Willard Wigan: Hold your breath for micro-sculpture | TED

ウィラード・ウィーガン: 息を止めて見てほしい、ミクロの彫刻

翻訳: Takako Sato 校正: Masaki Yanagishita

There's an old saying, "Just because you can't see something,

「目に見えないからといって 存在しないわけではない」

doesn't mean it's not there."

こんな古いことわざがある

My work is -- it's a reflection of myself.

私の作品は 自分自身を反映したものだ

What I wanted to do is to

私がやりたかったのは

show the world that the little things

小さなものが 大きなことになり得ると

can be the biggest things.

世界に示すこと

We all seem to think that,

人間って誰でも地面を見下ろすと

you know, if we look down on the ground, there's nothing there.

そこには何もないって思いがちだね

And we use the word "nothing."

人は「何もない」って言うけど

Nothing doesn't exist, because there is always something.

必ず何かがあるので 何もないなんてない

My mother told me that, when I was a child,

子どもの頃 母は言った

that I should always respect the little things.

小さなものへの尊敬を忘れるなってね

What made me do this work? I shall go into my story.

この仕事を始めたきっかけを話そう

This all started when I was age five.

それは５歳のときのことだった

What made me do it? At school, I will admit this:

正直に言うと 学校では

academically, I couldn't express myself.

自分を表現できない子どもで

So I was, more or less, classed as "nothing."

「何もない」子どもとして見られていたんだ

My world was seen as less.

私の世界は 低くみられてた

So I decided I didn't really want to be a part of that world.

だからそんな世界にはいたくなくて

I thought, I need to retreat

どこか逃げ場が

into something else.

必要だと思ったんだ

So when my mother used to take me to school,

私を学校に連れて行った母は

she thought I was at school,

私が学校にいると思い込んでいたけど

and I used to do a U-turn, when her back was turned,

私は家へと引き返して

and run off and hide in the shed at the back of the garden.

さっと 庭の物置へと隠れてた

Now, the one time I was in the shed,

物置に隠れていたあるとき

and my mother suspected something,

母は何かを感じ取ったようだった

thinking I was at school.

私は学校にいると思っていたようだけどね

My mother was like the woman in Tom and Jerry.

母はトムとジェリーに出てくる女の人のようだった

So you'd just see her feet.

足しか見えないのさ

(Laughter)

（笑）

So I was hiding in the shed, like that.

だから私は物置にこんな感じで隠れていたら

And all of a sudden ...

突然…

And then I saw her legs.

母の足が目に入ってきた

And then she said -- grabbed me like that, because my mother was quite big --

体が大きかった母は私をこうやってつかみ

and she lifted me up and she says,

持ち上げて言ったんだ

"How come you're not at school?"

“なんで学校にいないんだい？”

I told her I couldn't face it because the way

先生が優しくしてくれず

the teacher was treating me, ridiculing me,

自分が馬鹿にされたり

and using me as an example of failure.

落ちこぼれだと言われていると

So I told her.

母に伝えた

At that age, obviously, I couldn't express it that way,

でも 当時はそのようにうまく言えず

but I told her I didn't feel right.

気分がよくないと伝えたんだ

And then she just said, "You're going back to school tomorrow."

母は“明日は行くんだよ” とだけ言った

And walked off. And I didn't expect that,

予想外だったね

because I expected one of these ...

ひどくしかられるだろう って思ったから…

But I didn't get it.

でも違ったんだ

So I'm sitting there thinking.

それで 私はそこに座って考えた

And as I looked down on the ground,

地面を見たら

I noticed there was some ants running around.

アリがいるのに気がついた

And I went into this little fantasy world.

そして空想の世界へと入り込んだ

And I thought,

私はこう思ったんだ

"These ants, are they looking for the queen ant?

“女王アリを探しているのかな”

Or do they need somewhere to live?"

“それとも 家が必要なの？”

So I thought "Perhaps,

“僕がアリの家をつくったら―”

if I made these ants some apartments,

“きっと アリは”

they'll move in."

