Art of Frustration
The term originated from the description of frustration by Sigmund FREUD (1856-1939), who stated that the frustration resulted from the “denial” (Versagung) and the consequent unsatisfied needs of love between parents and children would lead to the necessary “imaginary frustration” when what was desired became infeasible and impossible. In his article, “The Art of Frustration in Taiwan—Introduction: Look at the Symptom!,” LIN Hong-John stated that other than the political statements of local art around the lifting of martial law, it was difficult to find other more proactive attitudes that could lead to social intervention. The cause of this phenomenon was due to the delayed development of the avant-garde art in Taiwan, which caught the subjectivity of art in a rupture between the traditional and the modern. On the other hand, Taiwan as “a non-state state” and the restrictions in the international community throughout the process of globalization had also pushed art towards a practice of political fable and given rise to a self-expressive yet self-absorbed state.
In the forum, “The Art of Frustration in Taiwan; or, Starting from the absence of Political Art,” co-organized by the Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture and Artco, one of the discussants, Fabian HEUBEL, used the failure of Western student movements and New Marxism in the 1960s as an example to explain that “the frustration” was not a problem that only occurred in Taiwan. Another discussant CHEN Tai-Sung pointed out that the reason for the absence of political art was complex due to Taiwan’s colonial history and post-colonial situation. Therefore, the working of power relations underlying personal expression of such frustration needed to be taken into consideration. The documentation of the forum, together with three articles on this topic, were compiled into a feature issue of Artco, entitled “The Art of Frustration in Taiwan,” in which GONG Jow-Jiun, one of the authors of the three articles, started from a post-colonial perspective and borrowed the idea of “Bad Place” proposed by Japanese art critic, SAWARAGI Noi, to argue that the formation of the Art of Frustration was related to a sense of the absence of history resulted from the influence of Western modernity.
The feature issue of “The Art of Frustration in Taiwan” generated widespread discussions. In “The Role of the Avant-garde Art in Contemporary Society—Rethinking ‘Frustration’ and Political Art in Creation,” Amy CHENG stated that the generation discussed in the feature issue was mostly artists trained within the academic system and did not specify a particular age range or field. So, it could not represent all young artists in the period. She further supported her argument with the examples of the Huashan Graffiti Incident, the protests at Treasure Hill and the movement to preserve Lo-Sheng Sanatorium, which were all participated by artists and cultural activists. Also starting from his doubt about the generation called out in the feature issue, in “Revisiting the Self-absorbed—About the Interpretation of ‘the Art of Frustration’ by the Young Generation,” WANG Sheng-Hung argued that one could think about the absence of political art from the perspective of “whether it is necessary to be responded in art,” and supported his statement by saying that “‘talking about oneself’ can also be viewed as a pathway to practice the technology of the self that is related to personal micropolitics.” (Text/ Li Kuei-Pi/ 2021)
References
In the forum, “The Art of Frustration in Taiwan; or, Starting from the absence of Political Art,” co-organized by the Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture and Artco, one of the discussants, Fabian HEUBEL, used the failure of Western student movements and New Marxism in the 1960s as an example to explain that “the frustration” was not a problem that only occurred in Taiwan. Another discussant CHEN Tai-Sung pointed out that the reason for the absence of political art was complex due to Taiwan’s colonial history and post-colonial situation. Therefore, the working of power relations underlying personal expression of such frustration needed to be taken into consideration. The documentation of the forum, together with three articles on this topic, were compiled into a feature issue of Artco, entitled “The Art of Frustration in Taiwan,” in which GONG Jow-Jiun, one of the authors of the three articles, started from a post-colonial perspective and borrowed the idea of “Bad Place” proposed by Japanese art critic, SAWARAGI Noi, to argue that the formation of the Art of Frustration was related to a sense of the absence of history resulted from the influence of Western modernity.
