4 Lessons in Creativity | Julie Burstein | TED Talks

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

翻译人员: 嘉宇 王 校对人员: xueling Sun

On my desk in my office, I keep a small clay pot

在我办公室的桌上，有一个小瓷罐

that I made in college. It's raku, which is a kind of pottery

是我在大学的时候自己做的。日本乐烧，一种陶瓷。

that began in Japan centuries ago as a way of

是几个世纪以前日本

making bowls for the Japanese tea ceremony.

用于制作茶道会的碗

This one is more than 400 years old.

我们看到的这一个有四百多年的历史

Each one was pinched or carved out of a ball of clay,

每一个，都是用捏或雕的手法做出来

and it was the imperfections that people cherished.

尽管如此做出的陶器不尽完美，但这种不完美正是人们追求的

Everyday pots like this cup take eight to 10 hours to fire.

乐烧需要在火里烧制8-10小时

I just took this out of the kiln last week, and the kiln itself

我上周刚把这个乐烧从窑里取出

takes another day or two to cool down, but raku

而窑还需要一两天才能冷却下来

is really fast. You do it outside, and you take the kiln

而乐烧则比它快得多，你把它取出窑后

up to temperature. In 15 minutes, it goes to 1,500 degrees,

过15分钟，它就降至1500度

and as soon as you see that the glaze has melted inside,

一旦你看见里面的釉融化，

you can see that faint sheen, you turn the kiln off,

内部变得光泽，你就将瓷器翻转

and you reach in with these long metal tongs,

用这种长长的钳子夹住

you grab the pot, and in Japan, this red-hot pot

在日本，烧红的罐子

would be immediately immersed in a solution of green tea,

会直接浸入到一种绿茶溶液中

and you can imagine what that steam would smell like.

你可以想象那种蒸汽是什么样的味道

But here in the United States, we ramp up the drama

但在美国，我们有所改进

a little bit, and we drop our pots into sawdust,

我们把它置于易燃的锯末之中，

which catches on fire, and you take a garbage pail,

接着就得用一个垃圾桶

and you put it on top, and smoke starts pouring out.

往上面一盖，浓烟滚滚

I would come home with my clothes reeking of woodsmoke.

回到家里时，衣服上都是烟味

I love raku because it allows me to play with the elements.

我喜爱乐烧是因为它让我接触到原始的素材

I can shape a pot out of clay and choose a glaze,

我捏出形状，选择釉料

but then I have to let it go to the fire and the smoke,

可之后我要让它经受火和烟的考验

and what's wonderful is the surprises that happen,

当结果来临的时候是多么让人惊喜呀

like this crackle pattern, because it's really stressful

例如这种细小的开片，布满整个瓷器

on these pots. They go from 1,500 degrees

这是因为乐烧从1500度降到室温

to room temperature in the space of just a minute.

不过才用短短几分钟

Raku is a wonderful metaphor for the process of creativity.

乐烧是创造过程的一个美妙比喻

I find in so many things that tension between

很多事情你可以控制

what I can control and what I have to let go

但另一些你只能任其发展

happens all the time, whether I'm creating a new radio show

这种情形总是发生，无论是我在电台做节目

or just at home negotiating with my teenage sons.

或是在家与未成年的孩子们商谈

When I sat down to write a book about creativity,

每当我坐下来开始写一本关于创造力的书

I realized that the steps were reversed.

我感觉这些步骤正在回溯

I had to let go at the very beginning, and I had to

经常不得不回到开头，不得不回到

immerse myself in the stories of hundreds of artists

那些几百个从不同的艺术家，作者，制片

and writers and musicians and filmmakers, and as I listened

音乐那里听来的故事

to these stories, I realized that creativity

从这些故事中，我意识到创造力

grows out of everyday experiences

来自于平时的积累的

more often than you might think, including

也许比你想象的更多，包括

letting go.

