TRANSLATED BY 翻譯 x Harry Liu 劉競晨
IMAGE COURTESY BY 圖片提供 x Marcus Lyon 馬可斯·里昂
Marcus Lyon, a British photographic artist, founded his studio in a large dilapidated glass factory in Kennington, London, 25 years ago. The area is hidden just south east of Westminster and Waterloo, popular with MP’s and the creative communities alike, it has undergone significant regeneration in the very recent past and provides an inspirational working environment at the heart of the city. Lyon’s career success tracks a similar path, in 1990 he bought a small brown-field plot of land and founded the multidisciplinary art studio, The Glassworks: a gallery, exhibition venue and centre of production for collaborative and original art. Outside his art practice Lyon is a director of Somerset House and a significant portrait artist. In that role he has been commissioned to photograph a diverse range of public figures, from Queen Elizabeth II, to the actor Bill Nighy and the last four British Prime Ministers.
Over the course of his 30-year art career, Lyon has explored themes of global expansion and social migration in the modern world, searching for meaning in our mass behaviours. From micro to the macro explorations of the issues at the heart of globalization, the megacity and migration, his work stimulates thinking about the relationship between man and the natural world.
During the interview, Lyon radiates an infectious enthusiasm for the all he does, as an artist, a determined social entrepreneur and an active public speaker on both photography and development.
馬可斯·里昂是一位在倫敦工作和生活的攝影藝術家，他的工作室位於倫敦東南的肯寧頓（Kennington）地區，這裡原本是一處玻璃工廠，喜劇大師卓別林的母親也曾經在這裡工作過。24年前里昂來到這裡的時候，它只是一片破敗的廠房，而經過這些年的經營，這個地區有了很大的變化，隨著自己藝術事業的蒸蒸日上，他買下了工作室這裡一大片的廠房，改造成了現在的工作室，還邀請其他設計師和藝術家一起過來工作。
這些年裡，他拍了女王，還有被女王耗下去的四任前首相，還有各種明星。在工作室裡陳列著他創作的攝影作品，他一直都關注于人類生存狀態的主題，通過他作品中呈現的“大量”和“密集”的人類文明創造的景觀來反思人類與環境之間的關係：越來越多的人口與城市承載力之間的矛盾，我們到底能不能建造一個適應不斷湧現大量人潮的適宜居住的城市？宏觀世界的視角與微觀之間的辯證關係是怎樣的呢？
里昂是很熱情的一個人，願意與所有人探討他的藝術和我們生活的世界。去年5月份他的一張攝影作品在佳士得拍賣會上以高於估價十倍成交，他很高興自己的作品得到大家的認可，他並沒有期望自己的作品價格會瘋狂飆升，只是不斷地強調對於質量和專業性的追求，對於商業上的發展里昂也很坦然，他說：“不管是做什麼都得做得專業，不能馬虎，商業也是如此，我也一直希望尋求高質量的合作夥伴來共同發展。”
ART.ZIP: Would you consider your studio as a home?
ART.ZIP: 你怎麼看待你的工作室，是不是像家一樣？
ML: That’s a great question – as a matter of fact, there are many times when I leave my family house on the way to the studio and say to my wife Bel, “I’m just off home, I’ll be back soon.” So I often speak of The Glassworks as a home, and as I hope you can see from your welcome here today, anyone who visits is received with genuine warmth, invited to share a meal and enjoy art in an intimate and inspirational environment. Those values of how you treat other people are absolutely at the heart of how I want my practice to be – collaborative, ethical, inclusive and open to diversity, nationality and gender. So this is a place with an open door policy, after all the themes of my work are mass behaviours, so I need to listen to a broad audience.
ML: 這是個很好的問題，當我從家出發去工作室的時候，很多次我都對我妻子說‘我去下家裡，一會兒就回來’，所以我把工作室真的當作家一樣看待，而且我也希望你們能感受到這裡的熱情和友好，所有來訪的客人都會感受到賓至如歸的感覺，我們邀請訪客一起吃飯，讓他們在溫馨并充滿正能量的環境里享受藝術。對待他人的態度和信條也同樣是我藝術創作的原則和目標，重視人與人之間的協作、講究為人之道、堅持包容和開放的多元性、不分國際和性別。所以這裡的大門是對所有人敞開的，而且我的作品很多都是討論大眾行為的，所以我必須傾聽廣大受眾的各種聲音。
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ART.ZIP: What key words would you use to explain your space?
