Your body is my canvas | Alexa Meade

翻译人员: Sophia Liu 校对人员: xuan wang

You may want to take a closer look.

你可能想要离近点儿看它。

There's more to this painting than meets the eye.

除了表面上你所看到油画 它隐含了更多内容

And yes, it's an acrylic painting of a man,

是的，它是一个人的丙烯油画

but I didn't paint it on canvas.

但我并没把它漆在画布上。

I painted it directly on top of the man.

我直接在这个人的身体上作画。

What I do in my art is I skip the canvas altogether,

我所做的艺术是略过画布本身，

and if I want to paint your portrait,

如果我想要给你画张肖像，

I'm painting it on you, physically on you.

我会把它画在你身上， 你的身体之上。

That also means you're probably going to end up

这也就意味着你可能最后

with an earful of paint,

耳朵里全都是颜料，

because I need to paint your ear on your ear.

因为我要在你的耳朵上画一只耳朵。

Everything in this scene, the person, the clothes,

这个场景里的一切，人、衣服、

chairs, wall, gets covered in a mask of paint

椅子、 墙壁、 都被一层画遮盖着

that mimics what's directly below it,

这层画模仿画下的物体，

and in this way, I'm able to take a three-dimensional scene

以这种方式，我就能够创造一个三维的场景

and make it look like a two-dimensional painting.

并使它看起来像一幅二维的画。

I can photograph it from any angle,

我可以从任何角度拍摄，

and it will still look 2D.

而它仍然看起来像是一幅二维图画。

There's no Photoshop here.

我并没有使用图像处理软件。

This is just a photo

这只是

of one of my three-dimensional paintings.

我的三维油画的一张照片而已。

You might be wondering how I came up with this idea

你可能想知道我是如何产生这个想法去

of turning people into paintings.

把人变成绘画。

But originally, this had nothing to do

最初，这与人或颜料

with either people or paint.

都无关。

It was about shadows.

而有关于阴影。

I was fascinated with the absence of light,

我着迷于阴影，

and I wanted to find a way that I could give it materiality

我想要找到一种可以给予它物质性地存在并

and pin it down before it changed.

在它改变之前把它固定下来。

I came up with the idea of painting shadows.

于是我想出了画阴影的想法。

I loved that I could hide within this shadow

我对可以将我所画的阴影 隐藏在真实的阴影中

my own painted version,

乐此不疲，

and it would be almost invisible

而且它几乎是隐形的

until the light changed, and all of a sudden

直到光改变了，

my shadow would be brought to the light.

突然之间，我的阴影就被现形在日光之下。

I wanted to think about what else I could put shadows on,

我在想还有别的什么是我可以将阴影画上去的，

and I thought of my friend Bernie.

于是我想到了我的朋友伯尼。

But I didn't just want to paint the shadows.

但我不仅仅只是想画上去一些阴影。

I also wanted to paint the highlights

我还想要画上一些亮色

and create a mapping on his body in greyscale.

于是在他的身体上创造出一个灰度的绘画。

I had a very specific vision of what this would look like,

对于它具体会变成什么样， 我有一个非常细致的构想，

and as I was painting him,

当我开始画他的时候，

I made sure to follow that very closely.

我仔细地遵循着我的构想。

But something kept on flickering before my eyes.

但有个东西一直在我的眼前闪烁。

I wasn't quite sure what I was looking at.

我不确定我在看什么。

And then when I took that moment to take a step back,

于是我往后退一步看它，

magic.

奇迹出现了。

I had turned my friend into a painting.

我把我的朋友变成了一幅画。

I couldn't have foreseen that

我并不能预料到这件事的发生，

when I wanted to paint a shadow,

当我想要画一个阴影的时候，

I would pull out this whole other dimension,

我会把其他的维度也一并带出来，

that I would collapse it,

并将它瓦解，

that I would take a painting and make it my friend

我会画一下画再画一下我的朋友

and then bring him back to a painting.

然后将他带回到画中。

I was a little conflicted though,

不过，我又有点矛盾，

because I was so excited about what I'd found,

因为我对于我所发现的东西太过于兴奋，

but I was just about to graduate from college

但我就要从大学毕业

with a degree in political science,

并且获得政治科学学位，

and I'd always had this dream

而且我一直有一个梦想是

of going to Washington, D.C.,

去华盛顿，

and sitting at a desk

在办公室里

and working in government.

为政府工作。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Why did this have to get in the way of all that?

为什么这个要在其中挡路？

I made the tough decision

我做出了一个艰难的决定

of going home after graduation

那就是在毕业之后回家

and not going up to Capitol Hill,

不是去国会山，

but going down to my parents' basement

而是去我父母家的地下室

and making it my job to learn how to paint.

使学习如何作画变成我的工作。

I had no idea where to begin.

我真不知道应该从哪里开始。

The last time I'd painted,

我最后一次画画，

I was 16 years old at summer camp,

是我十六岁的时候在夏利营里，

and I didn't want to teach myself how to paint

我并不想要通过复制那些画家

by copying the old masters

或者在一块画布上

or stretching a canvas

反复的练习

and practicing over and over again on that surface,

来教自己如何画画，

because that's not what this project was about for me.

