Is there a difference between art and craft? - Laura Morelli

艺术与工艺，有区别吗? - Laura Morelli

翻译人员: Ming Chen 校对人员: Emily Ma

When you hear the word art,

听到“艺术”这个词，

what comes to mind?

你会想到什么？

A painting, like the Mona Lisa,

一幅像“蒙娜丽莎”一样的画？

or a famous sculpture or a building?

还是一座著名的雕塑或建筑物？

What about a vase or a quilt or a violin?

又或者是一个花瓶， 一床被子或者一把小提琴？

Are those things art, too, or are they craft?

这些东西，是艺术还是工艺品呢？

And what's the difference anyway?

它们的区别究竟是什么呢？

It turns out that the answer is not so simple.

其实答案没有那么简单。

A spoon or a saddle may be finely wrought,

一把勺子或一个马鞍可能是经过精心锻造而成，

while a monument may be, well, uninspired.

然而，一座纪念碑也可能缺乏创造性。

Just as not every musical instrument is utilitarian,

正如不是每个乐器都具备实用性一样，

not every painting or statue is made for its own sake.

并不是每一幅画， 每一座雕像都是为了创造而被创造出来的。

But if it's so tricky to separate art from craft,

如果艺术与手工艺之间的区别如此微妙，

then why do we distinguish objects in this way?

我们为什么还要用这两个标签将各类物体区分开来呢？

You could say it's the result

也许你会说，

of a dramatic historical turn of events.

这是事件发生巨大历史转变的结果。

It might seem obvious to us today

也许在今天看来，

to view people, such as da Vinci or Michelangelo,

我们将达芬奇、米开朗基罗之类的人 看作具有传奇色彩的艺术家

as legendary artists,

是再自然不过的事。

and, of course, they possessed extraordinary talents,

当然，他们都拥有非凡的才华，

but they also happened to live in the right place

但他们也恰好生在了恰当的地方

at the right time,

和适当的时间，

because shortly before their lifetimes

因为在他们之前的时代，

the concept of artists hardly existed.

“艺术家”这一概念几乎不存在。

If you had chanced to step into a medieval European workshop,

如果你有机会进入一个中世纪的欧洲艺术工作室

you would have witnessed a similar scene,

你都会看到类似的场景，

no matter whether the place belonged to

无论这个工作室是属于

a stonemason, a goldsmith, a hatmaker,

一位石匠、 金匠、制帽工匠

or a fresco painter.

还是一位壁画画家。

The master, following a strict set of guild statutes,

大师们都会遵守一套严格的行规，

insured that apprentices and journeymen

确保学徒和雇工们

worked their way up the ranks

通过多年经验的积累

over many years of practice

以及界限十分清晰的不同等级的成绩，

and well-defined stages of accomplishment,

来逐步晋升高位，

passing established traditions to the next generation.

并把那些业已形成的传统代代相传。

Patrons regarded these makers

顾客们会把这些劳动者们看成一个集体，

collectively rather than individually,

而不是只关注于某个个体，

and their works from Murano glass goblets,

他们的作品涵盖了包括穆拉诺岛的玻璃酒杯，

to Flemish lace,

以及比利时弗兰德人制作的蕾丝在内的各种内容

were valued as symbols of social status,

这些都被视为社会地位的重要象征，

not only for their beauty,

不只是因为它们具备美感，

but their adherence to a particular tradition.

还因为它们遵守特定的传统。

And the customer who commissioned and paid for the work,

比起那些制作这些作品的工匠们，

whether it was a fine chair,

无论是这些作品是一把制作精良的椅子，

a stone sculpture, a gold necklace,

还是一尊石雕，一条金项链，

or an entire building,

或是整栋大楼，

was more likely to get credit

那些委托制作这些作品并付以报酬的客户们，

than those who designed or constructed it.

都更容易赢得作品背后的功劳。

It wasn't until around 1400

直到 1400 年，

that people began to draw a line

人们才开始试图区分

between art and craft.

艺术与手工艺。

In Florence, Italy,

在意大利佛罗伦萨，

a new cultural ideal that would later be called

一种被后人称为

Renaissance Humanism

“文艺复兴人文主义” 的文化思潮

was beginning to take form.

正逐渐成形。

Florentine intellectuals began to spread the idea

佛罗伦萨的知识分子们开始传播

of reformulating classical Greek and Roman works,

重新系统化古希腊罗马文化的思想，

while placing greater value on individual creativity

并更重视个人创造力，

than collective production.