顺其自然

It was supposed to break, but that's okay. (Laughter) (Laughs)

本以为它会碎掉的，但却完好（笑）

That's part of the letting go, is sometimes it happens

看似你放弃，却又似收获了什么

and sometimes it doesn't, because creativity also grows

因为在这个过程中，创造力往往

from the broken places.

从那些断点成长起来

The best way to learn about anything

兼听则明，这是告诉我们要

is through stories, and so I want to tell you a story

从故事里学到东西。我想给你们讲一个

about work and play and about four aspects of life

关于工作，娱乐和生活中四个方面的故事

that we need to embrace

需要投入

in order for our own creativity to flourish.

才能使我们的创造力枝繁叶茂

The first embrace is something that we think,

第一点是关于我们想些什么

"Oh, this is very easy," but it's actually getting harder,

看起来非常容易，但其实很难

and that's paying attention to the world around us.

我们如何观察周围的世界

So many artists speak about needing to be open,

许多艺术家说需要开放的心灵

to embrace experience, and that's hard to do when

去体验，但实际上

you have a lighted rectangle in your pocket that

如果你事先就有些条条框框

takes all of your focus.

吸引了你的全部注意，这是很难做到的。

The filmmaker Mira Nair speaks about growing up

制片家Mira Nair谈到小时候在印度的一个小镇

in a small town in India. Its name is Bhubaneswar,

成长的故事，小镇名叫Bhubaneswar,

and here's a picture of one of the temples in her town.

这位于她城镇一座寺庙的图像

Mira Nair: In this little town, there were like 2,000 temples.

小镇里，大约有2000多个寺庙

We played cricket all the time. We kind of grew up

我们玩耍，打板球

in the rubble. The major thing that inspired me,

在废墟中长大。激励我最终走上

that led me on this path, that made me a filmmaker eventually,

电影制片这条道路的事情

was traveling folk theater that would come through the town

是那些大篷车的剧团，他们的巡回演出穿越整个城镇

and I would go off and see these great battles

我总会追上去看他们出色的表演，二个人

of good and evil by two people in a school field

在学校的操场上，就可以上演善良与邪恶

with no props but with a lot of, you know,

虽没有道具，但却有许许多多的

passion, and hashish as well, and it was amazing.

激情。如同印度大麻，效果奇妙

You know, the folk tales of Mahabharata and Ramayana,

民间故事中的“摩诃婆罗多”和“罗摩衍那”

the two holy books, the epics that everything comes out of

两部圣经，史诗，告诉我们印度的一切

in India, they say. After seeing that Jatra, the folk theater,

Jatra民间剧场让我知道了

I knew I wanted to get on, you know, and perform.

什么是我最想要的和最想追求的

Julie Burstein: Isn't that a wonderful story?

这难道不是一个奇妙的故事吗？

You can see the sort of break in the everyday.

每天你都能看到这类小歇的场所

There they are in the school fields, but it's good and evil,

学校操场，上演着善良与邪恶

and passion and hashish. And Mira Nair was a young girl

激情与大麻。Mira Nair不过是一个年轻女孩

with thousands of other people watching this performance,

和其他数千观众一同看演出

but she was ready. She was ready to open up

不同的是她心有所想，她敞开胸怀

to what it sparked in her, and it led her,

去接受启发，点亮她心智的一刻

as she said, down this path to become

如同她告诉大家的，走向

an award-winning filmmaker.

一条成功的电影制片家的道路

So being open for that experience that might change you

所以，开放的态度也行会改变你的人生

is the first thing we need to embrace.

这是你需要关注的第一件事情

Artists also speak about how some of their most powerful work

艺术家也谈到某些他们最震撼的作品

comes out of the parts of life that are most difficult.

是来自于生活中最困难的磨难

The novelist Richard Ford speaks about

小说家Richard Ford提到

a childhood challenge that continues to be something

他从小到大都在与之斗争的挑战

he wrestles with today. He's severely dyslexic.

