Janet Echelman: Taking imagination seriously

譯者: yuanyuan liang 審譯者: Jenny Yang

This story

這個故事

is about taking imagination seriously.

是關於如何重視想像力。

Fourteen years ago,

14年前，

I first encountered this ordinary material, fishnet,

我第一次接觸到這種平平無奇的東西，漁網，

used the same way for centuries.

幾百年來都是用來打漁。

Today, I'm using it to create

今天，我卻用它來創作

permanent, billowing, voluptuous forms

持久的，起伏有致，充滿張力的

the scale of hard-edged buildings

建筑物大小的雕塑，

in cities around the world.

放置在世界上的很多城市。

I was an unlikely person to be doing this.

我本來是最不可能從事這行的。

I never studied sculpture,

我從來沒學過雕塑，

engineering or architecture.

工程或建築

In fact, after college

事實上，大學畢業後，

I applied to seven art schools

我申請了7個藝術院校

and was rejected by all seven.

結果他們全把我拒之門外。

I went off on my own to become an artist,

我只好自己想辦法成為一名藝術工作者，

and I painted for 10 years,

我畫了10年的畫，

when I was offered a Fulbright to India.

當我拿到Fullbright獎學金去印度。

Promising to give exhibitions of paintings,

我承諾要舉辦一個畫展，

I shipped my paints and arrived in Mahabalipuram.

就把我所有的畫都打包郵寄了，自己也到了Mahabalipuram（印度南部城市）

The deadline for the show arrived --

展覽快要開幕了——

my paints didn't.

我的畫卻沒來！

I had to do something.

我必須做點什麽。

This fishing village was famous for sculpture.

這個漁村以雕塑聞名。

So I tried bronze casting.

於是我嘗試青銅鑄件。

But to make large forms was too heavy and expensive.

但是要造大型的作品太重也太貴。

I went for a walk on the beach,

我跑去沙灘上散步，

watching the fishermen

看那些漁民

bundle their nets into mounds on the sand.

在沙灘上，將漁網收攏成一堆。

I'd seen it every day,

這是我每天都看到的場景，

but this time I saw it differently --

但這次我卻有了新的發現——

a new approach to sculpture,

一種新的雕塑方法——

a way to make volumetric form

可以創造大型作品

without heavy solid materials.

卻無需沉重的實心材料。

My first satisfying sculpture

我的第一個滿意的雕塑作品

was made in collaboration with these fishermen.

就是和這些漁民一起完成的。

It's a self-portrait

這個雕塑是我自己

titled "Wide Hips."

叫做“闊臀。”

(Laughter)

（觀眾笑聲）

We hoisted them on poles to photograph.

我們把它們吊起來放到柱子上拍照。

I discovered

我發現

their soft surfaces

它們柔軟的表面

revealed every ripple of wind

能展現風的任何蛛絲馬跡

in constantly changing patterns.

不斷地改變著形狀。

I was mesmerized.

我簡直著了魔。

I continued studying craft traditions

我繼續學習傳統手工藝

and collaborating with artisans,

和工匠們一起工作，

next in Lithuania with lace makers.

後來在立陶宛，和蕾絲工匠們一起。

I liked the fine detail

我喜歡它賦予我的作品

it gave my work,

精細的細節。

but I wanted to make them larger --

但是我希望它們可以大些——

to shift from being an object you look at

從一個你能注視的物體

to something you could get lost in.

放大到足以讓你迷失在其中。

Returning to India to work with those fishermen,

回到印度，和漁民一起，

we made a net

我們造了一張網，

of a million and a half hand-tied knots --

上面有一百五十萬個手打的繩結——

installed briefly in Madrid.

在馬德里短期展出。

Thousands of people saw it,

上千人看到了它，

and one of them was the urbanist

其中一個人是城市規劃師

Manual Sola-Morales

Manual Sola-Morales

who was redesigning the waterfront

他當時在重新設計

in Porto, Portugal.

葡萄牙波爾圖的濱河地帶。

He asked if I could build this

他問我是否能把這個

as a permanent piece for the city.

做成一個永久性的作品放在波爾圖。

I didn't know if I could do that

我也不知道在讓其固定的同時

and preserve my art.

