I love painting naked women. (Laughter)

我是個愛畫女性胴體的男人（眾笑）

Great, thank you.

謝謝

You know, I was thinking, I mean,

其實，我在想…

I was trying to think what to say, very smart,

我在想該說甚麼精警語句作開場白

and I was having a real hard time.

很明顯我不擅辭令

And I realized that making art is something amazing.

然而我發覺，藝術創作實在妙不可言

It really doesn't matter if you sell it,

是否有商業用途，其實並不重要

the idea of making art is actually to make the object.

藝術創作本身，就是創作作品

And I truly love making art, whether it is art or not,

我對藝術創作情有獨鍾 不管是否談得上藝術

just the enjoyment of making art is amazing to me.

光是藝術創作的過程，箇中的享受 對我而言已是妙不可言

But, there is another part of this that I'm really quite touched by

不過，當中令我深深感動的一部分

and it is kids.

卻是小孩子

And one of the reasons why, is because I had the experience

述明原委，其中一個原因就是

of working with kids, in an indirect way and then in a very direct way.

我曾經在工作上接觸過小孩子 初是偶爾，後來就是非常直接的接觸

So, this is a -- I truly believe that

我深信一件事…

if you introduce creativity to kids at an early age,

若你讓小孩子從小接觸創意

the possibilities for these kids are just incredible.

他們發展出來的可能性無窮無盡

So I decided to do something really crazy and don't ask me why.

所以我決定瘋狂幹一樁，別問為何

But this is a little map of where my studio was

這幅小地圖標示了我的工作室所在

and it's on 59 and Slauson, in the middle of South Central Los Angeles.

洛杉磯中南區中部史勞森街 59 號

And you're wondering, why would I do such a thing?

你大抵在想：幹嘛你要這樣做？

The only thing I can tell you is that I felt like it. (Laughter)

我只能回答是興之所至（眾笑）

So, the second week that I was there

搬進去的第二週，

I opened the newspaper one day,

有一天我打開報紙

the article said where crimes happen.

有一則關犯罪重災區的報導

And in one side there was a map of the United States

美國各州地圖上

and in every state there were little red dots.

每個州都標有罪案的小紅點

As you get to Chicago, New York, there were more red dots

靠近芝加哥、紐約市，紅點越多

And when you get to the Los Angeles there was just a lot of red dots.

到了洛杉磯，更是密麻麻一片

Then in the other side, they took that section of Los Angeles

而在另一邊，有一幅小地圖

and they amplified it.

放大了洛杉磯

And right in the middle of all the red dots, said

而所有紅點的正中心，正好寫著

59 and Slauson. (Laughter)

史勞森街 59 號（眾笑）

So I was in real trouble, because I didn't realize how dangerous it was.

大禍臨頭，因為我沒發覺地處複雜

And while I was there, I decided to do something about it.

既然已身陷其中，我決定要有些作為

So I decided to teach, to get kids out of the streets,

我決定執教，讓小孩遠離街頭

and bring them into my studio and expose them to art.

走進我的工作室，受藝術薰陶

This is just a picture of some of the kids in my studio in South Central.

圖中是工作室的一些小孩 就在洛杉磯中南區

And these kids are ages between 10 to 14 years old.

這些小孩年齡介乎十至十四歲

And some of these kids have to take the bus for an hour

其中一些小孩要搭上一小時巴士

to get to my studio.

才能抵達我的工作室

And the sad part of it, is that they only live 3 to 5 miles from me,

可悲的是 他們其實只住在三至五公里遠

but they couldn't walk, because it was so dangerous.

卻因為街頭危險，不能徒步上課

So it was really touching, I mean,

所以我真的很感動，我是說

some of these kids shouldn't be on the bus alone and they were.

他們有些根本不該獨自搭巴士的

And they had an impact on me.

他們仍然堅持，我很受啟發

Here is the older group, which is 14 to 19, I think.

這是年紀稍大的組別 十四至十九歲左右，我想

So I watched through every semester

每個學期，

the incredible progress with these kids

看著這些小孩突飛猛進

and I was just amazed by it.

讓我很讚嘆

Because some of these kids have never taken art before.

因為他們好些根本未曾接觸過藝術

They were so serious and they were just [making] magnificent drawings

卻是多麼認真，所作的畫多美妙

These drawings were done by kids of 13 to 18 years old.

這些是十三至十八歲小孩的畫作

And they can compete with some of the guys here, by the way.

比得上在座好一些觀眾呢

(Laughter) This is amazing.

（眾笑）實在美妙

And I have to tell you something else, too.

我也要告訴你另一件事

These kids, 99% of these kids are doing something related to art, right now.

這些小孩，百份之九十九 現在所做所學仍與藝術相關

That's pretty amazing.