因为他有严重的阅读障碍

Richard Ford: I was slow to learn to read, went all the way

我学习阅读极慢。整个学校期间

through school not really reading more than the minimum,

只可以说读了很少的部分

and still to this day can't read silently

直到现在，仍然不会快速默读

much faster than I can read aloud,

只能大声念

but there were a lot of benefits to being dyslexic for me

但阅读障碍也给我带来许多好处

because when I finally did reconcile myself to how slow

因为当我最终接受了不得不慢慢读书的事实

I was going to have to do it, then I think I came very slowly

我发现我的 慢使得我有时间

into an appreciation of all of those qualities of language

去体悟语言所具有的神韵

and of sentences that are not just the cognitive

语句并不只是信息

aspects of language: the syncopations, the sounds of words,

语言的各种要素，句子，标点，语调

what words look like, where paragraphs break,

怎样用词，停顿

where lines break. I mean, I wasn't so badly dyslexic that

断句。你知道，因为我是严重的阅读障碍

I was disabled from reading. I just had to do it

我基本不会读，不得不慢慢来

really slowly, and as I did, lingering on those sentences

真的很慢，因此我在这些句子之中停留徘徊，

as I had to linger, I fell heir to language's other qualities,

也正因此，我感受到语言的别样魅力

which I think has helped me write sentences.

这才使我成为小说家

JB: It's so powerful. Richard Ford, who's won the Pulitzer Prize,

如此震撼。RichardFord， Pulitzer奖获得者，

says that dyslexia helped him write sentences.

居然说是阅读障碍帮助他写出东西

He had to embrace this challenge, and I use that word

他不得不直面他的挑战，拥抱困难

intentionally. He didn't have to overcome dyslexia.

我这样形容；他并不需要克服阅读困难症

He had to learn from it. He had to learn to hear the music

需要的是通过从中学习，学习如何

in language.

感受语言的韵律

Artists also speak about how pushing up against

艺术家们也谈论如何克服极限

the limits of what they can do, sometimes pushing

突破自我，甚至拿自己达不到的要求

into what they can't do, helps them focus

来考核和激励

on finding their own voice.

通往超越之路

The sculptor Richard Serra talks about how,

雕塑家Richard Serra谈到

as a young artist, he thought he was a painter,

他年轻时候，想做一名画家

and he lived in Florence after graduate school.

他从学校毕业后居住在Florence。

While he was there, he traveled to Madrid,

当他在florence时，曾去Madrid旅行

where he went to the Prado to see this picture

在那里，他在Prado看到了

by the Spanish painter Diego Velázquez.

西班牙画家 Diego Velázquez

It's from 1656, and it's called "Las Meninas,"

这是源自1656年的画，被称为 Las Menias

and it's the picture of a little princess

画的是小公主和她的侍女，

and her ladies-in-waiting, and if you look over

如果你仔细就会发现

that little blonde princess's shoulder, you'll see a mirror,

在那个金发公主的肩膀上方，有一面镜子

and reflected in it are her parents, the King and Queen

映射出公主的父母，西班牙的国王和王后

of Spain, who would be standing where you might stand

他们也许正站在你现在所在的位置上

to look at the picture.

注视着这幅画

As he often did, Velázquez put himself in this painting too.

正如往常，Velázquez把他自己也画在画里

He's standing on the left with his paintbrush in one hand

他站在左边，一只手拿着画笔

and his palette in the other.

另一手端着调色板

Richard Serra: I was standing there looking at it,

Richard Serra: 我站在那里呆呆的注视着

and I realized that Velázquez was looking at me,

我发现画家Velázquez也在注视着我

and I thought, "Oh. I'm the subject of the painting."

我想：“噢，我也是画中的一员”

And I thought, "I'm not going to be able to do that painting."

