前言

安德鲁·克鲁克斯是自2013年就在中国生活的一个年轻的美国艺术家。完成了在新墨西哥大学的学习后，他离开美国，在日本生活过一段时间。他在大阪举办了一些展览，一年之前他来到北京。他的作品可划分成不同时期，每个时期呈现的作品中都有不同的活跃的元素。

首先，安德鲁·克鲁克斯，像一个工匠一样，制造了大量的戏剧场景。他制造物品、背景，然后他和所有人组成了这场景。他使得这场景看起来很像私人剧场的布景。只是为了他自己，为了他的幻想世界。场景设置完后，是“导演”，因为设置不仅仅是由空背景组成。安德鲁·克鲁克斯来到场景之中，并且像一个演员一样扮演角色。他可以骑一条鲸鱼，或者在日本地铁中打电话。然后他给这些场景拍照，运用古典艺术的规则拍摄出了美丽的照片。

摄影是幻想的艺术，因为它始终让你相信我们看到的就是真实的。它使得假象看起来是真实的，然后让我们的意识游离于假象与真实之间。因此，作为一个摄影家，安德鲁·克鲁克斯研究他使用的媒介：什么是摄影?是一个虚假的世界吗?是幻想中的世界的图像吗?或者，是一种新的真实?

 

墙报专访安德鲁·克鲁克斯Andrew Crooks：虚构和现实之间

导读：我试着创建一个虚构和现实之间模糊的世界。我也喜欢我能在工作室中创作幻想世界的想法。这个世界只在短时间内存在，但却能在照片上成为永恒。

 

 

艺术家安德鲁·克鲁克斯Andrew Crooks

 

Do you enioy the life in China? What is the thing you are most interested in?

I moved to Beijing in 2013 to work on art. I share a studio with two other American artists in Songzhuang. Beijing is actually a great place to be as an artist. Here I can have a large studio and get inexpensive art and building supplies. Plus Beijing is a very active and changing city. There is always something new to see and it’s east find inspiration for an art project.

你享受在中国的生活吗?什么是最令你感兴趣的东西?

我在2013年来到北京工作。在宋庄，我与另外两个美国艺术家分享一个工作室。作为一个艺术家，北京是一个非常好的地方。在这里我可以有一个大工作室，也可以得到便宜的艺术和建筑材料。北京是一个非常活跃和不断变化的城市。总会看到新的东西，很容易就能找到艺术灵感。

 

 

AndrewCrooks_Dragonboat

 

And Do you have any difficulty in China?

Not speaking Chinese very well creates a lot of difficulties in daily life. However, Chinese people are friendly and I have a lot of friends here that always help me out when I need help.

你在中国生活遇到什么困难吗?

不说汉语给我的日常生活带来诸多不便。然而，中国人非常友好，我有许多朋友总是在我需要的时候帮助我解决困难。

 

 

AndrewCrooks_parachute

 

Bantering, dramatic ,heroism , in some pictures, you fight with a whale, a dragon, or a octopus, do you dream to be a hero?

My artwork often reflects my own insecurities rather than heroism. Yes, I try to make scenes that put me in the role of a hero, but my character is one that is unsure of his abilities. I don’t necessarily know how to overcome the challenges in my imagined scenes. But it is all fictitious. The scene is colorful and vibrant. The monsters are soft and made of foam. There is no danger. I’m just thrown into this world where I’m out of place and trying my best to face the challenges that I meet.

戏谑性、戏剧性、英雄主义，在你的作品里，你与鲸鱼、龙、章鱼搏斗，你梦想成为一个英雄吗?

我的作品经常反映出自己的不安全感,而不是英雄主义的。是的,我试图制造许多场景，能让我扮演一个英雄的角色,但我的角色是一个不确定自己能力的人。我不知道如何克服在我想象场景中的这些挑战。但这都是虚构的。这个场景是色彩鲜艳的、充满活力的。怪物是柔软的泡沫，没有一点危险。我只是置身于这个格格不入的世界里，然后尽力去面对我遇到的挑战。

 

 

AndrewCrooks_subway

 

 

AndrewCrooks_picnic

 

 

AndrewCrooks_Farm

 

How do you make the props and scenes?

I build everything that you see in my photographs. I paint the large backdrops, build the props out of foam, wood, steel, paper, fabric, or collect real objects to place within the scene. I also paint the props by hand and with an airbrush. Building things is really my passion in life. I like to challenge myself to see how to make a new effect or how to get the pieces of my scenes to fit together into the final image.

你怎么来制作道具和场景?

