Luke Syson: How I learned to stop worrying and love "useless" art

翻译人员: Jingwei Gu 校对人员: liu angela

Two years ago, I have to say there was no problem.

两年前，我得说一切都很正常。

Two years ago, I knew exactly what an icon looked like.

两年前，我很清楚地知道偶像长什么样。

It looks like this.

就长这样的。

Everybody's icon, but also the default position

这是所有人的偶像，包括我在内

of a curator of Italian Renaissance paintings, which I was then.

当时我还是意大利文艺复兴博物馆的馆长。

And in a way, this is also another default selection.

从某种角度来说，选择这幅画也是如此。

Leonardo da Vinci's exquisitely soulful image

莱昂纳多·达·芬奇细腻灵动的画作：

of the "Lady with an Ermine."

“抱银鼠的女子”（‘Lady with an Ermine’）

And I use that word, soulful, deliberately.

我说“灵动”，是特意这么说的。

Or then there's this, or rather these:

再或者是这幅，应该说是这两幅：

the two versions of Leonardo's "Virgin of the Rocks"

达·芬奇“岩间圣母”（‘Virgin of the Rocks’）的两个版本

that were about to come together in London for the very first time.

当时在伦敦两幅画第一次一起展出。

In the exhibition that I was then in the absolute throes of organizing.

那时我正处在筹备展览的最后阶段。

I was literally up to my eyes in Leonardo,

我真真切切地在解读达芬奇，

and I had been for three years.

持续了三年。

So, he was occupying every part of my brain.

所以，我当时无时无刻不在想他。

Leonardo had taught me, during that three years,

在那三年中，达·芬奇教会了我，

about what a picture can do.

一幅画的力量。

About taking you from your own material world into a spiritual world.

它带领你脱离物质世界并进入一个精神世界。

He said, actually, that he believed the job of the painter

实际上他说他相信画家的工作

was to paint everything that was visible and invisible in the universe.

是要去描绘宇宙中一切可见以及不可见的事物。

That's a huge task. And yet, somehow he achieves it.

这可是任重道远。然而，他做到了。

He shows us, I think, the human soul.

我想，他向我们展示了，人类的灵魂。

He shows us the capacity of ourselves

也展示了我们自身具备的

to move into a spiritual realm.

能进入精神王国的能力，

To see a vision of the universe that's more perfect than our own.

能够目睹比我们自身更完美的宇宙景象。

To see God's own plan, in some sense.

从某种意义上来说，看见上帝的计划。

So this, in a sense, was really what I believed an icon was.

所以，从这个层面上来说，我确信“偶像”就是这样的。

At about that time, I started talking to Tom Campbell,

大概在那时，我开始与汤姆·坎伯交谈，

director here of the Metropolitan Museum,

也就是这里的大都会博物馆的主管，

about what my next move might be.

关于我下一步该怎么做的相关事宜。

The move, in fact, back to an earlier life,

下一步，实际上，是回到早些时候

one I'd begun at the British Museum,

回到我刚在大英博物馆工作的时候，

back to the world of three dimensions --

回到三维的世界——

of sculpture and of decorative arts --

回到雕塑与装饰艺术的世界，

to take over the department of European sculpture and decorative arts, here at the Met.

去接管大都会艺术博物馆的 欧洲雕塑与装饰艺术系别。

But it was an incredibly busy time.

那段时间真是出奇的忙。

All the conversations were done at very peculiar times of the day --

那天花了各种各样的时间段谈完了话，

over the phone.

而且还是通过电话。

In the end, I accepted the job

最后，我接受了这项工作，

without actually having been here.

但其实人并没来。

Again, I'd been there a couple of years before,

我除了几年前来过这里一次，

but on that particular visit.

就再没有来过。

So, it was just before the time that the Leonardo show was due to open

因此，就在达·芬奇的展览将要开幕前

when I finally made it back to the Met, to New York,

我终于来到了纽约的大都会博物馆，

to see my new domain.