我自觉自己不能画到这样的境界

I was to the point where I was using a stopwatch

当时我正在我绘画生涯的计时终点

and painting squares out of randomness,

我那些信手涂鸦的作品

and I wasn't getting anywhere. So I went back and dumped

什么都不是，这样是不会有所成的。回到住处

all my paintings in the Arno, and I thought, I'm going to just start playing around.

把我的画全部扔进了Arno河，漫无头绪

JB: Richard Serra says that so nonchalantly, you might

语气是这样轻描淡写，你可能都会忽略

have missed it. He went and saw this painting by a guy

他从一幅300多年前的绘画中

who'd been dead for 300 years, and realized,

悟出来自己做不到

"I can't do that," and so Richard Serra went back

明智的转行

to his studio in Florence, picked up all of his work

并把自己以前的所谓作品

up to that point, and threw it in a river.

统统扔进河里

Richard Serra let go of painting at that moment,

从那一刻起 Richard Serra 撒手绘画

but he didn't let go of art. He moved to New York City,

但他并没有撒手艺术，他后来移居纽约

and he put together a list of verbs

他列出来一串动词

— to roll, to crease, to fold —

滚，折叠，封口

more than a hundred of them, and as he said,

一百多个，正如他自己所说

he just started playing around. He did these things

漫无头绪，四处折腾他手边的材料

to all kinds of material. He would take a huge sheet of lead

他把一大块铁皮拿来

and roll it up and unroll it. He would do the same thing

又滚又叠，橡胶也一样

to rubber, and when he got to the direction "to lift,"

当找到他心灵解脱的那一刻

he created this, which is in the Museum of Modern Art.

他做成了这个，陈列在当代艺术馆

Richard Serra had to let go of painting

Richard Serra 不得不放弃绘画

in order to embark on this playful exploration

为了踏上这个顽皮的探索

that led him to the work that he's known for today:

并最终因为他的作品而成名

huge curves of steel that require our time and motion

巨大的曲线拷问着我们的时感和动感

to experience. In sculpture,

让你在雕塑中体验

Richard Serra is able to do what he couldn't do in painting.

Richard Serra做到了他在绘画中做不到的东西

He makes us the subject of his art.

他把我们也包含在他的作品里面

So experience and challenge

挑战，经历，极限

and limitations are all things we need to embrace

太多的事情需要我们去拥抱

for creativity to flourish.

创造力才会蓬勃发展。

There's a fourth embrace, and it's the hardest.

这是第四个方面，也是最难的一面

It's the embrace of loss,

从失落中找到回归

the oldest and most constant of human experiences.

最古老和最永恒的人类经验

In order to create, we have to stand in that space

是可贵资源。站在那个高度

between what we see in the world and what we hope for,

看我们目所能及的地方和心所能及的地方

looking squarely at rejection, at heartbreak,

正视失败，体验心碎

at war, at death.

无论是在战争中，还是直面死亡

That's a tough space to stand in.

这是一个心理中艰难的空间站

The educator Parker Palmer calls it "the tragic gap,"

教育家Parker Palmer 称之为“凄美”

tragic not because it's sad but because it's inevitable,

悲剧不仅因为伤痛，还因为不可避免

and my friend Dick Nodel likes to say,

我的朋友 Dick Nodel喜欢这样说

"You can hold that tension like a violin string

“绷紧你的心弦，

and make something beautiful."

去演奏华丽的乐章。”

That tension resonates in the work of the photographer

这种张力反映在摄影师Joel Meyerowitz的作品里

Joel Meyerowitz, who at the beginning of his career was

他由于擅长城市摄影而被众人所知

known for his street photography, for capturing a moment

那些凝固下来的时刻

on the street, and also for his beautiful photographs

那些美丽魅力的照片

of landscapes -- of Tuscany, of Cape Cod,

街道，丘陵，海岬，市镇

of light.

和幻影

Joel is a New Yorker, and his studio for many years

Joel 是纽约人，干摄影棚很多年

was in Chelsea, with a straight view downtown

坐落在Chelsea， 笔直的可见市中心

to the World Trade Center, and he photographed

那里有世贸大厦。他喜爱的目标

those buildings in every sort of light.

