Can “Socially Engaged Art” effectively bridge the gap between “art/society” and “NFT/crypto art”?
撰文者/photo credit：Gogo.W
近年來，以社會參與（Social Engagement）為核心的藝術實踐計畫，越來越常在世界各地發現它們的蹤跡，藝術創作者們以多樣化的身份跨界投入，作為探討「社會議題」與研究「當代藝術變遷」的媒介，進一步誘發公眾的「價值思維」讓大家思考藝術計畫的動機與目的，認同並主動成為「社會參與藝術」（Socially-Engaged Art）的一份子，讓非藝術的社會行為變成創作的一種形式。
In recent years, art practices centered on Social Engagement have become more and more commonplace around the world. Art creators have crossed borders in a variety of capacities to explore “social issues” and study “contemporary art changes,” further inducing the public’s “value mindset” to think about the motivation and purpose of art projects and to recognize and take the initiative to become a part of Socially Engaged Art so that non-artistic social behaviors can be turned into forms of creativity.
線上與線下「參與者」間的共通性
Commonalities between online and offline ‘participants’
社會參與藝術的兩大核心概念：「社區/社群」（Community）與「公眾/公共」（Public）。其中一部份以去除藝術家身份為主體的概念，強調以存在于相同空間、分享著相似的信念與觀點的特質，匯集這樣一群人在一起成為「藝術參與者」，共同為某一個具體的目標投入時間與心力為達成預想內的成果。
There are two core concepts of participatory art: “Community” and “Public”. One of these concepts is based on the removal of the artist’s identity, emphasizing the qualities of existing in the same space, sharing similar beliefs and perspectives, and bringing together a group of people to become “art participants”, who jointly invest their time and effort in a specific goal to achieve a desired result.
在這樣的背景之下，可以直接聯想到區塊鏈所倡議的「社群共識」(community consensus)，系統性建立了關於參與者的交易軌跡，當符合多數人的共識後，才得以延續物件的交易紀錄。其中加密貨幣（cryptocurrencies）去中心化的金融架構與不可逆的交易原理，完美的被應用於NFT（Non-Fungible Token）與數位藝術（Digital Art）的串連之中，從而衍生出新的藝術資產定義—加密藝術（Crypto Art）。系統架構運作的必然要素即為社群的力量，開發機能完善的資料庫機制，如果沒有人的使用就無法構成有效積極的交易體系。
Against this background, we can directly think of the “community consensus” advocated by blockchain, which systematically establishes the transaction trajectory of the participants, and only when it meets the consensus of the majority of the people can the transaction records of the objects be continued. The decentralized financial structure of cryptocurrencies and the principle of irreversible transactions are perfectly applied to the connection between NFT (Non-Fungible Token) and Digital Art, thus giving rise to a new definition of art assets – Crypto Art. The inevitable element of the system structure is the power of the community, and the development of a well-functioning database mechanism will not be able to constitute an effective and active trading system without the use of people.
「社會參與藝術」和「加密藝術」，
兩個同樣都是建立於「公眾認同」理念的線上/線下社群，
看似八竿子打不著的藝術導向，卻都凝聚著公眾的力量，
逐漸形成一種特殊的關係美學。
“Socially-Engaged Art” and “Crypto Art” are two online/offline communities that are also based on the concept of “public recognition”. Seemingly unrelated to each other in terms of artistic direction, they both unite the power of the public and gradually form a special aesthetic relationship.
LVGA/XY ASTRO FLOWERS
LVGA/XY ASTRO FLOWERS 是義大利/瑞士混血的視覺藝術家—尤里・卡塔尼亞（Yuri Catania）與其團隊構思的一項社會參與式的藝術計畫，2023年8月30日起，歷時13個工作天，投入超過150位藝術專業工作者以及自發性參與者（其中包含市民、學生以及民間組織志工等組成），在瑞士盧加諾（Lugano, Switzerland）國會宮（會展中心）的外牆上執行的大型裝置作品。
LVGA/XY ASTRO FLOWERS is a socially engaged art project conceived by Italian/Swiss visual artist Yuri Catania and his team. Starting from August 30th, 2023, lasted over thirteen days, more than 150 art professionals and spontaneous participants (including citizens, students, and volunteers of civic organizations, etc.) were involved in the execution of a large-scale installation on the facades Palazzo dei Congressi (Exhibition Center) in Lugano, Switzerland.
