Mind-blowing stage sculptures that fuse music and technology | Es Devlin

譯者: Val Zhang 審譯者: SF Huang

These are sequences from a play called "The Lehman Trilogy,"

這是舞台劇 The Lehman Trilogy 的場景，

which traces the origins of Western capitalism

此劇用 3 小時追溯了

西方資本主義的起源，

in three hours,

with three actors and a piano.

透過三位演員與一架鋼琴。

And my role was to create a stage design

我的任務是設計舞台，

to write a visual language for this work.

為這個作品建構出一種視覺語言。

The play describes Atlantic crossings,

這齣戲描繪了：橫越大西洋、

Alabama cotton fields,

阿拉巴馬州的棉花田、

New York skylines,

跟紐約的天際線，

and we framed the whole thing within this single revolving cube,

而我們所有的場景都在這 單一個旋轉的立方體中呈現，

a kind of kinetic cinema through the centuries.

就像是穿越世紀的動感鏡頭。

It's like a musical instrument

就像是由三位表演者

played by three performers.

演奏的一種樂器。

And as they step their way around and through

當他們踏上了

雷曼兄弟的生命旅程，

the lives of the Lehman brothers,

we, the audience,

我們作為觀眾，

begin to connect with the simple, human origins

開始對這場至今仍影響我們的 ——

at the root of the complex global financial systems

國際複雜金融體系風暴 根源之下的簡單人性，

that we're all still in thrall to today.

產生共鳴。

I used to play musical instruments myself when I was younger.

年輕時我會玩樂器。

My favorite was the violin.

我最喜歡的樂器是小提琴。

It was this intimate transfer of energy.

這是種親密的能量傳遞形式。

You held this organic sculpture up to your heart,

你握持著這個有機雕塑靠近你的心，

and you poured the energy of your whole body

你傾注全身的精力到這個小木箱內，

into this little piece of wood, and heard it translated into music.

And I was never particularly good at the violin,

我的琴藝並不是特別的精湛，

but I used to sit at the back of the second violin section

但我曾經是第二小提琴的成員，

in the Hastings Youth Orchestra,

在 Hastings 青年交響樂團。

scratching away.

拉來拉去。

We were all scratching

我們都在拉奏，

and marveling at this symphonic sound that we were making

並驚嘆我們一同創造的和聲

that was so much more beautiful and powerful

是多麼地美妙、具渲染力，

than anything we would ever have managed on our own.

遠超過一人獨奏所能達到的境界。

And now, as I create large-scale performances,

現在當我設計大型表演，

I am always working with teams

我合作的團隊人數規模

that are at least the size of a symphony orchestra.

也總是不小於一個交響樂團。

And whether we are creating

不論我們在創造的是：

these revolving giant chess piece time tunnels

理察 · 華格納歌劇中的

巨型旋轉的棋子時間通道。

for an opera by Richard Wagner

or shark tanks and mountains for Kanye West,

或是肯伊 · 威斯特演唱會中的 投影鯊魚缸、山景。

we're always seeking to create the most articulate sculpture,

我們總是試圖創造： 能夠清楚傳達意象的雕塑，

the most poetic instrument of communication to an audience.

最詩意的工具和觀眾溝通。

When I say poetic,

我所指的詩意，

I just mean language at its most condensed,

我指的是最精煉的語言，

like a song lyric,

就像歌詞，

a poetic puzzle to be unlocked and unpacked.

一個待解鎖跟拆封的詩意謎題。

And when we were preparing to design Beyoncé's "Formation" tour,

當我們著手設計碧昂絲的 《Formation》巡迴演唱會，

we looked at all the lyrics,

我們看遍了所有的歌詞，

and we came across this poem that Beyoncé wrote.

然後發現了她寫的這首詩。

"I saw a TV preacher when I was scared, at four or five about bad dreams

當我約 4、5 歲因惡夢感到害怕時， 看見電視上的一位傳教士，

who promised he'd say a prayer if I put my hand to the TV.

他保證如果我把手放到電視上， 他便會為我禱告。

That's the first time I remember prayer, an electric current running through me."

