Wunderkammer/珍寶陳列室
ART.ZIP: Could you use a word or a sentence to conclude the relationship between you and the studio?
ART.ZIP: 您能不能用一句話或者一個詞來概括一下你和工作室之間的關係?
LC: My studio is the Wunderkammer which embellishes my imagination, where shelf upon shelf fuses classical mythology, zoology, folklore, science, medicine and magic, while referencing the bizarre, mystical and mysterious objects once concealed in the ancient cabinets of curiosities. The line between the real and invented is the space where I create my artwork.
My studio is my world of imagination and narrative, a new version of reality drawing on the past, present and future- on hidden infinities and the desire to interlace art and nature, and the controversies, marvels and miracles of biotechnology.
LC: 我的工作室就是一個“珍寶陳列室”,是將我的幻想物質化的體現,書架上和陳列櫃上滿是將古典神話、民俗、科學、醫學和魔術融合的物品,就好像是古代魔盒裡面藏匿的東西,光怪陸離、神秘莫測。在真實和夢幻之間的區域便是我創作的空間。
我的工作室就是一個我想像力所描述的世界,一個基於過往、當下和未來而描繪的新的現實──交雜著關於藝術、自然、爭論、奇觀、還有生物科技帶來的奇蹟。
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Start-up of Euroart Studio/歐藝工作室的創立
ART.ZIP: When and how did you start running the studio business?
ART.ZIP: 您是什麼時候怎麼開始運營藝術家工作室生意的呢?
LC: The name Euroart came into existence in 1996 whilst living in Rome when we (Nigel & I) created a website to showcase my work and that of other artists we knew locally in Rome. Its popularity quickly spread and in a couple of years we also presented artists from other regions in Italy, France and even Japan. The website was taken-down when we relocated to London in 2000.
After a one year residency at the Florence Trust Studios, I set about searching for a studio to rent and discovered that they were either extremely expensive, pretty run down and dirty or located in unsafe areas. I did rent one for six months, situated on an industrial site in Hackney Wick. I like to work in my studio without time restrictions, however, after the workers of the other businesses on site left at 5:00pm, in those days the site became a playground for groups of youths and I didn’t feel safe venturing out late at night into the dark in this environment to catch the train home.
Not finding this situation satisfactory we decided to create our own ‘self funded’ studios – providing the levels of services, cleanliness and safety I desired. The “first” Euroart Studios (continuing the name legacy from the Roman website) was established in 2002 in an old rag trade factory on an industrial site in London N17 two doors from Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. In 2009 Tottenham Hotspur purchased the site from the owners and summarily gave us notice to quit. Notwithstanding all the money and hard work we had put into the venture, we lost everything. Nonetheless, rising like a Phoenix from the ashes of despair brought about by Tottenham Hotspur’s plans for a new stadium, with hard graft (bank loans and more of our own money) we leased two warehouse units here at Gaunson House, hired a lot of workers, gutted everything, built 34 new workspaces and relocated 30 artists/creative businesses from the N17 site – all in eight weeks! In August 2011 a third warehouse unit was leased and an additional 36 workspaces created. The current 70 workspaces regularly host some 80 fine artists, makers and creative businesses.
LC: “歐藝”工作室的名字來自於1996年我和奈傑爾生活在羅馬時創建的一個網站,我們在網站上展示自己和其他一些我們認識的羅馬藝術家的作品,網站的人氣逐漸聚集而且受歡迎程度也越來越高,幾年後我們也開始展示其他地區的藝術家,比如意大利、法國甚至是日本。2000年我們定居倫敦以後,我們停止了那個網站的運營。
在弗羅倫薩基金會做了一年藝術家進駐項目以後,我開始想在倫敦租一個工作室空間,但很快我發現倫敦的藝術家工作室租金出奇地昂貴,而且條件很差,要麼很髒亂,要麼就是處於治安很差的區域。我當時確實在哈克尼地區租了一間工作室,為期半年,那是一個工業區。我在工作室裡創作的時候一半不會考慮時間的限制,但那個廠區在下午5點以後所有的工人都下班離開了,整個區域就變成了一群熊孩子們的遊樂場,在夜深人靜的時候我還要摸黑去車站趕火車回家,這讓我覺得非常的不安全。
在沒法找到滿意的工作室條件的情況下,我們決定要打造一個自己籌款建設的工作室,一個能夠提供讓我滿意的服務、環境清潔並且安全的工作室。我們於2002年在北倫敦建立了第一處歐藝工作室,就在托特納姆熱刺足球俱樂部旁邊,在一片工業區裡面。2009年,熱刺足球俱樂從房東那裡買下了我們的工作室,我們不得不搬離那座建築,雖然我們為了那個空間投入了所有的資金和無數的辛苦工作,但我們還是失去了它,我們失去了一切。但不管怎樣,我們並沒有被熱刺興建新球場而驅逐我們的事情而打倒,就像鳳凰涅槃一樣,我們只用了八週的時間,就在現在的地方重建了新的工作室,付出的是大量的工作,我們把自己的積蓄都投入到這裡,僱傭了很多工人,改造這裡的一切,建立了34間新工作室,安置了從原來工作室搬出來的藝術家。2011年8月,我們又創建了一個新的工作室空間,建設了36間新的工作室。目前這個區域我們一共有70間工作室,大約80位藝術家在這裡工作。