超現實主義橫跨兩次世界大戰歷經半世紀之久，自1924年安德列‧布荷東（Andre Breton）發表第一次超現實主義宣言後，即成為歐美地區的藝術文化主流。超現實主義藉由各種藝術形式，窺視人類對於意識之外、夢境中曖昧不明的原真面貌，在非理性的世界裡展現自由的想像力。布荷東曾說：「我相信在未來，夢境與現實此二種看來似乎矛盾的狀態，會轉變成某種絕對的真實，即超現實。」傑利‧尤斯曼（Jerry Uelsmann）是20世紀重要的超現實攝影家，也是1960年代「後視覺化」（Post-Visualization）攝影術的開創者。所謂「後視覺化」是針對「前視覺化」（Pre-Visualization）而言，「後視覺化」打破直接、不加修飾的傳統攝影概念，取消「前視覺化」在按下快門前的預想過程，讓西方攝影從單純的「照片」走向「圖像」的概念。特別的是，尤斯曼創作這些圖片並非依據現今習以為常的電腦技術合成，而是採用傳統的暗房製作技法，通過多架放大機將不同底片上的影像疊合在一張畫面上，製作成純手工蒙太奇的藝術圖像。尤斯曼的攝影作品主要由岩石、樹木、河流、船隻、人像與靜物等元素組合而成，利用純熟的暗房技術，精心整合各種視覺意象，創造出介乎夢境與實景之間，哲學思維不能解釋、現實世界無法存在的超現實空間。本展從尤斯曼近二千幅作品中選出79件，自1961年至2008年之間的經典作品，其中包括向超現實大師馬克思‧恩斯特（Max Ernst）、馬格麗特（René Magritte）、曼‧雷（Man Ray）與尤金‧阿杰特（Eugène Atget）致敬的作品，還有53件取名為「無題」的作品，或許在作品意涵的了解上增加了難度，但是謎題般的命名手法，正揭示了尤斯曼的偏好，超現實攝影所具備的意義開放性，讓觀眾自行解讀圖像與進行想像。「疊影絮語」（Whispers of Blended Shadows : The Art of Jerry Uelsmann），尤斯曼透過「後視覺化」的暗房後製技術，不僅提供視覺美的享受，更打破我們慣常的思維邏輯，讓我們原本熟悉的事物，變得奇異難解而別具新意。在一次次的疊影過程中，尤斯曼彷彿進行一場探索之旅，他超越慣性的視覺語彙，挖掘未被發現的自己，在日常實景中尋求新奇變化，在冥想沉思中感受真實內在，並以攝影作品向觀眾低聲絮語超乎想像的異想故事。
Originating after the First World War and continuing until the Second World War and after, Surrealism flourished for nearly half a century. Ever since André Breton published the first Surrealist Manifesto in 1924, it became an artistic and cultural mainstream in Europe and America. Through various art forms, Surrealism explored the ambiguities in dreams and beyond consciousness, demonstrating the freedom of the imagination in an irrational world. Breton said, “I believe in the future resolution of these two states, dream and reality, which are seemingly so contradictory, into a kind of absolute reality, a surreality.” A major surrealist photographer of the 20th century, Jerry Uelsmannn was also the pioneer of the photography of “post-visualization” in the 1960s. As opposed to “pre-visualization,” “post-visualization” discards the traditional ideas of straight, unaltered photography and abandons the preconception before pressing the shutter. As a result, western photography moved from simple “photos” to conceptual “images.” Rather than relying on computer technology that is now so common, Uelsmann creates his photos with traditional darkroom techniques. Using several enlargers to combine the images on different negatives on the same print, he produces artistic montage images that are entirely hand-made. Uelsmann’s photographic works are mainly composed of rocks, trees, rivers, boats, portraits and still lives. With sophisticated darkroom techniques, he assembles different visual images to create surrealist spaces that hover between dream and reality, that are inexplicable philosophically and non-existent in the real world. This exhibition presents a selection of 79 classic photos from Uelsmann’s nearly 2000 works between 1961 and 2008. They include homages to surrealist masters Max Ernst, René Magritte, Man Ray and Eugène Atget. There are also 53 untitled works, which may increase the difficulty of understanding their meaning. However, by giving his works mysterious titles or no title at all, Uelsmann keeps the meaning of his surrealist photography open, so that viewers can use their own imagination and interpret the images themselves. “Whispers of Blended Shadows : The Art of Jerry Uelsmann” offers insights into how Uelsmann uses the darkroom techniques of “post-visualization” not only to create beauty, but also defy customary logic, so that objects familiar to us become strange, incomprehensible and refreshing. Through the process of composite printing, Uelsmann seems to go on a journey of discovery. By transcending the habitual visual vocabulary, he rediscovers himself and seeks novelty in everyday reality, exploring inner truth in meditation and whispering unimaginable stories to spectators through his photos.
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