那是我第一次有印象 禱告宛如一股電流穿過我。

And this TV that transmitted prayer to Beyoncé as a child

而那台傳送禱告給小碧昂絲的電視，

became this monolithic revolving sculpture

轉化為這個巨型旋轉裝置，

that broadcast Beyoncé to the back of the stadium.

將碧昂絲轉播到體育場的每一個角落。

And the stadium is a mass congregation.

而體育館就像是大群信眾的集會。

It's a temporary population of a hundred thousand people

這是成千上萬人的暫時居所，

who have all come there to sing along with every word together,

他們來此一字不漏地跟著唱和，

but they've also come there each seeking one-to-one intimacy

但他們也來此，

追求與表演者一對一的親密感。

with the performer.

And we, as we conceive the show, we have to provide intimacy

當我們在構思表演，

我們必須提供一種大規模的親密感。

on a grand scale.

It usually starts with sketches.

這通常由草圖開始，

I was drawing this 60-foot-high, revolving,

我畫了幅 60 英尺高、旋轉的、

broadcast-quality portrait of the artist,

廣播級的藝人肖像，

and then I tore the piece of paper in half.

然後我把這張紙從中撕開。

I split the mask

我撕開了面具，

to try to access the human underneath it all.

試著去接觸下方的所有人。

And it's one thing to do sketches, but of course translating from a sketch

畫草圖是一回事， 要把草圖轉換成一個——

into a tourable revolving six-story building

可巡迴的、旋轉的、六層樓高的建物，

took some exceptional engineers working around the clock for three months,

則需要傑出的工程師 不間斷地工作三個月。

until finally we arrived in Miami

直到我們終於抵達邁阿密，

and opened the show in April 2016.

並在 2016 年 4 月開始演出巡迴。

(Video: Cheers)

（影像聲響：歡呼聲）

(Music: "Formation," Beyoncé)

（背景音樂：碧昂絲的歌 〈 Formation 〉）

Beyoncé: Y'all haters corny with that Illuminati mess

碧昂絲：你們這些酸民 滿口光明會的胡說八道

Paparazzi, catch my fly, and my cocky fresh

狗仔隊等著捕捉我 超閃亮的女王姿態

I'm so reckless when I rock my Givenchy dress

穿著我的紀凡希洋裝 我傲視一切

I'm so possessive so I rock his Roc necklaces

我佔有慾超強 所以我戴著他的項鍊

My daddy Alabama

我的爹地來自阿拉巴馬

Momma Louisiana

媽媽來自路易斯安那

You mix that negro with that Creole

多元種族背景生出我這個

make a Texas bama

德州混血黑妞

(Music ends)

（音樂結束）

I call my work --

我稱我的工作——

(Cheers, applause)

（歡呼聲與掌聲）

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Cheers, applause)

（歡呼聲與掌聲）

I call my work stage sculpture,

我稱我的工作是舞台雕塑，

but of course what's really being sculpted is the experience of the audience,

但真正被雕塑的當然是觀眾的體驗。

and as directors and designers,

作為導演與設計師，

we have to take responsibility

我們必須對觀眾花在

for every minute that the audience spend with us.

我們身上的每一分鐘負責。

We're a bit like pilots

我們有點像飛行員，

navigating a flight path for a hundred thousand passengers.

為成千上萬名旅客導航。

And in the case of the Canadian artist The Weeknd,

在加拿大藝人威肯的案子，

we translated this flight path literally

我們實現了這個比喻，

into an origami paper folding airplane

將其轉化為一架紙飛機

that took off over the heads of the audience,

從觀眾的頭頂上飛過，

broke apart in mid-flight, complications,

在飛行途中散開，

and then rose out of the ashes restored

然後在表演尾聲時，

at the end of the show.

從餘燼之中重生。

And like any flight,

就像任何的飛行，

the most delicate part is the liftoff, the beginning,

最需要小心處理的 就是開頭——起飛的瞬間，

because when you design a pop concert,

因為當你設計流行音樂的演唱會時，

the prime material that you're working with

你最主要處理的素材

is something that doesn't take trucks or crew to transport it.

不是那些可以被卡車 或人員運送的東西。

It doesn't cost anything,

它不花任何成本，

and yet it fills every atom of air in the arena, before the show starts.

但它瀰漫在整個體育館中， 就在表演開始前。

It's the audience's anticipation.

