Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Sir David Attenboroug


BBC自然紀錄片有口皆碑,其中由David Attenborough主持的自然錄片更是令人讚不絕口.

David Attenborough主持哺乳類動物系列,令人大開眼界,他宏觀,深入,系統性的全面介紹,不只讓人了解個別的動物,還有動物間的演化關係,最後甚至涉及語言及社會演變的由來,他無疑把自然動物紀錄片推上一個層次,他在動物上深刻的理解,推進對我們人類自身的理解,他延伸我們對動物在時間上,空間上,社會性上,認知的廣度及深度.

他的風格熱情沈穩,不會像已故澳洲人Steve Irwin那樣每每在鏡頭前把動物抓起來把玩,Steve對動物的熱愛不折不扣是對動物的騷擾.David Attenborough在鏡頭前保持一貫英國紳士作風,並用淵博的知識征服我們.大英帝國雖然國力式微,但他的熱情典雅及BBC高級的製作水準,使我對這個曾經號稱的日不落國深感敬意.
David Attenborough homepage in BBC

Among the highly reputed record films by BBC, ones hosted by David Attenborough are the best of the best.

"The Life of Mammals" are series that sharply, vastly, and systematically broaden our acknowledgment to mammals. The acknowledgment is not only to the individual species, and not only to the relation and evolution of among species, but also the the evolution of language and society as well. He sets the in-depth understanding not only limited to animal but to ourselves, human, at the end. He undoubtedly marks a milestone to the record films about nature. Our understanding about animals thus extends temporally, spatially, socially through his eyes.

Unlike Steve Irwin, David Attenborough is passionate and staid. Steve often captured and played the animals for show which is harassment rather than love to animals. David remains a traditional English gentleman even to animals in front of a camera, and conquers our heart with his erudition. Although the glory of the Great Britain has passed, with David Attenborough's elegant style and passion along with the hight quality of the films by BBC, it is hard for one not to pay respect to this empire once on which the sun never set.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Banksy! Banksy! Banksy!

余華說: 看了柏格曼的野草莓, 我才知道什麼是電影;
看了海上扁舟, 我才知道什麼是小說.

我說: 看了Banksy的塗鴉, 我才知道什麼是塗鴉.

Yu Hua said "I know what is a movie after watching Smultronstället by Ernst Ingmar Bergman, and I know what is a novel after reading The Open Boat by Stephen Crane."

I said "I know what is graffiti after seeing the
graffiti by Banksy."


Publisher: Random House UK (April 1, 2007)
ISBN-10: 1844137872
ISBN-13: 978-1844137879

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Fallen Art: 墮落的藝術


墮落有墮落的美,問題是一些當代藝術墮落起來,噁心有餘美感不足.

這個動畫短片對藝術的嘲諷黑色有趣,確實當代藝術有時會有這種走火入魔的情形.Damien Hirst有的作品前衛大膽,奪目耀眼,絕對是好作品,但不代表他所有作品是好的,我認為他走火入魔的系列作品是裝箱泡著福馬林的動物屍體,某些作品說穿了只是動物標本而已,美其名為藝術天價賣出,爭議果然是最上策的行銷.但再高額的拍賣價金也無法點石成金,拍賣槌下落的一刻只是藝術向世界赤裸裸宣告的墮落.

Corruption has its own beauty. However, some corruption of modern art are more gross than beautiful.
This short film darkly caricatures art with wit. It is true some art goes wayward sometimes in some ways. Some works of Damien Hirst are flamboyantly avant-garde, yet it is not equivalent to say all his works are excellent. Some of his wayward works I think are the series of methanal-preserved animal corpses in box, though auctioned in sky-high price but they are just specimens at the core. Argument is indeed the best policy of marketing. But no matter how high the price it is, it ultimately can not change non-art to art. The falling the auction hammer is merely a loud declaration of fallen art to the world.

淺談小說的文學現實

小說的文學現實有別於生活的現實,前者最終目的是突顯後者.
卡夫卡(Franz Kafka)的小說最能說明這個文學概念.卡夫卡想說明一個人的外表對生命的影響,在他的筆下,蛻變(Metamorphosis)這本小說的主角變成一隻大甲蟲,敍述主角變成甲蟲後,家人如何驚恐,憤怒,排斥他,與遺忘他.
聰明的卡夫卡不是拿一個顏面灼傷者當主角,而是大甲蟲,這種文學手法就是把一個生活事實給陌生化,一個不可能在生活發生的文學現實是一個陌生全新的經驗,透過閱讀,讀者體驗文學現實後,重新理解生活現實,生活現實就這麼凸顯出來.臺灣有顏面灼傷者自殺,社會不只排斥他們,只時也遺忘他們,如果卡夫卡的主角是顏面灼傷者,那麼卡夫卡的敍述不是文學,而僅僅只是新聞的延長,最後也會注定被人遺忘.
卡夫卡擅長描寫權力,"審判","城堡"等小說名字本身就是權力象徵,他不去直接描寫機構內部權力運作,卡夫卡把權力機器模糊陌生化,旁側敲擊描寫面對權力機器下,一般百姓對權力發自內心的主動屈服,一般民眾在權力下互相主動的制約,這樣的文學手法讓我們更加理解權力運作的深刻本質,這是卡夫卡的高明,也是卡夫卡的文學會如此的永恆.
所以小說不全然可以用邏輯事實的角度去分析,小說的荒誕,乖謬都是創造有別於日常生活的經驗,透過體驗文學現實,生活現實就如此被我們再活一次.