Being late is never fun and less so when the person you’re meeting is on time. On a gray Tuesday morning, the cement-and-brick buildings of Changzhou’s Canal 5 Creative District sported their typical daytime-stillness despite the scream of power tools that periodically split the air in the name of a museum renovation. Our footsteps rang out across the parking lot as Hui and I hustled to the parking lot entrance where a bespectacled man in a black baseball cap waited. “It’s my lucky day!” He announced made and handed me a rock. It was in the shape of a heart.
当你约的人准时到而你却迟到的时候，场面真的很尴尬。在一个星期二的早上，天空灰蒙蒙的，尽管不时会传来博物馆装修的嘈杂声，但运河5创意园区的水泥砖建筑在白天依旧显得静谧。我们一路小跑，整个停车场只有我们的脚步声，一个戴眼镜和棒球帽的人在入口那等着我们。 “今天真是走运呐！”他边说边递给我看一块心形的小石头。
John “Coach LoVE” Solet spends many of his days surrounded by bright, colorful foam-filled equipment in Inspire Sports’ Changzhou-based gym where he works as a gymnastics coach to kids and adults and trainer to other coaches. Students and co-workers alike beam when he walks into the room but are usually sweating and breathing heavily by the time they depart. This also happens to be how my acquaintance with Mr. Solet began; he coaches my kids. Between the chaos of pickups and drop-offs surrounded by hordes of cheery, active children, there was always little time for small talk, so I was surprised to hear Mr. Solet was working on forging an artist co-op.
作为一名教练，约翰索莱大部分时间都是在常州英士博体育俱乐部里围绕着各式各样的体操器材度过的。在那儿他教小孩和成人体操，同时他还是其他教练的教授示范。当他走进教室时，学生和同事都笑脸相迎翘首以待，当他们离开时通常是气喘吁吁，汗流浃背。我认识索莱是因为他是我孩子的体操教练。上下学期间接送孩子的人很多，小孩子们又吵闹个不停，家长一般很少有时间与教练交流，所以当我得知索莱先生正在组建常州手工艺交流组织时感到很惊讶。
John “Coach LoVE” Solet 
By Artists, For Artists | 为艺术而生
While artist co-ops (short for cooperatives) can go by many names, the idea behind them—artists forming casual or professional groups or organizations to share ideas and resources—have a long history. The guilds of medieval Europe, for example, were associations formed by craftsmen to both develop and protect their craft. Meanwhile, another old group of artists, the artist collective tends to be a looser association formed for the sake of a common goal such as buying supplies in bulk or collaborating for joint art shows and exhibits. In the West, co-ops have even attained legal status as artists have banned together to form full-fledged organizations and companies owned and operated by artists themselves.
虽然艺术合作社团名字可以有很多，但背后的想法，即想要通过自由专业的团队或组织来让艺术家分享想法和资源是需要一定的时间的产生的。比如说，中世纪欧洲的工会是由工匠组成的协会，以发展和保护他们的工艺。同时，还有一些松散的艺术家协会是专门为了特殊的利益，例如批量购买手工艺品或是合作进行联合艺术展览。在西方，艺术家们是禁止独自成立经营成熟的组织或公司的，因为合作社拥有法律地位。
In China, the spirit of the artist co-op can be found in the official government-backed artists associations or the unofficial artist “communities,” or which 798 Art Space in Beijing is probably the most famous. Changzhou has its share of the official organizations, which generally limit themselves to a specific medium or style, but casual social groups for artists to share ideas and collaborate across media are few and far between locally.
在中国，官方政府支持的艺术家协会或非官方艺术家“社区”都算是艺术合作社，其中最有名的要属北京的798艺术区。常州也有其官方的组织，这些组织通常局限于自己的特定媒介和风格，而在当地几乎没有能让艺术家相互分享观点和跨行业协作的自由社会组织。
We met @ Pu Shu 璞树 / 三堡街141号运河五号内近21号楼 
Urban Explorer | 市探险家
For our first meeting, Mr. Solet arranged for Hui and I to visit Pushu Coffee in Canal 5. “It’s a magical space!” He gushed as we strolled through the area.