来看看我的新领域，

To see what European sculpture and decorative arts looked like,

超越我熟悉的意大利文艺复兴时期的收藏，

beyond those Renaissance collections with which I was so already familiar.

看看欧洲雕塑与装饰艺术是什么样的。

And I thought, on that very first day, I better tour the galleries.

就在第一天的时候，我想最好还是参观参观。

Fifty-seven of these galleries --

五十七个画廊——

like 57 varieties of baked beans, I believe.

就像五十七种不同的烘豆，我觉得。

I walked through and I started in my comfort zone in the Italian Renaissance.

我从熟悉的意大利文艺复兴的领域 步行穿过这些画廊。

And then I moved gradually around,

然后，逐渐漫步到另一边，

feeling a little lost sometimes.

有时会觉得有点迷惑。

My head, also still full of the Leonardo exhibition

我的脑海仍然被即将开幕的

that was about to open, and I came across this.

达·芬奇的展览所占据着，然后，我看到了这个。

And I thought to myself: What the hell have I done?

接着我对自己说我就想：“我究竟在干嘛呢？”

There was absolutely no connection in my mind

这东西在我看来绝对与这个领域没有一点联系，

at all and, in fact, if there was any emotion going on,

而且，如果我对它有什么情绪的话，

it was a kind of repulsion.

就只能是一种反感。

This object felt utterly and completely alien.

这个物件给人的感觉完全是完全陌生的。

Silly at a level that I hadn't yet understood silliness to be.

前所未有的古怪。

And then it was made worse --

但是问题似乎更糟了——

there were two of them.

两个这样的展品。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So, I started thinking about why it was, in fact,

因此，我开始思考为什么

that I disliked this object so much.

我如此讨厌这个展品。

What was the anatomy of my distaste?

我的厌恶情绪的根源是什么？

Well, so much gold, so vulgar.

嗯，太多的金色了，俗辣辣的俗。

You know, so nouveau riche, frankly.

你们懂的，坦白地说，就是暴发户。

Leonardo himself had preached against the use of gold,

达·芬奇自己就很反对对于金色的运用，

so it was absolutely anathema at that moment.

所以当时这对我来说是个很让人讨厌的东西。

And then there's little pretty sprigs of flowers everywhere. (Laughter)

而且，上面都是娇小可爱的小花枝。（笑声）

And finally, that pink. That damned pink.

最后一点，粉色。作死的粉色。

It's such an extraordinarily artificial color.

完完全全人工制造的颜色。

I mean, it's a color that I can't think of anything that you actually see in nature,

我的意思是，这种暗暗的色调

that looks that shade.

是绝对不可能在自然界看到的。

The object even has its own tutu. (Laughter)

这个展品甚至有芭蕾短裙。（笑声）

This little flouncy, spangly, bottomy bit

就是这种位于花瓶底部的

that sits at the bottom of the vase.

小褶边和亮片。

It reminded me, in an odd kind of way,

它以一种古怪的方式使我想起了

of my niece's fifth birthday party.

我侄女五岁的生日派对。

Where all the little girls would come either as a princess or a fairy.

所有的小女孩都会装扮成公主或仙女过来。

There was one who would come as a fairy princess.

有个姑娘装扮成了童话里的公主。

You should have seen the looks.

你们应该已经知道那是什么样儿了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And I realize that this object was in my mind,

我意识到，对我来说这件展品

born from the same mind, from the same womb,

是基本类似于

practically, as Barbie Ballerina. (Laughter)

芭比娃娃打扮成芭蕾舞演员。（笑声）

And then there's the elephants. (Laughter)

之后，这些大象。（笑声）

Those extraordinary elephants

这些非同一般的大象

with their little, sort of strange, sinister expressions

露出些许奇怪阴险的表情

and Greta Garbo eyelashes, with these golden tusks and so on.

有着葛丽泰·嘉宝样的睫毛以及金象牙等等。

I realized this was an elephant that had

我意识到这只象与塞伦盖蒂的

absolutely nothing to do with a majestic march across the Serengeti.

