“ 表达这种感觉，不用解释，也无需语言，就能让心灵感知。” —伊夫·克莱因
乌黑的短发，眯缝的笑靥，黝黑的杏眼，腼腆的嘴唇，娇小的身形，站在你面前的应歆珣总是打扮得一丝不苟，朴素大方，着装讲究，透露出艺术范儿。第一次见到小应，是在南山校区6号楼雕塑系四楼的研究生教室。那时我刚刚本科毕业，无聊中偶尔到纤维与空间艺术工作室玩耍。以前每一次来就是见一些熟人，喝个茶，眼中只有人而完全没有其他物件，这一次教室空无一人，我却一下子被眼前的一件透明柜子中的公主裙吸引了，不禁上前触摸。这是什么材料，怎能如此轻盈又扎实，透明又模糊，脆弱又坚韧，美丽又粗鲁，细细看去，每一道划痕、每一个褶边、每一点凹凸都经由手工缝制，这半透明的材料十分坚韧，感觉是看似轻柔可调却实际要花费大力气才能塑形，与木柜的交接也是钉枪一个钉一个钉小心加固。它虽然是一件未完成品，但已成功地用材料的诱惑性和欺骗性吸引了我的注意，我脱口问周围的人它的作者是谁，心想着这定是一位男生或彪悍的女生所作，谁知回答是一个娇小的女生做的，我又想象着这“娇小的女生”的体量和样貌，但当应歆珣实实在在站在面前，我还是被她的“娇小”所惊慑了几秒钟。
小应告诉我这些半透明的公主裙“布料”其实是牛皮，我第一次对材料感到兴趣，因为这和印象中的传统纤维材料都太不一样了，它来自活物，有着蛋白的气息和胶原的弹性，当代纤维艺术的出路口本来就是多样的，不仅局限于棉麻纸布，这里就有好玩的一个。我心中满是兴奋，听着小应慢慢道来这些牛皮从哪里搞来，需要怎么处理，创作中容易碰到哪些问题等等，非常平静，毫不夸张，语调和缓，连困难也尽在她掌握之中似的。我开始懂得她是如何做到这一切的了。
硕士毕业创作和接下来在深圳、上海两地的“第五空间—纤维与空间艺术展”联展，让她的《都市碎片》系列（2009）得以完整呈现。除了这件“公主裙柜”，系列中还有一个带镜子的梳妆台和散落一地鞋物的鞋柜，打着灯光的梳妆台上堆满了牛皮缝制的化妆品瓶罐，镜中有一个牛皮人脸，注视着这些“美容产品”，却缺失了彩色的妆容；鞋柜上错落生长出几个不安分的抽屉，柜中挤落出许多女士鞋和鞋盒，也是用牛皮缝制，整个鞋柜被牛皮包裹了一层，似乎已染上岁月的尘埃。三件作品均是都市年轻女性最常见的家具，木制家具与牛皮的组合没有添染任何颜色，却呈现了戏剧性的舞台效果，将都市生活的多彩与苍白共存的矛盾现实表现得淋漓尽致。就是这一件粗犷却不粗糙的平凡“公主裙”让我认识了不平凡的小应，毕业后她留校任教，如今已教龄八年，但在我心中她还是那个随时随地爆发惊人力量的不可思议的矛盾体。应歆珣比我大三岁，但是大家在纤维工作室都叫她“小应”，已成习惯。一来她的确个头是全工作室最娇小的，二则她的姓氏实在不便冠以一个“老”来称呼。但看她的作品，我经常真的感觉她在艺术天空中的翱翔如鹰那般振翅有力，又捕物极准极狠，体量不大，却是鸟类中“快准狠”之代表。在《都市碎片》系列之后，她延续牛皮这种材料，又创作了《变形记》（2011）和《进化》系列（2013），这两件作品虽然沿用了相同的材料，却在表达完全不同的主题，深刻探讨了她对都市社会的一些问题的思索，如食品安全、生态异化，从而对人的问题和生存状态进行追问。这些艺术主题上的转变源于她的家庭的巨大变革：2010年，她的母亲查出患乳腺癌，第二年，父亲又查出患肝癌，2013年，母亲因病去世。很难想象她当时是怎么挺过来的，但是我从来没有在小应的言谈举止中看到任何消极和负面的情绪，即使在她最低落的时期，出现在工作室的小应依然是笑容灿烂的。每年五月份工作室的聚会，小应不但会送来鲜花，还会带来亲手制作的慕斯果冻蛋糕，所有人都赞不绝口。这个最初与金石，后来与麻线，再后来与牛皮打交道的矛盾体，如今又怎么能如此和谐地与面粉、糖奶为舞呢？更神奇的是，她从小对鸡蛋严重过敏！小应做事麻利，艺术作品出产率颇高，但讲话一直徐徐缓缓、不紧不怠、声调细高。我曾经几次希望她对其作品进行一个阐述，却只得到寥寥数语的回答。但当我得知她非常欣赏艺术家伊夫·克莱因[Yves Klein]的那些既诗意又哲学、融轻松与深刻为一体的自由创作后，文章开头的那句克莱因名言直灌我的脑海，不用解释，无需语言，就能让心灵感知，这或许就是小应艺术创作的态度与追求。
牛皮之后，近几年，小应又部分回归了布面、丝棉线等传统纤维材料，却毫不避讳地反映了家庭变革的影响。仅从2015年创作的名称《创》《别怕，我会给你缝道美丽的疤》《条纹的疗效》《朿朿》和《拥抱场》看来，所有这些都与病痛、创伤、害怕、治疗、安抚有着直接关系，都以系列的形式呈现，给人以不断反复地讨论轰炸之印象，或是达到慢慢隐隐地入侵之效果。我们可以看到亲人的疾病折磨在她心灵留下的刺痛，是如何弥漫并延续的：从布面上精致线脚的彩色伤疤，到平整表面上的细小缺口与结石，从带刺钢筋与弹力棉的触碰撞压，到包裹缠绕着大树的布料间的陌生拥抱；我们可以感到刺，感到痛，感到伤，感到爱，感到冷，感到暖，看似处理极简，却带来迥然相异的各种感知觉。艺术家正是通过这些平常介质将观者不经意间拉入她架设的一场场对生存和死亡的叩问与讨论之中。
2016年，小应在杭州三尚当代艺术馆举办了首次个展“DON'T WORRY”。英文“don't worry”可译为“别担心”，也可译为“别害怕”，小应将之阐释为“别怕”，来自于手术前的母亲，因为医生的那句“别怕，我会给你缝道美丽的伤疤的”而令她暂时得到了无奈下的慰藉，这句看似能够“转移恐惧”的话，就成为她个展的题目。我想，这不仅是因为这句简语在她的生命中所具有的强大能量，也是小应在用艺术对母亲表达最深刻深切的爱与追忆。小应在展览前言中自我阐述的那番“我”与“你”对“怕”的讨论可以看做是这些年来积压在她心中的对“害怕”失去亲人的无法逃避的困惑与追问，“有没有一个至高的存在？”她试图在艺术中寻找，在意识形态上美化“伤痛”，以逃避“害怕”这一事实，从而探讨生命的存在状态。
