Rockbund Art Museum 上海外滩美术馆

In a majority of myths from around the world, gods more often than not are able to transform into different animals, with these animals having to go through arduous trials and training, in the hopes of being able to change into human form. Humankind has a tendency to use animals to tell their own stories. As was stated by the philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach, one could say that the image or existence of gods is itself a paradox: “God did not, as the Bible says, make man in His image; on the contrary man, as I have shown in The Essence of Christianity, made God in his image.”

During the first part of this workshop, aesthetics researcher Felice will first analyze the artistic language used in a number of archetypal myths, such as the depictions of characters in the Chinese Classic of Mountains and Seas, the Greek god of wine Dionysus, the Norse god of thunder Thor, the Incan deity Quetzalcoatl and so on. Different cultural and religious systems have bestowed these characters with a certain godly divinity. Aside from the ones mentioned above, a few other ‘gods’ will be also deconstructed and analyzed: Caravaggio’s Bacchus, Marvel’s Thor, as well as cartoon versions of the characters from the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Gods in our contemporary age, having been demystified by modern science, have lost their halos and become endowed with new roles and representations, in a popular culture which both consumes and deconstructs gods.

In the second part of the workshop, we will invite the audience to participate in this process of “creating gods” – each person will be able to create his or her own god, using one’s imagination of “if there were gods ruling our world”; or one can choose a pre-existing deity, from any source – novels, movies and myths from any time period are all accepted. We will provide the tools and materials needed for printmaking.

The gods are but a mirror of humankind, reflecting our imagination and understanding, our desires and our hopes.

在世界大部分神话故事中，神常常可以化为各种动物，而动物们也会经历艰辛的修炼，以期化作人形。人类常用动物来演绎他们自身的故事。如费尔巴哈知名的结论，神的形象或存在可以说是一个悖论：“并非神按照他的形象创造人，而是人按照自己的形象创造神。”

在这次工坊的第一部分中，美学研究者Felice将首先与大家共同赏析几类代表性神话叙事人物的艺术语言，如中国山海经中的人物形象、希腊的酒神、北欧的雷神、印加的羽蛇神等。这些不同的文化和宗教体系给予这些人物特有的神性符号。除此以外还有一些相应被解构了的“神”：卡拉瓦乔的酒神、漫威的雷神、萌化后的山海经人物。在当代，科学祛魅之下的神消退了光环，进入了一个新的赋形阶段，流行文化消费神、解构神。

在工作坊的第二部分中，我们邀请观众来参与这个“造神”的过程，大家可以自己创造一个神，以寄托自己对“如果有神”主宰世界的想象；也可以改造一个既有的神话形象，取材不限，各时期的小说/电影/神话皆可。我们将提供版画创作所需的工具与材料。

神始终是一面人类的镜子，照映我们的想象与认知，欲念与祈愿。

Felice, Aesthetic Researcher and cultural event planner with an interest in semiology. She co-curated 2015 Shanghai International Science and Art Exhibition, 2017 APPLE Design Awards Exhibition, 2018 Better Life – Shanghai Public Cultural Space Innovation Competition and a series of intangible cultural heritage exhibitions.

Shen Qianshi, Exhibitioin Manager of Rockbund Art Museum.

Felice，美学研究者，文化活动策划人，兴趣为符号学。曾参与策划2015上海国际科学与艺术展，2017 APPLE设计展，2018美好生活上海市公共文化空间创新大赛，系列非物质文化遗产展等。

沈乾石，上海外滩美术馆展览经理。