這個素材就是觀眾的期待。

Everyone brings with them the story of how they came to get there,

每個人都帶著自己 如何來到這兒的故事，

the distances they traveled,

他們跋山涉水了多遠、

the months they had to work to pay for the tickets.

累積了幾個月薪水才買到的門票。

Sometimes they sleep overnight outside the arena,

有時候他們甚至在體育館外過夜，

and our first task is to deliver for an audience on their anticipation,

我們的首要任務就是 為熱切的觀眾精心設計

to deliver their first sight of the performer.

那見到表演者的第一眼。

When I work with men,

當我與男藝人合作時，

they're quite happy to have their music transformed into metaphor --

他們很高興能將他們的 音樂轉化為隱喻，

spaceflights, mountains.

像是：太空梭、山。

But with women, we work a lot with masks and with three-dimensional portraiture,

但和女藝人我們則做了 許多像是面具或是立體的肖像。

because the fans of the female artist

因為女藝人的粉絲

crave her face.

渴慕著她的面容。

And when the audience arrived to see Adele's first live concert in five years,

當聽眾進場觀賞愛黛兒 睽違五年的演唱會，

they were met with this image of her eyes asleep.

他們看見的畫面是她沉睡著的雙眼。

If they listened carefully,

如果他們仔細聽，

they would hear her sleeping breath echoing around the arena,

他們會聽見她沉睡的呼吸聲 在體育館裡迴盪著，

waiting to wake up.

等待甦醒。

Here's how the show began.

表演是這樣開始的。

(Video: Cheers, applause)

（歡呼聲和掌聲）

(Music)

（音樂）

Adele: Hello.

愛黛兒：哈囉。

(Cheers, applause)

（歡呼聲和掌聲）

Es Devlin: With U2, we're navigating the audience

埃斯 · 德夫林：和 U2 樂團， 我們帶領著觀眾跨越

over a terrain that spans three decades of politics, poetry and music.

超過三十年政治、詩跟音樂的幅員。

And over many months, meeting with the band and their creative teams,

經過數個月不停地與樂團 和他們的創意團隊開會討論，

this is the sketch that kept recurring,

這個草圖反覆地出現，

this line, this street,

這個線條、這個街道，

the street that connects the band's past with their present,

整個街道連結了樂團的過去跟現在，

the tightrope that they walk as activists and artists,

一路以來作為藝人及社會運動 參與者，如走鋼索般拿捏平衡，

a walk through cinema

一個帶領觀眾穿越時間的劇場，

that allows the band to become protagonists

讓樂團化身為

他們的詩中的主角。

in their own poetry.

(Music: U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name")

（音樂：U2〈Where the Streets Have No Name〉）

Bono: I wanna run

波諾：我想逃出去

I want to hide

或是躲起來

I wanna tear down the walls

我想拆除這座高牆

That hold me inside

這高牆鎖住了我

Es Devlin: The end of the show is like the end of a flight.

埃斯 · 德夫林：表演的尾聲 宛如飛行的尾聲。

It's an arrival.

就像抵達一般。

It's a transfer from the stage out to the audience.

焦點從舞台轉到觀眾身上。

For the British band Take That,

在英國偶像團體 Take That 的案子，

we ended the show by sending an 80-foot high mechanical human figure

我們在表演尾聲時，

從觀眾中央升起高達 80 英呎高的機械人。

out to the center of the crowd.

(Music)

（音樂）

Like many translations from music to mechanics,

一如許多從音樂轉譯為機械的作品，

this one was initially deemed entirely technically impossible.

這個概念起初被認為 在技術上完全不可行。

The first three engineers we took it to said no,

我們諮詢的前三位工程師都否決了，

and eventually, the way that it was achieved

最終我們克服的方式是

was by keeping the entire control system together

在它各處巡迴的同時，

保持整座控制系統的完整性，

while it toured around the country,

so we had to fold it up onto a flatbed truck

我們得把它收上平板卡車。

so it could tour around without coming apart.

所以它可以到處巡迴， 而不至於散落。

And of course, what this meant was that the dimension of its head

當然，這也意味著雕塑頭部的尺寸

was entirely determined

完全取決於

by the lowest motorway bridge that it had to travel under on its tour.

