from 2 arises 3 二生三

The collaborative works of painter Arnold Chang (Zhang Hong; b. 1954) and photographer Michael Cherney (Qiu Mai; b. 1969) defy expectations. More than just the product of a camera and brush, these works on paper are a union of artistic minds, a visual duet that ultimately creates a third work of art—something greater than its respective parts. The title of this exhibition, From Two Arises Three, is drawn from Verse 42 of Laozi’s Dao De Jing, which provides a theory for the origin of the universe. In this classical Daoist text, we learn that “three gives birth to ten thousand things,” or, more broadly translated, “three produces all things.” What then is this “three”? From a cosmological viewpoint, three is the union of dualistic forces in the world—the transformations and mutual interdependence of the energies that underlie everything. Extending this view to an artistic perspective, “three” is a powerful vision that comes from collaboration. We live at a time when artistic achievement is largely based on the artist as a lone creator, yet with Arnold Chang and Michael Cherney we have a model for co-creation that bridges cultures and artistic traditions, ultimately changing our way of seeing. The “three” that results from Chang and Cherney’s collaborative work is both a powerful shared vision and a unique meeting of minds. While painting and photography are both independent and solitary pursuits, the opportunity to come together provides new potentialities for the artistic process. Collaboration has become an important part of these artists’ creative output, complementing and supplementing their individual creative oeuvres.

畫家張洪（1954–）和攝影師秋麥（1969–）之間的共同創作超出了所有人的期待。他們的作品躍然紙上，不僅是畫筆和相機的作品，還是藝術心靈的結合。他們的共同創作演繹了一曲視覺二重奏，並最終產生了既高於水墨畫，也高於攝影的第三種藝術。是次展覽的題目是《二生三》，來自老子《道德經》第四十二章，它為宇宙的起源提供了一種解釋，而我們還從這部道家經典著作中認識到「三生萬物」。那麼究竟這個「三」是什麼呢？從宇宙學的角度來看，三是二元之結合，即一切事物賴以生存的能量之間的互相轉化和相互依存。如果我們把這個觀念延伸到藝術方面，那麼「三」就是來自共同創作的一種宏大視野。在我們所處的時代，藝術家往往作為單獨創作者去取得藝術成就，但是張洪和秋麥為我們提供了一個共同創作的楷模，連結起不同的文化和藝術傳統，最終改變我們的觀看方式。張洪和秋麥共同創作衍生出來的「三」，既是他們共有的宏大視野，又是獨特的心靈碰撞。繪畫和攝影都是獨立而孤單的藝術追求，它們一旦走到一起，就能為整個藝術過程帶來新的潛力。共同創作變成這兩位藝術家重要的創作成果，既為他們各自的作品錦上添花，又補充它們的不足之處。