Old as Stone, Hard as Rock: Of Humans and War

來自著名義大利藝術家 Alessandro Sanna 的作品，這是一本以無聲的畫作講述戰爭與人性的宏大歷史——通過石頭見證和記錄人類的破壞與創造，跨越時代的故事。

一塊石頭從天而降，它沿著陡峭的山坡越滾越快，直到抵達一片空曠平原才停下。但這片平原不會長時間保持空蕩：陰影中走出兩個身影，他們立刻開始搏鬥，將那塊石頭當作致命性武器。

然而正是這些手——我們的手握著同樣重量的石頭，也在雕塑和鍛造、雕刻和建造，既在摧毀中創造，又在創造中摧毀，將美與暴力並列呈現。

這兩股衝動之間是什麼關係？在這些頁面中，藝術家 Alessandro Sanna 利用自己雙手的塑造力量來探索人類看似無止境、卻異常堅定的破壞能力。

毫不回避地追溯人類長久以來的戰爭歷史，從騎兵軍隊的浩劫，到征服者的暴力，再到第一次世界大戰的血腥屠殺、可怕讓人恐懼的原子彈，殘酷的雙子星的事情、驚人的有恐怖攻擊，Sanna 記錄了我們毀滅的衝動。

手掌塑形黏土，將顏色劃過天空界定一個世界，為眼睛帶來美麗；然而在燃燒的火焰中，刺鼻的氣味升起，煙霧遮蔽了太陽。

這一切都是為了什麼呢？

本書包括了受人尊敬的詩人和學者 Ammiel Alcalay 的序言，以及藝術家的說明。

From acclaimed Italian artist Alessandro Sanna, a sweeping history of war and humanity as told wordlessly through paintings—tracing both human destruction and creation through the ages, as witnessed and recorded by stone

A stone falls to the Earth. It picks up speed, rolling down the steep side of a mountain until it comes to rest in an empty plain. But the plain won’t remain empty for long: out of the shadows emerge two figures, who immediately start to grapple, using that very stone as a weapon to kill.

But those same hands, our human hands, holding the same weight of stone, also shape and forge, chisel and build, creating as they destroy, rendering beauty and violence alike. What is the relationship of those twin impulses? In these pages, artist Alessandaro Sanna uses the shaping force of his hands to explore the seemingly endless, perversely steadfast human capacity for destruction. Unflinchingly tracing humanity’s long history of war, from the havoc of armies on horseback, to the violence of the conquistadores, to the carnage of the First World War, to the ghastly terror of the atomic bomb, and the cruel, shockingly intentional attack on the Twin Towers, Sanna records our compulsion to destroy. The hands mold clay, streak color across a sky, define a world, give beauty to the eye; and yet fires burn, an acrid smell arises, smoke blots out the sun. For what and why?

Includes an introduction from esteemed poet and scholar Ammiel Alcalay, as well as an artist’s note.