我制作我的照片中你能看到的所有东西。我涂画大的背景,用泡沫、木材、钢铁、纸张、织物制造道具，或者收集真的东西放置在现场。我也亲手或者用喷枪刷道具。建造东西真的是我生命中的激情。我喜欢挑战自己,看看如何制造新效果，或者如何让场景的片段组合在一起变成最终的图像。

 

 

AndrewCrooks_Kitchen

 

How do you choose the models?

Actually, a lot of my models are my friends or acquaintances. I like connecting people from my life with my artwork. I don’t look for models that are just beautiful or handsome. As my sets take shape, I usually already know exactly who I want to be in the scene.

你如何来选择模特?

实际上,我的很多模特是我的朋友或熟人。我喜欢把我生活中的人和我的艺术品联接起来。我并不刻意寻找只是漂亮或者英俊的人。当我的场景设置成型的时候，我通常已经明确知道我希望谁置身于这个场景中。

 

 

AndrewCrooks_Untitled1

 

Why do you like photography?

Photography is very immediate. People can look at a photograph and quickly understand it as an image from ‘real’ life. I’m interested in using illusion and effects from other mediums like painting to break this immediate understanding of the photograph. I try to create a push and pull between fiction and reality. I also like the idea that I can create this world of fantasy in my studio. For a short time this world actually exists, but then lives on in the photograph.

你为什么热爱摄影?

摄影是非常直接的。人们可以通过看照片,快速了解来自“真实”生活中的图像。我感兴趣的是使用幻觉和来自其他绘画媒介的效果来打破对照片的直接理解。我试着创建一个虚构和现实之间模糊的世界。我也喜欢我能在工作室中创作幻想世界的想法。这个世界只在短时间内存在，但却能在照片上成为永恒。

 

 

AndrewCrooks_Alley

 

 

AndrewCrooks_InSightPaintShot

 

You come from America, spent several years in Japan, now you live in China. Is there any difference for your creation?

Since coming to China and teaching at Central Academy of Fine Arts, I’ve tried to push myself to be open to more possibilities in my work. Just like coming to China was a big uncertain leap for me, I want to keep pushing myself to grow and change in my art. China has opened up my mind in and given me new experiences that I’ll keep with me for the rest of my life.

你来自美国,又在日本生活过几年,现在你住在中国。这三个不同的国家对你的创作来说，有什么区别吗?

自从移居中国，在中央美术学院任教,我试图强迫自己开放，追求作品中更多的可能性。就像来中国对我来说是很大的不确定的飞跃,我想要自己成长，在艺术中也有所改变。中国打开了我的心灵,给我新的经历体验,这些将一直伴随着我。

推荐人 AurélieMartinaud评Andrew Crooks：虚假与现实的世界

导读：“所有的都是假象”这是图片所告诉我们的。但是，在这个虚假的世界里，又呈现出一种新的真实。幻想并不仅仅是不存在的虚无，它可以从幻想变成现实。摄影的意义就在于，它是的这种转变成为可能。因为这种使所有的东西看起来都像是真实的的能力，摄影使得安德鲁·克鲁克斯的虚假世界成为真实。

 

 

AurélieMartinaud(策展人，目前就职于 LAB47艺术空间)

 

Born in 1982，Lives and works in Beijing, China. Teaches studio art at Central Academy of Fine Arts International Foundations Course.

他在1982年出生，现在工作和生活于北京，在中央美术学院国际基础课程教授工作室艺术。

 

 

AndrewCrooks_CandyShop

 

Andrew Crooks is a young American artist who lives in China since 2013.After his studies at the University of the New Mexico, he left the USA to live for a while in Japan. There, he made some exhibition in Osaka and moved to Beijing one year ago.

安德鲁·克鲁克斯是自2013年就在中国生活的一个年轻的美国艺术家。完成了在新墨西哥大学的学习后，他离开美国，在日本生活过一段时间。他在大阪举办了一些展览，一年之前他来到北京。

The artwork of Andrew Crooks can be separate in some processes, which all represent an active element in the purpose of the realisation of the final work.

他的作品可划分成不同时期，每个时期呈现的作品中都有不同的活跃的元素。

 

 

AndrewCrooks_CatchingZs

 

First, there is the set making: Andrew Crooks, like an artisan, builds a lot of theatre sets; he makes the objects, the background, and all the staff that composed the set, by himself. What he makes with the set really seems like a “décor” of a little private theatre. Just for him. Just for his world of illusion.

首先，安德鲁·库克斯，像一个工匠一样，制造了大量的戏剧场景。他制造物品、背景，然后他和所有人组成了这场景。他使得这场景看起来很像私人剧场的布景。只是为了他自己，只是为了他自己的幻想世界。

 

 

AndrewCrooks_Magic

 

After the set making, there is the “mise en scène”: because the sets are not just made for being some empty backgrounds. Andrew Crooks comes into the sets and plays with them like an actor play a character. He can ride a whale, or speak on the phone in the Japanese subway.