The feature issue of “The Art of Frustration in Taiwan” generated widespread discussions. In “The Role of the Avant-garde Art in Contemporary Society—Rethinking ‘Frustration’ and Political Art in Creation,” Amy CHENG stated that the generation discussed in the feature issue was mostly artists trained within the academic system and did not specify a particular age range or field. So, it could not represent all young artists in the period. She further supported her argument with the examples of the Huashan Graffiti Incident, the protests at Treasure Hill and the movement to preserve Lo-Sheng Sanatorium, which were all participated by artists and cultural activists. Also starting from his doubt about the generation called out in the feature issue, in “Revisiting the Self-absorbed—About the Interpretation of ‘the Art of Frustration’ by the Young Generation,” WANG Sheng-Hung argued that one could think about the absence of political art from the perspective of “whether it is necessary to be responded in art,” and supported his statement by saying that “‘talking about oneself’ can also be viewed as a pathway to practice the technology of the self that is related to personal micropolitics.” (Text/ Li Kuei-Pi/ 2021)
References
- LING, Hong-John. “The Art of Frustration in Taiwan—Introduction: Look at the Symptom.” Artco, no. 174, March 2007, pp. 124-5.
- GONG, Jow-Jiun. “The Bad Place Logic and the Psychological State at the Edge of the World.” Artco, no. 174, March 2007, pp. 126-9.
- CHEN, Tai-Sung. “The Absence/Presence of Political Art in Taiwan—A Sacrifice of the ‘Other’ for the ‘other.’” Artco, no. 174, March 2007, pp. 126-9.
- YANG, Shu-Han (compilation). “The Art of Frustration in Taiwan; or, Starting from Political Art.” Artco, no. 174, March 2007, pp. 138-41.
- CHENG, AMY. “The Role of the Avant-garde Art in Contemporary Society—Rethinking ‘Frustration’ and Political Art in Creation.” Artco, no. 178, March 2007, pp. 146-8.
- WANG, Sheng-Hung. “Revisiting the Self-absorbed—About the Interpretation of ‘the Art of Frustration’ by the Young Generation.” Artco, no. 178, July 2007, pp. 149-52.
