沈朝方从小时候就喜欢摄影，但他上大学之前专业是雕塑大学时又读了清华美院的服装，而喜欢摄影媒介艺术的兴趣反而更加炽烈。这也是为什么他毕业后报考了北京电影学院的实验影像研究生的缘故。从另一方面说，雕塑学习的经历也锻炼了他动手与动脑相结合的能力，这是创作视觉形象的一种基本训练。所以，当他进入电影学院后被流动的影像艺术所感召，既激发着他学习探索着影像的创作，同时也让他从视觉文化的角度再认识了雕塑意义，故而在创作影像之外也创作了他想象当下文化关系的系列雕塑作品。
正是这些不同背景的学习让沈朝方对自己的艺术追求有了一些特点。这些特点也契合于当代的艺术特征，如艺术不再以门类来划分艺术家的定位。做一个全面的艺术家正是今天做艺术要努力的一个方向。美国著名艺术家马修·巴尼就把自己的艺术称作“总体艺术”，他既做雕塑，也创作绘画，也做行为表演，但他是把所有这些不同类型的艺术都放到他的影像框架中，呈现的结果是电影形式和图片形式，所以是在现实之外的空间里营造了艺术的想象和艺术的表现。他所呈现的这一切都超过我们现有单一艺术形式所能传递的含义，可以说，总体艺术作为一种趋势获得了更多艺术家的青睐和尝试。如国内隋建国也是从雕塑起家，但扩展到图片和影像，不断延伸自己的艺术广域，这等于是艺术家不断地拓展一种新的观察世界、建构世界的方式，是艺术分类之后进行综合整合的一种现象。
沈朝方现在所尝试的艺术实践也是沿着这样的思路来进行的。因为他受到过严格的造型训练，对材料有质朴、直觉的敏感，这些都有助于创作总体艺术的整体感和相互协调。如果是单一形式，只会强调它本身的完善和独立，但在总体艺术中，要涉及到镜头内外的关系和创作语境的联系。对它们的释读不能以单一形式判断，甚至对它们的判断不是以静态的视觉为主，而是确立在时间概念的基础上，进入到总体艺术的空间中，作为作品的阅读者要与它们共同构成作品的意义链条。总体艺术是以内外延伸为诉求的，没有阅读者的在场，其自身空间的营造目的就没有达到。所以，时间成为这类艺术意义显现与意义体验的一个基本维度，读者在时间中审视了自身的经验，或者契合，或者背离，或者冲突，或者无奈，所有这些都是总体艺术的基本意图。
以沈朝方的《芒种》为例，它本身是一次实验电影的创作，运用了道具、现场、模特、氛围、效果等等，但它不采取一般的电影叙事情节，排除任何的视觉联想，而让各种视觉元素都具有独立性，共同构成总体艺术的各个环节。于是，《芒种》作为独立的流动影像，就成为试图在模糊与不确定之间寻找表达角度的一次努力。《芒种》的命名就是以拍摄时的时间来确定的，是一次艺术行为的时间记录，它作为艺术行为的座标，暗示了这是一次有关时间意义的开始。尽管如此，《芒种》仍然是新一代艺术家对传达自我感觉与经验的表达，从中反映了当下流动影像的状态，是艺术家借以感悟社会在新的历史语境之下的迷离气氛和内心的漂浮感。作者营造的氛围是悠扬与无助相伴、惶惑与炫丽交织，而伤感与孤寂笼罩在图像的流动中，映透在涟涟的清水里。当这些图像转换为图片时，它们就变成了凝固的时间，将绵绵意绪强化，又与流动影像呼应，绚丽成为一种凄美，婉转而无名。《芒种》无论从动态还是到静态，都是希望在真实与非真实之间确立某种沟通的途径，让飘逸的身体回到人类象征的归宿之地。
沈朝方因为年轻，所以勇于尝试各种媒介和方法，希望在多种选择中渐渐明确自己的创作主线，确立自己的语言方式。或者说，这是当代艺术状态的普遍趋势。这次沈朝方将自己的影像作品集中做一次展示，就是为了进一步深化自己的艺术之路，希望得到同仁的反应与批评，这是艺术成长的必经之路。总体艺术在中国的发展，将随着时间而得到推进，其广度与深度更是需要艺术家用实践去探明。沈朝方已开始努力，相信也将深入得走下去。
王春辰
2009-4-14 于中央美术学院
Opening the door for the Total Work of Art
--About Shen Chaofang’s image work
Wang Chunchen
From a child, Shen Chaofang likes photography. His interest in photography became stronger even when he learned sculpture before college and specialized in costume design major in his college years.
