Ursus Wehrli: Tidying up art

翻译人员: Coco Shen 校对人员: Geoff Chen

My name is Ursus Wehrli, and I would like to talk to you this morning

我的名字是 Ursus Wehrli﹐今天我想和你们谈谈我的作品

about my project, Tidying Up Art.

整理艺术

First of all -- any questions so far?

首先 - 有什么疑问吗﹖

First of all, I have to say I'm not from around here.

首先﹐我必须说我不是来自这里

I'm from a completely different cultural area, maybe you noticed?

而是来自一个文化完全不同的地方﹐你发现了吗﹖

I mean, I'm wearing a tie, first. And then secondly, I'm a little bit nervous

你瞧﹐我打着一条领带﹐然后﹐我有一点紧张

because I'm speaking in a foreign language,

因为我说的是外国话

and I want to apologize in advance, for any mistakes I might make.

我想先为我接下来可能会犯的错误道歉

Because I'm from Switzerland, and I just don't hope you think this is Swiss German

毕竟我是从瑞士来的﹐希望你们不要觉得我说的是瑞士腔的德文

I'm speaking now here. This is just what it sounds like

这不过是一个瑞士人说美语

if we Swiss try to speak American.

所产生出来的声音

But don't worry -- I don't have trouble with English, as such.

但不用担心 - 美语对我来说没问题

I mean, it's not my problem, it's your language after all.

毕竟这是你们的语言﹐与我无关

(Laughter)

(笑声)

I am fine. After this presentation here at TED, I can simply go back to Switzerland,

真的﹐反正我结束TED演讲以后﹐我回瑞士就好

and you have to go on talking like this all the time.

倒是你还得继续留在这里讲这种语言

(Laughter)

(笑声)

So I've been asked by the organizers to read from my book.

大会要求我到这里来朗读我的书

It's called "Tidying Up Art" and it's, as you can see,

书名是”整理艺术“如你所见

it's more or less a picture book.

这是一本图画书

So the reading would be over very quickly.

所以很快就读完了

But since I'm here at TED, I decided to hold my talk here in a more modern way,

但既然我在TED﹐我决定用比较先进的方式来发表我的演讲

in the spirit of TED here, and I managed to do some slides here for you.

以TED精神﹐我做了这些投影片

I'd like to show them around so we can just, you know --

我想在这里跟你们分享﹐像这样

(Laughter)

(笑声)

Actually, I managed to prepare for you some enlarged pictures -- even better.

说真的﹐我也准备了一些放大图片 - 这样更好

So Tidying Up Art, I mean, I have to say, that's a relatively new term.

整理艺术﹐是一个非常新的名词

You won't be familiar with it.

你可能没有听过

I mean, it's a hobby of mine that I've been indulging in for the last few years,

这是我这几年来的一点小兴趣

and it all started out with this picture of the American artist, Donald Baechler

一切都从美国艺术家 Donald Baechler 的作品开始

I had hanging at home. I had to look at it every day

我家里有一幅﹐我每天看着它

and after a while I just couldn't stand the mess anymore

过了一阵子我实在受不了这种凌乱

this guy was looking at all day long.

这个家伙天天这样盯着

Yeah, I kind of felt sorry for him.

我真为他感到抱歉

And it seemed to me even he felt really bad

我觉得甚至他自己也不是很舒服

facing these unorganized red squares day after day.

每天都看着这些乱七八糟的红方块

So I decided to give him a little support,

于是我决定帮他一把

and brought some order into neatly stacking the blocks on top of each other.

把这些方块整齐地堆起来

(Laughter)

(笑声)

Yeah. And I think he looks now less miserable.

我觉得他现在看起来没这么悲惨了

And it was great. With this experience, I started to look more closely

有了这次的愉快经验以后﹐我开始更仔细地观察现代艺术

at modern art. Then I realized how, you know, the world of modern art

我发觉﹐现代艺术的世界

is particularly topsy-turvy.

真是有混乱

And I can show here a very good example.

让我给你一个好例子

It's actually a simple one, but it's a good one to start with.