“宏伟行军”绝对没有半毛钱关系。

It was a Dumbo nightmare. (Laughter)

这是小飞象的噩梦版。（笑声）

But something more profound was happening as well.

但是我脑海中也蹦出了更深刻的东西。

These objects, it seemed to me,

对我来说，似乎这些展品，

were quintessentially the kind that I and my liberal left friends in London

是那种典型的我和我在 伦敦的自由主义左派朋友

had always seen as summing up

常看到的展品类型

something deplorable about the French aristocracy

当我们总结十八世纪

in the 18th century.

凄惨的法国贵族的时候。

The label had told me that these pieces were made

展品上的标签告诉我这些作品

by the Sèvres Manufactory,

是在塞夫勒厂（Sèvres Manufactory）制作的，

made of porcelain in the late 1750s,

材质是瓷，年代在制作于十八世纪五十年代后期，

and designed by a designer called Jean-Claude Duplessis,

它的设计师名叫让-克洛德·杜普蕾西丝（Jean-Claude Duplessis），

actually somebody of extraordinary distinction

但后来据我了解，

as I later learned.

他是一位特立独行的设计师。

But for me, they summed up a kind of,

但对我来说，他们似乎在总结，

that sort of sheer uselessness of the aristocracy

十八世纪的贵族的

in the 18th century.

纯粹的无价值性。

I and my colleagues had always thought

我和我的同事以前经常认为

that these objects, in way, summed up the idea of,

这些展品，从某种角度来说，总结了

you know -- no wonder there was a revolution.

你们懂的--怪不得后来爆发了一场革命。

Or, indeed, thank God there was a revolution.

或确切些说，感谢上帝，这场革命爆发了。

There was a sort of idea really, that,

这种观点认为，

if you owned a vase like this,

如果你有一个像这样的花瓶，

then there was really only one fate possible.

命运可能就只有一种了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So, there I was -- in a sort of paroxysm of horror.

因此，我陷入了一种终极恐慌中。

But I took the job and I went on looking at these vases.

但是，我仍然接受了这项工作， 并继续研究这些花瓶。

I sort of had to because they're on a through route in the Met.

其实不得不看，因为它们就摆放在 博物馆的必经之路上。

So, almost anywhere I went, there they were.

所以，我在哪儿，都能看到它们。

They had this kind of odd sort of fascination,

它们有这种奇怪的魅力，

like a car accident.

就跟车祸现场一样。

Where I couldn't stop looking.

叫我忍不住的看。

And as I did so, I started thinking:

我反复地观察，然后开始思考：

Well, what are we actually looking at here?

嗯，我们到底在观察什么呢？

And what I started with was understanding this

这种思考的开端就是去真正地

as really a supreme piece of design.

把这个展品当作优秀的设计来理解。

It took me a little time.

这花了我一些时间。

But, that tutu for example --

比如，这里的“芭蕾短裙”——

actually, this is a piece that does dance in its own way.

事实上，它是在用自己的方式“舞蹈”。

It has an extraordinary lightness

看看它卓越的亮度

and yet, it is also amazing balanced.

以及令人称奇的平衡力。

It has these kinds of sculptural ingredients.

它拥有许多雕刻所需的组成。

And then the play between --

还有，颜色与镀金

actually really quite carefully disposed color and gilding, and the sculptural surface,

之间的完美结合，以及 与雕塑表面之间的结合，

is really rather remarkable.

无不精湛。

And then I realized that this piece went into the kiln

然后我意识到这个花瓶

four times, at least four times in order to arrive at this.

入过四次窑，至少四次 才能达到这个水准。

How many moments for accident can you think of

你能想象花瓶在烧制过程中

that could have happened to this piece?

可能会出现多少意外吗？

And then remember, not just one, but two.

而且请记住，不是只有一个，而是两个。

So he's having to arrive at two exactly matched

所以设计师得做两个完全达到了

vases of this kind.