我们第一次见面的时候，索莱先生就安排我和陈会一同去运河五号的璞树咖啡。当我们漫步在该街区时，他感叹道，“这真是一个魔幻空间！”
No stranger to the unassuming nature of many of the businesses that call Canal 5 home, Hui and I were still surprised to find Pu Shu’s proximity to Show House, the workshop boutique of the embroidery artist and up-and-coming fashion entrepreneur, Cecilia Wu. Around a corner, down a small alley, and cloaked in clinging ivy, Pushu is incredibly easy to overlook. Part gallery, part jewelry and fabric workshop, part tearoom, the entire space multitasks to the extreme. It is filled with curiosities. Alisa, the proprietress and interior designer, radiated warmth as she greeted Mr. Solet, and proceeded to show us around her space. Min Zhao, a textile and paper artist, offers paper-quilling classes and DIY kits in a side room, and Alisa’s boyfriend works on his silver-smithing in a snug workshop at the back.
许多人说运河五号创意街区更像是低调的家。我们发现璞树咖啡馆就在Show House附近，Show House的店主Cecilia Wu是一名极具潜力的刺绣艺术家、企业家。我们沿着Show House旁的小胡同走到拐角处，隐藏在茂密的常春藤后的正是璞树咖啡馆，如果不仔细找很容易错过，璞树咖啡馆有展画区、珠宝首饰区、茶水区，是个多功能咖啡馆。作为女主人以及设计师的Alisa很热心得向我们介绍她的咖啡馆。纺织和剪纸艺术家赵旻正在旁边的一个房间里上剪纸和diy手工课，而Alisa的男友则在后面的工作室里做银器。
“It was an accident,” Mr. Solet admitted when asked how he stumbled across the space. Since arriving in Changzhou in August 2016, Mr. Solet, a self-taught crafter, has been wandering around the city, chatting people up and looking for artists willing to introduce him to new skills. In this haphazard way, Mr. Solet’s managed to befriend and study with an assortment of artists working in a variety of media, including woodworkers, leatherworkers, metalsmiths, and painters.
当索莱先生被问及他是如何发现这个地方的，他说那是个偶然的机会。自从2016年8月到常州以来，索莱先生一直在自学手工工艺而且不断在这个城市中徘徊寻觅，向愿意教他的艺术家们虚心求学。以这种纯粹偶然的方式，索莱先生设法向不同领域的艺术家们求学和交流，包括木工、皮匠、金银器匠和画家。
All this despite lacking a mastery of the Chinese language. When asked how he manages to get his point across without being able to function in the local language, Mr. Solet shrugged, “I communicate with people through art.”
不会讲中文的他是怎么做到这些的呢？我们问他是如何解决与当地人沟通的语言障碍问题的，索莱先生耸耸肩：“通过艺术”。
A couple of his on-going projects play with the theme of love. He runs across heart shapes everywhere and collects or snaps pictures of them. This was why he was so excited to have run across that rock before our first meeting. For another one, he carries a sign that says, “LoVE” around with him and talks people into posing with it. The idea came about during his previous life in the US where he worked as a behaviors and interventions counselor, helping many abused & neglected children. Over 300,000 people in three continents have held Mr. Solet’s “LoVE” sign.
索莱先生有几个正在进行的以爱为主题的项目，他四处收集和拍下各种与心形相关的东西，这也是为什么他在见到我们的时候那么激动，在我们见面之前，他刚好发现一块心形的小石头。他拿着一个标牌说到，爱一直在他身边，正是因为有了爱才使人们能够携手共进。以前在美国生活的时候，索莱担任过行为和干预顾问，帮助过许多受虐待的人和被人忽视的孩童，因而他想到爱这个主题。三大洲有超过三十万人有索莱先生的“LoVE”标牌。
Planting the Seeds for a Changzhou Co-op | 常州手工艺合作社前期
In February, Mr. Solet came up with “a crazy idea”: to try to get all his artist friends together to mix and mingle. Mr. Solet was curious about what might occur, “Because their works complement one another.”