“DON'T WORRY”不仅仅是医生抚慰她母亲的话语，也是小应自我千百次重复的鼓励和能量之源。焦虑与期待，这一复杂的矛盾心理始终伴随着她的创作。同时，“超越”害怕，“转移”害怕，可视为小应“逃避”害怕的个人方式，用她自己的话说，她“试图以物造物”，让这些“新物种的假象”营造出一种“既安详又令人不适的物象”氛围。所以，我们看到柔软的弹力棉大球被荆棘捆扎，发出微弱的蓝绿光，似乎在挣扎喘息；平整的圆绷弹力布面上坠落下外星的陨石，缀满不友好的尖刺；巨大的水滴几欲落下，命垂一线间还受着荆棘丛的威胁；饱满的扁球形棉墩被一根硕长有力的钢筋无情插入，形成看似自然的凹陷却再也无法移动；规则方整的钢筋架投影在玫红色的墙上，却不经意间冒出诸多小尖刺，打破了这最常规的和谐；白色的经纬网格中嵌生出一坨坨黄绿大小不一的细胞，似乎不停地生长游移；我们还又一次邂逅了牛皮，它们被与切割的橡胶导管、医用手套一起塑形缝制成各种医用器具，瓶管中还残留着血迹与体液，手术刀随意散落其间，分不清这些冰冷的金属工具是瓶罐上的伤口疤痕的罪魁祸首，还是用来缝合它们的，牛皮的材质让冰冷的医用器具带上温度，却又令人产生血浆和体液是这些死亡的皮肤本身受伤流出的错觉，这一条长长的半透光手术台，既隐藏着一种脆弱的细节之美，又让人不寒而栗。我不禁想起克莱因的另一段话：“什么是感觉？感觉就是存在于我们自身存在之外，但又永远属于我们的东西。生命本身并不属于我们，但我们的感觉让生命属于我们，我们用感觉来感受生命。感觉是宇宙，是空间，是大自然通用的货币，我们可以用它来购买‘元物质’状态的生命。想象力是感觉的交通工具，张开想象的翅膀，我们可以获得作为绝对艺术的生命。”
在小应的个展中，我还第一次看到了她对感光纤维的兴趣，一个制动的感光平面，上下同步拉伸使之在二维与三维之间交错转换，缓慢的拉扯是随着呼吸的节奏。其实，在此之前，小应就开始尝试第一个感光纤维实验《穿透妄想室》（2016），一束射往天空的5000公里光柱，穿过一个布有环状感光线的集装箱，冷静直白的蓝白光线令人想起医院和手术台的灯光。第一个光感创作之后，几乎与个展中的《DON'T WORRY》同时，小应进行了一批感光纤维的实验，成为《空虚的蛋白质》系列。这些制动装置通过光线的运动传递出空虚的存在感，就如蛋白质一样，“只有内容，没有感觉存在”，却又是“必须的”，透露出反生命的异质理性。通过这些与生物基因有关联的生物变体造型，小应试图探讨人类的自我生存状态，从反常的观察角度切入，假想生命存在的任何可能性。
可以说，家庭的变故，不仅对她的生活产生了巨大冲击，也影响重塑了她至今为止的整个艺术发展道路，成为导航她纤维探索之舟的灯塔。同时，我欣喜地看到，就像这个自身矛盾体的艺术家本人一样，不同纤维材料的复杂矛盾性也在她的手中彰显得淋漓尽致，并得以不断开拓掘新。而现在，小应对纤维材料的探索已经朝向更当代、更多元化、跨学科的方向发展，虽然仅仅是一个开始，但究竟声光电能被她如何变幻，值得期待。
许嘉
2017年

“To feel the soul without explaining it, without vocabulary, and to represent this sensation.” - Yves Klein
Black short hair, smiling face, almond-shaped eyes, moist lip and slim body shape, that is your first impression of Ying Xinxun when she stands before you. She always dresses formally, simple but elegant, bearing an artistic demeanor.I first met Ying at a classroom for postgraduate students located at the 4th floor of No. 6 Building of Nansha Campus of Sculpture Department. I was a fresh graduate at that time, and accidently visited the fiber-and-space-arts studio to kill my time. I merely met some old acquaintances in my previous visits, enjoying a cup of tea but not for any artistic object being displayed there. The class was empty on that day, but I was instantly attracted by a princess dress that was kept in a transparent glass closet. I even came closer to touch it with my hands. What was it made of? It was soft but strong, transparent but blurry, fragile but resistant, and beautiful but rough. When taking a closer look, I could tell that every detail, such as scratch, frillier and bump, had been carefully woven by hand. The semi-transparent material was very strong. It seemed soft and fragile, but would take a long time to have it formed in shape. The intersection with the wooden closet was reinforced by one after nail from a staple gun. It was indeed an incomplete artwork, but nevertheless it had stolen my attentions by the use of a deceptive and alluring material. I immediately asked for the creator of this artwork, assuming that it must be a man, or at least a tough woman. But I was told that it was made by a delicate young girl. When Ying Xinxun stood in front of me, I was shocked for a few seconds for her small size and delicate appearance.
