Why art thrives at Burning Man | Nora Atkinson

翻译人员: Ziyun Liao 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

It's like a dream.

就像做梦一样，

Imagine, in the empty desert,

想象在荒无人烟的沙漠里，

you come upon a huge wheel ringed in skeletons,

你看到了一个巨大的轮子， 上面挂满了一圈骷髅，

and someone invites you to come pull a series of heavy ropes at its base,

然后有人邀请你一起拉动 底下那串沉重的绳子，

so you walk to one side, where a team is waiting,

你走到底部的一边， 那里已经有一群人就位了。

and you all throw your backs into it,

你们所有人用尽全力往后拉，

and you pull in turn,

然后又轮流拉，

and eventually, the wheel roars to life,

最终，轮子轰隆隆的动起来了。

lights begin to flicker, and the audience cheers,

灯光开始闪烁，观众开始欢呼，

and you've just activated Peter Hudson's "Charon,"

各位刚刚成功启动了Peter Hudson的 作品“卡戎”（冥府的渡神），

one of the world's largest zoetropes.

这是世界上最大的西洋幻境之一。

This is the farthest thing from marketable art.

但这也是最不具有商业价值的艺术品。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

It's huge, it's dangerous,

它很庞大，很危险，

it takes a dozen people to run, and it doesn't go with the sofa.

要十几个人合力才能启动， 还不能坐在沙发上观看。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

It's beautifully crafted and completely useless,

虽然制作精良，但却毫无用处，

and it's wonderful.

可是却无比壮观。

You're unlikely to see works like "Charon" in the art-world headlines.

在当今的艺术世界里，像《卡戎》 这样的作品不太可能出现在头条上。

These days, the buying and selling of artwork

如今，人们对艺术作品买卖的关注

often gets more attention than the works themselves.

超过了作品本身。

In the last year, a Jean-Michel Basquiat sold for 110 million dollars,

去年，尚 · 米榭 · 巴斯奇亚的 一幅作品卖到了一亿一千万美元，

the highest price ever achieved for the work of an American artist,

成为了美国艺术家历史上 卖得最贵的作品，

and a painting by Leonardo da Vinci sold for 450 million,

还有列奥纳多 · 达 · 芬奇的一幅画 最终以4500万美元成交，

setting a new auction record.

创下了拍卖会上的历史新高。

Still, these are big, important artists,

但毕竟，这些都是伟大的， 举足轻重的艺术家们，

but still, when you look at these works and you look at the headlines,

可即便如此，当大家看到这些作品， 看到那些成交的新闻标题时，

you have to ask yourself,

依然要问问自己，

"Do I care about these because they move me,

“我在意这些作品是因为 它们让我深受触动，

or do I care about them because they're expensive

还是因为它们卖得很贵，

and I think they're supposed to?"

所以我认为他们本应如此？”

In our contemporary world, it can be hard to separate those two things.

在当今社会，要将价格和作品本身的 价值区分看待也许很难。

But what if we tried?

但如果我们能试一试呢？

What if we redefined art's value --

要是我们能够不再用价格来

not by its price tag,

定义一幅作品的价值，

but by the emotional connection it creates between the artist and the audience,

而是由作品给艺术家与观众之间 搭建这座情感交流的桥梁，

or the benefits it gives our society,

或者作品给社会带来的好处，

or the fulfillment it gives the artists themselves?

又或者是艺术家们所得到的 成就感来重新定义呢？

This is Nevada's Black Rock Desert,

这是内华达州的黑石沙漠，

about as far as you can get from the galleries of New York

是离纽约，伦敦和香港的画廊

and London and Hong Kong.

最远的地方。

And here, for just about 30 years, at Burning Man,

就在这儿，仅仅用了30年， 在火人节这个节日，

a movement has been forming that does exactly that.

一场艺术改革运动就此兴起。

Since its early anarchist years, Burning Man has grown up.

从最初一场无政府主义者的狂欢， 至现在，火人节发展成熟。

Today, it's more of an experiment in collective dreaming.

