Titus Kaphar: Can beauty open our hearts to difficult conversations? | TED

翻译人员: Shu Fei Chow 校对人员: Ziyao Wang

I believe there is beauty

我相信有一种美，

in hearing the voices of people who haven't been heard.

可以听到那些未曾 被人们听见的声音。

["Drawing the Blinds," 2014]

[《拉上窗帘》，2014 ]

["The Jerome Project (Asphalt and Chalk) III," 2014]

[《杰罗姆计划（沥青与白垩》III，2014 ]

[Beneath an Unforgiving Sun (From A Tropical Space)," 2020]

[《无情太阳下（来自热带空间）》，2020 ]

That's a complex idea,

这是个复杂的想法，

because the things that must be said are not always lovely.

因为不是所有 必须说出来的事物都是美好的。

But somehow,

但出于某种原因，

if they're reflective of truth,

如果它们反映了真相，

I think, fundamentally, that makes them beautiful.

我基本上就会认为 它们是美丽的。

(Music)

（音乐）

There's the aesthetic beauty of the work

作品的艺术审美

that in some cases functions as more of a Trojan horse.

在某些情况下 就像是特洛伊木马。

It allows one to open their hearts to difficult conversations.

它允许人们敞开心扉， 接受艰难的对话。

Maybe you feel attracted to the beauty,

也许你会被它的美丽所吸引，

and while compelled by the technique,

同时也因技巧、

the color,

色彩、

the form or composition,

形式或是构图而感到压迫，

maybe the difficult conversation sneaks up.

艰难的对话也许就悄然进行了。

["Billy Lee and Ona Judge Portraits in Tar," 2016]

[《比利·李和奥妮·贾奇的 焦油沥青画像》，2016 ]

I really taught myself how to paint

我自学画画的方式

by spending time at museums

是花时间在博物馆里，

and looking at the people that --

欣赏人们——

the artists, rather -- that I was told were the masters.

或者说艺术家—— 别人所称颂的大师。

Looking at the Rembrandts ["The Night Watch"],

我看着伦勃朗的 [《守夜》]、

Renoir ["Luncheon of the Boating Party"],

雷诺阿的 [《船上的午宴》]、

Manet ["Luncheon on the Grass"],

莫奈的 [《草地上的午宴》]，

it becomes quite obvious

很显然，

that if I'm going to learn how to paint a self-portrait

如果我通过研究这些人

by studying those people,

来学习如何画肖像，

I'm going to be challenged

我将会面对挑战，

when it comes to mixing my skin

尤其是调出我的肤色

or mixing the skin of those people in my family.

或是我家人的肤色。

There's literally formulas written down historically

历史上存在一定的公式

to tell me how to paint white skin --

告诉我们如何 画白人的肤色——

what colors I should use for the underpainting,

我该用什么颜色作为底色，

what colors I should use for the impasto highlights --

又该用哪些颜色作为 厚涂强调部分——

that doesn't really exist for dark skin.

然而针对黑皮肤的公式 是不存在的。

It's not a thing.

它不存在。

It's not a thing

不存在的原因是，

because the reality is, our skin wasn't considered beautiful.

现实中，人们认为 我们的肤色不够美。

The picture, the world that is represented in the history of paintings

绘画历史中所呈现的世界

doesn't reflect me.

并不是我的写照，

It doesn't reflect the things that I value in that way,

它没有反映出我重视的价值，

and that's the conflict that I struggle with so frequently,

这也是我经常挣扎面对的矛盾。

is, I love the technique of these paintings,

因为我热爱绘画的技巧，

I have learned from the technique of these paintings,

我也从这些绘画技巧中学习，

and yet I know that they have no concern for me.

然而我知道它们并不在乎我。

And so there are so many of us who are amending this history

很多人都在修改这段历史，

in order to simply say we were there.

仅仅为了证明我们曾经的存在。

Because you couldn't see doesn't mean we weren't there.

因为你看不见， 不代表我们不存在。

We have been there.

我们一直都在那里。

We have been here.

