Sometime a few weeks ago, when I lay in bed scrolling pages on Youtube, the news of VOGUE Taiwan just releasing its latest video popped up, which caught me. The video talking about the concept behind the combination of calligraphy and fashion was amazing. The stroke of calligraphy worn on the models fascinated me. It displayed not only modernity but also classic. What I saw in the exhibition, From Ink to Apparel — A Crossover between Calligraphy Art and Fashion Design, at World Design Capital Taipei 2016, brilliantly presented the harmonious communication between tradition and modernity, and also showed the possibilities and power of tradition awaiting to be utilized in contemporary designs.

某天晚上滑著 Youtube，突然看到 VOGUE 剛上傳了一則「書法藝術正時尚！董陽孜《讀衣》時尚 X 藝術跨界展」短片的消息，點進去一看，驚為天人，董陽孜老師的書法線條穿在 model 身上，彷彿夢裡或是想像中才會有的美麗畫面，黑白色彩的運用，搭配上光影流動，它既現代又古典。現在仍在「臺北設計之都」展出的《讀衣》跨界展，我看到的不只是時尚與書法的結合、現代時裝與傳統藝術的碰撞等讓人耳目一新跨領域的藝術嘗試，更看到當代設計可茲運用、且亟待開發的屬於我們自己歷史文化的厚實底藴。

I am not unfamiliar with the curator’s name, Yang-tze Tong. Dated back to my college and graduate school life, the name had been raised up many times by Professor Ching-ming Ko in his classes and books. I only knew that Ms. Tong was a great calligraphy artist then. Not until this exhibition did I understand how far Ms. Tong has been striving to push and promote the art of calligraphy. Calligraphy is an important cultural asset of Taiwan but unfortunately is dying. Regarding of this phenomenon, Ms. Tong endeavors to transform the profoundity of calligraphy into something more mundane and easier for the public to understand. The inscriptions of Taipei Main Station and Cloud Gate Contemporary Dance are both written by Ms. Tong, along with the title inscriptions of some popular movies and TV series. In Ms. Tong’s calligraphy, you can see the vigor and boldness in her strokes and brushes, delineating the spirit of history and culture. This time, Ms. Tong collaborated with 6 famous Taiwanese apparel designers to experiment calligraphy with fashion designs, and thus, this exhibition, From Ink to Apparel — A Crossover between Calligraphy Art and Fashion Design, was born.

「董陽孜」這個名字其實對我而言並不陌生。大學、研究所時上柯慶明老師的課，或讀老師的散文，老師常常會提到他又和董老師一起參加了什麼活動、做了哪些事。不過當時只知道董老師是位厲害的書法家，並沒有深入認識她。直到這次的展覽，我才發現，原來董老師做了那麼多，除了書法專業上的著墨，她更努力推動書法藝術的普及化、大眾化，讓更多人認識這個已日漸式微然而卻相當重要的文化資產。從雲門舞集、台北車站的招牌，到《一代宗師》、《看見台灣》、《一把青》等戲劇的片名題字，董老師的鐵畫銀鉤，在線條的力度、轉折與勾捺間，流露出一股獨特的精神氣韻。那是種在個人性情之外，有著歷史深度，同時又與時俱進的姿態。董陽孜老師憂心忡忡書法文化之不傳，有感於當前西方文化全球化的優勢，那些屬於我們自己的歷史文化，難道就要這樣在時間的淘洗中漸漸被磨蝕了嗎？於是他找來六位台灣當紅的服裝設計師，共同合作策劃了《讀衣》這個展覽。

From Ink to Apparel — A Crossover between Calligraphy Art and Fashion Design

Curator Yang-tze Tong called this crossover exhibition her ” last challenge.” She picked up 20 works from the “Silent Music” series for six renown fashion designers — Pu Zhan,  Shao-Yan Chen, Yu-Ying Zhou,Yang Zhang, Shun-Min Wang, and Pei-Jie Chen, to experiment, or in other words, to play with.

“Art should walk into the crowds and the society,” Ms. Tong illustrated.

Indeed, art should not be placed, even worshiped in museums. Rather, it should be about the public and be part of their lives.

策展人董陽孜老師稱這個書法與時裝的《讀衣》計畫為她「最後的挑戰」。她擇取了《無聲的樂章》中的20幅墨寶，並邀請了她關注的六位台灣當代知名服裝設計師：詹朴、陳劭彥、周裕穎、張暘、王舜民、陳姵潔，一同完成這個跨界實驗。

董老師說：「藝術要走入人群、走入社會。」

藝術不能只是廟堂裡、美術館裡高高在上的展示品，而應該是與大眾相關的，生活的一部份。

Kinda Project Runway in Taipei

It is hard work to describe my complex feelings toward this exhibition. The coutures are absolutely gorgeous. These six designers chose disparate mediums and fabric, with their own design concepts as core,  executed ravishing coutures according to Ms. Tong’s calligraphy works. These designs shoulder up the heaviness of history and culture. On the one hand, interesting are the interpretation and presentation of what the designers display; on the other, burdens and loads are on them; after all, this exhibition is so meaningful, investigating Taiwanese designs and cultures, and of course the high expectations from the artist and curator Ms. Tong.

