杜象創作觀與中國古典美學的對話－現、當代西方藝術的中國轉化(I)

Abstract

This study is an attempt to unfold the concepts of deconstruction and the Oriental images implied in Marcel Duchamp's (1887-1968) theory of artistic creation, which rebels against and contradicts the traditional aesthetics of the West since Plato. It also tries to explore the possibility of finding some common aesthetic notions shared by both the classical Oriental aesthetics and the contemporary Western arts or the ways to construe the similarities or the counterparts between the two.The first part of this study is to discuss, in four aspects, the Chinese aesthetics of the Pre-Chin period, especially the concepts and theories in the works of Lao-tze and Chuang-tze. The second part is to focus on Duchamp's works and theories concerning the artistic creation and to find the corresponding concepts in the contemporary Western arts to match with the four aspects of Chinese aesthetics discussed in the first part.The four aspects of Chinese aesthetics and their corresponding concepts in the West discussed here are: first, the concept of ”image” in the traditional Chinese aesthetics which is represented in the proverb, ”to concretize things into images which are imbued with meanings,” is discussed side by side with the twentieth century Western aesthetics of forms and signs. A dialogue between some concepts of deconstruction in the contemporary studies of signs and the aesthetic theories of Lao-tze and Chuang-tze will be sought in this part of discussion. Second, Lao-tze's concept of ”Non-action” and the free mental state of Chuang-tze's ”moving a knife freely in a very narrow space” are associated with the concept of ”chance” which is pervasive in Duchamp's works. Third, the aesthetic insight gained by Chuang-tze's ”mental concentration” and ”beyond and above the mind and its objects” is matched with Duchamp's concept of ”choosing the ready-made things.” Finally, Lao-tze's idea of ”the interdependence of existence and non-existence” is considered to correspond to Duchamp's concept of ”non-art.”Even though the infinite potential interpretations of an author's images may be regarded as a covert factor contributing to the multiplicity in the contemporary artistic creation, Duchamp is commonly acknowledged to be the most philosophical and influential creator of contemporary arts and his innovative theory of artistic creation is considered to be the groundbreaker in the multiplicity of the contemporary artistic creation. This is the reason why Duchamp's theory of artistic creation is chosen to represent the contemporary Western theories of arts in this comparative study of the classical Chinese aesthetics and contemporary Western arts.