- LEI, Xu-Guang. “The Possibility of a ‘Paradigm Shift’—A Response to the Argument about ‘The Art of Frustration.’” Artco, no. 178, July 2007, pp. 153-5.
頓挫藝術（Art of Frustration）
字彙源自弗洛依德（Sigmund Freud，1856-1939）在描述親子間對愛的需求之「欲求不可得」（Versagung）的匱乏，「想像的頓挫」（imaginary frustration）在欲行卻不可行（infeasible）與不可能（impossible）的狀態下出現的必要性。林宏璋於〈頓挫藝術在臺灣--導論：瞧！這個癥狀〉一文中提出，在解嚴前後本土化藝術的政治宣言外，難以再看到更積極的社會介入態度，而形成該現象的原因，與前衛藝術在臺灣發展的遲滯，使得藝術主體性落入傳統與現代性間的斷裂相關；另一方面，臺灣「非國家性的國家」的狀態，與全球化進程及國際社會中的不可為，也使得藝術轉往以政治寓言的方式實踐，出現追求自我表現卻又喃喃自語的寓言狀態。
在2007年由台新銀行文化藝術基金會與《典藏‧今藝術》雜誌共同主辦的「頓挫藝術在台灣；或者，從政治藝術的缺席開始」座談會當中，與談人何乏筆舉1960年代發生在歐美的學生運動與新馬克思主義的挫敗作為例子，認為「頓挫」不只是臺灣獨有的問題；與談人陳泰松則指出了政治藝術的缺席在臺灣的殖民歷史與後殖民情境下有其複雜性，需要考量當其轉化為個人表達時背後權力關係的運作。該座談會紀錄加上三篇論述集結成《典藏‧今藝術》的專輯「頓挫藝術在台灣」，其中，同樣從後殖民觀點出發，三篇論述之一的作者龔卓軍借用日本藝評家椹木野衣（Sawaragi Noi）提出的「惡性場所」的說法，認為頓挫藝術背後的成因與受西方現代性影響所產生的歷史缺乏感相關。
「頓挫藝術」專輯獲得廣泛的討論。在〈前衛藝術在當代社會中的角色—「頓挫」與創作中的政治藝術再思考〉一文中，鄭慧華提出「頓挫藝術」專輯當中所談論的世代，傾向於探討學院系統內培育的創作者，並未明確指出特定年齡層或領域，並不能代表同時代的所有年輕創作者，並以藝術家及文化行動主義者所參與的華山塗鴉事件、寶藏巖抗爭、爭取保留樂生運動作為例子；同樣從對於世代的疑慮出發，王聖閎在文章〈再論喃喃自語—關於「頓挫藝術」中年輕世代詮釋問題〉中認為政治藝術的缺席，或可從「有無必要在藝術中回應」的角度出發，「[……]『談論自己』其也能被視為關乎個人微小政治的自我技術實踐途徑[……]」。
參考文獻
在2007年由台新銀行文化藝術基金會與《典藏‧今藝術》雜誌共同主辦的「頓挫藝術在台灣；或者，從政治藝術的缺席開始」座談會當中，與談人何乏筆舉1960年代發生在歐美的學生運動與新馬克思主義的挫敗作為例子，認為「頓挫」不只是臺灣獨有的問題；與談人陳泰松則指出了政治藝術的缺席在臺灣的殖民歷史與後殖民情境下有其複雜性，需要考量當其轉化為個人表達時背後權力關係的運作。該座談會紀錄加上三篇論述集結成《典藏‧今藝術》的專輯「頓挫藝術在台灣」，其中，同樣從後殖民觀點出發，三篇論述之一的作者龔卓軍借用日本藝評家椹木野衣（Sawaragi Noi）提出的「惡性場所」的說法，認為頓挫藝術背後的成因與受西方現代性影響所產生的歷史缺乏感相關。
「頓挫藝術」專輯獲得廣泛的討論。在〈前衛藝術在當代社會中的角色—「頓挫」與創作中的政治藝術再思考〉一文中，鄭慧華提出「頓挫藝術」專輯當中所談論的世代，傾向於探討學院系統內培育的創作者，並未明確指出特定年齡層或領域，並不能代表同時代的所有年輕創作者，並以藝術家及文化行動主義者所參與的華山塗鴉事件、寶藏巖抗爭、爭取保留樂生運動作為例子；同樣從對於世代的疑慮出發，王聖閎在文章〈再論喃喃自語—關於「頓挫藝術」中年輕世代詮釋問題〉中認為政治藝術的缺席，或可從「有無必要在藝術中回應」的角度出發，「[……]『談論自己』其也能被視為關乎個人微小政治的自我技術實踐途徑[……]」。
參考文獻
- 林宏璋，〈頓挫藝術在臺灣--導論：瞧！這個癥狀〉，典藏今藝術，174期，頁124-125，2007.3。
- 龔卓軍，〈惡性場所邏輯與世界邊緣精神狀態〉，典藏今藝術，174期，頁126-129，2007.3。
- 陳泰松，〈政治藝術在台灣的（不）缺席—犧牲大他完成小他！〉，典藏今藝術，174期，頁126-129，2007.3。
- 楊書寒整理，〈頓挫藝術在臺灣；或者，從政治藝術的缺席開始座談會 〉，典藏今藝術，174期，頁138-141，2007.3。
- 鄭慧華，〈前衛藝術在當代社會中的角色—「頓挫」與創作中的政治藝術再思考〉，典藏今藝術，178期，頁146-148，2007.3。
- 王聖閎，〈再論喃喃自語--關於「頓挫藝術」中的年輕世代詮釋問題〉，典藏今藝術，178期，頁149-152，2007.7。
- 雷煦光，〈「範式轉向」的可能性--回應「頓挫藝術」的主張〉，典藏今藝術，178期，頁153-155，2007.7。