鉴于卢昊曾接受中国古典山水画的正式训练，观者或许会想在他的作品中寻找宋代著作《清明上河图》的踪迹。“城市现在时”所展出的画作，仅一幅例外，都被称为“风景画”，更促使我们产生这样的念头。乍看之下，这当中有一定的遥相呼应，特别是在2007年完成的手卷画作中。此画画面为上海外滩全景，描绘的是中国当下的经济之都。这令人联想到同为手卷形式的《清明上河图》的部分内容，表现京城开封街道上，在传统节日中的一片经济繁荣之象。这两幅城市风景画都是以古典笔墨画出的绢画。

　　然而，两者间其实存在非常显著的不同。12世纪的《清明上河图》描绘不少进行着贸易活动的城市居民与地标，都属于其特定时代、时节、地点。而《风景》中却不仅不见人影，还包含了许多世界各地处处可寻的街道设置。这些特点在“2008风景系列”中获得了延续。观者初次看到该系列画中一排排无尽的消费产品，或许会为之错愕。其实卢昊是在更大程度上凸显了文化遗产、气候与环境等“本土”元素的荡然无存。

　　关于卢昊的上述“风景画”和其他展出作品，以及其他当代亚洲艺术家同样亦以城市景观、都市身份认同为题旨的杰作，我们到底应当置之于何种语境才是更为适当的呢?答案或许是：一套关于今日亚洲城市境况的叙述。新加坡国立大学2009年出版经济学家Rimmer与Dick1的研究成果，为这套叙述提供了部分内容。具体而言，他们的研究凸显了一点：随着中产阶级富裕都市人的欲望朝同样的环球水平聚合，都市文化与建筑的地方性已受到21世纪环球影响的侵蚀。

　　此研究显示：随着都市人追求一种国际化的生活水平，亚洲城市中的建筑地标及其他系于地点的文化遗产符号已一再经过重新界定。都市人甚至欲求将气候“私营化”—换言之，就是流连在受控制的室内环境中。于是，跟本土气候或季节挂钩的各种户外文化习俗随之消亡。《风景》跟上述研究一样，对户外传统遭受排挤的现象有所写照;现实中拥挤的堤岸地区街道，在画中却空无一人，便是一种既直接又寓意隐然的表现。事实上，1999年的“花鸟虫鱼”系列也有类似的意蕴，隐喻涉及大自然元素的市民消闲活动被人造建筑标志围困。

　　当代亚洲艺术家在评论城市建筑景观时，不时会选用某些特定艺术媒介，使作品带上“昙花一现”或“易受摧毁”的特性或联想。我们可以把这种选择视为感触的阐发，所针对的是城市“本土性”消失、失去灵魂的状态。它表明了与本土历史脱节的建筑只有短暂的适用期，这些难望长久的标志又极为容易被一波波的后来者所取代。

　　为了进一步了解这个语境，我们不妨参考香港大学2005年出版的一套 关于都市文化的研究报告2。学者Robbie Goh在此项研究中发现，矗立在诸如新加坡市区以及《风景》中的上海外滩等地的殖民地时期建筑，实际上已经脱离了原有的历史/殖民主义意涵，融成了象征其城市国际化或“人文气象宏伟”的大众符号。为了发展成环球城市并与世界经济一体化，这样一种流于表面的同化似乎是难免的。

　　Rimmer与Dick的研究发现：亚洲城市的天际线另外加上了一重后现代高楼大厦，使得翻新与重建的演变过程更为复杂。这些高楼大厦往往都是同一批国际著名设计公司的构思，在建筑过程中，在现代科技的辅助之下，于不同程度上无视在地环境。综合前述两项研究的结果，今日的亚洲城市景观包含了多重外来的、殖民时期与后殖民时期的建筑标志;凌驾于与“本土”联系较强的地标之上。身为系于地点的文化符标，这一些外来干涉又无深度地融入城市整体的人文气息，因而有可能成为往后改造重建过程的牺牲品。

　　“城市现在时”展览中体现出这一点。首先，卢昊选择透明的有机玻璃模型，以此形式复制一些标志性建筑，强调这些建筑在现实中若有若无的意义。另一方面，他2005年的雕塑《建设的工具》却又选用刚硬不屈的金属来制作挖土机的钢铲，进一步隐喻了今日的标志性建筑如何朝夕可危，随时会在城市通过翻新改造来迈向经济进步的长征旅途上被迫让位。

　　东南亚不乏概念类似的作品。比如新加坡艺术家李宏辉2005至2006年的作品《规划的城市：映描历史遗迹》，便是用白色纸板仿制已拆毁的建筑物的模型。陈玲娜2004年的作品《倾泻》则是通过纸上木炭画，展现了标志性的二战前的店屋建筑的经典面貌。这两件作品的媒介都呈现出易被沾污及易遭毁灭的特性。此外，在2009年其最新版本的《幽灵城市》著作中，泰国艺术家Nipan Oranniwesna仅使用松散的痱子粉，复制了13座亚洲城市(包括北京和新加坡)的地理形态，并且让它们纵横交织。作品的这种面貌其实也指出了渗透性国界所带来的脆弱性，一座城市的危机能够传播给全球城市的事实。