Ying told me that the semi-transparent material was actually cow leather. It was the first time for me to have a keen interest on it. Compared to other traditional fiber materials, cow leather is from a living animal, bearing the elements from protein and collagen. The contemporary fiber art should encourage a variety of possibilities, and it is so much fun to use materials other than cotton and paper. I was so excited and listened attentively to Ying, who explained her methods of cow leather processing and the problems she had encountered. She was calm when she talked to me, as if she had ready solutions to deal with these problems. I started to understand Ying and her remarkable journey of art creation.After obtaining her postgraduate degree, Ying participated in a joint exhibition held in Shenzhen and Shanghai respectively, titled “the Fifth Dimension—Art of Fiber and Space”, and her “Urban Debris 2009” series were able to be displayed in full at the exhibition. Besides the Princess’s Closet, the exhibition also featured a dresser with a mirror and a shoe cabinet with shoes being randomly placed. Many cow-leather-made cosmetic bottles were packed on the dresser with the light was on. There was a human face, also made by cow leather, within the mirror, looking at these beauty products; but the face was pale. The shoe cabinet contained different drawers, and each drawer was packed with lady’s shoes and shoe boxes, all were made by cow leather. While the entire shoe cabinet was covered by a layer of cow leather, as if it had been buried in the dust of time. These three artworks were all furniture pieces commonly used by young urban females. There was no any extra color between wooden furniture and cow leather; however, the combination did produce a dramatic stage effect, portraying vividly the co-existence of colorfulness and paleness of urban lifestyle.Through this princess dress, a rough but dedicatedly made artwork, I came to know Ying and her extraordinary strength. She chose to stay at the China Academy of Art, now she is a teacher with over 8 years’ teaching experience. But to me, she is still the same paradox that is capable of producing an explosive force anytime and anywhere.Ying is three years’ older than me, however, almost anyone within the studio fondly calls her Little Ying. Firstly she is the person with the smallest body shape in our studio; and secondly it is improper to call her Older Ying in Chinese
XuJia
2017