還能否保持我的藝術風格。

Durable, engineered, permanent --

持久，設計，永恆——

those are in opposition

這些正好與

to idiosyncratic, delicate and ephemeral.

敏感，脆弱和短暫相對。

For two years, I searched for a fiber

在兩年裡，我尋找一種纖維，

that could survive ultraviolet rays,

可以經受得住紫外線，

salt, air, pollution,

含鹽分的空氣，污染，

and at the same time remain soft enough

而同時還能保持足夠柔軟，

to move fluidly in the wind.

可以在風中起伏運動。

We needed something to hold the net up

我們需要某種東西可以支撐起網子

out there in the middle of the traffic circle.

讓它矗立在交通環島中央。

So we raised this 45,000-pound steel ring.

結果我們抬起了這個重達4萬5千磅的鋼環。

We had to engineer it

我們必須把它設計得

to move gracefully in an average breeze

能隨著每陣輕風優雅地拂動，

and survive in hurricane winds.

同時又能在颶風中倖存下來。

But there was no engineering software

但是沒有一種工程軟件

to model something porous and moving.

來模擬這種多孔又運動的物體。

I found a brilliant aeronautical engineer

我找到一位出色的航空工程師

who designs sails for America's Cup racing yachts

他為美國杯帆船賽設計風帆，

named Peter Heppel.

他叫Peter Heppel。

He helped me tackle the twin challenges

他幫我解決了這兩個密切相關的挑戰

of precise shape

精確的形態

and gentle movement.

與輕柔的運動並存。

I couldn't build this the way I knew

我不能用我熟悉的方式創造它，

because hand-tied knots

因為手打的繩結

weren't going to withstand a hurricane.

無法耐受住一場颶風。

So I developed a relationship

於是我聯繫了

with an industrial fishnet factory,

一個生產工業用漁網的工廠，

learned the variables of their machines,

學習了他們機床上的各種變量，

and figured out a way

找到一個方法

to make lace with them.

可以用它們編制蕾絲。

There was no language

沒有現成的方法

to translate this ancient, idiosyncratic handcraft

能轉化這一古老的，特殊的手工藝

into something machine operators could produce.

好讓機床工人能製造出類似的東西。

So we had to create one.

所以我們必須自己創造出一個方法。

Three years and two children later,

在花了三年時間，并生了兩個孩子以後，

we raised this 50,000-square-foot lace net.

我們掛起了這張5萬平方英尺的蕾絲網。

It was hard to believe

很難相信

that what I had imagined

我的想像

was now built, permanent

現在真的成形了，還是永久的，

and had lost nothing in translation.

而且在實現過程中沒有走樣。

(Applause)

（觀眾掌聲）

This intersection had been bland and anonymous.

這個交通路口曾經一度平平無奇籍籍無名

Now it had a sense of place.

現在它卻成為一個景點。

I walked underneath it

我第一次

for the first time.

從下面走過。

As I watched the wind's choreography unfold,

當我看到風的舞動一一展現時，

I felt sheltered

我覺得自己受到遮護，

and, at the same time,

而與此同時，

connected to limitless sky.

又與無盡的天空相通。

My life was not going to be the same.

我的人生從此改變。

I want to create these oases of sculpture

我想要繼續創作這些雕塑綠洲

in spaces of cities around the world.

散佈到全世界的城市。

I'm going to share two directions

我想給大家看我的創作中

that are new in my work.

兩個新方向。

Historic Philadelphia City Hall:

費城歷史紀念館：

its plaza, I felt, needed a material for sculpture

我覺得它的廣場需要一種雕塑

that was lighter than netting.

要比漁網還輕。

So we experimented

於是我們試驗

with tiny atomized water particles

用小小的噴霧狀水滴

to create a dry mist

創造出一片乾燥的薄霧，

that is shaped by the wind

會被風改變形狀。

and in testing, discovered

在實驗中我們發現

that it can be shaped by people

它也會被人改變形狀，

who can interact and move through it without getting wet.

人可以與之互動，可以從中穿過卻不會被弄濕。

I'm using this sculpture material

我正在用這種雕塑材料

to trace the paths of subway trains above ground

去追蹤地上城鐵的軌跡，

in real time --

是實時的——

like an X-ray of the city's circulatory system unfolding.

