鳥頭（左：宋濤｜右：季煒煜）
Birdhead (left: Song Tao | right: Ji Weiyu)
鳥頭成立於2004年，由宋濤（b.1979）和季煒煜（b.1980）組成，「鳥頭」源自一次為文件命名而來的隨意鍵盤敲擊。鳥頭以攝影為創作基礎而不被攝影所框限。他們的鏡頭捕捉任何能涉及的事物，將關於他們自身的成長思考逐漸內化到他們的圖像語境中。他們結合照片矩陣，拼貼，裝裱，裝置，攝影書寫各種對於照片的使用方式，在不同的展覽空間和環境中呈現多個自我更新進化的「鳥頭世界」。
Birdhead, consisting of Song Tao (b. 1979) and Ji Weiyu (b. 1980), has been working in the medium of analog photography since it was established in 2004. The name "Birdhead" came from a random keystroke for film naming. The artistic practice of Birdhead is based on photographs but also beyond the philosophy of photography. Capturing all the beings around them, the two members of Birdhead digest and apply the thinking mode of conceptual art into the context of their image interpretation. By combining the photographic matrix, collage, installation, particular mounting technique and so on, Birdhead delivers a 「Birdhead world」 in various exhibition spaces and humanistic environment.
情放志蕩-立夏-系列 Passions Bloom Ambitions - The Beginning of Summer - Series, 2018
左右滑動，獲取更多圖片 | Slide around for more pictures
重要展覽：生活城市 , 泰特現代美術館 , 倫敦（2017）；第七屆深港城市 \ 建築雙城雙年展 , 深圳（2017）；第六屆莫斯科雙年展 , 莫斯科 , 俄羅斯（2015）；2013年被首屆 HUGO BOSS 亞洲藝術大獎提名入圍；2012 新攝影，MoMA，紐約，美國（2012）；重新發電 - 第九屆上海雙年展，上海當代藝術博物館，上海（2012）；光國，第 54 屆威尼斯雙年展 主題展，威尼斯，義大利（2011）；2011 藝術家檔案 東京國家藝術中心當代藝術年展，國家藝術中心，東京，日本（2011）；鳥頭：新村，EX3 CENTRO PER L'ARTE CONTEMPORANEAFIRENZE，佛羅倫斯，義大利（2011）；他人的世界—當代藝術展，上海當代藝術館，上海（2008）；中國發電站 - 第二站，ASTRUPFEARNLEY 現代美術館，奧斯陸，挪威（2007）。鳥頭的作品被英國泰特、紐約現代藝術博物館、瑞士尤倫斯基金會、德國 Wemhoner 收藏、美國 The Margulies 收藏、挪威 ASTRUP FEARNLEY 現代美術館等收藏。
Birdhead has been internationally presented at: Living Cities,Tate Modern, London (2017); The 7th edition Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism | Architecture, Shen Zhen (2017); How to gather? Acting in a city in the heart of the island of Eurasia, The 6th Moscow Biennale, Moscow, Russia (2015); Birdhead were also nominated for the inaugural Hugo Boss Asia Art Award in 2013; New Photography 2012, MoMA, New York, U.S.A. (2012); Reactivation, The 9th Shanghai Biennale, Power Station of Art, Shanghai(2012); Illuminations, The 54th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (2011); The World of Other's: A Contemporary Art Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai (2008); China Power Station II, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Norway (2007); Birdhead: New Village, EX3 Centro per l'arte Contemporanea Firenze, Florence, Italy (2011); Artist File 2011 The NACT Annual Show of Contemporary Art, National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan (2011). Birdhead’s works have been internationally collected by: Tate, MoMA New York, Guy & Myriam Ullens Foundation, Wemhoner Collection, The Margulies Collection, Astrup Fearnley Museum and so on.