巡迴時會經過的公路上 限高最低的橋。

And I have to tell you that it turns out

而我必須要告訴你們，結果 ......

there is an unavoidable and annoyingly low bridge

有一條無法繞過、惱人的矮橋，

low bridge just outside Hamburg.

就在漢堡的近郊。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

(Music)

（音樂）

Another of the most technically complex pieces that we've worked on

另一件技術含量極高的作品

is the opera "Carmen"

是歌劇「卡門」，

at Bregenz Festival in Austria.

在奧地利的布雷根茲藝術節。

We envisaged Carmen's hands rising out of Lake Constance,

我們想像卡門的手 從康士坦茲湖中升起，

and throwing this deck of cards in the air

把牌撒向空中

and leaving them suspended between sky and sea.

讓牌懸浮於天空與湖面之間。

But this transient gesture, this flick of the wrists

但這瞬間的姿態、

這手腕一甩的結構，

had to become a structure that would be strong enough

得堅固到能撐過兩個奧地利的冬天。

to withstand two Austrian winters.

So there's an awful lot that you don't see in this photograph

還有很多照片裡看不到

that's working really hard.

但也非常令人費神的事。

It's a lot of ballast and structure and support around the back,

有許多的壓艙物、結構、支架在背後，

and I'm going to show you the photos that aren't on my website.

我要跟你們分享 未曾在我網站上公開的照片。

They're photos of the back of a set,

這些是舞台背面的照片。

the part that's not designed for the audience to see,

這部分是觀眾看不見之處，

however much work it's doing.

但也非常花人心思。

And you know, this is actually the dilemma

你知道這對作為舞台設計師、

for an artist who is working as a stage designer,

藝術家來說，其實是種掙扎，

because so much of what I make is fake,

因為許多我的作品都是不真實的，

it's an illusion.

是種幻象。

And yet every artist works in pursuit of communicating something that's true.

但每位藝術家都在追求 傳遞一些真實的東西。

But we are always asking ourselves:

但我們常自問：

"Can we communicate truth using things that are false?"

「我們可以透過不真實的 事物來傳遞真理嗎？」

And now when I attend the shows that I've worked on,

如今當我去看我們設計的表演時，

I often find I'm the only one who is not looking at the stage.

常常發現我是唯一 不在注意舞台的人。

I'm looking at something that I find equally fascinating,

我在看的是同樣迷人的，

那就是——觀眾。

and it's the audience.

(Cheers)

（影片中的歡呼聲）

I mean, where else do you witness this:

你還能在哪看到這樣的場景呢？

(Cheers)

（歡呼聲）

this many humans, connected, focused,

這麼多人，如此同感齊心、專注一致、

undistracted and unfragmented?

心無旁鶩和完整地投入？

And lately, I've begun to make work that originates here,

最近我以此，

in the collective voice of the audience.

以觀眾的和聲為靈感 設計了一個作品，

"Poem Portraits" is a collective poem.

「肖像詩」是集體創作的詩。

It began at the Serpentine Gallery in London,

它從倫敦的蛇形藝廊開始，

and everybody is invited to donate one word to a collective poem.

邀請大家為集體創作的詩貢獻一個字。

And instead of that large single LED portrait

取代那種在展館後方的

that was broadcasting to the back of the stadium,

單片巨型 LED 肖像，

in this case, every member of the audience

這次，每位觀眾

gets to take their own portrait home with them,

都能帶他們各自的肖像回家，

and it's woven in with the words

這肖像是由他們集體創作的詩 當中的字句所編織而成的。

that they've contributed to the collective poem.

So they keep a fragment of an ever-evolving collective work.

他們收藏了持續演化的 共同創作中的一部分。

And next year, the collective poem will take architectural form.

明年，集體創作的詩 將以建築的形式呈現。

This is the design for the UK Pavilion at the World Expo 2020.

這是 2020 年世界博覽會 英國館的設計。

The UK ...

英國…...

In my lifetime, it's never felt this divided.

我這輩子從未感到它是如此地分裂，

It's never felt this noisy with divergent voices.

從未感到它因分裂的意見 而如此地吵雜，

And it's never felt this much in need of places

從未如此感到需要一個

能讓意見交流並整合的園地。

where voices might connect and converge.

