一"舊"爛石

朋友的一句「咪又係爛石一＂舊＂」讓我有感而發，想在（超）百忙之中抽點時間出來寫幾句字。他看見的是跟我家中書桌前的那一張幻燈片一樣的雕塑圖像，那是我最愛的一件藝術品。

第一眼看見這雕塑仿品已是約十多年前的事，地點在中環置地廣場。那一眼以後，愛上了。2000年到法國去，終完成心願，見到了「真跡」（http://www.musee-rodin.fr/）。然後，買下了這幻燈片，還有大海報、書籤、書刊、明信片等。時至今日，家中還收集了好幾本關於這位藝術家的書籍及圖冊。

朋友的那句話令我不禁問自己，其實我何以會喜歡這＂舊＂爛石呢？我猜全因為一個字：真。

對朋友來說，那可能只是一＂舊＂沒意思的爛石，又可能是如他所說，因為我不懂雕刻，所以我才會那樣的崇拜這位雕塑家。然而，古今中外，有那麼多位雕刻家，我至今還是最愛這位藝術家的作品。他的作品，幾乎每一件都充份表現得到那種「真」的感覺。雕塑所表現出來的神韻，實在懾人。

要把平平無奇的石，雕琢成那樣充滿人性表現的藝術品，很不容易。他的手工，令人佩服！

（最後，在此引用一本書裡頭的文字，介紹這雕塑。只有英文版，請見諒。）

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The Kiss. 1886. Marble. Musee Rodin, Paris.
'That embrace in which there is both desire and chastity'
"The man's head is bent, that of the woman is lifted, and their mouths meet in a kiss that seals the intimate union of their two beings. Through the extraordinary magic of art, this kiss, which is scarcely indicated by the meeting of their lips, is clearly visible, not only in their meditative expressions, but still more in the shiver that runs equally through both bodies, from the nape of the neck to the soles of the feet, in every fibre of the man's back, as it bends, straightens, grows still, where everything adores - bones, muscles, nerves, flesh - in his leg, which seems to twist slowly, as if moving to brush against his lover's leg; and in the woman's feet, which hardly touch the ground, uplifted with her whole being as she is swept away with ardour and grace."
- Gustave Geffroy -
Rodin: The Hands of Genius. (ISBN 0500300194)