新《清明上河图》描当代中国百态

For a visual survey of recent headline-grabbing events in China, look no further than the latest photographic project by the artist Dai Xiang, inspired by the 12th-century scroll painting “Along the River During the Qingming Festival.”

想要浏览中国近来的头条新闻，只需要看看艺术家戴翔最新的摄影作品就行了，该作品受到了12世纪的卷轴画《清明上河图》的启发。

Mr. Dai borrows the visual and conceptual framework of that painting — not to mention its title — to produce a patchwork of meticulous vignettes of everyday Chinese society. But in a bid to channel the spirit of the times, he swaps out the sentimental depictions of urban life in the Song dynasty for scenes that are far more familiar to modern-day residents of Chinese cities: chengguan, or urban management officials, bullying local vendors; rapacious real estate developers mapping out plans to forcibly evict residents; government officials in dark suits on inspection tours; propaganda banners; crackdowns on prostitution; and snap-happy Chinese tourists wielding cameras.

戴翔借用了《清明上河图》的视觉及概念框架——当然还有名字——创作了记录中国社会市井百态的精美拼图。但为了传递时代精神，他将充满感情色彩的有关宋朝城市生活的画面替换成当代中国城市居民熟悉的场景：城管欺负当地小贩；贪婪的房地产开发商谋划强行赶走居民；宣传标语；抓嫖；喜好拍照的中国游客挥舞着相机。

“I’ve always wanted to make a scroll that depicts a slice of Chinese contemporary society in a way that combines traditional and contemporary methods,” said Mr. Dai, who unveiled the work last week at the Lianzhou International Photo Festival, in the southern province of Guangdong. “The vibrancy of real life is the source of inspiration for my creativity.”

“我一直想创作一幅卷轴画，结合传统与现代的方法，描绘中国当代社会的某些方面，”戴翔说。“现实生活的那种活力是我的创作灵感来源。”戴翔上周在连州国际摄影展中展出了这幅作品，连州位于中国南部省份广东省。

Mr. Dai said he chose for the piece events that were representative and involved different levels of society. The project took about three years to complete, he said, during which he shot about one terabyte of images and processed almost 10,000 composite layers for the final photo. Most of the costumes and stage props for the nearly 1,000 characters depicted in the tableau he made himself or rented. (He also stepped in to play about 90 of the characters.)

戴翔表示，他选择了一些具有代表性，涉及社会不同阶层的事件。他表示，该项目历时三年完成，他在此期间拍摄了大约1TB的照片，进行了将近一万次图层复合，才得出最终的照片。图中约有1000个人物，其中大部分的服装和舞台道具是由他自己制作或租用的。（他还参与拍摄，扮演了90多个角色。）

The finished work, which is 82 feet long and about 3.5 feet high, contains more than 30 different scenes. Some show common features of Chinese society today: high real estate prices, disgruntled hospital patients and black Audis.

最后的成品长82英尺（约合25米），宽约3.5英尺（约合1米），包含了30多个不同的场景。一些场景展示了中国当代社会的共同特征：高房价、医院病人的不满，以及黑色奥迪。

Others refer to specific news events, such as an episode in 2009 in which three university students died while trying to save two drowning children. Reports that fishermen on a nearby boat demanded 12,000 renminbi, or almost $2,000, to hand over each student’s body prompted outrage among many her scene depicts the son of a senior police officer in Hebei Province who tried to flee the scene of a fatal car crash in 2010 and evade responsibility by shouting to an angry crowd: “Sue me if you dare. My father is Li Gang!”

其他场景则涉及一些具体的新闻事件，比如2009年三名大学生在拯救两名溺水儿童的过程中死亡的事件。有报道称，附近一艘渔船上的渔民要求给钱才会打捞尸体，每具尸体1.2万元人民币，这条新闻激怒了很多中国人。另一个场景则讲述了发生在2010年的事件，当时河北一高官的儿子试图逃离致死车祸的现场，以逃避责任，他对愤怒的人群喊道：“有本事你们告去，我爸是李刚！”

“Every era will encounter new societal and cultural problems,” Mr. Dai said. “I hope that by tapping into reality, the work can provoke thought within a new context, and play a role in the progress of society.”

“每一个时代都会遇到新的社会及文化问题，”戴翔说。“我希望这幅作品能够通过挖掘现实，从一个新的角度引发思考，促进社会进步。”

“Along the River During the Qingming Festival,” attributed to the artist Zhang Zeduan, is arguably China’s most famous scroll painting, known for its detailed, multilayered depiction of everyday life in the flourishing 12th-century Chinese capital of Bianjing, now called Kaifeng. Mr. Dai, who is based in Tianjin and Beijing, said he felt a certain attachment to the painting after attempting to copy it while studying Chinese traditional painting at university.[Video: Scenes from the original "Along the River During the Qingming Festival." Watch on YouTube.]Earlier works by Mr. Dai include a satirical series of photographs called “The New Lei Feng Stories,” which reimagines the People’s Liberation Army hero performing fabled good works in the context of contemporary Chinese society.

张择端的《清明上河图》大概是中国最知名的卷轴画，该画作以详尽、多层次描绘汴京日常生活的繁荣景象而著称，汴京在12世纪是中国的首都，现在被称为开封。在天津、北京工作的戴翔表示，他在大学期间学习国画时曾试图临摹这幅画，因此他感觉自己与这幅画有一定的感情。[请在YouTube上观看原版《清明上河图》中的场景。]戴翔之前的作品包括《新雷锋故事》，这一系列讽刺性的照片重新塑造了这名人民解放军英雄的形象，他将这名英雄置于中国当代社会中的环境中，呈现了一些虚构的善举。

Mr. Dai’s work will be on display at the Lianzhou International Photo Festival through Dec. 22. The annual festival, which was founded in partnership with the Lianzhou municipal government in 2005, has become an important platform for Chinese and international photography.

戴翔的作品将参与连州国际摄影展，展览将持续到12月22日。2005年，相关机构与连州市政府合作创办了该年展，它现在已经成为了中国及国际摄影的重要平台。

“Contemporary photography often contains a critique,” Duan Yuting, the art director of the festival, said.

该年展的艺术总监段煜婷表示，“当代摄影通常都具有批判性质。”

“Artists want not only to offer a simple representation of society or certain phenomena, but also to encourage people to understand contemporary problems,” Ms. Duan added, citing Mr. Dai’s work as an example.

段煜婷以戴翔的作品为例，称“艺术家不只是想简单地呈现社会或某些现象，还希望推动人们了解当代的问题。”