李立婷 | Lily Kostrzewa
《歐洲奧德賽》- 藝術、生命、自我之間的深層對話
前言：
2019 年的夏天，我帶著筆記本，踏上歐洲的土地，履行《New Art Examiner》美國版主編的工作。原以為只是一次單純的研究之行，卻逐漸變成一場深刻的心靈朝聖。每一座博物館、每一條街道、每一次不期而遇，都喚起我對藝術與生命脆弱之美的思索。這篇文章便是那個季節留下的回聲。
什麼是藝術？什麼是人生？
若藝術是替無法言說之事發聲，那麼人生的一部分，就是在每個人心中尋找那些尚未被說出的字，直到無言成為一種哲學。當藝術成為人生、人生成為藝術時，它便能在繪畫、雕塑、詩歌、電影、舞蹈…中創造無數視覺語言, 化作無數姿態：畫布的色彩、石雕的紋理、詩句的呼吸、影像的光影、舞蹈的身體皆是人類向世界傾訴的方式。
2019年夏天，我的歐洲背包旅行逐漸變成一場藝術的朝聖。我走過德國的羅馬博物館、捷克的 Galerie Goap、米蘭的布雷拉美術館、瑞士的巴塞爾藝術館，以及蘇格蘭國家美術館；也沉浸於 2019 年威尼斯雙年展、瑞士巴塞爾藝術展與 Liste藝術展。一路上，我看到許多藝術家以自己的才華與風格談論藝術：從兩千年前的羅馬石雕到現代繪畫；從巨型氣球內的人造水道，到今日的 5G 高科技。所有人都試圖透過周遭環境表達他們對生命的理解。人們想要表達所見、所感、所思、所聞、所愛，這正是人類精神進化的層次。藝術家選擇以視覺形式，讓人們透過眼睛深刻體驗，但五官之感其實都能被轉化為藝術的思想。
彭贊斯的自助洗衣店
（影片連結： https://youtube.com/shorts/koKOblm45xY?feature=share ）
在連日奔波後，我停在英國彭贊斯的一家投幣式自助洗衣店。投入幾枚硬幣後，那台漂亮的前開式玻璃烘乾機顯示：15 分鐘。我安靜地站在機器前，看著衣物在圓筒中一圈又一圈地旋轉。突然間，這 15 分鐘彷彿成了一部濃縮我整個人生旅程的短片。圓筒持續轉動…穩定、節奏分明, 圓圈不停旋轉，直到最後一聲嗶響, 最後一聲清脆的提示音。我想到自己對藝術的熱情，那些喜悅與心痛, 那些心碎交織的歲月, 是否終將匯聚成最後的一聲「嗶」？也許那聲嗶會是醫院病床上監測器的最後一響。那一刻，烘乾機成了我心中「藝術人生」的象徵：短暫、循環、倔強，卻又奇異地美麗。
對我而言，那台烘乾機成了象徵藝術人生的完美隱喻。在短暫的一生中，你的生命藝術是什麼？在這有限的生命裡，你的生命之藝，又將如何呈現？
本文原登於 New Art Examiner https://newartexaminer.net/european-odyssey/.
<2026-04-22>
European Odyssey – A Deep Dialogue Between Art, Life, and the Self
Preface:
In the summer of 2019, while serving as the U.S. Managing Editor of New Art Examiner, I drifted through several European countries in search of insight. What began as a straightforward research trip gradually unfolded into something far more intimate – quiet meditation on art, place, and the shifting contours of my own life. This reflection was born from those days on the road.
What is art? What is life?
If art speaks what cannot be spoken, then life is the slow discovery of each unspoken word – until silence itself becomes a philosophy. When art becomes life and life becomes art, the boundary dissolves, giving rise to endless forms: painting, sculpture, poetry, film, dance… each a different way of breathing meaning into the world.
My backpack journey across Europe soon transformed into an art pilgrimage. I wandered through museums and galleries—the Römermuseum in Germany, Galerie Goap in the Czech Republic, the Brera Art Gallery in Milan, Italy, the Kunstmuseum Basel in Switzerland, and the Scottish National Gallery. I immersed myself in the 2019 Venice Biennale in Italy, Art Basel, and Art Liste in Switzerland. Everywhere, artists spoke in their own languages: from two‑thousand‑year‑old Roman stone carvings to contemporary canvases; from a man‑made water tunnel suspended inside a giant balloon to the sleek hum of 5G technology. Each work was an attempt to translate life through the materials at hand.
The human need to express what we see, feel, think, hear, and admire is a spiritual thread running through our evolution. Artists choose visual forms to invite others into deeper perception, yet all five senses can be transformed into artistic thought.
A Launderette in Penzance
(video reference: https://youtube.com/shorts/koKOblm45xY?feature=share)
After days of travel, I found myself in a coin‑operated launderette in Penzance, UK. I fed a few coins into the dryer, and the glass‑fronted machine announced I had fifteen minutes. I stood before it, watching quietly as the clothes spun in steady circles. Somehow, those fifteen minutes felt like watching my entire life compressed into a short film.
The drum kept turning—relentless, rhythmic—until the final beep. I thought of my passion for art, the joy it has given me, and the heartache it has demanded. Would everything, in the end, come down to one final beep? Perhaps the last sound of a hospital monitor. In that moment, the laundry dryer became a perfect metaphor for a life lived in art: brief, circular, persistent, and strangely beautiful.
In this short span we are given, what becomes the art of your life?
The original article first appeared in New Art Examiner, available at https://newartexaminer.net/european-odyssey/.
<2026-04-22>