Why is this painting of a black square famous? - Allison Leigh

譯者: 穎君 紀 審譯者: Helen Chang

On December 19th, 1915, an exhibition of radical artworks

1915 年 12 月 19 日，

一場展示激進藝術的展覽 在現在的俄羅斯聖彼得開幕。

opened in what’s known today as St. Petersburg, Russia.

Many of these pieces pushed the boundaries of form and style,

許多展覽品突破傳統， 挑戰當時藝術的形式和風格，

but one was particularly controversial.

但有件藝術品特別有爭議—

Hanging in the room’s corner— symbolically occupying a space

它掛在展間的角落，佔領了

traditionally reserved for religious icons—

通常留給宗教聖像畫的位置。

was Kazimir Malevich’s “Black Square.”

這幅畫是卡濟米爾・馬列維奇的《黑方塊》。

One attendee scoffed at the painting’s simplicity,

有位觀眾嘲笑這幅畫太過簡單，

claiming that even a child could have done it.

說連小孩都畫得出同樣的畫。

Another went further, writing that the “Black Square”

另一位觀眾更誇張，寫道

「《黑方塊》會讓我們滅亡。」

would “lead us all to our doom.”

Such critiques have plagued paintings like Malevich’s ever since,

這種批評從此開始大量出現在像 《黑方塊》一樣看似簡單的畫作，

their outward simplicity inspiring outrage and confusion.

作品的簡潔招來了觀眾的怒火和疑惑。

But a closer look reveals that not only is Malevich’s work

但仔細看就能發現，

more complicated than it first appears—

《黑方塊》不只不簡單，

it may not even be a painting of a black square at all.

還可能根本就不黑也不方。

Despite its name, you’ll find the painting’s central form

雖然它名叫《黑方塊》，但其實它

is neither perfectly black nor perfectly square.

不完全是黑色，也根本不是正方形。

Its sides aren't parallel or equal in length,

它的四邊不互相平行，長度不一致，

and the shape isn't quite centered on the canvas.

也不在畫布的正中央。

Instead, Malevich placed the form slightly off-kilter,

馬列維奇刻意不把黑方塊擺在正中央，

giving it the appearance of movement

給予黑方塊動態感，

and the white surrounding it a living, vibrating quality.

也給予白背景蓬勃的生機、活力。

Technical analysis has revealed that Malevich already used the canvas

分析結果顯示，馬列維奇已 用這張畫布畫過其他兩幅畫。

for two other paintings.

Today, cracks in the aging paint— known as craquelure—

如今在老舊顏料的裂縫， 也就是「裂紋」裡，

reveal fragments of dusty yellows, vibrant reds, and faded emeralds,

發現了暗黃色、亮紅色 和褪色的翠綠色顏料，

hinting at all the stages Malevich went through

側寫出馬列維奇一路

before arriving at the painting’s final form.

修改出最終版本的歷程。

His creative process is also evident in the vigorous brushstrokes,

從豪邁的下筆也能看出作品的創作過程，

which are displayed proudly and move in a multitude of directions.

筆大方馳騁於畫布，往不同方向奔去。

Fragments of hair and Malevich’s fingerprints

畫布上的顏料裡也封存了一些

are also ingrained in the paint,

毛髮和馬列維奇的指紋，

adding both metaphorical and literal texture to the work.

為這幅畫增添意象含義 和表面之下的寓意。

In many ways, Malevich’s whole history is embedded in the “Black Square.”

《黑方塊》濃縮馬列維奇一生的許多面向。

Born to Polish-speaking parents in Ukraine,

他出生於烏克蘭的波蘭裔家庭，

he lived there until he finally saved enough money to afford the trip to Moscow.

與家人同居到存夠錢獨自前往莫斯科。

Upon arrival in 1904, he plunged into all the avant-garde styles

1904 年來到莫斯科後，他旋即 一頭栽進席捲莫斯科的前衛藝術。

swirling around the city.

He painted in the style of Impressionism and absorbed Post-Impressionism.