ART.ZIP: 如果用一些關鍵詞來描述你的工作室，你會選擇什麼樣的詞呢？
ML: Collaborative. We collaborate every day…. I want everybody here to feel emotionally open. I also like the word vulnerable – being able to talk about all things. Set and frame difficult questions…perhaps we could explore the idea of this place as an emotional laboratory?
But I also think it is really important that we have to be professional and honest – with total commitment to quality….nothing that comes out of this studio can be hurried, there has to be a focus on the purity of the idea and thought leadership…we must lead with the quality of our creative thinking.
ML: 協作。我們每天都會進行各種協同作業，我希望在這裡的每一個人都能感覺到在情感上的融洽，所有的問題都是可以放在桌面上來討論的，換句話說，也許我的工作室可以稱為一個“情感的實驗室”。
但同時專業性與真誠也是同等重要的，我們在工作的時候會竭盡全力地追求作品的質量，從這里產出的每一件作品都是精工細作，並且都是以純粹的藝術精神為先導的，我們極為重視作品在創新性和藝術性上的絕對高品質。
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ART.ZIP: You have also successfully used your space to show your work too?
ART.ZIP: 您的工作室是不是同時也是一個展示自己作品的絕妙空間呢？
ML: Yes, the Glassworks is fabulous for showing work, but I also have several significant private dealers and galleries in Paris and Rio that promote my work. We have sold to museums, private collections and through auction houses from here, but now is the time for a great gallery in New York, Hong Kong or Beijing.
ML: 是的，我的工作室是一個非常棒的作品展示空間，在巴黎和里約熱內盧也有一些畫廊和私人經銷商來為我做推廣和銷售。我的很多作品被美術館和私人藏家收藏，有些被送上拍賣，我覺得現在也是一個很好的時間段來開拓紐約、香港或者北京這樣的新興市場。
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ART.ZIP: You’ve had this space for 25 years, are there any special moments or stories?
ART.ZIP: 這25年以來，在這個工作室有沒有什麼特殊的事件或者故事讓你覺得非常難忘？
ML: Having both lived and worked here, it has become a very intimate place. I think the energy that came with this building when I moved in was obvious. I saw it and I felt it the minute I arrived…. the stories that I like the best are about how diverse this space has been… it has been a venue for so many different creative endeavours – a Russian orchestra did a performance here once. We have had plays here, performance poetry, art shows and seminars… we have had multiple private parties here including hen and stag nights and fortieth, fiftieth, sixtieth, and a seventieth birthdays too – it’s been the most fabulous location for all human celebrations.
I think back to when I was developing the land and I had finished with phase one of the development, we did a 7 pm to 7 am warehouse party. We had a chill-out room, a soul dance floor, a techno dance floor, a garden area with barbecue and jazz, and two bars…. everywhere was different ….it was like a nightclub. A week later, at about ten o’clock on a Friday night, my assistant opened the door to a young couple who came to enquire if “the club was open again?” So it was as good as a club – for one night. Indeed we heard from a friend who was walking the Inca trail in Peru that he overheard a couple talking about this amazing party they attended in a photographic gallery in Kennington – so word even travelled to the high Andes …and then there are all the memories of wonderful people we have photographed here.