二月份的时候，索莱先生有了一个“疯狂的想法”，他试图让他的所有艺术家朋友们能在一起交流合作，索莱先生说：“我觉得他们的作品相辅相成。”他非常好奇这样做会发生什么。
Not long after, Mr. Solet and several artists managed to organize their first Changzhou Artists’ Cooperative meeting in another mixed-use space down in Wujin’s Youyi Plaza. “It was amazing to witness,” Mr. Solet said. “It didn’t take long for kindred spirits to connect. Magic happened, and everyone began sharing resources and possible collaborations.” The participants of that first meeting were brimming with delight when we spoke to them later. The opportunity to share their passions with other like-minded souls had sparked all kinds of new inspirations.
不久之后，索莱先生联系几位艺术家在武进区又一城的一个综合功能区见面，算是艺术合作社第一次真正的交流会议。 “真的很神奇，”索雷先生说，“他们交流得很顺利，不一会他们就聊得热火朝天，艺术这个东西很神奇，每个人都乐于交流分享资源。”参与第一次洽谈的朋友们事后都表示很开心，因为与志同道合的朋友一同交流分享能激发许多新的灵感。
Kevin Lu 
Kevin Lu’s space 不厌生活 / 武进又一城4楼
The “Not Boring Life” | 不厌生活
Bu Yan Life is a curious place with a curious name. It’s also incredibly difficult to find without a guide. Located inside “The Maze” on the 4th floor of Youyi Plaza, getting to Bu Yan Life requires passing tests, crossing waterfalls, and of course, choosing the right path. “Bu Yan” roughly translates to “not objecting to” something, making Bu Yan Life a life you don’t loathe, or as co-owner Kevin Lu describes it, “a life that isn’t boring, that you don’t tire of.” This is the next magical space Mr. Solet would introduce, the very same one where the “magic” of the Artist Co-op’s first meeting happened.
不厌生活是一个神奇的地方，如果没人带领，是很难找到这家店的。该店位于又一城四楼的迷宫，要想到达不厌生活需要先通过测试，穿过瀑布，当然，必须选择正确的道路。“不厌”可以理解为“不反对”，不厌生活就是要让你热爱生活，或者像其中一位合伙人Kevin Lu描述的“久处不厌的生活。”这是索莱先生想介绍的另一个神奇空间，也就是艺术家们第一次交流会议的地方。
Within the airy, industrial chic expanse that is Bu Yan Life, a boutique selling designer and handcrafted jewelry and accessories coexists with workshops for leather and wood, a bookshop, a café, and a tea house. It’s a little bit of everything, and true to the name, nothing is boring.
不厌生活宽敞别致，有专门卖手工设计的珠宝配饰的区域，有手工皮具和木制品区域，有小书屋，咖啡馆以及茶馆，是一家多功能店。这样的风格布局基本反映了人们想要的生活，而且很切合店名，不厌生活。
Kevin Lu, the resident “tea man,” introduced us to the various areas that make up Bu Yan Life’s offerings before treating us to an introduction to tea and himself. Mr. Lu came to tea relatively late in life. Having spent most of his adulthood in the fast-paced corporate world, it was on a trip to the countryside after his daughter was born, that he became charmed by tea as an art form and “the slow life” that accompanies it. He began voraciously studying it, and eventually quit his corporate job to open Bu Yan Life.