从一个非常简单的例子开始

It's a picture by Paul Klee.

这是保罗·克利的作品

And we can see here very clearly, it's a confusion of color.

我们可以很清楚的看到﹐颜色一篇混乱

(Laughter)

(笑声)

Yeah. The artist doesn't really seem to know where to put the different colors.

他好像不知道怎么把不同颜色放在一起

The various pictures here of the various elements of the picture --

这里有这张作品的不同元素

the whole thing is unstructured.

把它解构以后

We don't know, maybe Mr. Klee was probably in a hurry, I mean --

可能当时克利先生赶时间

(Laughter)

(笑声)

-- maybe he had to catch a plane, or something.

可能他正在赶一班飞机

We can see here he started out with orange,

我们可以看到他从桔色开始

and then he already ran out of orange,

然后慢慢用完桔色颜料

and here we can see he decided to take a break for a square.

这里我们可以看到他稍微休息了一格

And I would like to show you here my tidied up version of this picture.

现在看看经过我整理以后

(Laughter)

(笑声)

We can see now what was barely recognizable in the original:

我们可以看到在原本图画中看不到的

17 red and orange squares are juxtaposed with just two green squares.

十七个红色和桔色方块还有两个绿色方块捣乱

Yeah, that's great.

很好

So I mean, that's just tidying up for beginners.

不过那只是初级的整理罢了

I would like to show you here a picture which is a bit more advanced.

现在我们来看看比较复杂的图片

(Laughter)

(笑声)

What can you say? What a mess.

怎么说呢﹖乱成一团

I mean, you see, everything seems to have been scattered aimlessly around the space.

所有东西都被随意的扔到这个空间里

If my room back home had looked like this,

如果我的房间长这样的话

my mother would have grounded me for three days.

我妈可是会惩罚我禁足三天的

So I'd like to -- I wanted to reintroduce some structure into that picture.

于是 - 让我来规范整理这张图画

And that's really advanced tidying up.

这真的是很复杂的

(Applause)

(掌声)

Yeah, you're right. Sometimes people clap at this point,

没错﹐有些人在这里会拍手

but that's actually more in Switzerland.

但这是比较瑞士的方式

(Laughter)

(笑声)

We Swiss are famous for chocolate and cheese. Our trains run on time.

我们瑞士出名的有巧克力和起司﹐火车准时

We are only happy when things are in order.

一切井井有条的时候我们才会快乐

But to go on, here is a very good example to see.

让我们再举一些其它例子

This is a picture by Joan Miro.

这是米罗的作品

And yeah, we can see the artist has drawn a few lines and shapes

我们可以看到他画了一些线条和形状

and dropped them any old way onto a yellow background.

随便地把它们画在黄色背景上

And yeah, it's the sort of thing you produce when you're doodling on the phone.

就像我们一边讲电话一边在纸上乱画的那些东西

(Laughter)

(笑声)

And this is my --

这是我的

(Laughter)

(笑声)

-- you can see now the whole thing takes up far less space.

你可以看到我们节省了很多空间

It's more economical and also more efficient.

经济实惠又有效率

With this method Mr. Miro could have saved canvas for another picture.

米罗先生如果用这种办法的话﹐可以省下一半画面再画一幅

But I can see in your faces that you're still a little bit skeptical.

我知道你们仍然有点存疑

So that you can just appreciate how serious I am about all this,

为了证明我的认真

I brought along the patents, the specifications for some of these works,

我带来了我申请的专利﹐这些作品的规格

because I've had my working methods patented

我特别在瑞士的专利协会

at the Eidgenössische Amt für Geistiges Eigentum in Bern, Switzerland.

为我整理艺术的手法申请了专利

(Laughter)

(笑声)

I'll just quote from the specification.

让我念一段说明给你们听

"Laut den Kunstprüfer Dr. Albrecht --"

"Laut den Kunstprüfer Dr. Albrecht --"

It's not finished yet.

