費來蒙和包姬絲，這對出現在奧維德《變形記》中的老夫婦雖清貧拮据，卻仍竭盡所能地以蔬果、酒水，款待假扮成乞丐前來借宿的赫美使和宙斯。天神感念兩老款客至誠，便把他們領上山頂，使他們躲過洪水之劫。
我們所擁有的一切，究其根源都是「白拿」、是「贈予」。為了與這不知名的饋贈者維繫良好的關係，我們自願獻上勞動的成果。給越多，就拿到越多⋯⋯，「給」和「拿」之間的界線模糊了。
藝術，其本質便是人和人（人和神、人和世界）關係中的饋贈，訴諸於時間和耐心，兌現成實踐過後留下的痕跡。
談到藝術「創作」一詞，時常被直覺式地和「無中生有」畫上等號，私以為這種誤會可以追溯至文藝復興時期，將聖人、英雄、「藝術家」視為一種「外來而具有啟發性質」的恩賜，遙相呼應了古希臘羅馬神話中的三官：神聖權力、戰爭、生產。奎里努斯（羅穆路斯）的功績似乎揭示了藝術家擁有了一種「生產」的天職，但究竟什麼是生產？拿什麼生產？生產發生在哪兒？
我們對於「生產」的既定猜想，即宣稱這個東西是「我的」、「我的作品」。殊不知其「形式」受限於歐幾里德的空間觀念、其「質料」受限於環境餽贈的資源、其「動力」來自他人的善意、其「目的」⋯⋯。
「高築牆，廣積糧，緩稱王」，生產並沒有發生。人是無法憑空「創造」出什麼來的（哪怕你的身份再崇高），而只能謙卑地、耐心地重新「分配」既有事物的意義與價值。
私以為，既然無法將「創作」實踐為一種嚴格意義上的無中生有，那麼便要將其鬆弛並擴延成一種主動建立關係的實踐。換言之，認識並肯定自身一切思想及表達皆是為了與他者「更好地建立並維繫關係」，而積極地肯定一切豐富性及可能性，以至於實踐的過程中，一面認識他者、一面認識自己，也一面圍繞出的那不屬於任一既定意義、語焉不詳的樂園（pairidaeza）。
文／周鳳翔
Philemon and Baucis, the elderly couple featured in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, were poor but still did their utmost to offer fruits, vegetables, and wine to the disguised beggars—Hermes and Zeus—who sought refuge in their home. The gods, touched by the sincere hospitality of the couple, took them to the mountaintop, saving them from the impending flood.
Everything we possess, at its root, is "freely given," a "gift." In order to maintain a good relationship with this unknown giver, we voluntarily offer the fruits of our labor. The more we give, the more we receive... the line between "giving" and "taking" becomes blurred.
Art, at its essence, is a gift in the relationship between people (between humans and gods, humans and the world), relying on time and patience, materializing as the traces left after practice.
When it comes to the term "creation" in art, it is often intuitively equated with "bringing something from nothing." I believe this misunderstanding can be traced back to the Renaissance, when saints, heroes, and "artists" were seen as carriers of a kind of "foreign and inspirational" gift, echoing the three powers in Greco-Roman mythology: divine authority, war, and production. The deeds of Quirinus (Romulus) seem to reveal that the artist has a "production" vocation, but what exactly is production? What is being produced? Where does production happen?
Our conventional assumptions about "production" claim that this thing is "mine" ,"my work." Yet we fail to realize that its "form" is limited by Euclidean concepts of space, its "material" is constrained by the resources gifted by the environment, its "energy" comes from the kindness of others, and its "purpose"...
"Build high walls, accumulate grain, and delay declaring kingship." No production has actually taken place. Humans cannot "create" anything from nothing (no matter how exalted your identity may be); they can only humbly and patiently "redistribute" the meaning and value of what already exists.
In my view, since "creation" cannot be strictly practiced as bringing something into existence out of nothing, it must be relaxed and extended into a practice of actively establishing relationships. In other words, recognizing and affirming that all thoughts and expressions are aimed at "better establishing and maintaining relationships" with others, and actively affirming all richness and possibilities. Thus, in the process of practice, one simultaneously comes to understand both the other and oneself, while also circling around a "paradise" （pairidaeza） that belongs to neither any fixed meaning nor is clearly defined.
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《諸神．永恆的東道主 Les dieux, l'hôte perpétuel》周鳳翔 個展
▋展期｜2025／7／29 (Tue.) – 2025／8／16 (Sat.)
▋開幕茶會｜2025 / 8 / 2 3PM
▋時間｜週一公休、週二-週六13:00-21:00、週日11:00-18:00
▋地點｜台北市大安區永康街44&63-1號
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