視頻來源｜ Video source：Youtube
鳥頭不相信單張照片的好壞有什麼要緊。這個由宋濤和季煒煜自2004年成立的攝影兩人組甚至不認為自己是攝影藝術家。「我們是裝置藝術家。」他們不止一次這樣公開表態，不願被攝影這種媒介所框限。在香格納畫廊的官方網站上，鳥頭的《今天 2014-01》和《今天 2014-02》等作品均被標註為「裝置」：在詳細說明裡，銀鹽黑白照片與框、柚木、內襯、牛皮雕、鱷魚皮、漆器等材料並置，似乎在強調它們都是構成這一「裝置」並無本質差別、僅有主次之分的物質組成部分；尺寸的標註同樣微妙，除了長和寬外，還標出框架厚度8釐米，以凸顯裝置的立體性。當然，從沒有人規定裝置作品必須多麼「立體」，鳥頭的照片不會比羅妮·霍恩（Roni Horn）的《金地》（Gold Field，1992）上那片金箔更薄，而將照片實體視為裝置的合法性也可由古巴裔美國藝術家菲利克斯·岡薩雷斯-託雷斯（Félix González-Torres）的紙堆／照片堆裝置進一步證明。顯然，一堆和一張只有量的差異，而無本質分野。
Birdhead does not think the quality of individual photographs matters. Song Tao and Ji Weiyu, who set up the collective Birdhead, even deny their photographer identity. 「We are installation artists,」 they declared publicly several times, as their artistic practice is beyond the philosophy of photography. On the official website of ShanghART Gallery, the works of Birdhead like Today 2014-01 and Today 2014-02 are labelled 「installation」. Their introductions place silver print alongside frame, teak, inside liner, crocodile leather, lacquer etc., which emphasise they are all components of an installation, but with clear priorities. Apart from the width and length, the labels also include the thickness (8 cm), focusing on the three-dimensional characteristic of the works. Of course, no one has set dimensional standards for installation. The photographs of Birdhead are thicker than the gold gold leaf of Roni Horn’s Gold Field, 1992. Also, the piles of paper and photographs of Cuban-American artist Félix González-Torres grants the validity of regarding Birdhead’s works as installations. The only difference among them is the quantity, not the nature.
歡迎再次來到鳥頭的世界 - 上海，2016 | Welcome to Birdhead World Again - Shanghai 2016, Fab-Union Space on the West Bund, Shanghai
第54屆威尼斯雙年展(主題展) - 光國，威尼斯，義大利 ｜The 54th Venice Biennale - ILLUMInations, Venice, Italy｜2011
然而，我們將鳥頭視為裝置藝術家有著比強調照片本身的物質屬性更為內在的理由。他們的照片矩陣、對於國畫溼裱技術的運用、處理作品與展覽空間的方式等皆無不具有裝置藝術的特性。尤其是近年以來，鳥頭將早期創作中獨立於攝影之外的觀念藝術式思考逐漸內化於他們的照片矩陣及展覽中，我們甚至可以將鳥頭的每個展覽視為一個總體性的大裝置，一個不斷自我更新進化的「鳥頭世界」。
We view Birdhead as installation artists not just because they highlight the physical properties of photographs. Their photo matrix, the usage of Chinese painting’s wet-mounting technique, as well as the way to deal with exhibition spaces, all have the characteristics of installation art. In the past few years, Birdhead has assimilated the early ideology of conceptual art, which was independent of photography, into their photo matrixes and exhibitions. Each of their shows can even be seen as a whole installation, in another word, a self-evolving world of Birdhead.