还没结束

"Laut den Kunstprüfer Dr. Albrecht Götz von Ohlenhusen

"Laut den Kunstprüfer Dr. Albrecht Götz von Ohlenhusen

wird die Verfahrensweise rechtlich geschützt welche die Kunst

wird die Verfahrensweise rechtlich geschützt welche die Kunst

durch spezifisch aufgeräumte Regelmässigkeiten

durch spezifisch aufgeräumte Regelmässigkeiten

des allgemeinen Formenschatzes

des allgemeinen Formenschatzes

neue Wirkungen zu erzielen möglich wird."

neue Wirkungen zu erzielen möglich wird."

Ja, well I could have translated that, but you would have been none the wiser.

是﹐当然我也可以翻译﹐但你们也不会更了解的

I'm not sure myself what it means but it sounds good anyway.

连我自己都不太懂﹐至少听起来不错

I just realized it's important how one introduces new ideas to people,

我刚意识到介绍一个新点子的手法是很重要的

that's why these patents are sometimes necessary.

所以有时专利是必要的

I would like to do a short test with you.

我想做一个小小的试验

Everyone is sitting in quite an orderly fashion here this morning.

在座的每个人都坐的很整齐

So I would like to ask you all to raise your right hand. Yeah.

现在大家举起你们的右手

The right hand is the one we write with, apart from the left-handers.

我们用来写字的那个手﹐除了左撇子以外

And now, I'll count to three. I mean, it still looks very orderly to me.

然后﹐我数到三﹐现在看起来还很整齐

Now, I'll count to three, and on the count of three

当我数到三的时候

I'd like you all to shake hands with the person behind you. OK?

你们就跟后面的那个人握手

One, two, three.

一﹐二﹐三

(Laughter)

(笑声)

You can see now, that's a good example: even behaving in an orderly, systematic way

诚如所见﹐这就是个很好的例子﹕就算大家都秩序井然

can sometimes lead to complete chaos.

还是有可能造成完全的混乱

So we can also see that very clearly in this next painting.

我们可以从以下的例子里看到

This is a painting by the artist, Niki de Saint Phalle.

画的作者是 Niki de Saint Phalle

And I mean, in the original it's completely unclear to see

在这里你看不清楚

what this tangle of colors and shapes is supposed to depict.

这些颜色和形状画的是什么

But in the tidied up version, it's plain to see that it's a sunburnt woman playing volleyball.

经过整理以后﹐很明显﹐这是一个晒伤的女人在打排球

(Laughter)

(笑声)

Yeah, it's a -- this one here, that's much better.

没错﹐这个更清楚

That's a picture by Keith Haring.

这是 Keith Haring 的作品

(Laughter)

(笑声)

I think it doesn't matter.

我想没差

So, I mean, this picture has not even got a proper title.

这幅画的名字很好

It's called "Untitled" and I think that's appropriate.

它就叫"无题"﹐取得真好

So, in the tidied-up version we have a sort of Keith Haring spare parts shop.

于是经过整理以后﹐我们就可以看到这间 Keith Harding 五金行

(Laughter)

(笑声)

This is Keith Haring looked at statistically.

用统计学的角度来看

One can see here quite clearly,

我们可以很清楚的看到

you can see we have 25 pale green elements,

这里有25个浅绿色的元素

of which one is in the form of a circle.

有一个是圆形

Or here, for example, we have 27 pink squares with only one pink curve.

这里有27个粉红色的方形﹐只有一个粉红弯形

I mean, that's interesting. One could extend this sort of statistical analysis

非常有趣﹐有人可以在所有 Harding 先生的作品上

to cover all Mr. Haring's various works,

做一些统计分析

in order to establish in which period the artist favored pale green circles or pink squares.

看看画家在各个时期对浅绿圆形和粉红方形的偏好

And the artist himself could also benefit from this sort of listing procedure

艺术家自己也可以从列出的清单中

by using it to estimate how many pots of paint he's likely to need in the future.

算出自己以后需要多少颜料

(Laughter)

(笑声)

One can obviously also make combinations.

