姿色份子

小學到中學的成績表，師長們的訓詞，都清楚告訢年幼的我是不可能成為一名知識份子的。縱使少不更事，但凡是引發起興趣的知識，我從來沒有抗拒過。長大了，當不成知識份子，自自然然地唯有學門手藝。餓不死，變成最崇高的人生追求。設計，在康港，是一門頗受歡迎的手藝。

來英之前，大概上過幾年的設計手藝課程。吸收的知識，都直接令我餓不死。因為那手藝，讓我可以做出有幾分姿色而又有商業價值的作品。此外，在朋輩薰陶下，沒有半分姿色的我，學曉穿黑色，時款球鞋，帶粗框眼鏡 (可惜毛髪未夠濃密，留不到羊咩鬚)。單看外表，單憑耳聽 ，「姿色份子造型」入型入格。



雖然在港從事設計工作多年，留意政治爭拗如飯後甜品，但在來英之前，我不知到 George Orwell 係乜水。有聽過《動物農莊》，但只視之為兒童故事而已，內容映射甚麼，作者背景是甚麼，完全沒有興趣。因為我以為與我喜歡的藝術和設計沒有根本的關係。直至，論文的 tutorial，tutor 介紹《1984》和這位猛人予我，我才大大醒覺，設計，商業以外，原來的一片天是多麼的宏大廣闊。

Research 期間，知道有《Why I Write》這本小書，好奇起來。

Sheer egoism – ‘Desire to seem clever, to be talked about, to be remembered after death, to get your own back on grown-ups who snubbed you in childhood, etc. It is humbug to pretend that this is not a motive, and a strong one. Writers share this characteristics with scientists, artists, politicians, lawyers, solders, successful businessmen – in short, with the whole top crust of humanity.’

Aesthetic enthusiasm – ‘Perception of beauty in the external world, or, on the other hand, in words and their right arrangement. Pleasure in the impact of one sound on another, in the firmness of good prose or the rhythm of a good story. Desire to share an experience which one feels is valuable and ought not to be missed.’

Historical impulse – ‘Desire to see things as they are, to find out true facts and store them up for the use of posterity.’

Political purpose – ‘Using the word “political” in the widest possible sense. Desire to push the world in a certain direction, to alter other people’s idea of the kind of society that they should strive after. Once again, no book is genuinely free from political bias. The opinion that art should have nothing to do with politics is itself a political attitude.’

這與自己做設計的理由不謀而合。

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人人有良心，但不是人人都選擇埋沒它。

當陳太將人人都有的東西當作賣點時，就好像大陸食品要嘢嘢標榜衞生，設計學校要標榜創意一樣。

當葉劉販賣坦率「真」性情時。Orwell 話：「Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.」