茶艺师 Kevin Lu向我们介绍了不厌生活的各个活动区域，然后才向我们介绍他自己与茶文化。lu先生真正开始接触茶文化相对较晚，他之前大部分的时间都花在快节奏的企业工作中。在女儿出生之后，他有机会到乡下旅行，逐渐被茶艺术和慢节奏的生活吸引，于是他决定辞职并开始他的学习之旅，开启不厌生活。
Bu Yan Life is a curious place with a curious name. It’s also incredibly difficult to find without a guide. Located inside “The Maze” on the 4th floor of Youyi Plaza, getting to Bu Yan Life requires passing tests, crossing waterfalls, and of course, choosing the right path. “Bu Yan” roughly translates to “not objecting to” something, making Bu Yan Life a life you don’t loathe, or as co-owner Kevin Lu describes it, “a life that isn’t boring, that you don’t tire of.” This is the next magical space Mr. Solet would introduce, the very same one where the “magic” of the Artist Co-op’s first meeting happened.
不厌生活是一个神奇的地方，如果没人带领，是很难找到这家店的。该店位于又一城四楼的迷宫，要想到达不厌生活需要先通过测试，穿过瀑布，当然，必须选择正确的道路。“不厌”可以理解为“不反对”，不厌生活就是要让你热爱生活，或者像其中一位合伙人Kevin Lu描述的“久处不厌的生活。”这是索莱先生想介绍的另一个神奇空间，也就是艺术家们第一次交流会议的地方。
Within the airy, industrial chic expanse that is Bu Yan Life, a boutique selling designer and handcrafted jewelry and accessories coexists with workshops for leather and wood, a bookshop, a café, and a tea house. It’s a little bit of everything, and true to the name, nothing is boring.[/cs_text]
不厌生活宽敞别致，有专门卖手工设计的珠宝配饰的区域，有手工皮具和木制品区域，有小书屋，咖啡馆以及茶馆，是一家多功能店。这样的风格布局基本反映了人们想要的生活，而且很切合店名，不厌生活。[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row]
Kevin Lu, the resident “tea man,” introduced us to the various areas that make up Bu Yan Life’s offerings before treating us to an introduction to tea and himself. Mr. Lu came to tea relatively late in life. Having spent most of his adulthood in the fast-paced corporate world, it was on a trip to the countryside after his daughter was born, that he became charmed by tea as an art form and “the slow life” that accompanies it. He began voraciously studying it, and eventually quit his corporate job to open Bu Yan Life.
茶艺师 Kevin Lu向我们介绍了不厌生活的各个活动区域，然后才向我们介绍他自己与茶文化。lu先生真正开始接触茶文化相对较晚，他之前大部分的时间都花在快节奏的企业工作中。在女儿出生之后，他有机会到乡下旅行，逐渐被茶艺术和慢节奏的生活吸引，于是他决定辞职并开始他的学习之旅，开启不厌生活。
“Made in China… with love.”
John Solet
“充满爱的中国制造”
One of the things that impressed Mr. Solet with each of the people and places he introduced us to was how they all fly in the face of a stereotype about China common in his hometown of New Orleans. There, locals associate China and the label “Made in China” with manufactured goods. It didn’t take much wandering around Changzhou, however, for Mr. Solet to jump on the idea of turning “Made in China” on its head.
索莱先生说，让他耿耿于怀的是他的家乡新奥尔良对中国的描述与他所见到的中国截然不同。新奥尔良当地人将中国和贴有“中国制造”标签的制成品联系在一起。然而，索莱先生在来到常州不久后，就产生了研究什么才是真正的“中国制造”的想法。
“An ulterior motive of mine,” he confided, “is to say, ‘Yes, it’s made in China…with love.’” Among his many goals with the Changzhou Artist Co-op is to take stories and pictures of these skilled Chinese artisans back with him when he returns home as a kind of personal, diplomatic mission: to show Americans that there’s more to “Made in China” than what they’ve grown up with.
索莱先生说道：“我产生这个想法的动机就是想让人知道，什么才是中国制造，这里面是有故事的。”他组织艺术家合作社的目标就是把这些民间艺术家的故事和照片传播出去，作为个人的外交使命，向美国人展示“中国制造”背后的故事。
Love is everywhere
Article by Theresa Boersma
Photos by Theresa Boersma and Hui Chen
Translated by Zinia 仲轩
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