“引っ越してくるんじゃないかな”

(Laughter)

（笑）

So I did.

それで 家をつくったんだ

And how I set about that, I got some splinters of wood.

木のとげを集めてきて

And I sliced the little splinters of wood with a broken shard of glass,

ガラス片で切り裂いた

constructed this little apartment.

そして 小さなアパートを作ったのさ

Well it looked like a little shanty shed when I'd finished.

出来あがったとき 掘っ立て小屋のようにしか見えなかったけど

But I thought, perhaps the ant won't know, it'll probably move in.

アリは住んでくれるんじゃないかと思ったよ

And so they did.

予想通りだったね

That was a bit crude, at the time. And I made all these little apartments

出来は良くなかったけど それから小さなアパートや

and little merry-go-rounds, seesaws and swings, little ladders.

メリーゴーランド　シーソー　ブランコ　 梯子などを作ったんだ

And then I encouraged the ants to come 'round by putting sugar and things like that.

アリに住んでもらいたくて 砂糖でおびき寄せたりもした

And then I sat down and all the ants came along.

座って様子を伺っていると アリがやって来て

And all I could hear was "Is this for us?"

“僕たちに作ってくれたの？” って言うのさ

(Laughter)

（笑）

And I say, "Yes, they're all for you."

“君たちのお家だよ” って答えると

And they moved in, and decided not to pay me any rent.

アリはそこで暮らし始めたんだ　 家賃は払ってくれなかったけど

(Laughter)

（笑）

And from there I was watching this little world.

それ以来 この小さな世界を見てるってわけ

It became part of me.

私の一部になったんだ

When I discovered that I had this gift,

このような才能に気づいたとき

I wanted to experiment with this world

目には見えない世界を

that we can't see.

作りだしたいと思った

So I realized that there was more to life

私たちを取り囲む大きなものだけではなく

than just everything that we see around us that's huge.

もっと人生には大切なことがあると 気づいたのさ

So I started to educate myself on this molecular level.

それで私は小さな分子のような物について独学を始めた

And as I got older, I continued. I showed my mother.

大きくなってからも続け 母に見せたら

My mother told me to take it smaller.

もっと小さくしたらと言われたんだ

Now I shall show you something here.

ここで作品をお見せしよう

And I'll explain.

ここで作ったのは

As you can see,

ご覧の通り

that's a pinhead.

ピンの頭さ

(Laughter)

（笑）

(Applause)

（拍手）

Now that is called the Huf Haus.

これはハフ ハウスという作品

The gentleman who commissioned me to do this

作品の依頼をしてきた紳士が

was a gentleman called Peter Huf.

ハフさんという方でね

And he says to me "Willard, can you put my house on a pinhead?"

“ピンの頭に家を作れるかな？” って尋ねてきた

(Laughter)

（笑）

So I say, "How are you going to fit in there?"

“そんなに小さかったら入れないだろう” って 返したさ

(Laughter)

（笑）

And then he said to me,

そしたら彼は言った

"I don't believe you can do it. Can you really do it?"

“作れると思わないな　本当にできるかい？”

And I says, "Well, try me."

“できるとも”

And then he said, "But I don't believe that you can do this." So I said, "OK."

”いや できるとは思えないな”という彼に ”わかったよ”と答えたね

So, to cut a long story short,

手短にいうと

I went home, went underneath the microscope,

家に帰って

and I crushed up a piece of glass,

ガラス片を砕いたんだ

crushed it up.

それを

And underneath the microscope

顕微鏡で見た

there were splinters of glass.

ガラス片をね

Some of them were quite jagged.

ギザギザしてた

So I was crushing up these pieces of glass,

ガラス片を粉々にして

which, as you can see,

ここでわかるように

that's the actual frame of the house.

家のフレームにしたのさ

And the actual roof is made up of a fiber,

屋根は本物の繊維だ

which I found in my sister's old teddy bear.