他拍摄过大厦每种光线的照片

You know where this story goes.

你们都知道后来的故事

On 9/11, Joel wasn't in New York. He was out of town,

9.11时候，Joel不在纽约

but he raced back to the city, and raced down to the site

但他飞奔而回，直奔目的地

of the destruction.

废墟

Joel Meyerowitz: And like all the other passersby,

Joel Meyerowitz:像所有其他人一样

I stood outside the chain link fence on Chambers

我站在Chambers的警戒线外

and Greenwich, and all I could see was the smoke

在Greenwich，我可以看见烟雾滚滚

and a little bit of rubble, and I raised my camera

一片废墟中，我举起我的相机

to take a peek, just to see if there was something to see,

偷偷的，看我能否看见什么

and some cop, a lady cop, hit me on my shoulder,

警察来了，一个女警，敲敲我的肩膀

and said, "Hey, no pictures!"

“不许拍照！”

And it was such a blow that it woke me up,

她真像是一拳敲醒了睡梦中的我

in the way that it was meant to be, I guess.

她提醒了我应该做的事情，我想

And when I asked her why no pictures, she said,

当我问为什么不许，她说

"It's a crime scene. No photographs allowed."

“这是犯罪现场，禁止拍照。”

And I asked her, "What would happen if I was a member

我问；如果我是新闻记者怎样？

of the press?" And she told me,

她指着一旁说；“看，都在那边。”

"Oh, look back there," and back a block was the press corps

一个街区远的地方，新闻采访团

tied up in a little penned-in area,

被圈在一个小圈子里

and I said, "Well, when do they go in?"

我问：“什么时候才允许进来？”

and she said, "Probably never."

她答：“也行永远不会。”

And as I walked away from that, I had this crystallization,

我清楚的记得，我走开了

probably from the blow, because it was an insult in a way.

好像挨了一棒，有点屈辱

I thought, "Oh, if there's no pictures,

我想，“如果没有照片，

then there'll be no record. We need a record."

就没有记录，我们需要记录，

And I thought, "I'm gonna make that record.

我想，”我一定要记录下来

I'll find a way to get in, because I don't want to

我会发现一个可行的办法，

see this history disappear."

我不要看到这段历史消失。“

JB: He did. He pulled in every favor he could,

他做到了。他说服了他能想到的一切关系

and got a pass into the World Trade Center site,

得到一张进入废墟的通行证

where he photographed for nine months almost every day.

后来的九个月里，几乎每一天，他都在现场

Looking at these photographs today brings back

现在看到这些照片，仿佛带我回到

the smell of smoke that lingered on my clothes

那些连衣服上都充满了烟土味

when I went home to my family at night.

夜里下班回家的日子

My office was just a few blocks away.

我的办公室也离世贸大厦不远

But some of these photographs are beautiful,

有些照片很漂亮

and we wondered, was it difficult for Joel Meyerowitz

我们猜想，是不是磨难才使得 Joel Meyerowitz

to make such beauty out of such devastation?

从大灾难中找出了它凄美的一面

JM: Well, you know, ugly, I mean, powerful

你想，我的意思是说，丑恶，暴力

and tragic and horrific and everything, but

悲剧，恐怖充满整个事件，但是

it was also as, in nature, an enormous event

本质上，这也是历史的瞬间

that was transformed after the fact into this residue,

烟尘散去，断脊残墙

and like many other ruins

如同其他很多废墟一样

— you go to the ruins of the Colosseum or the ruins of a cathedral someplace —

如同古罗马斗兽场，或某所残存的教堂

and they take on a new meaning when you watch the weather.