計畫標語—「Art Will Save The World藝術將拯救世界」作品靈感來自瑞士第一位登上太空的飛行員－克勞德・尼科里埃爾（Claude Nicollier）的宇宙觀，採用「Paste-Up黏貼」的街頭藝術技法，融合藝術家的美學思維與其過往的創作元素，藝術家結合主體對象「太空人」以及夜間拍攝的物件「植物花卉」構成畫面的3個架構。
The slogan of the project – “Art Will Save The World” is inspired by the cosmic vision of Claude Nicollier, the first Swiss astronaut in space. Adopting the street art technique of “Paste-Up”, it combines the aesthetics of the artist with elements of his past creations. The main subject “astronauts” and the objects “plants and flowers” photographed at night, which are making up the three structures of the picture.
以當週於會展中心舉行的NFT節為背景，藝術家深入探討當代的關鍵議題：Web3.0、區塊鏈、加密貨幣/藝術與元宇宙之間的交互作用，質疑自然與科技之間的關聯。太空人金色面罩觀望著恰尼公園（Parco Ciani），反射出作品與地景間的連結，符合3D視覺的空間編排，與多達1,500個紙花朵結合，呈現寬42公尺＊高8公尺的大型裝置作品。
Against the backdrop of the NFT Festival held at the Palazzo dei Congressi that week, the artist delves into key contemporary issues: Web 3.0, blockchain, cryptocurrencies/interaction between art and metaverse, and questioning the relationship between nature and technology. The astronaut’s golden mask looks out over the Parco Ciani, reflecting the connection between the work and the landscape, conforming to the spatial arrangement of 3D vision, and combining with more than 1,500 paper-made flowers to create a large-scale installation 42 meters wide * 8 meters high.
實踐社會參與藝術，成為其中一份子
Become a part of socially-engaged arts practice
筆者因為參與了盧加諾NFT節活動得以與這項藝術計畫串起連結，早在活動開始前，太空人早已乘著群花遍佈展會中心的外牆，從遠處觀看難以分辨是何種媒材與技法，強烈的黑白與彩色構成的3D視覺效果勾起我想要深入了解的好奇心，連續三天在會場外觀察藝術家與志願們分工合作的身影，偶爾藝術家也會停下動作與路過圍觀的民眾，親切地解釋計畫的動機並分享使用媒材的特性與原因，試圖拉近藝術與公眾的距離。
As a result of my participation in the NFT Festival in Lugano, I was able to connect with this art project. Even before the event started, astronauts were already riding on the flowers on the outer wall of the exhibition center, and it was hard to tell what kind of media and technique they were using from afar, but the strong black and white and colorful 3D visual effect aroused my curiosity to learn more about the project. For three consecutive days, I observed the artists and volunteers working together outside the venue. Occasionally, the artists would stop to explain the motivation of the project and share the characteristics and reasons for the use of the media with the passing onlookers, in an attempt to bring art and the public closer together.
作品完成前夕，筆者積極正向的態度成功讓藝術家留下深刻印象，並受邀請在最後一天實際參與計畫，過程當中與藝術家妻子Silvia Torricelli，同時為計畫背後除藝術家外最主要的執行者，以及數位志願者們交談，深切地感受到每個人單純支持藝術行動的心。即使是簡單的「剪貼行為」使用單純的媒材「紙張」與「膠水」也能夠將想像具體化，後期透過縮時攝影的拍攝，將13天的時間濃縮成60秒的畫面，藉由AI的技術未來將製成NFT贈送給所有參與計畫的人，藝術除了在這個宇宙時空留下足跡，更是在元宇宙中劃下一部分區塊。
On the eve of the completion of the artwork, the author’s positive attitude successfully impressed the artist and invited her to participate in the project on the last day. During the process, I talked with the artist’s wife, Silvia Torricelli, as well as the main implementers of the project besides the artist, and digital volunteers, and deeply felt everyone’s heart to support the art action. Even the simple act of “cutting and pasting” with the use of simple media “paper” and “glue” can materialize the imagination, and in the later stage, through time-lapse photography, the 13 days were condensed into a 60-second image, which will be made into NFTs to be given to all the participants in the future through AI technology, so that the art will not only leave its footprints in the universe and space-time but will also delineate a part of the meta-universe.
CiaoGogoWang 