如今，这个节日更像是一种 实现集体梦想的实验。

It's a year-round community, and every August, for a single week,

黑石市全年开放， 在每年八月里的某一周，

70,000 people power down their technology and pilgrimage out into the desert

有七万多名游客放下手中的 电子产品，前来沙漠朝拜，

to build an anti-consumerist society

就是为了建造一个超越日常生活的，

outside the bounds of their everyday lives.

反消费主义的社会。

The conditions are brutal.

沙漠的条件是艰苦的，

Strangers will hug you,

但陌生人之间会相互拥抱鼓励，

and every year, you will swear it was better the last,

而你每年都信誓旦旦的说 这最好是最后一次来这儿了，

but it's still ridiculous and freeing and alive,

尽管如此，但它却那么 荒诞不羁，生气蓬勃。

and the art is one thing that thrives here.

艺术在这片天地里， 繁荣的发展了起来。

So this is me on the desert playa last year

这是我去年在沙漠盐湖拍的，

with my brother, obviously hard at work.

还有我的弟弟， 很显然他正在辛勤的劳作。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I'd been studying the art of Burning Man for several years,

我已经研究火人节艺术好几年了，

for an exhibition I curated at the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery,

为了在史密森尼博物院的分馆 伦威克美术馆举办一次展会，

and what fascinates me the most isn't the quality of the work here,

这里最令我着迷的 不是这些作品的质量，

which is actually rather high,

虽然它们确实制作精良，

it's why people come out here into the desert again and again

而是为什么大家一次又一次的 来到这个荒芜的沙漠，

to get their hands dirty and make in our increasingly digital age.

在这个日益数码化的时代， 选择亲自动手，制作一些东西。

Because it seems like this gets to something that's essentially human.

因为这样做似乎触及到了 人类本质上的一些东西。

Really, the entire encampment of Burning Man

整个火人节的大本营，

could be thought of as one giant interactive art installation

真的可以被视为是一个巨大的， 交互式的艺术装置，

driven by the participation of everyone in it.

由每一位参与其中的志愿者驱动。

One thing that sets this work aside from the commercial art world

让这个大本营与外面的商业 艺术世界不同的是，

is that anyone who makes work can show it.

在这里，只要是你亲手制作的 作品，你都可以带来展示。

These days, around 300 art installations and countless artistic gestures

时至今日，有大概300多件 艺术装置和数不清的艺术作品

go to the playa.

都在被运往这个沙漠盐湖。

None of them are sold there.

但没有一件艺术作品会在这里卖掉。

At the end of the week, if the works aren't burned,

接近火人节的尾声时， 如果艺术家们不愿烧掉自己的作品，

artists have to cart them back out and store them.

那么他们就得将作品运回去， 收藏起来，

It's a tremendous labor of love.

如果不是因为热爱， 谁又愿意这样折腾一番呢呢？

Though there is certainly a Burning Man aesthetic,

虽然沙漠里确实有着火人节 独特的审美标准，

pioneered by artists like Kate Raudenbush and Michael Christian,

该标准由Kate Raudenbush和 Michael Christian等艺术家领衔创立，

much of the distinctive character of the work here

但这里大多数作品的显著特点，

comes from the desert itself.

还是来源于沙漠本身。

For a work to succeed,

要想一个作品大获成功，

it has to be portable enough to make the journey,

首先得确保它方便运输， 起码能完成这趟旅程，

rugged enough to withstand the wind and weather and participants,

其次还要够坚挺，抵挡得住狂风， 恶劣天气和众多参与者的影响，

stimulating in daylight and darkness,

在昼与夜的交替中要给人 带来感官的刺激，

and engaging without interpretation.

不用太多诠释， 就能够让大家参与其中。

Encounters with monumental and intimate works here feel surreal.

这里，与不朽、充满亲和力的作品 接触，给人的感觉是那么不真实。

Scale has a tendency to fool the eyes.