姉のテディベアから取ったのさ

(Laughter)

（笑）

So I got the teddy bear and I said,

テディベアには尋ねたよ

"Do you mind if I pull out one of your fibers?"

“繊維をもらってもいいかな？” ってね

So I did.

繊維を拝借して

And I looked at it beneath the microscope. And some of it was flat.

顕微鏡で見たら 平らな繊維が見つかった

So I decided to slice these up

その繊維を切り裂いた

with the tool that I make

針の先を鋭く研いで作った―

by -- I sharpen the end of a needle into a blade.

道具を使って切り裂いた

And then I actually

だんだん私の神経は

slow down my whole nervous system.

落ち着いてきた

And then I work between my heartbeat,

鼓動と鼓動の間に仕事をするのさ

I have one-and-a-half seconds

作業ができるのは

to actually move.

1.5秒なんだ

And at the same time I have to watch I don't inhale

気をつけなくちゃいけないのは

my own work, at the same time.

息を吸って 作品を吸い込まないこと

(Laughter)

（笑）

(Applause)

（拍手）

Because that has happened to me.

吸い込んじゃったことがあるからね

(Laughter)

（笑）

So what I did, like I said, come back to the glass.

ガラスの話に戻ると

I found these little bits of glass.

この小さなガラス片を

And I had to make them square.

どうにか四角い形にしたかった

So I'm thinking "How can I do this?"

どうやってやろうかと思案してた

So what I did, I got an oilstone. Broke the edge of an oilstone off.

オイルストーンを手に入れ 角を砕き

And what I did, I took pieces of glass. And I started to rub them.

ガラス片をこすり始めた

I used a little tweezer which I made from a hair clip.

髪留めで作ったピンセットを使うんだけど

And I built rubber around the end of the tweezer so it wouldn't crush the glass.

ガラスを割らないように ピンセットにはゴムを巻き付けた

And then I started rubbing, very very gently,

そして優しくこすり始めたんだ

till some of the edges were quite square. And then I constructed it.

形が四角になるまでこすってから組み立てた

And how I constructed it,

組み立て方は

is by making grooves in the top of the pinhead.

ピンの頭に 溝をつけて

And then pushing the glass in with its own friction.

その中に摩擦でガラスが入り込むようにした

And as I was doing it, what happened?

その作業をしてるとき

The instrument that I used turned into a catapult.

使っていた道具が射出機のようになって

And it went like this ...

ピョーンと飛んでしまった

And then that was it.

時すでに遅し

(Laughter)

（笑）

Gone.

失くしちゃったのさ

So I'm thinking, "Mr. Huf isn't going to be very happy

“家を失くしたって言ったら”

when I told him his house has gone to another,

“ハフさんは よく思わないだろうなあ”

into the atmosphere somewhere."

どっかに飛んで行ってしまったんだから…

So to cut the story short,

結局わたしは

I decided that I had to go back and do it.

もう一度やり直すことにしたんだ

So I found some more. And I decided to, sort of,

飛び散った一部を見つけたので

construct it very, very slowly,

ゆっくりと組み立てることにした

holding my breath, working between my heartbeat,

息を止めて 心臓の鼓動の間に手を動かし

and making sure everything is leveled.

全てが平らなことを確かめながらね

Because it's such a small sculpture,

あまりにも小さいから

nothing can go wrong.

間違いは許されないんだ

And I decided to build it up.

組み立てることを決めて

Then I used fibers out of my jumper,

ジャンパーの繊維を使った

which I held and stretched.

その繊維を伸ばして

And made the beams going around the house.

家の周りの梁を作った

And the actual windows and the balcony

窓とバルコニーを

had to be sort of constructed.

組み立てなくてはいけなかった

I used a money spider's web

サクラグモの糸を

to actually attach certain things,

糊の代わりに使ったんだけど

which sent me insane.

厄介で しょうがなかった

But I managed to do it.

どうにかやりとおしたけどね

And when I finished it, I came back the next day.