ML: 我在這裡工作和生活，工作室對我來說已經是一個非常貼心的地方。當年我搬來的時候，就能很容易地感覺到一種來自建築和空間本身的能量，在我來到這裡的那一瞬間，我就能看到和感覺到那種強大的能量。我最喜歡的就是那些曾經發生在這裡的多種多樣的故事，作為一個場地和空間，它經歷了各種的用途和事件，俄羅斯樂團和戲劇都曾在這裡演出過，還有各種的詩歌表演、藝術展覽和研討會，我們還在這裡舉辦過私人派對，比如我孩子們的生日聚會，對於這種活動來說，這裡簡直是最美妙的地方。
回想當年，我們完成了工作室第一期的改建工作以後，我們舉辦了一個從晚上7點到隔天早上7點的跨夜聚會，當時這裡分為了好多不同的空間，有靈魂樂舞池、電子樂舞池，還有在花園裡的燒烤和爵士音樂，每一個地方都和工作室平常的設置不盡相同，那一晚這裡就像是一個俱樂部。過了一週左右，在一個週五的晚上，還有一對年輕的情侶來敲門，問我們這家“夜店”是不是還開門，可見當晚我們的派對絕對能趕上夜店的水準。更有甚者，我的一個朋友去秘魯印加古道旅行的時候還聽說了一對夫婦在討論關於他們參加的一個倫敦攝影師工作室舉辦的“超級贊”的派對的故事。所以說，我們工作室的聲譽已經遠播到安第斯山脈那邊去了。當然，很多了不起的人物都曾經來這裡拍照和工作，這些也都是非常難忘的記憶。
ART.ZIP: Like the Queen?
ART.ZIP: 比如說女王陛下？
ML: Sadly she didn’t come here – I was commissioned to visit her. As an artist, having a studio where people want to visit has been such a huge gift; it is like a magnet for people to the work – an active creative community. I suppose when you think of studios throughout history, say Andy Warhol’s Factory 59 – everyone was drawn there to share and meet. I think almost the most powerful thing that has come from the studio is the huge community of people who have worked here and met here and then gone on to work and collaborate together. Indeed, we have several friends who have met here and gone on to marry – so I think that is definitely the right way to describe it – as a community.
ML: 很遺憾，拍攝她的時候是我被邀請去了她的地方。作為一名藝術家，自己的工作室能夠成為吸引人們拜訪的地方，這是一種莫大的榮耀，它像磁鐵一樣吸引著人們來這裡欣賞作品，營造了一個積極的富有創造力的氛圍。當你回顧歷史上出現過的藝術家工作室，安迪·沃霍爾（Andy Warhol）的59號工廠工作室，就是這樣一個吸引人們聚會、討論和分享思想的地方。我覺得工作室空間最強大的一個特性就是它打造了一個巨大的社區和群體，讓人們能在這裡相聚並且一起合作完成工作。實際上我有好幾個朋友就是在這裡相遇並且最終成為了夫婦，所以我覺得用“社區”來形容工作室也是非常準確的。
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ART.ZIP: Maybe a little bit like a temple – where people come with the same beliefs…
ART.ZIP: 是不是這裡也像一個廟宇或者聖殿一樣？來的人都抱有一樣的信念和夢想？
ML: Yes, perhaps. With a small ‘t’, because I don’t think there are any over-riding set religious beliefs, other than a focus on creation. I now have thirty ex-assistants who used to work alongside me are out there as artists today. In terms of The Glassworks ethos many of them now collaborate. There is a true Glassworks network out there continuing to populate and inspire other studios. This is the true legacy of having an inspirational creative space to communicate from…
ML: 是的，很有可能，不過這裡並不是宗教意義上的“寺廟”，因為除了創造力以外，我並不認為有能夠淩駕世間萬物的宗教信仰。在這裡，我曾經有過30位助理，這些人現在都已經成為了藝術家，他們依然延續著這裡工作室的傳統，而且“玻璃車間（The Glassworks）”工作室搭建起來的人際網絡還在不斷地充實、啟發和影響著其他工作室。這裡是一個真實的工作室傳奇，一個讓人獲得靈感的創意之地。
Tips/小貼士
www.marcuslyon.com
www.theglassworks.co.uk
Quotations
“Emotionally and environmentally these mass ideas, actions, movements of people, production processes are so huge that no single image can define their influence. So I have endeavoured to create new visual languages within which I can communicate a deeper truth.”
“ The proposition behind my work is that I believe my audience is more visually literate and the world is more complex than allows me to communicate what I wish to say in a single image…so I bring together multiple opinions in super complex montages to illustrate a deeper truth of our time”
“The studio is a sacred place of creative endeavor that must encourage a sense of wonder and a desire to seek out that place where higher level generative thinking and idea generation can flourish and be made real”
“ No art is made in isolation: in truth all work is made in some form of collaboration. For me it is at the heart of the process to look back and realize how many heads, hands and influences have come together to create a final piece.”