场景设置完后，是“导演”，因为场景不仅仅是由空背景组成。安德鲁·克鲁克斯来到场景之中，并且像一个演员一样扮演角色。他可以骑一条鲸鱼，或者在日本地铁中打电话。

Then he takes a picture of the scenes. He makes beautiful photographs, which use the codes and the rules of classic composition of art.

然后他给这些场景拍照，运用古典艺术的规则拍摄出了美丽的照片。

 

 

AndrewCrooks_Oasis

 

The photography is an art of illusion because it always let us believe that what we see it’s the reality. It makes the fake seems like the truth and keeps us mind into the frontier between both of them. So as a photographer, Andrew Crooks investigates on the medium that he uses : what is the photography? A world of fakes?An image of a world of fantasies?Or maybe a new kind of reality?

摄影是幻想的艺术，因为它始终让你相信，我们所看到的就是真实的。它使得假象看起来是真实的，然后让我们的意识游离在假象与真实之间。因此，作为一个摄影家，安德鲁·克鲁克斯研究他使用的媒介：什么是摄影?是一个虚假的世界吗?是幻想中的世界的图像吗?或者，是一种新的真实?

 

 

AndrewCrooks_PoppyFieldIndoors

 

That’s why Andrew Crooks lets a lot of clues in the scene: the fake is revealed in the relationship between the objects, which occupy its space; the fake is everywhere, and when we just keep attention to it, it becomes obvious.

这也是为什么安德鲁·克鲁克斯在场景中有许多暗示：事物之间的关系揭示着假象，如果我们认真的，看就会发现假象显而易见又无处不在。

 

 

AndrewCrooks_Invisible

 

“All it’s fake” that what the pictures seem to tell us. But in this fake world, it’s a new reality, which appears. The illusion is not only a fantasy, which doesn’t exist. It exists definitely, and from imaginary it’s transformed into reality. And that’s what the photography consists in: that make this king of metamorphose possible. Because of the capacity of making everything like real, the photography make the fake world of Andrew crooks a new reality.

“所有的都是假象”这是图片所告诉我们的。但是，在这个虚假的世界里，又呈现出一种新的真实。幻想并不仅仅是不存在的虚无，它可以从幻想变成现实。摄影的意义就在于，它使的这种转变成为可能。因为这种使所有的东西看起来像是真实的的能力，摄影使得安德鲁·克鲁克斯的虚假世界成为真实。

The game that we play with Andrew Crooks is open and never over. It continues ever and ever, like the never-ending story: we come into the fake world, which become a real fantasy. But the reality appears when the clues emerge in the surface of image, and catch us. Then the reality returns into a fantasy just because all this world consists in an picture, in a “imaginery”.

我们和安德鲁·克鲁克斯的游戏是开放式的，并且永不结束。它一遍一遍，像一个没有结局的故事。我们进入这个虚假的、幻想的世界里。但是现实又在线索出现时显露出来。现实重归于幻想，因为这个世界就存在于图像之上，在想象中。

安德鲁•克鲁克斯Andrew Crooks自述：不可能的英雄壮举

导读：我在照片中表演的是幻想的、英雄的、或者其他不可能的壮举。我制造装置，绘制背景，来践行这些幻想。

 

 

艺术家安德鲁•克鲁克斯Andrew Crooks

 

Artist statement – Whale

In my photographs I perform fantastic, heroic or otherwise impossible feats. I fabricate the sets and paint backdrops to live out these fantasies. The photograph acts as evidence of my accomplishments. However, the sets are made with foam and fabric, and the bright colors accentuate the fictional world that I have created.I am interested of the photograph’s ability to capture a scene truthfully. But I push and pull the line between illusion, fantasy and the real objects and people that I throw into the mix. By building, lighting, posing and otherwise manipulating the final real-life scene in every way, I am able to envision scenes that come from my imagination and turn them into reality.

 

 

AndrewCrooks_dragon

 

 

AndrewCrooks_whale

 

 

AndrewCrooks_Epic

 

艺术家自述——鲸鱼

我在照片中表演的是幻想的、英雄的、或者其他不可能的壮举。我制造装置，绘制背景，来践行这些幻想。相片是我工作成果的证据。然而,装置是由泡沫和面料制作而成的,明亮的颜色也强调着我创建的这个世界是虚构的。虽然我对艺术家捕捉一个真实场景的能力很感兴趣，但我模糊了幻觉、幻想、真实事物和我混放进去的人之间的界限。通过搭建、照明、摆拍和其他各种制造真实场景的处理手段,我能够设想我想象中的场景,并把它们变成现实。