而非集体生产。

A few brave painters,

几百年来

who for many centuries,

仅以平方英尺为标准计算酬劳的

had been paid by the square foot,

勇敢的画家们

successfully petitioned their patrons

开始要求客户们

to pay them on the basis of merit instead.

以作品的价值来支付酬劳。

Within a single generation,

在一代人的时间里，

people's attitudes about objects and their makers

人们对于不同物体及其制作者的态度

would shift dramatically,

出现了戏剧性的转变

such that in 1550,

1550 年，

Giorgio Vasari,

米开朗基罗的朋友

not incidentally a friend of Michelangelo,

瓦萨里，

published an influential book called,

出版了一本很具影响力的书，

"Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects,"

《最优秀的画家、 雕塑家和建筑师的生活》，

elevating these types of creators

这本书通过分享艺术家们有趣的生平事迹，

to rock star status by sharing juicy biographical details.

大大地提升了他们的地位， 将他们塑造成犹如摇滚明星一般炙手可热的人物。

In the mind of the public,

在普通民众的心中，

painting, sculpture and architecture

绘画、 雕塑和建筑

were now considered art,

在那时已被视为艺术，

and their makers creative masterminds: artists.

而这些艺术的创造者们则成为了艺术家。

Meanwhile, those who maintained

与此同时，

guild traditions and faithfully produced

那些恪守协会传统、

candelsticks, ceramic vessels,

兢兢业业地制作烛台、陶瓷容器

gold jewelery or wrought iron gates,

黄金首饰或锻造铁门的人

would be known communally as artisans,

则被社会归为了工匠。

and their works considered minor or decorative arts,

他们的作品被视为辅艺术或装饰艺术，

connoting an inferior status

这将这类艺术放到了更低等的地位，

and solidifying the distinction

并模糊了艺术与手工艺的区别，

between art and craft that still persists

在西方，

in the Western world.

这种模糊的界线一直延续至今。

So, if we consider a painting

所以，如果我们把由伦勃朗

by Rembrandt or Picasso art,

或者毕加索创作的油画， 看做艺术的话，

then where does that leave an African mask?

那非洲面具又算什么呢?

A Chinese porclein vase?

中国瓷花瓶呢？

A Navajo rug?

印第安纳瓦霍地毯呢？

It turns out that in the history of art,

其实在艺术史上，

the value placed on innovation

对创新的重视，

is the exception rather than the rule.

只是一种例外，而不是一个规定。

In many cultures of the world,

世界上许多文化中，

the distinction between art and craft

艺术与手工艺之间的区别

has never existed.

从未存在。

In fact, some works that might be considered craft,

事实上，一些可能被视为工艺品 的作品

a Peruvian rug,

例如秘鲁的地毯，

a Ming Dynasty vase,

中国明代的花瓶，

a totem pole,

图腾柱

are considered the cultures' preeminent visual forms.

都被看作各种文化最卓越的视觉形式。

When art historians of the 19th Century

在 19 世纪，当艺术史学家们

saw that the art of some non-Western cultures

看到一些非西方文化的艺术作品

did not change for thousands of years,

历经千年而没有任何变化时，

they classified the works as primitive,

他们将这些作品视为粗糙的劳动，

suggesting that their makers were incapable of innovating

暗示作品制作者们缺乏创造性，

and therefore were not really artists.

因此，他们并不是艺术家。

What they didn't realize was that

他们没有意识到的是，

these makers were not seeking to innovate at all.

这些制作者并不力争创新，

The value of their works lay precisely

其作品的价值完全在于

in preserving visual traditions,

对视觉传统的保护，

rather than in changing them.

而不是改变，

In the last few decades, works such as

在过去的几十年里，

quilts, ceramics and wood carvings

棉被、 陶瓷、 木雕等作品，

have become more prominently included

逐渐在艺术史教科书中

in art history textbooks

被归为了艺术品的行列，

and displayed in museums

并在博物馆中，

alongside paintings and sculpture.

与绘画和雕塑一同被展出，

So maybe it's time to dispense with vague terms

也许是时候抛弃使用

like art and craft

像“艺术” 和“ 工艺” 这类模糊的术语了，

in favor of a word like visual arts

取而代之地，我们应该使用诸如 “视觉艺术” 一类的词，

that encompasses a wider array of aesthetic production.

这包括更广泛类别的具备美学价值的产品。

After all, if our appreciation of objects

毕竟，如果我们欣赏物品，

and their makers is so conditioned

及其制作者的标准，

by our culture and history,

在很大程度上是由我们的文化和历史决定的，

then art and its definition

那么艺术及其定义

are truly in the eye of the beholder.

只有在能欣赏它的人眼中清晰明了。