凝視的邊界：關於觀看、潛意識與主體性的寓言
文：林若塵
The Threshold of Gaze: A Parable of Vision, the Unconscious, and Subjectivity
By Ruòchén Lin （7/2025）
在這幅作品中，藝術家以近乎夢境般的視覺結構，構築出一則關於主體性與觀看關係的形而上寓言。畫面中央，一匹裝飾繁複的馬靜立於水平線上的淺灘，低首凝視水面上漂浮的一隻眼睛。馬與眼的對視構成圖像的核心結構，也召喚觀者進入一場觀看與被觀看之間的哲學辯證。
馬，作為人類歷史上被馴化的權力象徵，此刻卻脫離其原有語境，靜默佇立於無可名狀的海洋邊界，宛若失根的意志。在此，牠不再是運動與征服的象徵，而成為一種內省的載體，一個凝視自我潛意識的「觀看主體」。而那枚懸浮的眼睛，則如同自我意識的鏡像回聲，或潛意識的召喚者，使整個畫面籠罩在一種不可言說的心理張力中。
畫面色調分布明確：深藍色的海洋佔據大部分畫面，象徵潛意識的無垠與神秘；遠方微光橫陳，將畫面一分為二，形成「理性與無意識」、「現實與夢境」的交界線。這樣的空間配置，使觀者彷彿置身弗洛伊德式的夢境場景之中，而馬與眼的互望更使人聯想到拉岡所謂「主體於他者凝視中誕生」的理論。
從藝術風格而言，此作深受超現實主義（Surrealism）視覺語彙的影響，尤以馬格利特（René Magritte）與德·基里科（Giorgio de
Chirico）為近親。馬格利特式的「眼睛」在此不再只是觀看之器，而被物化為心理象徵的符號，指涉隱匿於表象之下的深層結構。而作品整體所營造出的時空凝滯與孤寂感，也呼應德·基里科筆下那些空曠、超時間性的異托邦空間。不同的是，這幅畫並不採用古典建築或長影，而是以海洋作為無意識的載體，帶有更強烈的心理地景意味。
值得注意的是，作品中並無明確敘事線索，也沒有文化符碼的明示，觀者無法輕易將其歸類於某一特定時間、地理或神話。正因如此，它保留了一種高度開放的詮釋空間，迫使觀者以「凝視」的方式參與其中，並在觀看中反思自身觀看的立場。這種形式的觀看，不僅是視覺的，更是一種存在論的自我審視。
總結而言，這幅作品透過極簡構圖與象徵性的視覺語彙，成功轉化觀看的動作為哲學思辨的起點。馬與眼不只是物件，而是視覺與心理之間的橋梁，讓觀者在靜默中感受到主體裂縫的召喚。這不僅是一幅畫，而是一則無聲的命題——當我們觀看畫面時，是否也正被某種不可見的他者所觀看？
The Threshold of Gaze: A Parable of Vision, the Unconscious, and Subjectivity
By Ruòchén
In this work, the artist constructs a metaphysical parable about subjectivity and the dynamics of vision through an almost dreamlike visual structure. At the center of the composition, a richly adorned horse stands silently upon the shallows of a horizontal shoreline, lowering its head to gaze at a floating eye on the water’s surface. This mutual gaze between horse and eye forms the core of the image and calls the viewer into a philosophical dialectic between seeing and being seen.
The horse—historically a symbol of power and domestication—now stands removed from its original context, quietly poised at the unspeakable edge of the sea, like a will severed from its roots. Here, it no longer signifies motion or conquest, but becomes a vessel of introspection: a "subject of vision" contemplating the depths of its own unconscious. The suspended eye, meanwhile, echoes self-awareness—like the voice of the unconscious—casting an ineffable psychological tension across the scene.
The composition is marked by a deliberate distribution of tone: a deep blue sea dominates the image, symbolizing the boundless mystery of the unconscious. A faint horizontal glow divides the canvas, forming a liminal boundary between "reason and the unconscious," "reality and dream." This spatial design evokes a Freudian dreamscape, and the mutual gaze between the horse and the eye brings to mind Lacan’s notion that "the subject is born within the gaze of the Other."
Stylistically, the work draws heavily on the visual language of Surrealism, particularly resonating with René Magritte and Giorgio de Chirico. The Magrittean "eye" is no longer merely an organ of sight, but becomes an objectified psychological symbol, pointing toward the hidden structures beneath surface appearances. The overall sense of suspended time and solitude recalls de Chirico’s deserted, atemporal heterotopias. Yet unlike his classical architecture and elongated shadows, this painting uses the ocean as a carrier of the unconscious, suggesting a more intensely psychological landscape.
Notably, the work presents no clear narrative, nor any overt cultural codes. The viewer cannot easily situate it within a particular time, geography, or mythology. Precisely because of this ambiguity, the image preserves an open field of interpretation, compelling the viewer to participate through the act of gazing—and to reflect on their own position as a spectator. This form of vision is not merely optical, but an ontological self-inquiry.
In summary, this work, through minimalist composition and symbolic visual language, succeeds in transforming the act of looking into the starting point of philosophical reflection. The horse and the eye are not merely objects, but bridges between the visual and the psychological, allowing the viewer to feel—through silence—the fissure within the self. This is more than a painting; it is a wordless proposition: as we gaze upon the image, are we also being watched by some unseen Other?