作品的规模很轻易就骗过人的双眼，

What looked enormous in an artist's studio could get lost on the playa,

那些在艺术工作室里看起来巨大无比的 作品可能进了盐湖就找不见了，

but there are virtually no spatial limits,

但是实际上， 沙漠里是没有空间限制的，

so artists can dream as big as they can build.

所以艺术家们可以尽情的 建造自己想要的规模。

Some pieces bowl you over by their grace

有一些作品优雅得让你为之倾倒，

and others by the sheer audacity it took to bring them here.

还有一些作品则需十足的胆量和 放肆才能够呈现于人们眼前。

Burning Man's irreverent humor comes out in pieces

火人节那玩世不恭的幽默体现在

like Rebekah Waites' "Church Trap,"

像Rebekah Waites的作品 《教堂的陷阱》上，

a tiny country chapel set precariously on a wooden beam, like a mousetrap,

一个小型的乡村教堂摇摇欲坠的 支在木梁上，造型像个捕鼠夹一样，

that lured participants in to find religion --

吸引着游客们进入 这间教堂寻找信仰 ——

it was built and burned in 2013 ...

这个作品已于2013年建造并烧毁。

while other works, like Christopher Schardt's "Firmament,"

其它的作品， 如Christopher Schardt的《苍穹》，

aim for the sublime.

目的是为了表现庄严的感觉，

Here, under a canopy of dancing lights set to classical music,

游客们躺在交错的灯光下， 聆听着古典的音乐，

participants could escape the thumping rave beats

借此逃离周围那狂野的节拍

and chaos all around.

和喧嚣。

At night, the city swarms with mutant vehicles,

夜晚时分，黑石市到处都 穿梭着改装过的车辆，

the only cars allowed to roam the playa.

盐湖里唯一允许行驶的车辆。

And if necessity is the mother of invention,

如果说需求是创造力之母，

here, absurdity is its father.

那么在盐湖里， 荒诞则是创造力之父。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

They zigzag from artwork to artwork

这两点在不同的作品上各有体现，

like some bizarre, random public transportation system,

比如一些造型怪诞随性的 运输车辆，

pulsing with light and sound.

闪光和音效此起彼伏。

When artists stop worrying about critics and collectors

当艺术家们不再担心作品 是否会遭到批判或被人收藏时，

and start making work for themselves,

他们就真的开始在为自己创造了，

these are the kinds of marvelous toys they create.

这些都是他们创造出来最棒的玩具。

And what's amazing is that, by and large, when people first come to Burning Man,

但最神奇的一点是，总的来说 当大家第一次来庆祝火人节时，

they don't know how to make this stuff.

他们并不知道如何制造这些东西。

It's the active collaborative maker community there

但正是有了这一群互相合作的制造者，

that makes this possible.

这一切变成了可能。

Collectives like Five Ton Crane come together to share skills

像“五吨起重机”这样的组织团体 会聚在一起分享创作技巧，

and take on complex projects a single artist would never even attempt,

还会承接一些单个艺术家们 永远不会尝试的复杂的项目，

from a Gothic rocket ship that appears ready to take off at any moment

如看起来似乎随时要 起飞的哥特式火箭船，

to a fairytale home inside a giant boot

还有童话故事里才有的巨靴 一样的家，

complete with shelves full of artist-made books,

房中的书架摆满了 艺术家们制作的书本，

a blackbird pie in the oven

还有一个放有烤派的烤箱，

and a climbable beanstalk.

以及一个可以攀爬的豆茎构成。

Skilled or unskilled, all are welcome.

无论技巧娴熟与否， 火人节都欢迎你的到来。

In fact, part of the charm and the innovation of the work here

事实上，这些作品之所以 富有魅力和创新精神，

is that so many makers aren't artists at all,

部分原因是他们的制作者 根本不是艺术家，

but scientists or engineers

而是一些科学家，工程师，

or welders or garbage collectors,

电焊工或清洁工罢了。

and their works cross disciplinary boundaries,

他们的作品跨越了学科领域，

from a grove of origami mushrooms

从根据蒙古包形状设计

that developed out of the design for a yurt

发展起来的折纸蘑菇丛，

to a tree that responds to the voices and biorhythms

到能够回应周围一切声音

和生物节律的树木，

of all those around it

through 175,000 LEDs embedded in its leaves.