“This is so Project Runway!” is what I felt at first. The theme, the creation and the execution are kinda a Taipei version of Project Runway, alluring me, a PR fan. Only From Ink to Apparel is more peaceful and tender. How these designers express and interpret towards calligraphy through textiles are the most intriguing part of the exhibition for me.

我對於《讀衣》跨界展的感受很複雜難以形容。那些服飾極美，不同設計師選用了不同的媒材與布料，配合品牌調性，以及董老師的書法，創作出展間一件件華美的高級定製服。這些極當代的服裝肩負著歷史文化的重量，設計師們如何表現、如何詮釋，都是相當有意思也相當引人入勝的內容。而當我看著紀錄短片裡那些年輕設計師，一方面很感謝董陽孜老師喜歡他們的品牌與衣服，因此找到了他們參與這次的計畫，同時應該也承受著莫大的壓力吧，畢竟這是一項很有意義的實驗，關乎「台灣的」設計與文化，也包含董陽孜老師這位優秀藝術家兼策展人附加在他們身上的期許。因此，「這也太 Project Runway 了吧！」 是我當下很強烈的感受。身為一個 Project Runway 迷，節目中的創意與龐大的創作能量之吸引人，就算觀賞時同樣能感受到參賽者們排山倒海而來的壓力，也仍然甘之如飴繼續看下去，而《讀衣》就像是台北場真實展演的Project Runway，只是更平和、溫柔些。

以「讀衣」為題，它可以詮釋為書法墨跡是可以被理解、被閱讀的，也可以是獨一無二之意，而它又更明確地以20幅董老師的墨寶為材，這樣的命題創作，對每位設計師來說都是一項挑戰。究竟要如何透過織品傳達書法的韻味與精髓，更要有設計師自己一貫的設計靈魂？

The six designers have their own themes. Some transform the calligraphy works directly into prints; some utilize 3D cutting to assemble Ms. Tong’s brushes; some even use the specific calligraphy practicing clothes as materials. The ambiance of the whole exhibition also accords with the topic. In many ways, it is quite a successful show.

《讀衣》由詹朴的「線與線的對話」、陳姵潔的「濃、彎、縈、變、皺」、陳劭彥的「變態」、張暘的「銀河組曲第一首：無聲夜曲」、周裕穎的「墨型五色」與王舜民的「實與虛」所組成。有的直接將董老師的書法轉化為印花布，有的則藉由立體剪裁重新拼湊書法的線條，有的還以書法練習布為材，展間水滴的噴灑設置讓服裝呈現了不同的色塊，更為靈動，展現出書法線條的生命力。整個展場空間舒服，作品說明、短片播放、光影、動線等讓人彷彿置身在一幅巨大的墨寶中，借用空間設計劉國滄老師在影片裡的話，的確帶出了「場氣」。

Epilogue

I’m not going to introduce each of the six designers like the post in Sound of Design. I only document it from a broader perspective. From Ink to Apparel is definitely an exhibition worthy your visit.

Of course, the exhibition From Ink to Apparel is the first attempt for calligraphy art and fashion design to collide, to recreate and to investigate the possibilities of our own culture and history. Some might say the combination of theses two is a little bit callow, but just like what the designers illustrated in the documentary, they used the most direct way to bind calligraphy and fashion designs, using exactly the brushes and strokes on their apparels. After all, it’s the first time. Anyways, the coutures are beautiful and the atmosphere of the exhibition is nice. In many ways, this is indeed a brilliant exhibition. Hope in the future, the shape of “Taiwanese culture” will be more clear, and be used in any kind of designs.

這裡不打算如 〈Sound of Design 當聽覺也加入了設計的展演：2016 聽見設計展〉一文，一一介紹六位設計師的作品與我的觀展心得，畢竟每個人對於創作的感受相當主觀，而且我認為這是個非常值得一去，自己慢慢用心體會的展覽。我很喜歡《讀衣》展，美中不足的大概是週日下午實在人潮洶湧，沒辦法更仔細地觀看。

當然，《讀衣》是書法藝術與時裝設計跨界的初步實驗，設計師在影片中也提到，這一次他們以最直觀的方式，直接將書法線條納入服裝設計中。看到一些覺得這樣的結合不夠成熟等等的評論，然而這並沒有什麼不好，畢竟是初次嘗試，且服裝很美、主題明確、展場空間氛圍到位，由不同角度來看，《讀衣》都稱得上一次相當成功的展覽。未來，期待能看到更多更深刻，有著台灣文化元素的時裝設計，也希望書法藝術能繼續傳承下去，所謂「台灣文化」能漸漸有更清楚明朗的樣貌。

2016 臺北世界設計之都《讀衣》時尚 X 藝術跨界展
松山文創園區5號倉庫
10/13-10/30  10:00 am-6:00 pm