这种水准的花瓶。

And then this question of uselessness.

然后，回到“无价值”的问题上。

Well actually, the end of the trunks were originally candle holders.

其实，象鼻的末端是一个小烛台。

So what you would have had were candles on either side.

所以可以在两边各放一支蜡烛。

Imagine that effect of candlelight on that surface.

想象一下烛光映照在这个表面的效果。

On the slightly uneven pink, on the beautiful gold.

映照在那稍稍不均匀的粉色上，那美丽的金色上。

It would have glittered in an interior,

它会在在室内闪闪发光，

a little like a little firework.

就像迷你的烟火。

And at that point, actually, a firework went off in my brain.

说到这里，事实上， 我脑海中已经有了烟火盛放的画面。

Somebody reminded me that, that word 'fancy' --

有人提醒我，用“花哨”（‘fancy’）这个词——

which in a sense for me, encapsulated this object --

来形容这个花瓶，对我来说

actually comes from the same root as the word 'fantasy.'

这和和“幻想”（‘fantasy’）一词是同源的。

And that what this object was just as much in a way,

而且，这件展品其实只是

in its own way, as a Leonardo da Vinci painting,

在用自己的方式，就像达·芬奇的画作一样，

is a portal to somewhere else.

成为通往另一个世界的入口。

This is an object of the imagination.

这是一件充满想象的艺术品。

If you think about the mad 18th-century operas of the time -- set in the Orient.

如果你去想想18世纪歌剧的疯狂— 来自东方的作品，

If you think about divans and perhaps even opium-induced visions of pink elephants,

以及室内的装潢和甚至是鸦片导致的 粉色大象的幻觉，

then at that point, this object starts to make sense.

从这个角度来讲，这个作品就说得通了。

This is an object which is all about escapism.

这件作品描述了一种空想。

It's about an escapism that happens --

这种空想成为了现实——

that the aristocracy in France sought

法国贵族

very deliberately

有意

to distinguish themselves from ordinary people.

要把他们自己同寻常百姓区别开来。

It's not an escapism that

然而，这并不是那种

we feel particularly happy with today, however.

现如今会令人愉悦的空想。

And again, going on thinking about this,

我继续思考着，

I realize that in a way we're all victims

然后意识到，在某种意义上，我们都是

of a certain kind of tyranny

胜利的现代主义中

of the triumph of modernism

暴政的受害者，

whereby form and function in an object

也就是说，一件物品的构造与功能

have to follow one another, or are deemed to do so.

必须相互参照，或者人们是这样想的。

And the extraneous ornament is seen as really,

而无用的装饰被从根本上视为是

essentially, criminal.

一种真正的犯罪。

It's a triumph, in a way, of bourgeois values rather than aristocratic ones.

这与其说是贵族的胜利， 还不如说是资产阶级的胜利。

And that seems fine.

听上去似乎行得通，

Except for the fact that it becomes a kind of sequestration of imagination.

除了，想象力的匮乏是不争的事实以外。

So just as in the 20th century, so many people

因此，就像在20世纪一样，那么多的人

had the idea that their faith

认为他们的信仰生活

took place on the Sabbath day,

应在安息日进行，

and the rest of their lives --

除此以外的生活——

their lives of washing machines and orthodontics --

洗衣服看牙医的生活——

took place on another day.

则改日进行。

Then, I think we've started doing the same.

我觉得我们现在做的事情如出一辙。

We've allowed ourselves to

我们允许自己

lead our fantasy lives in front of screens.

将幻想生活局限在电视屏幕前。

In the dark of the cinema, with the television in the corner of the room.

在黑暗的电影院中，在角落里的电视机前。

We've eliminated, in a sense, that constant

从某种意义上说，我们已经扼杀了

of the imagination that these vases represented in people's lives.

这些花瓶所展示的人们生活中的想象力。

So maybe it's time we got this back a little.

因此，也许我们是时候“怀怀旧”了。

I think it's beginning to happen.

