大卫•巴瑞（David BARRIE ） 英国艺术基金会总监   
 

99艺术网记者采访 大卫•巴瑞

采访人：丁晓洁 （99艺术网）
时间：2009年10月10日
地点：华彬论坛 中央美术学院美术馆
翻译：周茉

    99艺术网：西方收藏家在选择中国当代艺术作品时的标准是什么？

     大卫•巴瑞 ：这是个很有趣的问题。我认为西方收藏家在选择时存在的问题是他们中的大多数对中国文化的了解都不够深入，所以对他们来说更容易欣赏有国外生活经历的，对国际当代艺术熟悉的艺术家的作品。这并不是什么问题。我只想说还有很多中国当代艺术作品不属于这个范畴。我认为对我们当中的很多人来说有机会参观和理解其它的那些作品会是件很有意思的事。更进一步地讲，我认为每个人所期望的，与其是更国际化的，或别的类型的艺术，应该是会引起人们兴趣的东西。我之前说过，要欣赏一个艺术品，作为观看者，得做些努力。不能简单地接收而期望被感动，因为这行不通。因此，最好的艺术品是那种给尝试去理解艺术家们要表达的东西的努力以回报的作品。当你和艺术家有心灵的沟通时，那简直棒极了，一些神奇的事会发生，因此无论对于观众还是艺术家，这都是最高境界了。

    99艺术网：您认为亚洲当代艺术和欧洲当代艺术在发展上有什么区别？   

    大卫•巴瑞 ：我想如果只谈中国的话，很显然，最大的区别是中国的艺术家只在最近的三十年里有充足的自由去实验，而在欧洲，已有一百年以上的实验历程。因此，欧洲和北美有比中国更长的探索艺术可能性的传统。这同样也适用于其它亚洲国家。日本比中国在艺术实验上的时间要长，但仍然不是很长。老实说，我对韩国，马来西亚，和印度了解得不够多，不知道那边的情况。但我认为总体来说，这些文化中的大多数对于欧洲来讲在艺术实验的领域都是新的。但无论哪儿的艺术家都能很快地领会暗示，你只需轻轻一点，他们就能明白。因此要赶上欧洲不需要太长时间，事实上也谈不上赶上，只是看到一系列新的可能性而已。

 
Ding Xiaojie: What is the criteria for western collectors to choose among China’s contemporary art works?

David Barrie: Well, that’s a very interesting question. I think that one of the problems western collectors have, is that most of them are not deeply immersed in Chinese culture, so it is probably easier for them to appreciate the kind of art that is produced by Chinese artists who spent time abroad and who are familiar with the international contemporary art world. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I would only like to make the point that there are a lot of Chinese contemporary art that does not fit that description. I think it would be very interesting for a lot of us to have the chance to see and understand some of that other art. Let’s take it a little bit further. I think what everybody is really looking for, rather than looking at the more international art, or indeed any other kind of art, is something that speaks to them. I mean I was saying earlier, to appreciate a work of art, you, the viewer, have to work a little. You can’t simply receive it and expect to be touched by it, because it doesn’t work that way. So the best art is the kind of art that rewards the effort, the effort of trying to understand what the artist is attempting to say. If your hand and hand of the artist meet and grasp each other, well, then that’s wonderful, something extraordinary can happen. So that’s the best kind.

Ding Xiaojie: What do you think is the difference between the development of Asian’s contemporary art and Europe’s?

David Barrie: Well, I suppose if I just focus on China, the big difference is that obviously it’s only really over the last thirty years the artists in China have had sufficient freedom to experiment ambitiously, well as in Europe, the process of experimentation has been going on for hundred years or more. So there is a longer tradition of experimental exploration of artistic possibilities in Europe and North America than there is in China. The same is probably true to a lesser extent in some other Asian countries. Japan has been experimenting with art for longer than China, but still not very long. To be honest, I don’t know enough about Korea or Malaysia, I don’t know what’s going on there, or indeed India. But I think generally speaking, most of these cultures are newer to the world of experimental art than Europe is. But the thing is that artists everywhere are very quick to take a hint, you only have to give them a little idea, then they get it. So it doesn’t take very long to catch up, in fact it’s not even catching up, it’s just seeing a new range of possibilities.
 

                                                                                                                                                                                【编辑：丁晓洁】