家を完成させた翌日

I noticed that the house was occupied.

住人がいることに気づいたんだ

Have we ever heard of a dust mite?

塵ダニの声を聞いたことがある方は？

Darren dust mite and his family moved in.

塵ダニ一家が引っ越してきたんだ

(Laughter)

（笑）

So basically I'd completed the house.

こうやって家を完成させた

And there you are.

ほらね

(Applause)

（拍手）

(Laughter)

（笑）

Right. As you can see,

ご覧の通り

Bart Simpson is having a little argument.

バート・シンプソンが何やら怒っているね

I think they're arguing about the space on the pin.

ピンの頭のスペースに関して議論しているようだ

There's not enough room for the two of them.

二人分なんてないぞってね

So I didn't think he was going to throw Bart off.

バートを突き落とすつもりはなかったと思う

I think he was just warning him actually.

きっと脅してたんだろうね

But this one was made out of a nylon tag

これは わたしのナイロン製のシャツから

out of my shirt.

生地をはぎ取って作ったんだ

What I did, I plucked the tag out

タグを取って

and put it underneath the microscope.

顕微鏡で覗き

I used the needle which has got a slight blade on the end.

先が刃のようになった針を使った

Can anybody see the blade on the end of that needle?

針の先の刀が見えるかな？

Audience: No.

客席： いいえ

WW: So what I did is the same process where I

ここでも同じように

just kind of hold my breath

息を止めて

and just work away very, very slowly,

ゆっくりと仕事を続けるんだ

manipulating the plastic, cutting it, because it behaves different.

プラスチックを使って 切ったり 工夫が必要

Whenever you work on that level, things behave different.

これだけの作業になると 予想がつかないこともある

Because it's on this molecular level things change

分子レベルになると普通のようにはいかず

and they act different.

違った性質をもつんだ

And sometimes they turn into little catapults and things go up in the air.

時にはピョーンと飛んだり 空中に投げだされてしまう

And, you know, all different things happen.

いろんなことが起こるのさ

But I had to make a little barrier, going around it, out of cellophane,

セロファンを使って固定できるように

to stop it moving.

周囲に囲いをつけたら

Then static electricity set in.

静電気が起きて

And it went ...

大変だった

And I'm trying to remove it. And the static is interfering with everything.

静電気には困ったね

So there is sweat dripping off my head,

額から汗がしたたり落ちたよ

because I have to carve Homer Simpson like that, in that position.

ホーマー・シンプソンを あんな格好に削らないといけないからね

And after I've cut out the shape,

その形に削った後

then I have to make sure that there is room for Bart's neck.

バートの首の部分のスペースも 確保しなくちゃいけない

So after I've done the same thing,

同じことをした後に

then I have to paint it.

色を塗るんだ

And after I've actually sculpted them,

彼らを彫ってから

I have to paint them.

色を塗るんだ

I experimented with a --

死んだハエを使って

I found a dead fly.

ある事を試した

And I plucked the hair off the fly's head.

ハエの頭から毛を抜いて

Decided to make a paintbrush.

筆にすることにしたんだ

(Laughter)

（笑）

But I would never do it to a living fly.

生きているハエには 絶対にしないよ

(Laughter)

（笑）

Because I've heard a fly in pain.

ハエが苦しんでいるのが聞こえたのさ

And they go "Meow! Ow!"

“痛いよー” ってね

Even though they get on our nerves,

彼らには イライラさせられるけど

I would never kill an insect

わたしは 虫を殺しはしない

because, "All creatures great and small" --

“生き物は大きくても小さくても”

there is a hymn that says that.

そんな讃美歌があるしね

So what I decided to do

だから 自分の顔のうぶ毛を

is to pluck fine hair out of my face.

抜くことにしたんだ

And I looked at it underneath the microscope.

顕微鏡で覗いて

That was the paintbrush.

筆にすることにした

And whilst I'm painting I have to be very careful,

色をつけるときは慎重にしないとだめだ

because the paint starts to turn into little blobs.