相當令人鼓舞

And some of them are here.

有些也在這裏

They are going to School of Art Center and that is to me really incredible.

他們將入讀藝術學院，為此我很雀躍

This is their reality outside my studio.

走出工作室，這就是他們的現實

These are all the guns collected by LAPD from the streets of Los Angeles.

這全是洛杉磯警方在街頭收繳的槍械

And by the way, this is our city, I remind you.

順帶一提，這是我們所在的社區呢

So I was wondering, I had the opportunity

我在那裏的時候

when I was there, one day, this group of police guys walked in.

有一天，一群警察走了進來

And I said, "OK, I'm done, I'm gonna be arrested, what am I doing here?"

我說：「好的，束手就擒，有命不違 但我犯了甚麼事？」

And it happened to be Charlie Beck, who is the chief of police today.

其中一位湊巧是查理·貝克 （Charlie Beck），現任洛杉磯警察局局長

But at the time, he was not the chief of police,

但當時他未是警察局局長

I think he was a part of a big station.

大概是駐守重點分局吧

He came to me. He was, you know, "What are you doing here?"

他走過來對我說： 「你在這兒幹嘛？」

And I said, "This is what I'm doing in."

我說：「我在做的工作 放在眼前，一覽無遺」

He was so compelled that I was actually teaching art to kids

得悉我就在最暴力的地區當中

in the middle of the most violent place.

教授小孩子藝術，他大為詫異

He said to me, you know, "One day, you and I are gonna work together."

他對我說：「說不定 一天咱們會攜手合作」

So, the time went by and five years later,

時光飛逝，五年後

I talked him into giving me two tons of guns

我說服他，給我兩噸

destroyed from the streets.

從街頭銷毀的槍械

And this is one of the pictures of some of the guns.

圖中就是其中一些槍枝

And then, they break down the guns and they become this.

將它們拆件之後，就成了這樣子

Last year I happened to lose a very closed friend of mine.

去年，我痛失一名摯友

And he just fell in love with this woman

這名朋友對一位女子一見傾心

and he gets a call, six months after that

誰知六個月後，一名男子打來

and it's her husband.

是她的丈夫

So he, of course, he didn't know.

我的朋友事前當然毫不知情

And he was such a gentleman.

然而他真的是一位正人君子

He said, "Why don't you come over my house and talk?

仍然客氣地對那個男人說

Because this is kind of news to me."

「不如你過來我家攀談 好讓我解釋清楚」

So the guy came over and killed him. Just like that.

然而那男人走過來，就幹脆殺了他

So I was thinking -- it had such an effect on me,

所以我在想 -- 這件事對我很震撼

that this is a portrait of my friend, Efren.

這是我那位朋友 Efren 的一幅畫像

And I decided to do these portraits with guns,

我決定用槍枝來創作這個作品

based on our relationship.

聊以紀念我們的交情

This is my attempt of making art.

這就是我藝術創作的嘗試

I brought one here, so you can see it physically

今天我帶了一份作品來 好讓大家親眼一睹

because it's so different when you see it in a photograph,

因為從照片上看，感覺很不同

and you see it -- it weighs about 250, 300 pounds

大家所見，作品重約 250-300 磅

and the material is -- it has a certain kind of energy

用的素材是槍枝，蘊含一股力量

because these are guns, and these come from crime scenes,

因為犯罪現場用的正好也是槍枝

and I don't know what else to think about that except that

除此之外，我實在無法有其他聯想

it was -- the response was completely unexpected.

不過，觀眾的反應很不一樣，料想不到

When I had the opportunity to work with kids

當我有幸在工作上接觸到小朋友

and see them up here, how amazing these guys are.

在工作室相見時，他們很讓我驚嘆

They're so pure, I guess, is the word,

我想，他們是多麼純潔

but, just to encourage them, and to open up the door of creativity for them,

即使我只是鼓勵他們 嘗試為他們開啟創意之門

I saw this transformation.

我已看到他們的變化

For me it was just like magic.

對我而言，就像魔術一樣神奇

Because, I'm busy doing my own things

因為，我忙著自己的創作

and I didn't think that something like that really would have a major effect on me.

實在沒料想到 小孩子會為我帶來重大影響

And I realized that art is a very powerful vehicle

我從而醒覺，藝術實在威力無比

for you to express yourself, and it has actually changed me.

讓你表現自我，從中也轉變了我

Now I'm looking at art very differently,

現在的我，對藝術刮目相看

even though I've been painting for 25 years

儘管我作畫已有好二十五年

I really don't care whether people like my paintings or not,

我真的不太介意作品是否受落

and I don't paint them to sell 'em,

我作畫的原因，也不是要把畫賣掉

I just do what I want.

