[Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York, NY]

Sikkema Jenkins & Co.,紐約

Okay, I think...

好吧，我覺得

I'll probably need the ladder.

我可能需要用到梯子

Can you move it over a little?

你可以稍微讓開一點嗎？

And, um...

嗯

Actually...

其實

I have to maybe credit my 24-year-old self

我可能要表揚下24歲的自己

for making a couple of good moves.

能做出一些明智之舉

[The Drawing Center, New York, NY]

紐約素描中心

When I started showing work,

當我開始展示我的作品時

I was Providence, Rhode Island--

我當時在罗德岛州的普罗维登斯

I was a student.

我當時是個學生

I was 24,

我那時24歲

and had a big breakout piece at

並且在紐約素描中心

The Drawing Center in New York City.

陳列著一件非常大突破的作品

And it's delicate because the only two things

它非常的精美因為它僅有的兩部分

that are holding them together

彼此融合在一起

are at the fingertips.

停在在指尖

This is Huck Finn in a dress,

這是穿著裙子的Huck Finn

and his foot is going to land about here.

而且他的腳準備著落在這裡

People were just interested and curious.

當時的人們很感興趣，也很好奇

Galleries were calling

畫廊的人打電話來

and wanted to know more,

想更加了解作品

and artists, they wanted to warn me against

以及藝術家，他們告誡我不要

having a big success at a young age.

在這麼年輕的時候就取得很大的成就

I kind of felt like,

我當時的感覺是

"Well, I don't know myself yet,"

我都還不了解我自己呢

"and they don't know me either,"

他們更不可能會了解我

"but if I stay in Providence,"

但如果我還呆在普罗维登斯

"and take these opportunities as they come,"

當有機會來的時候就抓住

"that's good."

也挺好的

I knew I wasn't ready to live in New York.

我當時知道我還沒有準好去紐約生活

But, I knew that change is kind of inevitable,

但我知道改變是必然的

and I did want to come to the city when I felt ready.

而我也的確想要在準備好的時候來到這個城市

I've been teaching for, like, twelve years or something

我在哥倫比亞大學上了差不多

at Columbia University.

12年左右的課

I started when I was also a veritable baby

我從孩提時期就開始上課了

and about the same age as many of the graduate students,

和那些都同樣年齡的畢業生一起

and that was extremely awkward.

那個經歷實在是太尷尬了

When I came to the city,

當我來到這個城市

I felt like my newly forming ego and sense of self

我感覺我新的自我

was just, like, torn to shreds.

被撕成了碎片

I don't think I wanted to have the role

我覺得我不想成為

that I was hired for,

那種角色

which was "a successful artist who was successful at a young age,"

那種“非常年輕就取得成功的成功藝術家”

"telling people how to get what I got."

告訴人們怎樣才能像我一樣

But, I think I just accepted it this year,

但我在今年選擇開始接受

that I must know something--it's been twenty years.

因為我知道已經過了有20年了

I don't know what that something is,

我不清楚那是些什麼

but if I just keep talking,

但如果我不停的說

then that something, you know, might slip out.

有意義的東西可能就會脫口而出

[Frieze Art Fair, New York, NY]

弗雷兹艺术博览会，紐約

There's no diploma in the world that,

世界上沒有一種學位證書

you know, declares you as an artist--

來宣稱你是一位藝術家

it's not like becoming a doctor, or something.

這和要成為醫生或別的不一樣

Like, you can declare yourself an artist

你看，你可以說你自己是一個藝術家

and then figure out how to be an artist.

然後弄明白該怎樣成為一個藝術家

It's a different art world than the one that I stepped into.

這個藝術的國度有別與我所踏入的世界

It does seem to be bigger.

它看上去更浩大一點

There's more distractions, in a way,

在某種程度上，在創造出某人自己作品

from the process of making one's own work.

的過程中存在著很多的干擾

The pressure to, kind of, conform to a particular

這種壓力，符合于特定的一個觀念

grad school pedigree is problematic.

那就是出身于研究生學院是有問題的

And I think a lot of people feel that way.

我覺得很多人都是這麼認為的

It's, like, a reality that artists are selling work

這就好像，在現實生活中，藝術家賣畫

in order to pay back massive debt from these M.F.A. programs.

是為了付清那些M.F.A.項目的欠款

But, I did tell my students, not too long ago,

而我也在不久前告訴我的學生

that they have to--and will--

當他們踏入這個世界的那一刻

change the art world

他們可能或者將會

from the moment they step into it.

改變這個藝術世界

Like, if it means prioritizing, you know,

你看，如果這意味著優先劃分

critical discourse over objects,

從對物質的批判評論

or products, or something like that.

到諸如對產品的批判

Then, if that's what you want,

接著，如果這是你所希望的

then you have to, kind of, make it happen.

那你就應該讓它實現

And if it's too expensive to make it happen right here,

如果，此刻讓它實現的代價太昂貴

then you have to make it happen in the place where you can,

那你就在你力所能及的地方讓它實現

and don't think of that as any kind of demotion.

並且不要把它當做是退而求其次

If you can look at the negatives as a student

如果你可以看到作為學生的劣勢

and see what needs to be changed,

看到有哪些是需要去改變的

then you have to do that.

你就應該付諸行動