落腳燕郊，中國青年藝術(shù)家的理想與現(xiàn)實(shí)

YANJIAO, China — Artists in need of cheap, affordable studio space are often drawn to out-of-the-way or hardscrabble neighborhoods. The visual artists who flocked to SoHo in Manhattan decades ago helped resurrect what had been a deteriorating factory and warehouse district.

中國燕郊——需要便宜、租得起的工作室的藝術(shù)家們通常會被吸引到偏僻或貧窮的地方。幾十年前蜂擁來到曼哈頓SoHo區(qū)的視覺藝術(shù)家們幫助復(fù)興了這個曾經(jīng)日益衰落的工廠和倉庫區(qū)。

Young artists also helped revive parts of Brooklyn neighborhoods like Williamsburg and Bushwick, and a similar pattern has occurred in many other major cities, including Berlin, Paris and Detroit.

年輕藝術(shù)家也幫助復(fù)興了布魯克林(Brooklyn)的部分地區(qū)，比如威廉斯堡(Williamsburg)和布什威克(Bushwick)。類似的模式也出現(xiàn)在其他很多大城市，比如，柏林、巴黎和底特律。

In China, a small and decidedly nondescript city called Yanjiao, about an hour’s drive from Beijing, has been experiencing a similar influx of artists, though it is highly unlikely that they will initiate the kind of renaissance that has tourists flocking to Williamsburg and SoHo.

在中國，距北京1小時車程的毫不起眼的小城市燕郊也在經(jīng)歷類似的藝術(shù)家蜂擁而入的過程，雖然他們不大可能實(shí)現(xiàn)上述的那種復(fù)興，吸引游客像蜂擁前往威廉斯堡和SoHo那樣來到這里。

That’s because the artists’ inexpensive studios in Yanjiao lack exposed brick walls or distressed wood beams. Instead, they tend to feature concrete walls and cheap metal fittings, and they are generally in large, uninspired apartment blocks.

那是因?yàn)椋囆g(shù)家們在燕郊租住的廉價工作室沒有暴露的磚墻和古舊木梁。相反，它們大多由混凝土墻和廉價的金屬固件構(gòu)成，通常位于龐大的、平淡無奇的住宅區(qū)。

Yanjiao, with a population of about 300,000, was once known mostly as a “sleeper city,” whose residents commuted to jobs in Beijing. During the day, its wide, dusty streets are nearly empty, flanked by apartment buildings waiting for tenants to return from work.

燕郊大約有30萬人，曾以“睡城”聞名，那里的居民通勤去北京上班。白天，塵土飛揚(yáng)的寬闊街道上幾乎空無一人，兩側(cè)的公寓樓等著住戶們下班回家。

The idealistic but impoverished artists here, many of them young graduates from Beijing’s elite art schools, work and live in these apartment blocks.

貧窮的理想主義藝術(shù)家——很多是北京頂尖藝術(shù)學(xué)校的年輕畢業(yè)生——在這些住宅區(qū)工作和生活。

Driven by high rents and the constant threat of demolition in Beijing, many artists who might previously have hunkered down in the city, China’s unofficial cultural capital, are flocking to Yanjiao as a low-cost spot from which to chase their dreams.

很多藝術(shù)家可能曾經(jīng)蝸居在中國的非官方文化之都北京，但那里高昂的房租和持續(xù)不斷的拆遷威脅迫使他們蜂擁來到燕郊這個生活成本低廉的地方，繼續(xù)追逐自己的夢想。

“The only reason for artists living in Yanjiao is that it’s cheap,” one of them, Zhang Yongji, 27, said with a laugh.

“只是因?yàn)楸阋?，我們才住在燕郊?rdquo;27歲的張永基笑著說。

Like many young artists, Mr. Zhang dreamed of making it big in Beijing. But after graduating from the prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts there in 2012, he looked into renting a studio in the city and found he could not afford one. A friend of his was living in Yanjiao, and after visiting, he decided to move here.

和很多年輕藝術(shù)家一樣，張也曾夢想在北京大展宏圖。但是，2012年，他從著名的中央美術(shù)學(xué)院畢業(yè)后，想在北京租一間工作室，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)自己租不起。當(dāng)時他的一個朋友住在燕郊，他去看望那位朋友后決定搬來這里。

Eventually, he settled into an apartment complex called the South Side of Hawaii, one of the city’s many sprawling, colorfully named residential complexes designed in a faux European style. (Others include the North Side of Hawaii, Hawaii Valley and Sweet Seoul City.) In 2013, he and a group of friends founded On Space, an apartment turned experimental art gallery.