你也可以把它们组合在一起

For example, with the Keith Haring circles and Kandinsky's dots.

Haring 的方形和 Kandinsky 的点点

You can add them to all the squares of Paul Klee.

在把它加入克利的方形

In the end, one has a list with which one then can arrange.

最后你就有一整个清单可以排列

Then you categorize it, then you file it, put that file in a filing cabinet,

你将它们分类﹐建档﹐最后再全部放进档案柜里

put it in your office and you can make a living doing it.

放进你的办公室﹐然后就可以以此为生了

(Laughter)

(笑声)

Yeah, from my own experience. So I'm --

就像我一样

(Laughter)

(笑声)

Actually, I mean, here we have some artists that are a bit more structured. It's not too bad.

其实也有几个艺术家是比较有条理的

This is Jasper Johns. We can see here he was practicing with his ruler.

这是 Jasper Johns﹐我们可以看见他正在练习使用他的尺

(Laughter)

(笑声)

But I think it could still benefit from more discipline.

但我仍然觉得他可以再更有条不紊一点

And I think the whole thing adds up much better if you do it like this.

把这些都加起来﹐你就可以这样做

(Laughter)

(笑声)

And here, that's one of my favorites.

我最喜欢的作品之一

Tidying up Rene Magritte -- this is really fun.

整理 Rene Magritte - 这真的很好玩

You know, there is a --

你看

(Laughter)

(笑声)

I'm always being asked what inspired me to embark on all this.

很多人问我是什么让我这样做的

It goes back to a time when I was very often staying in hotels.

这必须要追溯到﹐我时常住在旅馆的那段时间

So once I had the opportunity to stay in a ritzy, five-star hotel.

有一次我有机会住在丽池五星旅馆

And you know, there you had this little sign --

你知道﹐那里有这些标语

I put this little sign outside the door every morning that read,

每天早上你可以放在门口

"Please tidy room." I don't know if you have them over here.

”请整理房间“我不知道我在这里有没有

So actually, my room there hasn't been tidied once daily, but three times a day.

事实上﹐我的房间不只是一天整理一次﹐是一天整理了三次

So after a while I decided to have a little fun,

过了一阵子我决定开个玩笑

and before leaving the room each day I'd scatter a few things around the space.

在每天离开房间里我都会故意四处乱扔些东西

Like books, clothes, toothbrush, etc. And it was great.

书﹐衣服﹐牙刷等等﹐很不错

By the time I returned everything had always been neatly returned to its place.

我每次回房间的时候一切都回归原位

But then one morning, I hang the same little sign onto that picture by Vincent van Gogh.

有一天早上﹐我在梵高的画上挂了这个标语

(Laughter)

(笑声)

And you have to say this room hadn't been tidied up since 1888.

这个房间从1888年以后就没整理过了

And when I returned it looked like this.

当我回来的时候﹐它变成了这样

(Laughter)

(笑声)

Yeah, at least it is now possible to do some vacuuming.

至少现在可以吸地了

(Laughter)

(笑声)

OK, I mean, I can see there are always people

我可以了解为什么有些人

that like reacting that one or another picture

会对某些特殊的图画特别有感觉

hasn't been properly tidied up. So we can make a short test with you.

觉得它需要整理﹐让我们做一个小测验

This is a picture by Rene Magritte,

这是 Rene Magritte 的图画

and I'd like you all to inwardly -- like in your head, that is --

现在你们可以在心中把它整理一下

to tidy that up. So it's possible that some of you would make it like this.

我想你们之中的有些人可能会把它整理成这样

(Laughter)

(笑声)

Yeah? I would actually prefer to do it more this way.

是吗﹖但我比较喜欢把它整理成这样

Some people would make apple pie out of it.

有些人会把它做成苹果派

But it's a very good example to see that the whole work

但这是一个很好的例子﹐说明这是一项

was more of a handicraft endeavor that involved the very time-consuming job

非常费时的手工业

of cutting out the various elements and sticking them back in new arrangements.