照片矩陣的「形意上下文」
The formal and conceptual context of photo matrix
Hugo Boss 亞洲藝術大獎 首屆中國新銳入圍藝術家作品展覽，外灘美術館，上海 | Hugo Boss Asia Art Award, Exhibition of Finalist Artists, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, 2013
雖然「裝置藝術」（installation）一詞直到1960年代初才隨著極少主義的興起開始被使用，但具有裝置藝術特性的作品可以回溯（追認）到二十世紀初的杜尚、1920年代柯特·希維特斯（Kurt Schwitters）的拼貼作品乃至1949年阿根廷裔義大利藝術家盧齊歐·豐塔納（Lucio Fontana）的《空間環境》（Ambiente spaziale）。這些作品都「要求觀眾透過孤立的物件，看見作品被製作、呈現及接受的語境。因為裝置藝術是置於分離的文化語境中的，經常與它們所在的環境直接相關或受其啟發，它們將藝術引向一種與直接材料、與歷史及社會語境的對話中。」[1] 裝置藝術依靠關係——無論是具體的（與材料的、與展覽環境的關係）還是抽象的（作品的美學、社會、政治、歷史語境）——來有效實現藝術家的自我表達。
The term "installation" emerged in the early 60s with the rise of minimalism. However, the features of installation can be found in the ready-mades of Duchamp at the beginning of 20th century, the collage of Kurt Schwitters in the 20s as well as Lucio Fontana’s work Ambiente Spaziale, 1949. All the works "ask the audience to comprehend the context of art-making and how the work is presented through a single object. This is because installation is in an isolated culture context, often connects to or is inspired by the environment. It leads art into a dialogue among direct material, history and social context."[1] Installation depends on connections, which could be concrete (relationship with the material and the space of the shows) or abstract (the aesthetics, social, political and historical context of the works), in order to achieve the self-expression of the artists effectively.
歡迎再次來到鳥頭的世界 - 上海，2016 | Welcome to Birdhead World Again - Shanghai 2016, Fab-Union Space on the West Bund, Shanghai
鳥頭作品中呈現的裝置藝術的「關係」特性是多層面的。首先，是作品內部照片與照片間的內在關係。在近些年愈來愈成為鳥頭作品標準格式的「照片矩陣」裡，每張照片都成為了其他照片的上下文，單張照片的意義由此被削弱（儘管你仍可以欣賞單張照片的具體細節）。一張曝光過度的照片只要位置合理，只要融入作品的整體（或「更大的照片」）之中，一樣可以達成有效的表達、甚至還有放大的效果。
There are multiple levels of connections within the installation works of Birdhead. The first one is the internal connection between the snapshots. In the photo matrix, which has been the major art form of Birdhead in recent years, each individual photograph becomes the context of the others, so the impact of a single photograph is weakened (the audience can still appreciate the details of each photograph). An over-exposure image can give effective expression, or even reinforce it, as long as it is positioned properly and integrated with the whole work (or a "bigger photograph").
生活城市，泰特現代美術館，倫敦，英國 | Living Cities, Tate Modern, London, U.K., 2017
可以將鳥頭2011年的「唐詩宋詞」系列視為這種工作方法的隱喻。他們在城市各處拍攝不同字體的漢字，以拼貼的方式復原辛棄疾《醜奴兒·書博山道中壁》裡的詩句。照片矩陣裡的每張單獨照片，本質上便如同詩句裡一個個單獨的漢字，每個字誠然有其本意，但惟有依賴某種「句法」（或「語法」）才能呈現出真正的詩意。而相較於意涵過分明確的字詞（語言），照片的視覺語言更具有多義性，更適合自由編排，出入於不同的時間和空間，打破照片有形和無形之「框」，來抒情及寫意。由大量不同的膠片相機在各種環境下拍攝的精度各異、虛化效果各不相同的照片，也在這種方法中起到了調節節奏、彼此互補的關係。
The Tang Poem Song Jambic Verse series, 2011, is a metaphor of this working method. They captured Chinese characters displayed in different fonts throughout the city, and then rearranged them based on a poem, Xin Qiji’s Chou Nu Er (Youth Does Not Know How Sorrow Tastes). Each image represents a single character, which has its own meaning, but the "grammar" (or "principle") is central to show the real poetry. Compared to the words with a particular meaning, the visual language of photographs is more variable and suitable for the free arrangement. It can move through time and spaces, and break the rules of photography to express feelings and thoughts. The photographs taken by different analog cameras under various conditions differ in their resolution and blur, which makes them complementary and helps to adjust the overall rhythm.