衬托在蓝天白云下，让你思考

I mean, there were afternoons I was down there,

有一个下午我坐在那儿

and the light goes pink and there's a mist in the air

粉色的夕阳，淡淡的暮色尘雾

and you're standing in the rubble, and I found myself

站立在废墟中良久，我重新发现

recognizing both the inherent beauty of nature

审视我们的自然遗产和它内在的本质

and the fact that nature, as time,

时间为证

is erasing this wound.

伤口平复

Time is unstoppable, and it transforms the event.

天地万物，只有时间永恒

It gets further and further away from the day,

她不会停下脚步

and light and seasons temper it in some way,

而岁月匆匆，一切都是过客

and it's not that I'm a romantic. I'm really a realist.

我并不是浪漫主义者，我很现实

The reality is, there's the Woolworth Building

现实是，伍尔沃斯大楼

in a veil of smoke from the site, but it's now like a scrim

一丝薄雾中，看似一些虚渺的网格

across a theater, and it's turning pink,

从舞台飘过，渐变红色

you know, and down below there are hoses spraying,

原来是楼下喷雾的泉眼

and the lights have come on for the evening, and the water

与暮色中夕阳的光线交织

is turning acid green because the sodium lamps are on,

又在冷光灯的照耀下，变得冷绿

and I'm thinking, "My God, who could dream this up?"

我感叹；”天呀，谁做梦能想到？“

But the fact is, I'm there, it looks like that,

现实是我看到了

you have to take a picture.

立此为证

JB: You have to take a picture. That sense of urgency,

立此为证！这种使命感和紧迫感，

of the need to get to work, is so powerful in Joel's story.

使得Joel的故事感动了大家

When I saw Joel Meyerowitz recently, I told him how much

每次我见到Joel Meyerowitz，我告诉他

I admired his passionate obstinacy, his determination

我很钦佩他充满激情的固执，他的决心

to push through all the bureaucratic red tape to get to work,

和他冲破种种阻碍去拍摄历史的勇气

and he laughed, and he said, "I'm stubborn,

他笑道；”我是很固执，

but I think what's more important

但更重要的是

is my passionate optimism."

我充满了乐观精神。“

The first time I told these stories, a man in the audience

第一次我面对听众讲述这些故事的时候，

raised his hand and said, "All these artists talk about

有人举手：”所有这些艺术家都是谈他们的工作

their work, not their art, which has got me thinking about

并不是他们的艺术，这也让我想到我的工作

my work and where the creativity is there,

创造力就在哪儿，虽然我不是艺术家。“

and I'm not an artist." He's right. We all wrestle

他说得对，我们都在与命运角力

with experience and challenge, limits and loss.

用我们的经验，直面挑战，极限和损失

Creativity is essential to all of us,

创造力必不可少

whether we're scientists or teachers,

不管是否我们是科学家或教师

parents or entrepreneurs.

父母或企业家。

I want to leave you with another

在结束之际，我向你介绍另一个

image of a Japanese tea bowl. This one

日本茶碗

is at the Freer Gallery in Washington, D.C.

它存放在华盛顿的 Freer Gallery艺术馆

It's more than a hundred years old and you can still see

一百多年历史，不过你仍然可以看见

the fingermarks where the potter pinched it.

制作者留下的指纹

But as you can also see, this one did break

你也可以看见，它实际上已经碎了

at some point in its hundred years.

一百多年中的某一天

But the person who put it back together,

有人重新修补了它

instead of hiding the cracks,

但他并没有去隐藏裂纹

decided to emphasize them, using gold lacquer to repair it.

而是夸张了裂纹，用金漆描过。

This bowl is more beautiful now, having been broken,

拥有这些裂纹，却使得它更漂亮

than it was when it was first made,

甚至比原来还好看

and we can look at those cracks, because

看着这些裂缝，

they tell the story that we all live,

仿佛在述说过去和未来的故事

of the cycle of creation and destruction,

生命诞生和消失的周期

of control and letting go, of picking up the pieces

获取或是放手

and making something new.

一切都可以重新来过。

Thank you. (Applause)

谢谢大家 （鼓掌）