What an unusual auction says about the art market

一場別開生面的拍賣對藝術市場的影響

Poking fun at status-obsessed buyers

對著迷于地位彰顯買家的嘲弄

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Penny Pinch, a Chicago street artist, likes to have fun with art-world finances.

一位名叫佩尼·平奇的街頭藝術家喜歡享受藝術界中與錢有關的東西。

His work—from murals to paintings to tote bags made in collaboration with the Chicago Cubs baseball team—uses scavenged or donated materials (hence the name).

他的作品從壁畫到繪畫再到芝加哥小熊隊棒球聯(lián)名款環(huán)保手提袋都是用撿來的或是他人捐贈的材料制成。

His latest experiment, hosted at A Very Serious Gallery, in the city’s north-west, is in pricing.

他最新的試驗在城市西北處的一所名為“一個非常嚴肅的畫廊”舉行，目前正處于定價階段。

On December 16th Mr Pinch is due to sell 15 paintings, one of which is pictured, in a Dutch auction.

12月16日，平奇將以荷蘭式拍賣的方式拍賣15幅畫作，其中一幅如圖所示。

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Each will start at a price of $3,000, which will be cut by $100 every hour until a buyer emerges.

每部作品的起拍價為3000美元，每小時將降價100美元，直到有買家出現(xiàn)。

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According to Mr Pinch and Allan Weinberger, the gallery’s owner, it is the first-ever such auction of new art (a claim your correspondent could not disprove).

據畫平奇先生和畫廊所有者艾倫·溫伯格說：“這是首次舉行這樣的新藝術品拍賣”。（記者無法證偽此項說法）。

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Dutch auctions are more commonly used to sell homogenous goods, such as cut flowers in 17th-century Holland or government bonds today.

荷蘭式拍賣更廣泛地應用于同種類商品的售賣，比如說17世紀荷蘭的切花和如今的政府債券。

Their use for unique works is considerably rarer.

使用這種拍賣方法對特殊作品進行售賣的情況是極少的。

Mr Pinch says the auction is “an opportunity for people who can’t normally buy large pieces of work”. It is also an opportunity to poke fun at the art world.

平奇表示：“這對于那些通常無法購買大件藝術品的人來說是一個良機”。這也正是嘲弄藝術界的一個好機會。

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The opportunity may come at a cost.

但這個機會可能得不償失。

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As Eric Budish of the University of Chicago notes, the trick with a Dutch auction is knowing where to set the starting price.

正如芝加哥大學的埃里克·巴迪什所指出的那樣，荷蘭式拍賣的訣竅在于找到起拍價設定的點。

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For Treasuries, the range is established by looking at previous auctions. For Mr Pinch’s art, there is no equivalent, meaning he risks setting the price too low and leaving money on the table.

對于美國國債，這個范圍是通過參考之前的拍賣來確定的。對于平奇的作品來說，沒有類似的前例參考，這就意味著如果他價格設置的太低，他可能會虧錢。

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Mr Pinch is unconcerned by this, as he has something else in mind.

平奇先生對此毫不關心，因為他腦子里裝的都是別的東西。

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At a regular auction, a potential buyer is influenced by the crowd.

在通常的拍賣中，潛在的買家會受到身邊人群的影響。

Clamour for an offering indicates a higher potential resale value and a greater status gain if the auction is won.

出價的嘈雜聲暗示了：如果你贏得了這場拍賣，所得的藝術品具有更高的潛在價值，并且你會得到更高的地位。

These sorts of considerations are “icky”, reckons Mr Pinch, which is why he likes Dutch auctions, where they are not possible.

平奇認為：這些考慮都是令人厭煩的，這也正是他選擇荷蘭式拍賣的原因，意味這些不可能發(fā)生。

?When somebody else bids, it is too late.

當別人競標出價時，已經太晚了。

Potential buyers must focus on how much they value the art, not how much others do.

潛在的買家需要關注的是藝術品本身實際的價值，而不是隨波逐流。

Yet there is an irony to the experiment.

但是這個試驗也具有諷刺性。

By launching the first Dutch auction for art, Messrs Pinch and Weinberger may generate enough hype to attract exactly the sort of buyers they wish to repel—those motivated more by status than a love of art.

平奇和溫伯格先生舉行首次的藝術品荷蘭式的拍賣，可能會產生相當大的炒作效果，從而吸引來那些他們避而遠之的買家---正是那些對地位追求遠超于藝術熱愛的人。

[難句解讀]

1. Dutch auctions are more commonly used to sell homogenous goods, such as cut flowers in 17th-century Holland or government bonds today.?Their use for unique works is considerably rarer.?

這里的“Their use” 代指的是上一句提到的“Dutch aucitons”這一拍賣方式的使用。所以翻譯為

“使用這種拍賣方法對特殊作品進行售賣的情況是極少的?！?/p>

2. For Treasuries, the range is established by looking at previous auctions. For Mr Pinch’s art, there is no equivalent, meaning he risks setting the price too low and leaving money on the table.

這兩句句式一樣，內部存在并列關系，所以“there is no equivalent”這句話中的相等，是跟上一句債券參考前例的情況做對比。故翻譯為“對于平奇的作品來說，沒有類似的前例參考”。

? ? Treasury: 財政部 （通過文章上下義，這里延伸為財政部發(fā)行的債券，也就是國債）

原文來源：The Economist----經濟學人

中文翻譯：個人學習中的翻譯及整理

注：個人翻譯學習訓練過程，譯文并非官方翻譯，敬請斧正。