我们一直都在。

We've continued to be seen as not beautiful,

我们一直被视为是不美的，

but we are,

但我们是美丽的，

and we are here.

且我们一直都在。

So many of the things that I make

我的许多作品都让我觉得，

end up as maybe futile attempts to reinforce that idea.

也许，我所尝试加强的 观念终究是枉然的。

["Drawing the Blinds," 2014]

[《拉上窗帘》，2014 ]

["Seeing Through Time," 2018]

[《看越时间》，2014 ]

Even though I've had the Western training,

即使我受过西方绘画的训练，

my eye is still drawn to the folks who look like me.

我眼中的人们始终 有着与我相像的影子。

And so sometimes in my work,

有时，在我的画作中，

I have used strategies like whiting out the rest of the composition

我运用策略， 例如将构图的其余部分抹白，

in order to focus on the character who may go unseen otherwise.

让焦点能落在那些 被人忽视的角色上。

I have cut out other figures from the painting,

我也曾将其他人物 从画作中割出，

one, to either emphasize their absence,

第一，是为了 凸显他们的缺席，

or two, to get you to focus on the other folks in the composition.

其次，是为了专注 构图中的其他人物。

["Intravenous (From a Tropical Space)," 2020]

[《静脉内（来自热带空间）》，2020 ]

So "The Jerome Project," aesthetically, draws on hundreds of years

从艺术角度而言， 《杰若米计划》

of religious icon painting,

描绘了象征着百年历史的 宗教肖像绘画。

["The Jerome Project (My Loss)," 2014]

[《杰罗姆计划（我的损失）》，2014 ]

a kind of aesthetic structure that was reserved for the church,

一种为基督教堂设计的美学作品，

reserved for saints.

是圣人专用的。

["Madonna and Child"]

[《圣母子》]

["Leaf from a Greek Psalter and New Testament"]

[《希腊诗篇与新约中的一页》]

["Christ Pantocrator"]

[《基督全能的主》]

It's a project that is an exploration of the criminal justice system,

这些都是探讨 刑事司法系统的项目，

not asking the question "Are these people innocent or guilty?",

不是为了问：“这些人 是无辜的还是有罪的？”，

but more, "Is this the way that we should deal with our citizens?"

而是，“我们应该用这样的方式 对待我们的公民吗？”

I started a body of work,

我开始创作一系列作品，

because after being separated from my father

因为在我与父亲分开的

for almost 15 years,

十五年后，

I reconnected with my father, and ...

我重新与他建立了联系，然而……

I really didn't know how to make a place for him in my life.

我真的不知道如何 在我的生活中腾出他的位置。

As with most things I don't understand,

这和我不理解的事物一样，

I work them out in the studio.

我会在工作室中 解决这些问题。

And so I just started making these portraits of mug shots,

我刚开始画这些监照，

starting because I did a Google search for my father,

是因为我用谷歌搜索了 我父亲的信息，

just wondering what had happened over this 15-year period.

只是想知道这十五年来 发生了什么事情。

Where had he gone?

他在哪儿？

And I found his mug shot, which of course was of no surprise.

然后我找到他的监照， 当然我并不意外。

But I found in that first search 97 other Black men

但在第一次搜索中，我找到了

with exactly the same first and last name,

同名同姓的另外 97 名黑人，

and I found their mug shots, and that -- that was a surprise.

这让我感到很意外。

And not knowing what to do,

我完全不知道该从何下手，

I just started painting them.

所以我就开始画他们。

Initially, the tar was a formula that allowed me to figure out

起先，沥青作为一种配方，

how much of these men's life had been lost to incarceration.

让我理解了失去自由的监狱人生。

But I gave up that,

后来我放弃了，

and the tar became far more symbolic

随着经验的累积，

as I continued,

沥青在我的画笔下 变得更具代表性，

because what I realized is

因为我意识到

the amount of time that you spend incarcerated is just the beginning

监禁的时间只是个开端，

of how long it's going to impact the rest of your life.