我只是做我所愛的事

Sometimes I get lucky and I sell a painting or two

偶爾碰上運氣 我也能賣掉一兩幅畫作

and sometimes I get an exhibition and it's pretty incredible.

有時能夠參與畫展也很棒

But I have to tell you that there was one moment

但我要告訴你一次經歷

where I was invited to the Pacific Art Foundation.

我獲邀出席一場太平洋藝術基金會 （Pacific Art Foundation）的聚會

And right in the middle, I asked a question,

中途我問了一個問題

I said, "What is art?"

我說：「何謂藝術？」

And, you have to understand, these are the people who are in the arts business everyday,

你要明白 出席的都是從事藝術行業的人

and nobody wanted to say anything.

卻全都不發一言、迴避我的目光

Nobody wanted me to look at them and I kept saying, "What is art?"

我一再追問：「何謂藝術？」

And there was this silence.

只有寂靜一片

And I said, "Well, I'm gonna answer that question for you,

然後我說：「好的，我自問自答

because the best answer I've ever heard was from an 8 year old."

因為我聽過最佳的答案 來自一位八歲的小孩」

And this was, of course, a very smart guy,

他當然是個十分聰明的小孩

very bright little kid, I was having dinner in my friend's house.

一回我到朋友家作客吃飯

And this kid was just incredible and we were talking back and forth.

那個小孩相當聰慧，我們對答如流

And I asked him, "What is art?"

然後我問他：「何謂藝術？」

And without even thinking about it, he says,

不假思索，他就回答：

"Art is when you draw the heart of something."

「藝術就是當你畫出事物的內心」

And I said, "Oh, wow."

我當時驟覺：「噢，不得了」

I mean, oh my God, this is amazing, you know.

我想，天啊，是多麼的美

It was beautiful.

多麼美的答案

So why should I ask anyone else?

我為何還要四出求教？

This comes right from the heart. It's so simple, right?

打從心底的答案 是如此簡單，對不？

This makes sense.

心如明鏡

It doesn't have a political agenda, it doesn't have -- it's just pure.

不需要甚麼考量，就是純潔

And I thought, "How amazing is this?"

我就想：「多麼美妙啊」

Recently, I had the opportunity to work with kids at the Laguna Art Museum.

最近，我有幸在拉古納美術館 （Laguna Art Museum）接觸到一班小朋友

And I happened to walk in for an interview.

我本來是應徵面試的

But instead of the interview, I was interviewed by a hundred kids.

然而抵步後，卻被百餘個小孩發問

It was sort of an accident,

實是料想不到

I walked in, and one of the teachers recognized me and says,

當我走進去時 其中一位老師認出我，說：

"Would you mind saying a few things to the kids and take a few questions?"

「可否賞面跟小朋友說幾句話、 回答一兩條問題？」

And an hour later, I was answering questions

一小時後，我開始答問題

to every [kid] between 4 and 10 years old,

回答一眾四至十歲小孩的提問

and it was -- just the most amazing questions.

他們的提問，盡是各式各樣的妙問

But right in the middle of it, one of the teachers says,

半途中，其中一位老師說：

"You know, you guys can ask any questions."

「別害羞，機會難逢 儘管問任何問題吧」

You know, I was in trouble there and I didn't expect this one.

我驟覺不妙，因為實在始料不及

And all of sudden this kid raised his hand. I said, "Yes,"

突如其來，這個小孩舉手 我示意他提問

and he says, "Who is God?" (Laughter)

他就說：「誰是上帝？」（眾笑）

All of a sudden everybody wanted to quiet him down, you know.

突然間，所有人好像都不太自在、 想他噤聲

They felt very uncomfortable, because that is a loaded question.

可想而知，這個問題覆水難收

He didn't know that. That was beautiful.

小男孩懵然不知。實在美妙

And I said, "No, no, let me try to answer that."

然後我說：「沒事，讓我試著回答吧」

So I said, instead of trying to really answer that question

不過，與其真的答其所問

which is sort of difficult to answer for an 8 year old kid --

對一個八歲小孩也較難理解

When he says, "Who is God?" I said, "What is art?"

當他說：「誰是上帝？」 我就說：「何謂藝術？」

And it was just incredible.

真是太精彩了

The kids went, "Oh, OK, that's good."

那孩子回道：「不賴，各記一分」

(Laughter)

（眾笑）

And I got away with that one. (Laughter)

我總算含混過關（眾笑）

But I would like to leave you with the same question:

不過我想將相同的問題留給各位：

What is art?

何謂藝術？

And I thank you very much for the time of you here.

很感謝各位抽空到來

This is amazing. (Applause)

這真是太棒了（掌聲）

Thank you. (Applause)

多謝各位（掌聲）

Thank you, guys.

謝謝大家