树叶上镶嵌了十七万五千个 LED感应器。

In museums, a typical visitor spends less than 30 seconds with a work of art,

在博物馆里，游客们平均花在每一幅 艺术品上的时间不超过30秒钟，

and I often watch people wander from label to label,

我经常看到游客们在 作品简介的标签之间徘徊，

searching for information,

寻读信息，

as though the entire story of a work of art

仿佛这幅作品的全部故事

could be contained in that one 80-word text.

都包含在那一张80字的 作品简介里一样。

But in the desert, there are no gatekeepers

但在黑石沙漠， 这里没有看守的门卫，

and no placards explaining the art, just natural curiosity.

没有艺术作品的解说， 只有单纯的好奇而已。

You see a work on the horizon, and you ride towards it.

你在远处看到一个作品， 就驱车向前驶去，

When you arrive, you walk all around it,

等你到达了，你绕着它走一圈，

you touch it, you test it.

摸一摸，试一试，

Is it sturdy enough to climb on? Will I be impaled by it?

是不是够坚硬可以攀爬？ 会不会被刺伤？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Art becomes a place for extended interaction,

艺术成为了延申互动的地方，

and although the display might be short-lived,

虽然这里作品的展示时间也许很短，

the experience stays with you.

但这段经历会永远伴随着你。

Nowhere is that truer at Burning Man than at the Temple.

在火人节里，没有一个地方 比“庙宇”更加真实。

In 2000, David Best and Jack Haye built the first Temple,

2002年， David Best和 Jack Haye建立了第一座庙宇，

and after a member of their team was killed tragically in an accident

但不幸的是他们团队中的 一名成员在活动开幕前

shortly before the event,

意外丧生了，

the building became a makeshift memorial.

这座庙宇因此变成了 一个临时的纪念馆，

By itself, it's a magnificent piece of architecture,

它本身是一个宏伟的建筑物，

but the structure is only a shell until it disappears

相比庙宇在消失前

墙上布满着无数条思想和口讯， 它的华丽构建仅是个外壳。

under a thick blanket of messages.

"I miss you."

“我想你。”

"Please forgive me."

“请原谅我。”

"Even a broken crayon still colors."

“即便是断掉的彩笔， 依然不失色彩。”

Intimate testaments to the most universal of human experiences,

人类存在于这世上的 最普遍的亲密见证，

the experience of loss.

就是生离死别的经历。

The collective emotion in this place is overpowering and indescribable,

在活动的最后一晚， 放火焚毁这些艺术作品前，

before it's set afire on the last night of the event.

大家的情绪都已经 无法抑制，难以言表了。

Every year, something compels people from all different walks of life,

每一年，总有某些因素驱使着 这些来自各个阶层，

from all over the world,

来自世界各地的人们，

to go out into the desert and make art

走出家门走进沙漠，进行艺术创作，

when there is no money in it.

即便其中无利可图。

The work's not always refined,

这些作品并非总是制作精良，

it's not always viable,

并非总是切实可行，

it's not even always good,

也并非总是令人赏心悦目，

but it's authentic and optimistic in a way we rarely see anywhere else.

但它们体现了作者的原创和乐观精神 而这是我们在其他地方难得一见的，

In these cynical times,

在这些个愤世嫉俗的时代，

it's comforting to know that we're still capable of great feats of imagination,

令人宽慰的是，我们知道我们 依然能够发挥自己丰富的想象力，

and that when we search for connection,

我们还在不停的寻找彼此间的联系，

we come together and build cathedrals in the dust.

我们欢聚一堂，在沙尘中建造教堂。

Forget the price tags.

让我们忘掉作品的价格，

Forget the big names.

忘掉那些响当当的作者大名吧。

What is art for in our contemporary world if not this?

在当代社会里，如果这不是艺术， 那什么才算是艺术呢？

Thank you.

谢谢大家。

(Applause)

（掌声）