就像逐漸延展開的城市循環系統的X光片。

Next challenge,

下一個挑戰，

the Biennial of the Americas in Denver

是丹佛的美國雙年展

asked, could I represent

請我去把

the 35 nations of the Western hemisphere and their interconnectedness

西半球的35個國家以及他們之間的相互關聯

in a sculpture?

用一個雕塑展現出來。

(Laughter)

（觀眾笑聲）

I didn't know where to begin,

我都不知道從哪下手，

but I said yes.

但是我卻說：行。

I read about the recent earthquake in Chile

我查閱了最近智利的地震，

and the tsunami that rippled across

以及橫掃過

the entire Pacific Ocean.

整個太平洋的海嘯。

It shifted the Earth's tectonic plates,

它移動了地球的板塊構造，

sped up the planet's rotation

加速了地球的自轉

and literally shortened the length of the day.

而且真的縮短了白晝的長度。

So I contacted NOAA,

於是我聯絡美國國家海洋氣象局

and I asked if they'd share their data on the tsunami,

詢問他們是否可以和我分享他們關於海嘯的數據

and translated it into this.

然後創作出這個作品。

Its title: "1.26"

標題：1.26。

refers to the number of microseconds

就是1.26微秒

that the Earth's day was shortened.

地球白晝被縮短的時間。

I couldn't build this with a steel ring, the way I knew.

我無法根據已知的方法用一個鋼環來創作這個作品

Its shape was too complex now.

它的外形太過複雜了。

So I replaced the metal armature

於是我把金屬骨架替換為

with a soft, fine mesh

一種柔軟的細篩，

of a fiber 15 times stronger than steel.

它的纖維比鋼絲的強度高15倍。

The sculpture could now be entirely soft,

現在這個雕塑可以是徹底柔軟的，

which made it so light

而且如此之輕，

it could tie in to existing buildings --

可以系在已有的建築物上——

literally becoming part of the fabric of the city.

實實在在成為城市建築群落的一部份。

There was no software

沒有任何軟件

that could extrude these complex net forms

能生成這些複雜的網狀物的模型

and model them with gravity.

并模擬它們在重力作用下的樣子。

So we had to create it.

所以我們必須自己創造。

Then I got a call from New York City

這時我收到從紐約來一個電話

asking if I could adapt these concepts

問我是否能夠把這個創意適用到

to Times Square

時代廣場

or the High Line.

或空中公園。

This new soft structural method

這種新的軟結構方法

enables me to model these

讓我可以設計

and build these sculptures

并建造出的雕塑

at the scale of skyscrapers.

有摩天大廈大小。

They don't have funding yet,

他們現在還沒籌夠資金，

but I dream now

但是我現在夢想著

of bringing these to cities around the world

可以把這些作品放到世界上的很多城市

where they're most needed.

那些最需要它們的地方。

Fourteen years ago,

十四年前，

I searched for beauty

我爲了追求美

in the traditional things,

走進傳統工藝，

in craft forms.

手工藝術。

Now I combine them with hi-tech materials and engineering

現在我把它們和高科技的材料和工程學結合起來

to create voluptuous, billowing forms

創造出起伏飄逸的

the scale of buildings.

建築物大小的雕塑。

My artistic horizons continue to grow.

我的藝術視野還在擴展。

I'll leave you with this story.

最後一個故事，

I got a call from a friend in Phoenix.

我接到鳳凰城一個朋友的電話。

An attorney in the office

是個坐辦公室的律師

who'd never been interested in art,

平生從沒對藝術有過興趣，

never visited the local art museum,

也從來沒去過當地的藝術博物館，

dragged everyone she could from the building

卻把她樓里的人能拉的都拉出去

and got them outside to lie down underneath the sculpture.

讓他們躺在那個雕塑下。

There they were in their business suits,

然後他們就那麼西服革履的，

laying in the grass,

躺在草地上，

noticing the changing patterns of wind

看著不停變化著的風，

beside people they didn't know,

儘管身邊的人彼此不認識，

sharing the rediscovery of wonder.

卻一同分享著對奇跡的重新發現。

Thank you.

謝謝大家。

(Applause)

（觀眾掌聲）

Thank you. Thank you.

謝謝大家。謝謝大家。

Thank you.

謝謝大家。

Thank you. Thank you.

謝謝大家。謝謝大家。

(Applause)

（觀眾掌聲）