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A personal view 1: Bobby Molavi

In his mid-twenties and about to move into his first flat, Bobby Molavi already has more art in storage than most people acquire in their lifetimes. Although he has been buying for a relatively short time, he knows what he likes. When asked how he will arrange the art in his new home, he laughs and says he looks forward to seeing which pieces get on well and which clash.

Blood: So, how did you become interested in contemporary art?

BM: At university I studied politics and philosophy, but loved art. It was a passive interest, though. I went to occasional lectures and shows but not regularly. My aunt and uncle took me to a lot of things when I came back from New York, and I got more interested and went to more things.

Blood: How did you get a sense of what you were interested in personally and liked enough to buy?

BM: I get asked that a lot. It's tricky... I think the primary motive must be personal taste and enjoyment. You have to really love something and have it effect or catch you in some way. Often you see these things and can't afford them but sometimes you can. I only buy what I like not what others deem good or important. You have to have faith in your eye. It is entirely driven by connection with a piece and reinforced by the artist's method or concept or heritage.

Blood: So you're not market driven?

BM: I think the art world is easily likened to emotions - it is temporal. Quite often we think we are love or hate something but it is particular to that moment, looking back you reassess your thoughts. The bubble of trends may or may not survive in art history. They're only important today because of their proximity to today.

Blood: Do you think of your works as a collection or do you just buy pieces without a sense of how they will fit in with the others?

BM: I never really think about it. I mainly buy work irrespective of what else I might own. Occasionally themes emerge and similarities become obvious- I have a few architectural pieces- photos of interiors of buildings. I love the human form and images that pertain to the aura of the human form. Over time the pieces form a collective unit and you'd really notice the absence of one of the pieces if it went missing. In that sense it is a collection.

Blood: What was the first thing you ever bought?

BM: A photo of the interior of a Niemeyer building by an Italian artist called Luisa Lambri. I saw it at Frieze and kept coming back to it. It had a sensuality about it in spite of its minimalism that I loved. It was expensive for me and it scared me to buy it, but I loved it and thought that it was something that would stay with me and so worth the risk.

Blood: Tell me about some other works you have.

BM: Ola Kolehmainen is one of my favourites. The images remind me of some of Gursky's work, but richer in colour. He really finds beauty in the mundane. But unlike Gursky he finds a warmth in all sorts of places and intentionally shoots them as such. He isn't trying to document architecture, but conveying his eye and the intransient nature of the building and how one can see this constant thing in different lights. I also have a piece by Raissa Venables, a young American artist. My favourite piece by her is a collage of an amber room with a chair in the middle. It is deeply rooted in psychology and the room seems to be collapsing in- suffocating the chair. For me it feels like a sort of nightmare. The colours are garish and accentuate the uncomfortable feeling the images resonate.

Blood: You have a Georgia Russell, a cut-up of a book, and then another book work by Jonathan Callan - you like books?

BM: There is something so poignant about the written word. For me the insinuations and interpretations of words and actions are what drive me and excite me. They always make you think and make you feel again. That's what it's about- for me anyway.