鳥頭-巴塞爾藝術展「無限意象」項目, 展位號 U46，巴塞爾，瑞士｜Birdhead-Art Unlimited Art Basel 2016, Booth Nr. U46, Basel, Switzerland, 2016
更進一步看，鳥頭構建「照片矩陣」的語法也在不斷演變。最初照片尺寸不一、如Wolfgang Tillmans式的錯落排列法（如2007年的《鳥頭的城市，鳥頭的車》）漸漸演化為由同尺寸照片構成的規整矩陣（如2016年的《情放志蕩》）；而同樣是規整的矩陣，2015年在香格納H空間裡的展覽更傾向於由照片的內容及主題（山水／城市／面孔）來建構關係，而在2016年底Fab-Union的展覽中則更大膽地使用照片視覺上的點、線、面關係進行拼圖遊戲般的勾連——在東南亞拍攝的裸女之身形曲線與西伯利亞雪山無縫對接，煙囪裡飄出的滾滾白煙，蒙太奇為隔壁天空中的疏雲——情緒仿佛在這些冰火兩重天及輾轉的煙雲中流動。而正是在這樣的情緒暗流中，人體與風景再無分別，外部世界與內心風景達成了和諧的同一。
Furthermore, there are changes evident in Birdhead’s principle of the photo matrix. The early photographs of different sizes, close to the tangled configuration of Wolfgang Tillmans (Birdhead’s City, Birdhead’s Car, 2007), have evolved into the neat arrays consisting of images of the same size (Passions Bloom Ambitions, 2016). Using the same organised matrix composition, Birdhead’s show at ShanghART H space in 2015 tended to link the photographs based on their content and subject matters (landscapes, cities or faces). In the 2016 show at Fab-Union, Birdhead fits the points, lines and plane of the photos together like a puzzle. For example, the curve of South Asian female nude and the Siberian snow mountains coincide; the white smoke from the chimney becomes a montage of the clouds in the sky. As the emotions seem to be flowing through different scenes, there is no difference between human being and landscape. The outer and inner world become one.
歡迎再次來到鳥頭的世界 - 上海，2016 | Welcome to Birdhead World Again - Shanghai 2016, Fab-Union Space on the West Bund, Shanghai
Fab-Union展覽二樓的「矩陣三聯畫」（兩側是6x5橫構圖30張，中間是6x4豎構圖24張）最好地展現了鳥頭成熟混用「形構」及「意構」兩種語法的能力。兩側的形構與中間的意構間更形成了第二層關係，雙重的「形意上下文」。
The three-panel photo matrix on the second floor of Fab-Union (left & right 6x5 horizontal composition in 30 pieces, middle 6x4 vertical composition in 24 pieces) best shows the mature ability of Birdhead to combine "Formal construction" with "conceptual construction". The formal constructure on either side and the conceptual constructure in the middle form the second layer of the connections – a double context of form and content.
鳥頭、鳥頭世界與世界
Birdhead, Birdhead world and the world
歡迎再次來到鳥頭的世界，2015，香格納H空間，上海 | Welcome to Birdhead World Again, 2015, ShanghART H-Space, Shanghai
鳥頭作品的裝置性也體現在與展覽空間的關係中。2015年在香格納H空間的展覽被設計一個三進的院落：第一進是白盒子裡的照片矩陣；第二進是暗室中以24k金箔、國畫溼裱技術及傳統漆器工藝裝裱的作者肖像照及兩張考究的「更大的照片」；第三進則是完全的留白——一個空的空間，只掛著一塊「鳥頭世界」的牌匾。藉由這些明與暗、滿與空，鳥頭不但尋找著作品與展覽空間之間適恰的關係，更將空間轉化為作品的一部分。
The installation quality of Birdhead’s work is also reflected in the relationship between the work and exhibition space. The 2015 show at ShanghART H-Space created a yard-like space with "three jins" ("jin" in Chinese means "enter, progress and forward"). The first "jin" exhibited photo matrixes in white boxes, while in the second "jin" there were portraits of the two members of Birdhead decorated with 24k gold foils and two delicate works titled For a Bigger Photo, which use the wet mounting technique of traditional Chinese painting and are framed by traditional lacquer. However, the third "jin" has nothing but a plaque 「Birdhead's World」. Through the contrast between darkness and brightness, emptiness and fullness, the artists not only explore the proper connections between their works and spaces, but also turn the space into part of the work.