最后，他在一個名叫夏威夷南岸的小區(qū)住下來。它是這座城市很多名字起得很炫的龐大仿歐式住宅區(qū)之一(其他的還有夏威夷北岸、夏威夷溪谷和首爾甜城等)。2013年，他和一群朋友成立了On Space工作室——一個用公寓改造而成的實(shí)驗(yàn)藝術(shù)畫廊。

In the last decade, urbanization and gentrification have accelerated in Beijing. “These forces are pushing artists to think of alternative models for running art spaces, including, yes, spaces in Yanjiao,” said Kira Simon-Kennedy, a co-founder and the director of China Residencies, a nonprofit arts organization.

在過去十年里，北京的城市化和中產(chǎn)階層化進(jìn)程加快。“這些壓力正推動藝術(shù)家們思考開設(shè)藝術(shù)空間的其他模式，是的，包括在燕郊設(shè)立工作室，”非贏利藝術(shù)組織中國藝術(shù)交流(China Residencies)的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人兼總監(jiān)孟金蘭(Kira Simon-Kennedy)說。

Many of China’s most famous contemporary artists emerged from so-called artist villages on the urban fringes of Beijing, where rent was low and distractions from making art were few.

中國很多最著名的當(dāng)代藝術(shù)家都是從北京郊區(qū)所謂的藝術(shù)家村走出來的，那里租金便宜，而且?guī)缀鯖]有分散藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作注意力的東西。

One of the best known of these enclaves is Caochangdi Village, which became an artists’ hub after Ai Weiwei built his studio there in 1999. However, as Beijing’s city limits have expanded, many smaller artist villages have been torn down to make way for new development.

其中最出名的一個地方叫草場地，1999年艾未未在那里開設(shè)自己的工作室后，它成為一個藝術(shù)家聚集地。但是，隨著北京的城區(qū)范圍不斷擴(kuò)大，很多小型藝術(shù)家村被拆除，讓位于新的地產(chǎn)開發(fā)項(xiàng)目。

“Art is always pushed to the edge,” said He Miao, a curator of contemporary art in Beijing. “In China, contemporary art cannot be made in cities. Where the urban meets the rural, that’s where art happens.”

“藝術(shù)總被推到邊邊角角的地方，”北京的當(dāng)代藝術(shù)策展人禾苗說，“中國的當(dāng)代藝術(shù)不可能誕生于城市，而是誕生于城鄉(xiāng)結(jié)合部。”

Yanjiao initially attracted attention from the artistic community in 2006, when the Central Academy of Fine Arts established a satellite campus not far from the South Side of Hawaii. Art supply, printing and framing shops quickly popped up to serve the students, teachers and artists who would be living and working nearby.

2006年，中央美院在離夏威夷南岸不遠(yuǎn)的地方建了一個校區(qū)。自此，燕郊開始引起藝術(shù)家群體的注意。很快，附近涌現(xiàn)出很多藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作用品店、印刷店和裝裱店，為在這里生活和工作的學(xué)生、老師和藝術(shù)家服務(wù)。

The first artists found it lonely. “When I first got here, my building was completely empty, and there were no lights at night,” said Pange Yang, 26, who arrived in 2012. “I was the only person in the building.”

搬來這里的第一批藝術(shù)家當(dāng)時覺得很孤單。“我剛到燕郊的時候，我的樓完全是空的，晚上的時候一片黑，”26歲的潘戈陽說。他2012年搬來這里。“樓里面只有我一個人。”

But as word of mouth about Yanjiao spread, more artists began coming.

但是，隨著燕郊的口碑散播開來，越來越多的藝術(shù)家來到這里。

“I was preparing to really do the poor, starving artist thing in Songzhuang,” a well-established artist village about a half-hour away, said Li Tianqi, 24, another founder of On Space. “But why rent a tiny shack in Songzhuang when you can have a nice studio in Yanjiao?”

“本來我是打算在宋莊做一個貧窮的、吃不飽飯的藝術(shù)家，”On Space的另一位創(chuàng)始人、24歲的李天琦說。宋莊是距離這里約半小時車程的一個著名的藝術(shù)家村。“如果你能在燕郊擁有一個很好的工作室，那你為什么要在宋莊租一個小棚子呢?”

No one knows how many young artists now call Yanjiao home, though the On Space founders estimate that at least several hundred have space here. Last year, the gallerists tried an informal census of the city’s artists, but ran out of time after conducting interviews with about 60 people.

沒有人知道燕郊現(xiàn)在究竟住著多少年輕藝術(shù)家，不過On Space的創(chuàng)始人們估計(jì)，至少有幾百名藝術(shù)家在這里設(shè)立了工作室。去年，畫廊老板們嘗試對該市的藝術(shù)家進(jìn)行一個非正式人口普查，但是在采訪了約60人后，就沒時間繼續(xù)進(jìn)行了。

Yanjiao has also caught the eye of established artists. Its most famous tenants are the Gao Brothers, a pair of multimedia artists internationally known for their irreverent sculptures. In 2013, they bought a former factory building and turned it into an airy studio complex they call Blessgo, which they use for making larger works.