它还会对你的余生 造成长时间的冲击。

So in terms of beauty within that context,

就以这种情境下的美而言，

I know from my friend's family

我从曾经或

who have been incarcerated,

正处于监禁的

who are currently incarcerated,

朋友的家人那里得知，

folks want to be remembered.

他们想要被人记得。

Folks want to be seen.

他们想要被人看见。

We put people away for a long time,

当我们把人们长时间关起来，

in some cases,

在某些例子中，

for that one worst thing that they've done.

只因他们做过一件错事。

So to a degree,

在某种程度上，

it's a way of just saying,

这种方式传达了一个信息，

"I see you.

“我看见你了。”

We see you."

“我们看见你了。”

And I think that, as a gesture,

我觉得这种示意

is beautiful.

就是美丽的。

In the painting "Behind the Myth of Benevolence,"

在《善行迷失的背后》中，

there's almost this curtain of Thomas Jefferson

托马斯·杰斐逊的 帷幔似乎被拉开，

painted and pulled back to reveal a Black woman who's hidden.

揭示了藏在其背后的黑人女子。

This Black woman is at once Sally Hemings,

这名黑人女子是 莎丽·海明斯 (Sally Hemings)，

but she's also every other Black woman

她也代表着由托马斯·杰斐逊拥有的 蒙蒂塞洛种植园（plantation Monticello）的

who was on that plantation Monticello

每一位黑人女子，

and all the rest of them.

更代表着所有的黑人女子。

The one thing we do know about Thomas Jefferson

关于托马斯·杰斐逊， 我们很肯定的一件事是：

is that he believed in liberty,

他相信自由，

maybe more strongly than anyone who's ever written about it.

也许他的信念比任何人 所撰写的更加强烈。

And if we know that to be true, if we believe that to be true,

如果我们知道那是真的， 如果我们相信那是真的，

then the only benevolent thing to do in that context

在这一情境下， 我们所能做的善行

would be to extend that liberty.

便是将自由延续下去。

And so in this body of work,

所以在这一系列的作品中，

I use two separate paintings

我将两幅不同的画作

that are forced together on top of one another

强行重叠并结合在一起。

to emphasize this tumultuous relationship between Black and white

在构图中强调黑与白之间的

in these compositions.

混乱关系。

And so, that --

所以，那种——

that contradiction,

那种矛盾

that devastating reality that's always behind the curtain,

那种令人心力交瘁的现实 总是藏在帷幔背后，

what is happening in race relations in this country --

也反映了这个国家 复杂的种族关系——

that's what this painting is about.

这正是这幅画作的意图。

The painting is called "Another Fight for Remembrance."

这幅画的名字叫做 《为了纪念再打一战》，

The title speaks to repetition.

从主题可以看出其重复性。

The title speaks to the kind of violence against Black people

这个主题描述的是警方 对于黑人的

by the police

暴力行为，

that has happened and continues to happen,

这种暴力曾经发生过， 也还在持续发生，

and we are now seeing it happen again.

现在，我们看到它再次发生了。

The painting is sort of editorialized as a painting about Ferguson.

这幅画被当作一幅 关于弗格森的画作来编辑。

It's not not about Ferguson,

它并非与弗格森无关，

but it's also not not about Detroit,

但它也并非与底特律无关，

it's also not not about Minneapolis.

它也亦非与明尼阿波利斯无关。

The painting was started because

这幅画作的灵感来源于

on a trip to New York

我与兄弟的一次纽约之行，

to see some of my own art with my brother,

在那里有我自己的艺术作品。

as we spent hours walking in and out of galleries,

我们耗费数小时 进进出出画廊，

we ended the day by being stopped by an undercover police car

结果在忙碌的一天结束后，

我们在街上被卧底警察车拦下。

in the middle of the street.

These two police officers with their hands on their gun

这两位警员手持枪械，

told us to stop.

要求我们停下，

They put us up against the wall.

双手扶着墙壁。

They accused me of stealing art

他们指控我在 画廊偷窃艺术品，

out of a gallery space where I was actually exhibiting art.

