Stencil Series 拓印系列

Stencil Series

‘Rubbing’ is a manual method of reproducing carved or engraved stone surfaces. It has a long history in China, dating back to ancient times. Its emergence followed the invention of paper in the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 CE) and predated the woodblock printing developed during the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE).

The technique involves first soaking a tough, thin sheet of paper and then laying it onto a stone inscription. A soft brush is used to tap the paper gently so that it settles into every recess of the characters. Once the paper has dried, an inked brush is evenly patted across its surface, coating the raised areas with ink. When the paper is carefully peeled away, the result is a black-background, white-character reproduction.

This way of duplicating text is called ‘rubbing’. Characters or images carved in stone or wood are transferred onto paper using ink. Variations on the method rely on the interplay of positive and negative space in relief carving — whether the characters stand out (yang) or are recessed (yin) — so that text and image can be copied for preservation and dissemination.

Rubbing shares many affinities with woodblock printing as both aim at the mass reproduction of text and image. The advent of rubbing provided an early method of ink-on-paper reproduction, paving the way for later printing technologies and marking a pivotal revolution in human communication: for the first time, information could be duplicated rapidly and in large quantities.

In the Stencil Series the purest form of this technique is distilled. The artist also incorporates paper-cutting craftsmanship to replicate, layer, and interweave negative-space patterns on canvas. At times, the positive-space cutouts reveal underlying imagery. Such displacement and borrowing of images mirror the nature of human communication.

This reflects contemporary culture, where mass media uses technology to replicate information and vastly expand each individual’s capacity to share it. We see that this newfound efficiency has profoundly affected human life. The volume, quality, speed, and reach of information have all surged thanks to print communication. Humanity has now entered a new era of mass media, and the fifth information revolution is the birth of digital electronic communication. Once-distinct modes of communication can now be rendered in the binary language of computers and seamlessly converted into one another.

A pixel is the smallest unit of a digital image (a bitmap). In the Stencil Series, the canvas resembles a screen on which semi-transparent squares — each functioning like a pixel — float in layers. Through the ancient craft of rubbing, the artist attempts to evoke the multidimensional, multispatial visual language of contemporary digital media.

Interactive communication and the information revolution are approaching a ‘critical state,’ heralding the arrival of a new society, one in which the Internet connects all humanity. Each advance in new communication technology shortens time and space, erodes cultural differences, and expands ideas and perspectives.

Looking back, the long tradition of painting can itself be viewed as a vehicle for transmitting information; an image can exert a direct and powerful influence.

Ironically, when the ancient craft technique of rubbing （stencil）takes on an epochal digital aesthetic, one cannot help but ask: where will this rapid, dense flow of information ultimately lead humankind?

拓印系列

拓印術是對雕刻的或石刻的表面的手工複製品，在中國有著悠久的歷史， 起源甚古，拓印術的出現在東漢紙張發明之後，且比唐朝發明的雕版印刷更早。其方法是將一張堅韌的薄紙事先浸濕，再敷在石碑上面，用刷子輕輕敲打，使紙入字口，待紙張乾燥後用刷子蘸墨，均勻地拍刷，使墨均勻地塗布紙上，然後把紙揭下來，一張黑底白字的拓片就複製完成了，這種複製文字的方法，稱之為「拓印」。它是將石刻或木刻文字，用紙、墨拍印出來，有關拓印方法的變化，主要是利用陽刻和陰刻的正負空間對比對文字和圖像進行複製，以便保存和傳播。

拓印與雕版印刷相比，有很多的相似之處，其目的也是大量複製文字和圖像，拓印術的出現亦為後來的印刷術提供了在紙上刷印的複製方法，這無疑是人類信息傳播革命史上的一次重大革命︰人類第一次具有了大批量、高速度複製信息的能力。

《拓印系列》中，提煉出最純粹的方法，藝術家加入剪紙工藝，把負空間的圖形在畫布上複製、重疊、交錯使用，有時又利用剪紙正空間的孔洞透出底層畫面……圖像的挪移與轉借與人類信息傳播的特徵不無關係，反思現今文化，大眾媒介把科技引進傳播過程，複製信息，幾乎無限擴大個人分享信息的能力。這種分享信息的高效能力對人類生活產生了深刻影響。

人類信息傳播的數量、質量、速度和範圍因著印刷傳播得到飛速的增長。現在人類已步入了嶄新的大眾傳播時代，第五次信息傳播革命是數字式電子傳播的誕生。過往界限分明的各種信息傳播方式,都可以用計算機的二進制語言來作數字化處理，從而可以渾然一體，相互轉換。

像素是組成電腦數位影像（位圖）的最小單位。《拓印系列》畫作中，一格格貌似以「像素」為基本單位組成的方格，半透明地懸浮於螢幕似的畫布上，谷氏試圖透過古老的拓印工藝，在畫作中呈現出當代多重維度、多重空間的當代數碼視覺效果。

互動傳播和信息革命正在進入一種“臨界狀態”，一個嶄新的社會即將到來，互聯網連線著全人類。每一種傳播科技的出現與發展都在縮短著時間和空間，消彌著文化差異，擴展著思想觀念。反觀源遠流傳的繪畫藝術，也可被視為傳播信息資訊的載體，一個圖像的影響可以是直接而有力的。不無諷刺地，當遠古的拓印技藝呈現出劃時代的數位美學時，這不禁令人疑問：如此快速和密集的訊息傳播，最終會帶領人類走向何處﹖