燕郊也吸引了一些著名藝術(shù)家，其中最出名的是高氏兄弟。這對多媒體藝術(shù)家在國際上以不敬的雕塑聞名。2013年，他們買下一間廠房，改造成寬敞的工作室，稱之為Blessgo，用來創(chuàng)作大型作品。

Referring to the quickly gentrifying 798 Art District in Beijing, Gao Zhen, the older brother, said in an interview, “In 798, we still won’t be allowed to exhibit certain works of art, and you just can’t completely let go of your worries because even renting studios in 798 isn’t completely stable, with demolitions and relocations.”

哥哥高真在采訪中提到快速中產(chǎn)階層化的北京798藝術(shù)區(qū)時說：“在798，他們還是不允許我們展覽某些作品，而且你沒法完全放心，因?yàn)樵?98租工作室都不穩(wěn)定，有拆遷問題等等。”

The siblings still maintain a studio in the 798 district, but plan to eventually relocate entirely to Yanjiao.

兄弟倆在798藝術(shù)區(qū)依然擁有一間工作室，不過打算最終徹底搬到燕郊。

Most artists in Yanjiao work in more humble circumstances. Much of the city’s surplus of residential space takes the form of cheap, unfinished apartments called maopifang. Little more than concrete shells, they are perfect for artists looking to create studios on a shoestring.

燕郊的大部分藝術(shù)家在更簡樸的環(huán)境中工作。這座城市多余的住宅空間很多都是沒有裝修的廉價毛坯房，基本上就只有混凝土主體，非常適合那些想以極低成本設(shè)立工作室的藝術(shù)家們。

Because of the dominance of residential space in Yanjiao, its atmosphere differs markedly from the gritty industrial hipness of Caochangdi or the more touristic 798, where cafes, boutiques and galleries have sprung up alongside artists’ studios. In Yanjiao, virtually nothing comparable has appeared.

由于燕郊以住宅為主，所以它的氣氛與草場地粗獷的工業(yè)時髦氣息或798更像景點(diǎn)的氛圍迥然不同——798的藝術(shù)工作室周圍涌現(xiàn)出很多咖啡館、時裝精品店和畫廊。在燕郊，基本上沒有此類事物。

But many of the Yanjiao artists have embraced its decidedly suburban aesthetic.

不過，燕郊的很多藝術(shù)家很喜歡這種純粹的郊區(qū)美感。

Zhang Zhanzhan, a painter, has completely transformed his maopifang over the years, covering the concrete floors with whitewashed pine slats and the empty doorways with colored fabric. Pictures of his chic studio have been viewed by thousands of users on WeChat, a Chinese social media app.

這些年，畫家張占占將自己的毛坯房進(jìn)行了徹底改造，用粉刷成白色的松木板覆蓋混凝土地板，用五彩斑斕的織物覆蓋空空的門廊。他那時髦工作室的照片在中國社交媒體應(yīng)用程序微信上得到了成千上萬用戶的瀏覽。

“I once went to drop off some paintings at a Beijing gallery, and the person there asked me if I was the artist with the ‘Tokyo-style studio,’” he recalled.

“有一次，我去北京送幾幅畫，有人問我，你是那個‘東京風(fēng)格工作室’的藝術(shù)家嗎?”他回憶說。

Yanjiao’s days as an affordable outpost may be numbered. Rents have more than tripled since the first artists moved in, mainly because of property speculation, and the number of unfinished maopifangs has dwindled.

燕郊作為負(fù)擔(dān)得起的藝術(shù)家聚居點(diǎn)的日子可能也不多了。從第一批藝術(shù)家入住到現(xiàn)在，租金已經(jīng)漲了3倍多，主要是因?yàn)榈禺a(chǎn)投機(jī)，也因?yàn)槊鞣康臄?shù)量在逐漸減少。

Moreover, despite the city’s now solid reputation as an offshoot artistic community, Beijing’s big-city allure remains.

此外，盡管現(xiàn)在這座城市作為分支藝術(shù)社區(qū)的名聲已經(jīng)確立，但北京的大城市誘惑依然存在。

While a fresh wave of graduates from the capital’s art academies move into Yanjiao each summer, many older artists have already left.

盡管每年夏天都有新一批北京藝術(shù)院校的畢業(yè)生搬到燕郊，但是很多年長的藝術(shù)家已經(jīng)離開。

Last year, On Space decided not to renew its lease, because most of its events are now held in collaboration with organizations in Beijing. Zhang Yongji is going back to the capital to pursue a master’s degree.

去年，On Space決定不再續(xù)簽租約，因?yàn)楝F(xiàn)在它的大部分活動是和北京的一些組織聯(lián)合舉辦的。張永基打算回首都攻讀碩士學(xué)位。

“This is a very temporary place,” he said. “We’re all here still hoping to someday make it in Beijing.”

“燕郊還是一個暫時停留的地方，”他說，“我們都還是想什么時候能在北京功成名就。”