新《清明上河圖》描當代中國百態

For a visual survey of recent headline-grabbing events in China, look no further than the latest photographic project by the Artist Dai Xiang, inspired by the 12th-century scroll painting “Along the River During the Qingming Festival.”

想要瀏覽中國近來的頭條新聞，只需要看看藝術家戴翔最新的攝影作品就行了，該作品受到了12世紀的卷軸畫《清明上河圖》的啓發。

Mr. Dai borrows the visual and conceptual framework of that painting — not to mention its title — to produce a patchwork of meticulous vignettes of everyday Chinese society. But in a bid to channel the spirit of the times, he swaps out the sentimental depictions of urban life in the Song dynasty for scenes that are far more familiar to modern-day residents of Chinese cities: chengguan, or urban management officials, bullying local vendors; rapacious real estate developers mapping out plans to forcibly evict residents; government officials in dark suits on inspection tours; propaganda banners; crackdowns on prostitution; and snap-happy Chinese tourists wielding cameras.

戴翔借用了《清明上河圖》的視覺及概念框架——當然還有名字——創作了記錄中國社會市井百態的精美拼圖。但爲了傳遞時代精神，他將充滿感情色彩的有關宋朝城市生活的畫面替換成當代中國城市居民熟悉的場景：城管欺負當地小販；貪婪的房地產開發商謀劃強行趕走居民；宣傳標語；抓嫖；喜好拍照的中國遊客揮舞着相機。

“I’ve always wanted to make a scroll that depicts a slice of Chinese contemporary society in a way that combines traditional and contemporary methods,” said Mr. Dai, who unveiled the work last week at the Lianzhou International Photo Festival, in the southern province of Guangdong. “The vibrancy of real life is the source of inspiration for my creativity.”

“我一直想創作一幅卷軸畫，結合傳統與現代的方法，描繪中國當代社會的某些方面，”戴翔說。“現實生活的那種活力是我的創作靈感來源。”戴翔上週在連州國際攝影展中展出了這幅作品，連州位於中國南部省份廣東省。

Mr. Dai said he chose for the piece events that were representative and involved different levels of society. The project took about three years to complete, he said, during which he shot about one terabyte of images and processed almost 10,000 composite layers for the final photo. Most of the costumes and stage props for the nearly 1,000 characters depicted in the tableau he made himself or rented. (He also stepped in to play about 90 of the characters.)

戴翔表示，他選擇了一些具有代表性，涉及社會不同階層的事件。他表示，該項目歷時三年完成，他在此期間拍攝了大約1TB的照片，進行了將近一萬次圖層複合，才得出最終的照片。圖中約有1000個人物，其中大部分的服裝和舞臺道具是由他自己製作或租用的。（他還參與拍攝，扮演了90多個角色。）

The finished work, which is 82 feet long and about 3.5 feet high, contains more than 30 different scenes. Some show common features of Chinese society today: high real estate prices, disgruntled hospital patients and black Audis.

最後的成品長82英尺（約合25米），寬約3.5英尺（約合1米），包含了30多個不同的場景。一些場景展示了中國當代社會的共同特徵：高房價、醫院病人的不滿，以及黑色奧迪。

Others refer to specific news events, such as an episode in 2009 in which three university students died while trying to save two drowning children. Reports that fishermen on a nearby boat demanded 12,000 renminbi, or almost $2,000, to hand over each student’s body prompted outrage among many her scene depicts the son of a senior police officer in Hebei Province who tried to flee the scene of a fatal car crash in 2010 and evade responsibility by shouting to an angry crowd: “Sue me if you dare. My father is Li Gang!”

其他場景則涉及一些具體的新聞事件，比如2009年三名大學生在拯救兩名溺水兒童的過程中死亡的事件。有報道稱，附近一艘漁船上的漁民要求給錢纔會打撈屍體，每具屍體1.2萬元人民幣，這條新聞激怒了很多中國人。另一個場景則講述了發生在2010年的事件，當時河北一高官的兒子試圖逃離致死車禍的現場，以逃避責任，他對憤怒的人羣喊道：“有本事你們告去，我爸是李剛！”

“Every era will encounter new societal and cultural problems,” Mr. Dai said. “I hope that by tapping into reality, the work can provoke thought within a new context, and play a role in the progress of society.”

“每一個時代都會遇到新的社會及文化問題，”戴翔說。“我希望這幅作品能夠通過挖掘現實，從一個新的角度引發思考，促進社會進步。”

“Along the River During the Qingming Festival,” attributed to the artist Zhang Zeduan, is arguably China’s most famous scroll painting, known for its detailed, multilayered depiction of everyday life in the flourishing 12th-century Chinese capital of Bianjing, now called Kaifeng. Mr. Dai, who is based in Tianjin and Beijing, said he felt a certain attachment to the painting after attempting to copy it while studying Chinese traditional painting at university.[Video: Scenes from the original "Along the River During the Qingming Festival." Watch on YouTube.]Earlier works by Mr. Dai include a satirical series of photographs called “The New Lei Feng Stories,” which reimagines the People’s Liberation Army hero performing fabled good works in the context of contemporary Chinese society.

張擇端的《清明上河圖》大概是中國最知名的卷軸畫，該畫作以詳盡、多層次描繪汴京日常生活的繁榮景象而著稱，汴京在12世紀是中國的首都，現在被稱爲開封。在天津、北京工作的戴翔表示，他在大學期間學習國畫時曾試圖臨摹這幅畫，因此他感覺自己與這幅畫有一定的感情。[請在YouTube上觀看原版《清明上河圖》中的場景。]戴翔之前的作品包括《新雷鋒故事》，這一系列諷刺性的照片重新塑造了這名人民解放軍英雄的形象，他將這名英雄置於中國當代社會中的環境中，呈現了一些虛構的善舉。

Mr. Dai’s work will be on display at the Lianzhou International Photo Festival through Dec. 22. The annual festival, which was founded in partnership with the Lianzhou municipal government in 2005, has become an important platform for Chinese and international photography.

戴翔的作品將參與連州國際攝影展，展覽將持續到12月22日。2005年，相關機構與連州市政府合作創辦了該年展，它現在已經成爲了中國及國際攝影的重要平臺。

“Contemporary photography often contains a critique,” Duan Yuting, the art director of the festival, said.

該年展的藝術總監段煜婷表示，“當代攝影通常都具有批判性質。”

“Artists want not only to offer a simple representation of society or certain phenomena, but also to encourage people to understand contemporary problems,” Ms. Duan added, citing Mr. Dai’s work as an example.

段煜婷以戴翔的作品爲例，稱“藝術家不只是想簡單地呈現社會或某些現象，還希望推動人們瞭解當代的問題。”