Comparison of spatial expression between paper-cutting and shadow puppetry
Traditional Chinese painting uses a two-dimensional spatial expression to show the external world. This expression incorporates the psychological emotions of the creative individual and also demonstrates an important principle in Chinese classical aesthetics, that is, " Combination of virtual and real”. This principle holds that artistic images must combine virtuality and reality to truly reflect the living world. This principle is also followed in shadow puppets and paper-cutting.
As far as shadow puppets are concerned, first of all, the characters, animals, utensils, buildings and other images it depicts are expressed in flat graphics, striving to show the objects of expression in an all-round way, and this kind of presentation is not Visual presentation in the ordinary sense is based on the audiences cognition of the old concept of the performance object. Only the combination of the performance image and the psychological image can be regarded as a complete artistic image. This mutual care between vision and soul is what our country The charm of traditional art. Secondly, the performance form of shadow puppets is like the art of opera, with a white screen as its performance space. Under the control of the artist behind the scenes, various shadow puppet characters perform flexibly in the light and shadow. The props on the stage include tables, chairs, tables, and cars. Ma Pavilion only requires a few items to give the audience an immersive experience. The changes in the scenes in the film are only completed by changing the lyrics and adding or removing props. Such a seemingly too simple stage space does not affect the expressive power of the shadow puppets at all. The white curtain is like the blank space of the picture in a Chinese painting, empty but not empty. , the shadow figures wander in this illusory space, reflecting a free state of mind in traditional Chinese aesthetic feelings.
The spatial expression of paper-cutting seems to be richer, more flexible and casual. Because paper-cutting is only a static presentation, the processing of graphics is not restricted by realistic factors, reflecting the artistic tendency of doing whatever you want. In the eyes of paper-cutting artists, the concept of space shows multiplicity, and different expression methods construct different levels of space. Paper-cutting can intersperse the main image and auxiliary graphics on the same plane with changing lines, giving people a full visual effect. The object image is compressed on a two-dimensional plane, but the visual experience is full of three-dimensional space. In addition, some paper-cuttings display things in multiple spaces on the same plane at the same time, such as a small monkey depicted in the belly of a big monkey, flowersThe cat ate the big mouse, and the big mouse was carrying a baby mouse in its belly, and so on. This kind of expression is no longer limited by the concept of real space, but uses artistic techniques to interlock objects in multiple spaces and jointly form the content of the picture, so that the picture not only has rich effects on the horizontal plane, but also has a deep effect. Storytelling connotation. Another way of expression is also confusing in terms of space. In some paper-cut works, there are often multiple heads or limbs sharing one body. For example, in the picture, a peasant woman is cooking by the stove while holding a baby in her arms. , two actions are performed on the same body, but this image has two heads and four hands. In this way, the concept of time and space has been cleverly replaced by paper-cut artists. They use the unique art language of paper-cut to make the space in the real world uncertain and blurred, and the audiences eyes continue to jump into the space they create. Jump out and feel the beauty of the artistic conception combining reality and reality in a trance. (Extended reading: Comparison of the expressive language of paper-cutting and shadow puppetry)