ペンキがダマになってしまうんだ

And it starts to dry very quickly.

それにすぐに乾いてしまう

So I have to be very quick.

素早く作業をしないといけない

If I'm not, it will end up looking

じゃないと なるべき姿に

not like what it's supposed to look like.

近づけないんだ

It could end up looking like Humpty Dumpty or somebody else.

ハンプティダンプティのようになっちゃうからね

So I have to be very very careful.

だから 十分気をつけなくちゃいけない

This one took me approximately,

これは完成までに

I would say, six to seven weeks.

６、７週間かかった

My work, rough estimate,

作品はだいたい

sometimes five, six to seven weeks;

５～７週間くらいで完成させる

you can't always anticipate.

必ずしも予測できないんだ

(Applause)

（拍手）

As you can see,

これは見ての通り

that's Charlton Heston brought down to size.

チャールストン・ヘストンのミニチュア版

(Laughter)

（笑）

He says to me, "Willard" --

“ウィラード なんで僕なの？”

You can see him saying, "Why me?"

彼は尋ねるんだ

I says, "I enjoyed your film. That's why."

“映画が良かったからだよ” って答るわけさ

As you can see, there's an aphid fly there.

写真に写っているのは ハエ

That's just to show the scale

実際の彫刻の大きさが

and the actual size of the sculpture.

わかるようにね

I would say it probably measures ...

きっと大きさは

a quarter of a millimeter.

４分の１ミリくらいかな

In America they say a period stop.

文章を書くときのピリオドを

So say if you cut a period stop in half,

半分にしたくらいの大きさが

a full stop, that's about the size of the whole thing.

この作品の大きさだ

It's made -- the chariot is made of gold.

馬車は金で作ってある

And Charlton Heston is made of a floating fiber,

チャールストン・ヘストンは空中に漂っていた―

which I took out of the air.

繊維で作った

When the sunlight comes through the window you see these little fibers.

繊維が陽ざしに照らされて 空中に浮いていることがあるね

And what I normally do is walk 'round a room --

わたしは部屋を歩き回って

(Laughter) --

（笑）

trying to find one. And then I put it underneath the microscope.

繊維を見つけ 顕微鏡で覗くんだ

I remember one time I was doing it, and the window was open.

ある時そうしていたら 窓が開いていて

And there was a lady standing by the bus stop.

バス停で待っている女性がいたんだ

And she saw me walking around like this.

彼女は歩き回るわたしを見て

(Laughter)

（笑）

And then she looked at me.

わたしのことを見た

And then I went ...

だからわたしもこうやったら

And then she went, "Hmm, OK, he's not mad."

“狂ってはいないようね” って思ったらしい

Yeah, to actually do this thing --

この馬車を作るのに

the actual chariot is made of gold.

金を用いたんだ

I had a 24-karat gold ring.

24金の指輪を持っていたので

And I cut off a little flake of gold.

金を薄く削って

And I bent it 'round,

切り取り丸みをつけてから

and made it into the chariot.

馬車をつくり上げた

And the horse is made from nylon.

馬はナイロン製

And the spider's web is for the reins on the horse.

クモの糸を手綱にした

To get the symmetrical shape of the horse

馬を対称的に作るのが

was very difficult,

とても難しかった

because I had to get the horse to rear up

馬が後足で立って

and look as though it was in some kind of action.

動きを出したかったからね

When I did this one,

これを作ったとき

a gentleman seen it and said to me,

ある男性が言ったんだ

"There's no way you can do this, you must have used some kind of machine.

“機械なしでこんなの作れるもんか”

There's no way a man can do that.

“人間が作れるもんじゃない”

It must be a machine."

“絶対に機械だね”

So I says, "OK then, if you say it's a machine ..."

だから “そんなに機械だって言うなら…”

(Laughter)

（笑）

(Applause)

（拍手）

That one took me approximately six weeks.