我认为这已经开始发生了。

In London, for example,

比如在伦敦，

with these extraordinary buildings

像这样非同一般的建筑物

that have been appearing over the last few years.

在过去的几年中一直在新建。

Redolent, in a sense, of science fiction,

它们从某种角度上使人想到科幻小说，

turning London into a kind of fantasy playground.

并把伦敦变成了一块幻想之地。

It's actually amazing to look out of a high building nowadays there.

如今从高层建筑向外眺望是非常令人着迷的。

But even then, there's a resistance.

但即使这样，阻力却仍然存在。

London has called these buildings the Gherkin, the Shard, the Walkie Talkie --

伦敦人把这些建筑叫做“小黄瓜”、“水晶宫”、“对讲机”——

bringing these soaring buildings down to Earth.

把这些冲向云霄的建筑拉回到了现实。

There's an idea that we don't want these

有人认为是我们本身不想

anxious-making, imaginative journeys to happen in our daily lives.

在生活中碰见这些使人焦虑、富于想象力的过程。

I feel lucky in a way,

从某种角度来说，我是幸运的。

I've encountered this object.

我遇上了这个作品。

(Laughter)

(笑声)

I found him on the Internet when I was looking up a reference.

我在网上寻找参考材料的时候找到了他。

And there he was.

就是这个。

And unlike the pink elephant vase,

不同于粉色大象花瓶，

this was a kind of love at first sight.

我第一眼看到就觉得很有爱。

In fact, reader, I married him. I bought him.

事实上，我拥有了他，我买下来了。

And he now adorns my office.

现在是我办公室里的装饰品。

He's a Staffordshire figure made in the middle of the 19th century.

他是一个19世纪中叶制作的 斯塔福郡塑像（Staffordshire figure）。

He represents the actor, Edmund Kean, playing Shakespeare's Richard III.

展示了男演员埃德蒙·基恩 饰演莎士比亚的理查三世的场景。

And it's based, actually, on a more elevated piece of porcelain.

而且它的材质是一种更高级的瓷。

So I loved, on an art historical level,

所以我喜欢它，从艺术史的层面上来说，

I loved that layered quality that he has.

喜欢它极富层次感的品质。

But more than that, I love him.

但更重要的是，我喜欢他本身。

In a way that I think would have been impossible

从某种角度来说，如果在研究达芬奇的日子里没有见到过粉色花瓶

without the pink Sèvres vase in my Leonardo days.

这就是绝对不可能发生的事了。

I love his orange and pink breeches.

我喜欢他橙粉相间的短裤。

I love the fact that he seems to be going off to war,

我喜欢他那种似乎刚刚打扮整洁

having just finished the washing up. (Laughter)

然后要去上战场的样子。（笑声）

He seems also to have forgotten his sword.

他好像还忘了他的剑。

I love his pink little cheeks, his munchkin energy.

我喜欢他粉色的双颊，还有充沛的精力。

In a way, he's become my sort of alter ego.

从某种角度来说，他已经成为了另一个我。

He's, I hope, a little bit dignified,

他还是有点威严的，

but mostly rather vulgar. (Laughter)

但还是粗俗占大部分。（笑声）

And energetic, I hope, too.

我也希望他活力充沛。

I let him into my life because the Sèvres pink elephant vase allowed me to do so.

因为那只粉色大象，我让他进入了我的生活。

And before that Leonardo,

在达芬奇多之前，

I understood that this object could become part of a journey for me every day,

我明白这件作品会成为 我人生旅程的一部分，

sitting in my office.

就这么坐在办公室里。

I really hope that others, all of you,

我真诚地希望其他人，在座的各位，

visiting objects in the museum,

在博物馆参观展品的时候，

and taking them home and finding them for yourselves,

还有在把它们带回家，抑或 是在寻找它们的时候

will allow those objects to flourish in your imaginative lives.

能够跟随着这些展品让想象力源源不断地注入进生命。

Thank you very much.

非常感谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）