然而那个画廊展览的 是我自己的艺术作品。

And as they stood there with their hands on their weapons,

当警员站着，手持枪械时，

I asked the police officer what was different about my citizenship

我问警员， 我的公民资格

than that of all of the other people

和此刻不被警员打扰的人们

who were not being disturbed in that moment.

有什么不同？

He informed me that they had been following us for two hours

他告诉我，他们已经 跟踪我们两小时了，

and that they had been getting complaints about Black men,

且他们一直接到 有关黑人的投诉——

two Black men walking in and out of galleries.

有两个黑人不断进出画廊。

That painting is about the reality,

这幅画作呈现的事实是，

that it's not a question

问题不在于

of if this is going to happen again,

这种情况是否会再次发生，

it's a question of when.

而是何时会再发生。

This most recent body of work is called "From a Tropical Space."

这是最新的一系列作品 《来自热带空间》。

This series of paintings is about Black mothers.

这一系列的画作主题 是黑人母亲，

The series of paintings takes place in a supersaturated,

基本都诞生于

一个过度饱和，也许有点 超现实主义的世界，

maybe surrealist world,

not that far from the one we live in.

与我们生活的世界 相差不远。

But in this world,

但在这个世界中，

the children of these Black women

黑人女性的孩子们

are disappearing.

正在消失。

What this work is really about is the trauma,

这件作品的重点是创伤，

the things that Black women and women of color in particular

表达出黑人女性 和我们社会上的

in our community

有色女性人种

have to struggle through in order to set their kids out

必须要不断挣扎，

才能让孩子的人生道路走上正轨。

on the path of life.

What's encouraging for me

不断激励我的是，

is that this practice of mine

这样的做法

has given me the opportunity

让我有机会

to work with young people in my community.

与我族群中的年轻人合作。

I'm quite certain the answers are not in me,

我很肯定， 答案不在我身上，

but if I'm hopeful at all,

但我时时保持乐观，

it's that they may be in them.

答案可能在他们身上。

"NXTHVN" is a project that started about five years ago.

“NXTHVN” 是大约五年前 开始的一个计划。

NXTHVN is a 40,000-square-foot arts incubator

它是个四万平方英尺的艺术孵化地，

in the heart of the Dixwell neighborhood

坐落于康乃狄格州纽黑文市

in New Haven, Connecticut.

狄克斯威尔社区的中心。

This is a predominantly Black and Brown neighborhood.

这里主要是黑色和 褐色人种的聚居区。

It is a neighborhood that has the history of jazz at every corner.

这里的每一个角落 都有爵士乐历史的痕迹。

Our neighborhood, in many ways, has been disinvested in.

在许多方面，这个社区 都没有得到应有的资金支持，

Schools are struggling to really prepare our population

校方非常辛苦地办校

才能让居民们 为未来做好准备。

for the futures ahead of them.

I know that creativity is an essential asset.

我知道创意是 必不可少的资产。

It takes creativity

要有创意

to be able to imagine a future

才能够想象出

that is so different than the one that is before you.

一个不同于眼前的未来。

And so every artist in our program has a high school studio assistant:

所以这个计划的每位艺术家 都配有一位高中艺术工作室助理：

there's a high school student that comes from the city of New Haven

有一位来自纽黑文的高中生

who works with them and learns their craft,

与他们合作，学习他们的手艺，

learns their practice.

学习他们的做法。

And so we've seen the ways

我们见识到

in which pointing folks at the power of creativity

让人们了解创意的力量

can change them.

如何能够改变他们。

Beauty is complicated,

美是复杂的，

because of how we define it.

因为我们对它有着不同的定义。

I think that beauty and truth

我觉得美和真相

are intertwined somehow.

往往是交织在一起的。

There is something

陈述真相

beautiful

就蕴含着

in truth-telling.

一种美。

That is:

也就是说：

that as an act, truth-telling

陈述真相的行为

and the myriad ways it manifests --

以及五花八门的呈现方式——

there's beauty in that.

就体现了美的存在。