　　关于当前亚洲城市境况的叙述，假如不包含对亚洲都市人内心境界的审视，始终是不完整的。随着城市天际线的重新塑造，都市文化相应的有什么演变?根据Rimmer与Dick的研究，城市景观逐渐变化的同时，超消费主义也在都市文化中扎根立足。超级商店的爆长，使这些场所成为另类的社群凝聚空间。这类空间虽是国际品牌特许经销商的群集之地，但同时也吸引了各阶层民众，让城市中的购物者在满足趋于统一的物质喜好时, 还可享受到某种虚拟的社群体验。令人隐约感到熟悉的跨国超级商店与街边小摊货架上都有多不胜数的物质产品。卢昊“2008风景系列”所展现的，正是这种景象不可抗拒的艳丽诱惑。观者就如广大市民那样，被悄然麻木，忘记了各种商品及国际品牌正霸占着他们的视觉空间与其他生活空间。

　　卢昊对超消费主义的表述，在东南亚地区当代艺术作品中寻得回应。最明显的，莫过于泰国艺术家Manit Sriwanichpoom的“粉红人系列”。该系列2006年的《粉红北京》相片，正好记录了一个俗气粉红色购物手推车到北京一游的经历。手推车置身于拆毁楼房的废墟或北京市的古老地标之中。同一系列的其他作品里，通常有身穿粉红衣装的亚裔男子推着手推车，但他在《粉红北京》里偏偏杳无踪迹。这暗示了超消费主义在一些亚洲城市实已大行其道，根本不需要更多推动的助力。

　　关于亚洲城市境况的叙述似乎只能以胜利宣言告结，宣布环球化进程万途归一的力量凌驾于富本土性的建筑、文化与民风之上。然而，在亚洲当代艺术家的眼中，这样的结局恐怕还未定。比如卢昊2008年的作品《花好月圆》，一方面通过经典的绢本设色形式画出西方媒体排山倒海般对中国的负面报导，另一方面又使这绘画看似从电脑屏幕上捕捉下来的报导—映现了以当代电子科技为本、由西方大力传播的影像复制形式。卢昊这一颠覆之举，令人不禁想起Titarubi 2008年的作品《环绕大卫》，用印尼传统峇迪布料环绕、装饰米开朗琪罗的《大卫》雕像。秉着亚洲“本土”的角度，上述两件作品都涉及今日尚存的文化界线与偏见。

　　故此，观者可以作这么一个总结：对卢昊，对上述及其他无数的亚洲当代艺术家，亚洲城市境况的叙述无法在现在时挂上休止符，于“环球化”与捍卫“本土性”之间的协调还有待寻得解决之道。

　　刘伟文，策展管理

　　With Lu Hao's formal education in classical Chinese landscape painting, one may be tempted to look for references to the famous Song dynasty landscape Along the River During the Qingming Festival (清明上河图), especially where all but one of the paintings in the exhibition Cities Here and Now are called landscapes. At first glance, there are references especially in the narrative of the handscroll created in 2007. The latter is a panoramic rendering of Shanghai Bund, China's economic capital today. This echoes parts of the earlier handscroll, which panoramically depicts the bustling economy of the streets in Northern Song's capital city during a traditional festival. The urban landscapes are also both executed with classical ink brushwork on silk.

　　However, a lack of human representation in Landscape, as well as the inclusion of many universally recognisable street fixtures, stands out in stark comparison to the 12th century Along the River During the Qingming Festival, which depicts city inhabitants involved in trade activities as well as landmarks specific to that era, season and place. At first glance, the viewer would also be thrown by the depiction of racks of consumer products in the 2008 Landscape Series paintings. The latter have emphasised to an even greater extent the absence of 'local' heritage, climate and environment elements.

　　A more suitable contextualisation of the abovementioned 'landscape paintings' and other exhibited works by Lu Hao, as well as works by other contemporary Asian artists similarly commenting upon cityscapes and urban identities, could perhaps be engendered within a narrative of Asia's urban conditions today. A study by economists Rimmer and Dick, published by the National University of Singapore in 20091 provides part of this narrative. Specifically, the study highlights 21st century global influences that have eroded local aspects of urban culture and architecture, as the desires of wealthy middle-class urbanites converge towards a global standard.

　　According to the study, architectural landmarks and other place-based signifiers of culture and heritage in Asian cities have been repeatedly redefined as urbanites pursue an international standard of living. To the extent of wanting to 'privatise climate', in other words preferring to stay within controlled indoor environments, urbanites have neutralised outdoor cultural practices tied to local climate or seasons. Like the study, Landscape is a direct but subtle commentary on this displacement of the outdoors, with a crowded embankment in real life represented as an abandoned street. Likewise, the Flower, Bird, Insect, Fish series highlights the displacement of civic practices involving elements of nature, by man-made architectural icons.