因为这并不是我想要的。

It was about space and light.

而是关于光和空间。

My early canvases ended up being

我早期的画布是

things that you wouldn't expect to be used as canvas,

一些你不会想到能用作画布的东西，

like fried food.

比如说油炸食品。

It's nearly impossible

要让颜料固定在蛋的油脂上面

to get paint to stick to the grease in an egg.

几乎是不可能。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Even harder was getting paint to stick

要使颜料固定在

to the acid in a grapefruit.

西柚中的酸更是不可能。

It just would erase my brush strokes

它会像隐形墨水一样

like invisible ink.

把颜料从我的画笔上擦去。

I'd put something down, and instantly it would be gone.

我一把什么东西画下去，它就会立即消失。

And if I wanted to paint on people,

如果我想要在人的身体上画画，

well, I was a little bit embarrassed

好吧，我是有点尴尬

to bring people down into my studio

把人带到我的工作室里面

and show them that I spent my days in a basement

并且让他们看我成天在地下室里面

putting paint on toast.

在土司上面画画。

It just seemed like it made more sense

在我自己身上练习作画

to practice by painting on myself.

更容易被实施。

One of my favorite models actually ended up being

我最喜欢的模特之一是

a retired old man

一个退休的老男人

who not only didn't mind sitting still

他不仅仅只是不在意坐在那里不动

and getting the paint in his ears,

把他的耳朵里面涂满丙烯，

but he also didn't really have much embarrassment

并且他对于把他带到一些公共的场合

about being taken out into very public places

进行展览这件事

for exhibition,

也并不感到尴尬，

like the Metro.

比如到地铁上去。

I was having so much fun with this process.

在这一过程中，我收获了许多的快乐。

I was teaching myself how to paint in all these different styles,

我教自己如何用不同的风格绘画，

and I wanted to see what else I could do with it.

并且想看看我还能够做些什么。

I came together with a collaborator, Sheila Vand,

我与 Sheila Vand 合作

and we had the idea of creating paintings

我们有的绘画创作想法是

in a more unusual surface,

在一个更不寻常的表面上作画：

and that was milk.

牛奶。

We got a pool. We filled it with milk.

我们有一个游泳池。我们把它装满了牛奶。

We filled it with Sheila. And I began painting.

我们把Sheila也放在牛奶里面。 并且开始作画。

And the images were always

最后创作出来的图像

completely unexpected in the end,

总是完全出乎意料，

because I could have a very specific image

因为如果只是画画的话， 我对于最后所出来的效果

about how it would turn out,

都有一个非常具象的想象，

I could paint it to match that,

我可以用画去配合我的想象，

but the moment that Sheila laid back into the milk,

但当Sheila在牛奶中躺下的时候，

everything would change.

一切都会改变。

It was in constant flux,

它是在不断变化，

and we had to, rather than fight it, embrace it,

与其去与之斗争，我们不如去拥抱它，

see where the milk would take us

看牛奶会把我们带向什么样的方向

and compensate to make it even better.

甚至是使初始想法变得更好。

Sometimes, when Sheila would lay down in the milk,

有时，当Shila在牛奶里躺下的时候，

it would wash all the paint off of her arms,

牛奶会将她胳膊上所有的颜料的洗干，

and it might seem a little bit clumsy,

我们的解决方法可能有些笨拙，

but our solution would be, okay, hide your arms.

那就是把你的胳膊藏起来。

And one time, she got so much milk in her hair

有一次，她的头发沾染了太多牛奶

that it just smeared all the paint off of her face.

并且牛奶把她脸上的画都抹干了。

All right, well, hide your face.

那么，好吧，把你的脸藏起来吧。

And we ended up with something far more elegant

而最后我们得到的作品却是

than we could have imagined,

比我们的想象中更高雅的作品，

even though this is essentially the same solution

即使这跟一个沮丧的孩子不会画手的时候

that a frustrated kid uses when he can't draw hands,

就把手画在口袋里藏起来所用的策略

just hiding them in the pockets.

是一样的。

When we started out on the milk project,

当我们开始这个牛奶项目的时候，

and when I started out,

当我开始的时候，

I couldn't have foreseen that I would go

我不能预见到我将去向何方

from pursuing my dream in politics

从追求我的政治理想

and working at a desk

在办公室工作

to tripping over a shadow

到被阴影所迷的神魂颠倒

and then turning people into paintings

然后把人变成油画

and painting on people in a pool of milk.

和在一池牛奶中的人身上绘画。

But then again, I guess it's also not unforeseeable

但话又说回来，我猜也不是不能预见

that you can find the strange in the familiar,

你总可以在熟悉的事物中找到新奇的，

as long as you're willing to look beyond

只要你愿意抛下你的现状

what's already been brought to light,

看得更远些，

that you can see what's below the surface,

那么你就可以知道隐藏在表面之下，

hiding in the shadows,

躲在暗处的事物，

and recognize that there can be more there

并认识到有更多不仅仅

than meets the eye.

在表面上的东西。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）