この作品にかかった時間は６週間ほど

(Applause)

（拍手）

The most famous statue in the world.

世界一有名な像ですね

This one, I would say,

これは 本当に

was a serious challenge.

手こずったよ

(Laughter)

（笑）

Because I had to put the torch on the top.

たいまつをのせなくちゃいけないからね

That one is, more or less, the same type of process.

これも同じような作り方で

The bottom of it is carved from a grain of sand,

土台は砂を削ってつくってある

because I wanted to get a bit of the stone effect.

石を使っているようにしたかった

I used a microscopic shard of diamond

微小のダイアモンド片を使って

to actually carve the actual base.

土台を削ったんだ

Well, I can look at this one and I can be very proud of this,

この作品を見ると 誇らしげに感じるんだ

because that statue has always sort of

だって 自由の女神は

kept an image in my head of, you know,

アメリカに移民した最初の人たちの

the beginning of people coming to America.

印象がわたしにはあるからね

So it's sort of Ellis Island, and seeing America for the first time.

エリス島や初めてアメリカを目にした光景さ

And that's the first thing they saw.

彼らの目に最初に入ったもの

So I wanted to have that little image.

その光景を作りだしたくて

And this is it.

作ったのが これさ

(Laughter)

（笑）

And we all know that is the Hulk.

これはハルクなのはわかるね

I wanted to create movement in the eye of a needle.

針の穴に動きをもたせたかった

Because we know we see needles,

誰でも針を見ることはある

but people aren't familiar with the eye of a needle

でも糸を通す以外

apart from putting a thread through it.

針の穴にはなじみが薄い

So I broke the needle.

だから針を折って

And made a needle look like

いかにもハルクが

the Hulk's broken it.

折ったようにした

It's -- I had to make little holes

足を入れるために

in the base of the needle, to shove his feet in.

針の底に小さな穴を開けた

So most of my work, I don't use glue.

わたしは糊を使うことは 滅多にない

They go in with their own friction.

摩擦で落ち着いてくれるからだ

And that's how I managed to do it.

ここでも 摩擦を利用している

As you can see, he's looking at the moment. He's got a little grimace on his face.

ハルクは顔をしかめているね

And his mouth must be probably about

きっと口は

three microns.

３ミクロンほどだ

So the eyes are probably about one micron or something.

目は１ミクロンくらいかな

That ship there,

ここにある船は

that's made from 24-karat gold.

24金でつくったもの

And I normally rig it with the web of a money spider.

索具はクモの糸を使うことにしているけど

But I had to rig it with strands of glue.

これには接着剤を代用した

Because the web of the spider, it was sending me insane,

クモの糸は厄介だった

because I couldn't get the web to move off.

手に絡まるんだ

And that's 24-karat gold. And it's constructed. I built it.

これは24金で作ったもの

Constructed each plank of gold.

金板を組み立てた

And the whole thing is sort of symmetrical.

すべてが対称的になってる

The flag had to be made out of little strands of gold.

旗も糸状の金から作った

It's almost like doing a surgical operation to get this thing right.

これを完成するには 手術を行っているような気になるよ

(Applause)

（拍手）

As you can see, dressage.

これは馬場馬術

(Laughter)

（笑）

It's something I wanted to do just to show how I could get the symmetrical shape.

左右対称な形の作り方を見せたかっただけさ

The actual rigging on the reins on the horse

手綱の索具も

are made from the same sort of thing.

同じようなもので作ったんだ

And that was done with a particle from my shirt.

自分のシャツをちょこっと切って

And the pinhead I've made green around there

ピンの頭は緑に塗り

by scraping the particles off a green shirt

緑のシャツの一部を切り取って

and then pressed onto the needle.

針に押し付けるようにした

It's very painstaking work,

本当に苦労したよ

but the best things come in small packages.

でも 極上のものは包みが小さいんだよね

(Laughter)

（笑）

Bruno Giussani: Willard Wigan!

ウィラード・ウィーガンさんでした

(Applause)

（拍手）