你得把不同元素剪下来﹐再把它重新安排

And it's not done, as many people imagine, with the computer,

而不是像你们之中很多人想象的﹐用计算机做的

otherwise it would look like this.

不然它就会变成这样

(Laughter)

(笑声)

So now I've been able to tidy up pictures that I've wanted to tidy up for a long time.

目前为止﹐我已经整理了很多我想要处理的图画

Here is a very good example. Take Jackson Pollock, for example.

就像这个 Jackson Pollock 的作品

It's -- oh, no, it's -- that's a really hard one.

这很困难﹐真的

But after a while, I just decided here to go all the way

过了一阵子﹐我决定一不做二不休

and put the paint back into the cans.

把颜料全放回它们原来的地方

(Applause)

(掌声)

Or you could go into three-dimensional art.

你也可以整理3D艺术

Here we have the fur cup by Meret Oppenheim.

像 Meret Oppenheim 的毛杯

Here I just brought it back to its original state.

让它们回到原来的模样

(Laughter)

(笑声)

But yeah, and it's great, you can even go, you know --

真的﹐很棒﹐你甚至可以尝试

Or we have this pointillist movement for those of you who are into art.

如果你喜欢艺术的话﹐这是点彩画派的作品

The pointillist movement is that kind of paintings

点彩画派便是所有画都是由

where everything is broken down into dots and pixels.

点和像素组成的

And then I -- this sort of thing is ideal for tidying up.

这是最适合整理的了

(Laughter)

(笑声)

So I once applied myself to the work of the inventor of that method, Georges Seurat,

这是点彩画派的创始人 Georges Seurat

and I collected together all his dots.

我把他的所有点都收集起来

And now they're all in here.

它们全在这里

(Laughter)

(笑声)

You can count them afterwards, if you like.

你可以晚点把它们清点一下﹐如果你想要的话

You see, that's the wonderful thing about the tidy up art idea:

你知道﹐这就是整理画作的好处

it's new. So there is no existing tradition in it.

这是全新的﹐没有任何传统

There is no textbooks, I mean, not yet, anyway.

没有教科书﹐至少现在还没有

I mean, it's "the future we will create."

这是“我们创造的未来"

(Laughter)

(笑声)

But to round things up I would like to show you just one more.

最后我们再看一个例子

This is the village square by Pieter Bruegel.

这是由 Pieter Bruegel 所画的广场

That's how it looks like when you send everyone home.

你把每个人赶回家以后就变成这样

(Laughter)

(笑声)

Yeah, maybe you're asking yourselves

但或许你会自问

where old Bruegel's people went?

那这些人都去了哪里﹖

Of course, they're not gone. They're all here.

当然﹐他们还在。他们全在这里

(Laughter)

(笑声)

I just piled them up.

我把他们堆了起来

(Laughter)

(笑声)

So I'm -- yeah, actually I'm kind of finished at that moment.

嗯好﹐我差不多已经讲完了

And for those who want to see more, I've got my book downstairs in the bookshop.

如果你想看其它例子﹐你可以到楼下的书店去买

And I'm happy to sign it for you with any name of any artist.

我很荣幸为你签名﹐你想要我签哪个画家的名字都可以

(Laughter)

(笑声)

But before leaving I would like to show you,

离开前我想给你们看一个东西

I'm working right now on another -- in a related field

最近我在做的新作品 - 和这个有关的

with my tidying up art method. I'm working in a related field.

也是整理

And I started to bring some order into some flags.

我开始整理国旗

Here -- that's just my new proposal here for the Union Jack.

你看﹐英国国旗可以变成这样

(Laughter)

(笑声)

And then maybe before I leave you ...

在我离去以前

yeah, I think, after you have seen that I have to leave anyway.

我是说﹐我想我最好赶快离开

(Laughter)

(笑声)

Yeah, that was a hard one. I couldn't find a way to tidy that up properly,

这个真的很难﹐我没办法整理它

so I just decided to make it a little bit more simpler.

我只好把它做得简单一点

(Laughter)

(笑声)

Thank you very much.

非常谢谢打击

(Applause)

(掌声)