歡迎再次來到鳥頭的世界，2015，香格納H空間，上海 | Welcome to Birdhead World Again, 2015, ShanghART H-Space, Shanghai
而在2016年底西岸Fab-Union的展覽中，鳥頭一方面將這種遞進關係依據三層樓的實際空間立體化，另一方面更製作了兩件「真·裝置作品」，仿佛要藉此馴服這個本身太過具有設計感的建築及展覽空間。二樓透明夾層裡的《鳥頭作品》是一個約為一立方米的封閉木箱，四側鑲嵌著廢棄相機，試片用的照片廢條以訂書釘近乎隨意地拼貼於表面，並用白色防水漆勾勒出鳥頭的形狀。仿佛某種奇妙的轉喻，《鳥頭作品》是對鳥頭作品的概括（一種「元作品」），揭示了鳥頭作品的本質——不但拍照是他們的生活，他們也把拍照視為理解日常生活、理解世界及抒發情感的主要方式。這與他們拍的究竟是新村、上海、泰國還是西伯利亞無關；或者毋寧說，世界在鳥頭的相機面前反而成了一面內觀的鏡子，鳥頭看似將相機對準了世界，本質上卻是在拍自己、拍「鳥頭世界」。
In the show at Fab-Union West Bund at the end of 2016, apart from making the progressive relationship stereoscopic according to the three-storey building, Birdhead also created two pieces of "real installation" to tame the way too well-designed space. In the transparent interlayer on the second floor locates Birdhead’s Work, a cubic meter wooden box inlaid with broken cameras all around. Waste photographs are attached randomly with staples on the box surface, where the artists also used white waterproof paint to draw the shape of a bird head. Like a kind of ingenious metonymy, this work summarises the art practice of Birdhead (a "meta-work") and reveals their nature: photography is the two artists』 life, and is considered as their approach to understand daily life and the world and to express their emotions. It does not matter if they took pictures in New Village, Shanghai, Thailand or Siberia. In other words, the world plays the role of a mirror: when the artists are taking photos of the world, they are actually shooting themselves and the Birdhead's world.
Birdhead 鳥頭 | 大神 Lord | 裝置, 綜合材料｜Installation, mixed media | 80x78x42cm | 2016
而這種「個人崇拜」更體現在天台樓梯邊的裝置《大神》中：彩色長氣球組成的鬍子在充氣裝置的控制下不斷依次揚起垂下，隱約透出性的意味；而藥水炮製的煙霧如同腦中溢出的熱燙靈感，瀰漫在空氣裡。「總的來說，我們更關心自己。我們更關心理解與認知外部世界的過程對於自身帶來的成長和改變。」[2] 鳥頭在展覽畫冊的一篇採訪中如是說。
The installation Lord near the stairs to the rooftop clearly conveys this kind of personality cult. The beard made of colourful balloons oscillates under the control of the inflation system, which carries a sexual undercurrent to some extents. Also, the smoke from chemicals is the metaphor of passionate inspirations of the artists. 「In general, we are more concerned with ourselves. We focus on the transformation in ourselves during the process of observing and understanding the external world,」[2] said Birdhead in an interview of their exhibition catalogue.