And it's my hope that this wooden sculpture,

我希望這個木製建築，

this wooden instrument, a bit like that violin I used to play,

這個木製的樂器． 就像我以往演奏的小提琴，

might be a place where people can play and enter their word

人們可以在這錐型建築的一端

at one end of the cone,

播放、輸入他們的話語，

emerge at the other end of the building,

接著發現建築的另一端浮現出：

and find that their word has joined a collective poem, a collective voice.

以他們的話語 共同交織而成的詩和語言。

(Music)

（音樂）

These are simple experiments in machine learning.

這些是機器學習的簡單測試。

The algorithm that generates the collective poem is pretty simple.

創造出集體創作詩的演算法

其實蠻單純，

It's like predictive text,

就像是輸入預測一樣，

only it's trained on millions of words written by poets in the 19th century.

只是演算法的訓練資料 是大量 19 世紀的詩。

So it's a sort of convergence of intelligence, past and present,

它有點像是：過去和現在、

有機和無機的智慧集合。

organic and inorganic.

And we were inspired by the words of Stephen Hawking.

史蒂芬 · 霍金的話啟發了我們。

Towards the end of his life, he asked quite a simple question:

晚年時，他問了一個簡單的問題：

If we as a species were ever to come across another advanced life-form,

身為人類這個物種，如果有天 遇見另一種高等智慧生物、

an advanced civilization,

另一個先進的文明，

how would we speak to them?

我們將如何跟他們溝通？

What collective language would we speak as a planet?

我們會說什麼共同語言 代表我們的星球呢？

The language of light reaches every audience.

光的語言可以觸及到每一位觀眾。

All of us are touched by it. None of us can hold it.

光能碰觸到我們，我們卻抓不住光。

And in the theater, we begin each work in a dark place, devoid of light.

在劇院，每個表演 都從黑暗中開始，避開光線。

We stay up all night focusing the lights, programming the lights,

我們熬夜討論、設定燈光，

trying to find new ways to sculpt and carve light.

試圖找到新的方式去雕塑、刻劃光。

(Music)

（音樂）

This is a portrait of our practice,

這描繪了我們工作的本質，

always seeking new ways to shape and reshape light,

總是試圖找到新的方式 來形塑、重塑燈光，

always finding words for things that we no longer need to say.

試圖找到言語之外的表達方式。

And I want to say that this,

我想說，這個，

and everything that I've just shown you,

跟我剛展示給你們看的所有東西，

no longer exists in physical form.

都不以實體型態存在了。

(Music)

（音樂）

In fact, most of what I've made over the last 25 years

事實上，過去 25 年來 我所創造的作品

doesn't exist anymore.

大多都不存在了。

But our work endures in memories, in synaptic sculptures,

但我們的作品存在於 回憶、記憶神經元，

in the minds of those who were once present

和曾經在場的觀眾心中。

in the audience.

(Music)

（音樂）

I once read that a poem learnt by heart

我曾經讀過——

若你有首能牢記於心的詩，

is what you have left,

那它將會是你僅有

what can't be lost,

和永遠不會失去的資產，

even if your house burns down and you've lost all your possessions.

即便哪天你家被燒毀了 或失去了所有財產。

I want to end with some lines that I learnt by heart a long time ago.

我想要以很久以前 就牢記於心的詞句做結尾。

(Music)

（音樂）

They're written by the English novelist E.M. Forster,

這是由英國小說家 E · M · 福斯特於 1910 所寫，

in 1910, just a few years before Europe, my continent,

就在我成長的土地——歐洲——

(Music)

（音樂）

began tearing itself apart.

開始自我分裂的幾年前。

(Music)

（音樂）

And his call to convergence still resonates

當時他疾聲呼籲的團結，

仍與我們現今的處境有所共鳴。

through most of what we're trying to make now.

(Music)

（音樂）

"Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon.

「唯有聯結！是她長篇說教的核心。

Only connect the prose and the passion,

唯有聯結起平淡和激情，

and both will be exalted,

兩者才能共好，

And human love will be seen at its height.

才能看見人類愛的潛能。

Only connect! And live in fragments no longer."

唯有聯結！人們才能 不再活在分裂之中。」

Thank you.

謝謝！

(Applause)

（掌聲）