　　In commenting upon these evolutions of the urban architectural landscape, contemporary Asian artists have chosen to work with media that imbue an ephemeral or susceptible quality to their creations. The choice of media can be seen as commentaries on urban soullessness due to the absence of the 'local', expressing the ephemerality of architecture that is disconnected from local history and heritage, and susceptibility of transient objects subject to subsequent waves of displacement.

　　To further understand the context, one could turn to a 2005 study on urban culture published by Hong Kong University2. In this study, researcher Robbie Goh found that colonial buildings, such as those in Singapore's civic district and as those found in Landscape's Shanghai Bund district, have become disconnected from associations to their historical-colonial meanings, assimilated as general signifiers of a city's cosmopolitan culture or 'civic grandeur' instead. This superficial assimilation was found to be somewhat necessary for the development of a 'global city' integrated into the world economy.

　　Rimmer and Dick finds the situation exacerbated, by an additional layering of postmodern high-rise architecture to Asia's skyline, often conceptualised by the same list of internationally renowned architects, built with varying degrees of technology-aided disregard for the local environment. In synthesising the findings from both studies, Asian cityscapes today include imported layers of colonial and postcolonial architectural icons, dominating over landmarks with stronger 'local' associations, all of which can potentially become victims of subsequent redevelopment due to the superficiality of their assimilation as place-based cultural signifiers.

　　The above is represented in the exhibition Cities Here and Now, by Lu Hao's decision to replicate some of these architectural icons as hollow, transparent acrylic models, which highlights the superficiality of their real-life significance. In contrast, Lu fabricates the sculpture of an excavator spade, Tool of Construction (2005), out of uncompromising solid metal, which further highlights the susceptibility of architectural icons today, in the long march towards economic progress through urban redevelopment.

　　Conceptually similar works from Southeast Asia include Singaporean artist Michael Lee's City Planned: Tracing Monuments (2005-2006), which used white paper board to construct scale models of bygone architecture, and Tang Ling Nah's Cascading (2004) depicting iconic prewar shop-house architecture through charcoal drawings on paper. The media of both works present a susceptibility to blemish and potential destruction. In the latest edition of his work City of Ghosts (2009), Thai artist Nipan Oranniwesna replicated and intersected the topology of 13 Asian cities including Beijing and Singapore, using only loose powder. This transcribes the susceptibility of permeable borders as well, where a crisis in one city is contagious to cities worldwide.

　　A narrative of Asia's urban condition today would not be complete without a closer examination of the inner landscapes of Asian urbanites. How has urban culture evolved with the redevelopment of urban skylines? Referring back to Rimmer and Dick's study, evolutions to the urban landscape are mirrored by the establishment of hyper-consumerism in urban culture, represented by the explosive growth of mega-stores as alternative communal spaces. As hotbeds for international brand franchises, these spaces nevertheless attract a wide cross-section of society, thereby simulating a communal experience for urban shoppers, otherwise engaged in realising their converging consumer preferences. Lu Hao's 2008 Landscape Series represents the gaudy irresistibility of an endless variety of products found on the racks of vaguely familiar multinational mega-stores and commonly found in street market stalls. Like the urbanites, viewers are lulled into forgetting the domination of commodities and international brands in their visual space, as well as other living spaces.

　　A number of contemporary works from the Southeast Asian region echo Lu's commentary on hyper-consumerism, a most obvious example being Thai artist Manit Sriwanichpoom's Pink Man Series. In fact, the Beijing Pink (2006) photography prints within this series recorded the Beijing sojourn of a crassly pink shopping cart. Juxtapositioned against the rubble of demolished buildings or ancient landmarks of the capital city, the pink-suited Asian man who usually pushes the cart, in other works of the series, is absent – a subtle statement that hyper-consumerism requires no further assistance in specific Asian cities.

　　It would seem that a narrative of Asia's urban condition could thus be concluded with a declaration of victory for the converging forces of globalisation over local architecture, culture and civic practices. Except that through the eyes of her contemporary artists, this conclusion is far from decided. Lu Hao's Lovely Blossoms and Full Moon (2008) includes a depiction of overwhelmingly negative Western media reports on China, where this depiction using the Chinese painting media of ink and colour on silk is ironically made to resemble captured reproductions of the media reports as they appear on the computer screen – a technology-based, Western-propagated method of reproduction. This act of subversion is reminiscent of Titarubi enveloping a sculpture of Michaelangelo's David in traditional Indonesian batik fabric (Surrounding David 2008). From a 'local' Asian perspective, these two works highlight the cultural divide and biases that still exist today.

　　Therefore it can be said that for contemporary Asian artists such as Lu Hao, a narrative of Asia's urban condition can only be bookmarked in the here and now, as an unsettled negotiation between the 'global' and the 'local'.