piece of paper, a pencil, and a clipboard. For one year, I have used up only three B6 pencils. This is a carbon-light way to keep myself engaged.
Drawing in nature is a good life. It’s an easy way to have a good life. Even when it got very hot in Hong Kong, after sitting down for a while, after my mind settles down, I would feel the breeze. And often after I calm down, a butterfly or some other life would land on the drawing to accompany me.
Now as things are gradually returning to “normal,” I’m getting busier again. It’s becoming harder to find time to draw.
If I didn’t get to draw during the day, I would draw at night some plants in the village.
This spring, lychee trees in the village blossomed spectacularly. I drew their flowers and bulging fruits often. One neighbor, Sister Meikei, noticed that I like drawing, and asked me to draw a mango tree on her family land. The tree was planted by her late father, and was in full bloom.
For the solar term Greater Snow, from 7 December to 20 December 2020, I drew the same plant for fourteen days. We (my partner and I and Sesame, our 13-year-old yorkie) came back to Hong Kong from Berlin and had to quarantine in a hotel room. We brought a tiny tree fern from Portugal back to Hong Kong with us. The small plant was growing every day. You can see a new frond unfurling over time in the drawings.
Plants probably don’t care if I draw them. It’s really just for me to cultivate myself. But perhaps they also enjoy my sitting with them for a while. They must also feel my qi, and can tell if I’m feeling peaceful or not.
The drawings have been shown already a few times, usually one or two sets. Others’ interest in this project surprised me: any art student can draw like this. Perhaps in the “Anthropocene” it’s no longer about our abilities to draw. It’s about our willingness to draw, to sit with other lives and draw them.
Zheng Bo
Lantau Island, May 2021
鄭波
鄭波於中國北京成長，現生活與工作於香港大嶼山。鄭波關注萬物生機，從邊緣社群與邊緣植物的視⻆探查歷史、想像未來。他嘗試培育超越人類滅絕的生態智慧，其實踐包括種植野草園、生活標語，發展生態酷兒影像以及「萬物」工作坊等。
鄭波作品獲上海當代藝術博物館、香港藝術館、新加坡美術館、洛杉磯漢默博物館等機構收藏。2021年個展包括：「萬物社」（柏林格羅比烏斯美術館）、「你是那0.01%」（柏林先靈基金會）、「生命如此艱難，何必搞得這麽簡單？」（香港嘉道理農場暨植物園）。鄭波是第五十九屆威尼斯雙年展（2022）參展藝術家，並曾參加過利物浦雙年展（2021）、橫濱三年展（2020）、歐洲宣言展（2018）、臺北雙年展（2018）、上海雙年展（2016）等。
Bo Zheng
Bo Zheng grew up in Beijing and now lives on Lantau Island, Hong Kong. Committed to more-than-human vibrancy, he investigates the past and imagines the future from the perspectives of marginalized communities and marginalized plants. He grows weedy gardens, living slogans, eco-queer films, and “Wanwu workshops” to cultivate ecological wisdom beyond the Anthropocene extinction.
His works are in the collections of Power Station of Art in Shanghai, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Singapore Art Museum, and Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. Solo exhibitions in 2021 include: Wanwu Council, Gropius Bau, Berlin; You are the 0.01%, Schering Stiftung, Berlin; Life is hard. Why do we make it so easy?, Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, Hong Kong. He participated in The 59th Venice Biennale(2022), Liverpool Biennial (2021), Yokohama Triennale (2020), Manifesta (2018), Taipei Biennial (2018), and Shanghai Biennial (2016).
特別感謝
香港馬凌畫廊
Special Thanks
Edouard Malingue Gallery