That was why he entered the Beijing Film Academy as a graduate student to learn the experimental image art. His experience of learning sculpture has also improved his practicing and thinking, which belong to the basic trainings for creating visual images. As he is moved by the mobile image art and inspired to create image works, he appreciates more meaning about sculpture from the visual culture angel and creates a series of sculptures reflecting the current cultural relations
All these makes Shen Chaofang’s own artistic characteristics, which are as well as the characteristics of contemporary art. Nowadays artists are not classified by classification of art. What they pursuit is to be a total artist. The famous American artist Matthew Barney is just the artist who calls his own art the total work of art. He frames different kinds of art like sculpture, painting and performance art all in the image to show them in the form of film and picture. So the space of artistic imagination and representation is constructed beyond the reality. That what he shows conveys much more meaning than any single form of art does. In a matter of speaking, the total work of art has become a trend that more artists prefer to and try. Take the native artist Sui Jianguo for example, he started with sculpture and then extended to picture and image. The extension of artistic areas is for the artists also a new way to understand and construct the world. It’s a phenomenon in integration of the classified art.
Shen Chaofang’s artistic practice has just gone on in this way. Due to the strict modeling training he has a pure, instinct and sensitive feeling for material, which contributes a lot to the wholeness and coordination of the total work of art. The work in single art form could only focus on perfection and independence itself, while the total work of art involves the relations within and without the lens and the creative context. The total work of art can neither be read by judging the single art form nor by static vision. The reader needs entering into the space constructed by the total work of art on the basis of the concept of time to be a part of the work. The construction of the space formed by the total work of art would serve no purpose without the participation of the reader, for the total work of art extends inwards as well as outwards. So time becomes the most basic dimension of the expression and experience of this kind of art. Readers examine their own experience in time, may integrate, may deviate, may clash or be helpless. It’s the basic purpose of the total work of art.
As an example, Shen Chaofang’s work “Grains in ear” is a creation of experimental film. For which property, scene, model, atmosphere and effect are used but without the common film plot of narration and any visual mental association, while each of the elements is independent and forms the link of the total work of art together. So as mobile image art the work “Grains in ear” is trying to find an angel of expression between mistiness and incertitude. “Grains in ear” was just named after the date when it was shot. So it can be seen as time-recording and coordinate of the artistic performance, which implies a beginning concerning time. However, the work “Grains in ear” expresses still the feeling and experience about the new generation of artists themselves. It reflects the situation of current mobile image, which is the means whereby the artists work out to feel and realize the social lost atmosphere as well as the inner unease under the new historical context. The artist built a melodious and hopeless, confused and brilliant atmosphere in this work. Sentiment and loneness shroud the floating of the image and glass themselves in the limpid water. When the images transform into pictures, they turn into the solidification of time strengthening the incessant emotions and mirroring the floating of images. It’s so gorgeous, a ghostly glow-like, unknown but sweet. No matter its dynamic or static state, the work “Grain in ear” is trying to establish some way to communicate and lead the swaying body back to the home of human symbolization.
As a young artist Shen Chaofang has the courage to try different kinds of medium and means in order to make his line of creation as well as his own artistic language clear and definite. Or it could be said that it is the common trend of contemporary artistic situation. In order to carve out the road of the development of art, Shen Chaofang hopes sincerely that this full display of his image works will draw responses and criticism. That is also the only road for reaching the artistic maturity. The total work of art will certainly develop in China with time. The artists need to practise more to indicate its breadth and depth. Shen Chaofang has begun to devote his care to it and will surely go on further.
On April 14th, 2009
At Central Academy of Fine Art
【编辑：张瑜】