Birdhead 鳥頭 | 情放志蕩-21 (c) Passions Bloom Ambitions from Vagina-21 (c) | 攝影 | 銀鹽黑白照片, 椴木板材，LED燈，中國傳統溼裱，傳統紋樣絹包裹 | Photograph | Gelatin silver print, Tilia plywood, LED lights, Wet mounting technique of traditional Chinese painting on classic patterned silk | 114x114cm | 2016
值得注意的是：鳥頭近年以來所有的個展都使用相同的名字——「歡迎再次來到鳥頭的世界」。這一方面印證了將鳥頭的展覽視為一個總體性裝置作品的合理性——就好像有一件叫做「鳥頭世界」的未完成作品始終在演變、在進化、在與我們身處其中的世界發生隱秘的關聯——另一方面，這一展覽標題也揭示了鳥頭作品又一層面的「關係」特性：與觀眾的關係。
It is worth noting that all the recent solo shows of Birdhead reuse the same title "Welcome to Birdhead World". On the one hand, it implies that the exhibition is a piece of installation – the work Birdhead World is always in process and linked to the reality covertly. On the other hand, the title reveals the relationship between the artists and the audience.
2012 新攝影，現代藝術博物館 (MoMA)，紐約，美國｜New Photography 2012, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, U.S.A.
Birdhead 鳥頭 | 辛棄疾《醜奴兒》 Chou Nu Er (Youth Does Not Know How Sorrow Tastes) by Xin Qiji (Song Dynasty) | 裝置 | Installation | 200x195cm | Each 188x30cm (x 4 pieces) | Each 200x30cm (x 2 pieces) | 2011
「歡迎再次來到鳥頭的世界」不啻對於外部世界（及身處外部世界的觀眾們）的邀請：邀請觀眾（再次）進入「鳥頭世界」，邀請觀眾來感受鳥頭個人化的主觀世界，感受他們的情緒、審美、趣味。這時候，照片（及其中的世界）反而成了架接鳥頭與觀眾的媒介（裝置）。如果觀眾恰好是「熟客」、或翁貝託·埃科所說的「模範讀者」，那麼他就能跟隨鳥頭超越時間和現實的束縛，在當下裡尋獲古典，可以一起吟誦唐詩宋詞，做「徐如林，疾如風」的漫遊者，可以去往大陸的盡頭，感受千秋光或少女之妙，情放志蕩地驕傲而肆意地生活。畢竟生活最偉大。
"Welcome to Birdhead World" is more than an invitation for the external world (and the audience) to enter the world of Birdhead (again) and to experience their subjectivity, emotions, interests and aesthetics. In this case, the photographs (and the world within) become the bridge between the artists and the audience. If the audience happens to be familiar with Birdhead’s works, or as discerning as Umberto Eco’s "model readers", they can follow the artists to surpass the bondage of time and reality, to look for classics in the modern life, to appreciate poems and verses, to become a free rover, to reach the end of mainland, to experience the light of eternity or the wonder of young females and to live with passions and ambitions. After all, the greatest thing is life itself.
注釋 Note：
[1] 見《Themes in Contemporary Art》（P186，Gill Perry及Paul Wood編，Yale University Press）
Gill Perry & Paul Wood, Themes in Contemporary Art, Yale University Press, P186.
[2] 見展覽冊P13鳥頭訪談《這世界變成什麼樣，其實我們是漠不關心的》（訪談人：周漸佳）
Zhou Jianjia, We do not care about how this world changes, Interview with Birdhead in the exhibition catalogue，P13.
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歡迎再來鳥頭世界，2018 北京
Welcome to Birdhead World Again, Beijing 2018
開幕：2018年9月9日 16:00
展期：2018年9月9日－10月16日 (周二至周日, 11:00-18:00)
地址：香格納北京 朝陽區機場輔路草場地261號
聯繫：infobj@shanghartgallery.com | +86 10 6432 3202