韦氏观察

最近北京、上海有三个艺术博览会开幕，同期各个画廊也推出展览，让在京沪连轴飞来飞去的画廊主、收藏家、艺术家都感到有点疲惫。这也是全球性的现象，每年去参加伦敦、巴塞尔、迈阿密艺术博览会的人也是忙碌不已，而且早已经烂熟两地的景致，连晚上出去闲逛都没多大兴趣。有点疲于奔忙的纽约画廊詹姆斯科恩(James Cohan)看到了厌烦后面的商机，他和朋友发起了第一届VIP在线艺术博览会（www.vipartfair.com）——参加的画廊于2011年1月22日至30日将在网络上展示和销售艺术品。

尽管国外的Artnet、国内的嘉德在线已经有举办在线拍卖的成功经验，可在网上举办艺术博览会还真是大胆。纽约高古轩画廊、伦敦白立方画廊、上海香格纳画廊等已经宣布参加这次在线博览会，他们将在网上展销的可不是几百块的便宜工艺品，而是价格少则数万，多则百万美金的昂贵艺术品。而观众除了点击浏览作品，还可以付费购买VIP门票——1月22日、23日在线门票的价格是每天100美元，接下来七天是每天20美元——和每家画廊24小时在线的销售员利用聊天软件、电话，SKPYE等工具洽商购买作品。

其实，纽约、伦敦、北京、上海的艺术界对网络并不陌生，至少许多画廊、博物馆的网站做得很时尚，可真要在网上卖艺术品并不容易。我在“包罗万象”的淘宝网上搜索发现，上面号称出售艺术品的店铺不少，可是多数都是价格几百块的低端工艺品，卖价格超过一万的雕塑、绘画的店铺不超过50家，而且大多数店铺生意冷清，三十天内的交易记录往往是零。

一个有趣的现象是，北京的嘉德在线公司在网上竞价拍卖的艺术品价格多在1万人民币以下，而纽约的artnet网上在线竞买的艺术品价格也以1万美元以下的摄影、素描作品为多，这似乎表明1万是网上交易双方的心理基准线，付出几百元在网上买件东西很常见，可几千就会让人犹豫，而对上万的东西人们更倾向于在实地看一下再做决定。这也就是尽管画廊们人人都开设网站，可绝大多数都没有开设在线成交系统也不标价的原因——人们仅仅是从网上了解点信息，真买的时候还要到画廊或者博览会上看看画、见见画廊主乃至艺术家再做决定。

我不太看好在线艺术博览会的前景——尽管首届因为各家画廊老客户的光顾或许会造出点声势，因为艺术品的昂贵价格往往需要洁白整洁的空间、言语乖巧的画廊经理、隆重的开幕酒会的烘托，这种氛围会刺激那些富有的收藏者的购买欲望——艺术品的价格可不像汽车轮胎那样严格受限于原料价格和制作成本，而和人们针对它的文化想象有关。

(作者:英国《金融时报》中文网特约撰稿人/周文翰 关于建筑文化的文集《废墟之美——亚欧大陆上的建筑奇观》于2010年8月出版)
VIP Art Fair is the first art fair to mobilize the collective force of the world’s leading contemporary art galleries with the unlimited reach of the Internet. Its inaugural fair will take place exclusively online for one week only, January 22-30, 2011, at www.vipartfair.com.

An unprecedented event, VIP Art Fair gives contemporary art collectors access to artworks by critically acclaimed artists and the ability to connect one-on-one with internationally renowned dealers—from anywhere in the world and without leaving home.

Vip Art Fair Features:The revolutionary design of VIP Art Fair allows art collectors the opportunity to view artwork online as never before. VIP Art Fair’s innovative technology presents artworks in relation to other works of art and in relative scale to the human figure. Inquisitive visitors can zoom in to examine details of a painting’s surface, get multiple views of a three-dimensional work, and watch videos of a multimedia piece. Galleries will provide comprehensive details on artworks and artists, including biographies, catalogue essays, artist films and interviews, and in-depth information that will empower collectors.

One of the many distinct features of the Fair is the interactivity between dealer and collector. Each dealer has the ability to hold conversations with collectors via instant messaging, Skype, and telephone to discuss works on offer in the virtual booth. Dealers can also provide access to their gallery’s back room inventory, sharing works in real time with clients in specially-created Private Rooms on the client’s own computer screen.

There are many ways to explore the Fair, including online tours which are core to the VIP Art Fair experience. Visitors to the Fair can choose from a wide selection of tours—whether of featured works or a tour created by collectors, critics, and curators from participating museums. Visitors also can design their own personalized tours of the Fair that showcase their favorite works and can be shared with friends or posted in the VIP Lounge. Other ways to navigate the site include the Fair Map and advanced searches based on criteria of interest, such as artist’s name, medium, or price range.

The VIP Lounge is where visitors can watch specially commissioned films of leading private art collections and artists’ studios, check out Fair tours created by other visitors, access status updates on art market news, and learn about new works on view in the Fair.