他用印象派手法作畫， 並吸收後印象派的精神，

He passed through a Futurist phase and then became influenced by the Cubists.

之後有段時間沈浸於未來主義， 接下來接受立體派畫家影響。

And by 1913, he was on the verge of a breakthrough.

到了 1913 年，他已快要有所突破。

Malevich realized that even the most cutting-edge artists

馬列維奇發現連最領先時代的藝術家

were still just painting objects from everyday life.

都還在描繪日常生活裡的靜物，

But he was irresistibly drawn to what he called

但他無法自已地陷入所謂

the “desert, where nothing is real except feeling.”

「一片沙漠，只有感受是真實的沙漠」。

And so, feeling became the substance of his work.

所以，感受成了他作品的主要內容。

The result was the “Black Square” and a new style he named “Suprematism,”

《黑方塊》和新藝術流派 「至上主義」因此誕生，

where feeling alone was made supreme.

孤獨感成了最崇高的感受。

This would be achieved through what he called non-objectivity—

他以「不客觀性」來達成這點，

a departure from the world of objects so extreme it went beyond abstraction.

極端地抽離物體世界， 直到超越抽象的地步。

Malevich believed the simplification and distortion that characterized abstract art

馬列維奇深信抽象藝術的 簡化和扭曲兩種要素

was ultimately meaningless,

終究毫無意義，

since these styles were still focused on depicting real world objects.

因為到頭來，抽象派還是在描繪 存在於現實世界的物體。

To him, only the completely non-representational would truly be new.

對他來說，完全脫離「重現」 才稱得上是「創新」。

While this radical approach alarmed critics,

即使這激進的藝術思路 讓批評人群起攻之，

Malevich was undeterred.

馬列維奇仍不退縮。

He spent the next decade explaining his Suprematist works in essays,

接下來他花了十年，用文章 解析自己的至上派作品，

and teaching his ideas to a new generation of artists.

並將自己的思想傳授給 新一代的藝術家們。

But after Stalin's rise to power in the 1920s,

但自史達林開始掌權的 1920 年代，

avant-garde approaches like Suprematism were deemed unproductive

至上主義等前衛藝術思潮 被共產政府定調為

to the Communist state.

無生產力的活動。

And eventually, it became dangerous to produce any art outside Socialist Realism—

最後，蘇聯越來越不容許 社會主義寫實藝術以外的作品，

an enforced artistic style celebrating Soviet leaders and heroic workers.

強迫藝術形式得要歌頌 蘇聯領導者和偉大的工人。

In 1930, Malevich was arrested by Soviet authorities

1930 年，馬列維奇被蘇維埃政府逮捕，

for spreading subversive ideas.

事由是傳播顛覆政府的思想。

Under severe pressure, he returned to figuration,

高壓之下，他回頭創作具象藝術，

painting peasants standing robotically in barren spaces.

描繪勞工僵硬地站在貧瘠的農地上。

But even these later paintings retained glimmers of his earlier ideas.

但其實，連這些晚期的作品都 蘊含著他早期的思想。

Gradually, the figures lost their arms and faces—

人物漸漸失去手臂和臉部細節，

disintegrating as mechanization gripped the countryside.

因為鄉村地區的農業 徹底轉為機械化作業。

During this time, Malevich also painted a self-portrait

這時期馬列維奇也為自己畫了張肖像畫，

that seemed to have abandoned Suprematism completely.

這幅畫似乎完全捨棄了至上主義。

But his open hand formed a quadrilateral,

但他胸前的手掌形狀形成一個四邊形，

and in the painting's corner was a tiny black square.

畫作角落也有一個小小的黑色正方形。

This was the symbol of a man who suffered through wars and revolutions,

這符號代表百折不撓的 馬列維奇受戰爭、革命折磨

but never stopped pushing to create a new art—

卻仍不放棄突破極限，創造新藝術，

a refuge of pure feeling that lay beyond the burden of objects

創造一處避難所給超越 物體本身的純真感受，

and the suffering of a divided world.

以及活在分化世界下的痛苦。