Psychedelic Science | Fabian Oefner | TED Talks

譯者: Jessie Lee 審譯者: Joshua Chen

An image is worth more than a thousand words,

圖片能傳達的訊息，勝過千言萬語

so I'm going to start my talk

因此我的演講

by stop talking and show you a few images

將以緘默和幾張最近捕捉的影像作為開頭

that I recently captured.

將以緘默和幾張最近捕捉的影像作為開頭

So by now, my talk is already 6,000 words long,

截至目前為止我的演講已多達六千字

and I feel like I should stop here.

因此我認為這次演講就到此為止

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

At the same time, I probably owe you

但我猜想我還虧欠你們

some explanation

有關這些影像的一些說明

about the images that you just saw.

What I am trying to do as a photographer,

身為一名攝影師、

as an artist, is to bring the world

同時也是一位藝術家，我致力於

of art and science together.

將藝術和科學的世界結合在一起

Whether it is an image of a soap bubble

無論是肥皂泡沫

captured at the very moment where it's bursting,

在破裂瞬間所捕捉到的畫面

as you can see in this image,

如同你們所見的這張

whether it's a universe made of tiny little beads

無論是油漆的微小粒子組成的世界

of oil paint,

無論是油漆的微小粒子組成的世界

strange liquids that behave in very peculiar ways,

以非常奇特方式呈現的特殊液體

or paint that is modeled by centrifugal forces,

或者油漆因離心力所產生的圖案

I'm always trying to link those two fields together.

我不斷嘗試將這兩個領域做結合

我發現，兩者引人入勝之處

What I find very intriguing about those two

is that they both look at the same thing:

在於一個共同點：

They are a response to their surroundings.

都是對於周遭環境的回應

And yet, they do it in a very different way.

但卻是以截然不同的方式

If you look at science on one hand,

單就科學而論

science is a very rational approach

科學以一種十分理性的角度

to its surroundings,

回應周遭的環境

whereas art on the other hand

而另一方面呢

is usually an emotional approach to its surroundings.

藝術則常以感性作為切入

What I am trying to do is I'm trying

我正在做的是

to bring those two views into one

試者把兩者的觀點合而為一

so that my images both speak to the viewer's heart

因此，我拍攝的影像不僅與觀眾感性對談

but also to the viewer's brain.

也進行理性討論

Let me demonstrate this based on three projects.

我將以三個實驗來向各位說明

The first one has to do with making sound visible.

第一是聲音的形象化

Now as you may know,

眾所皆知的是

sound travels in waves,

聲音以聲波形式傳遞

so if you have a speaker,

假設有一台揚聲器

a speaker actually does nothing else

其實揚聲器只用來接收音頻訊號

than taking the audio signal,

transform it into a vibration,

將其轉換為振頻

which is then transported through the air,

並藉由空氣的傳播

is captured by our ear,

由我們的耳朵所感知

and transformed into an audio signal again.

然後再次轉換成音頻訊號

Now I was thinking,

因此我不斷思索

how can I make those sound waves visible?

如何將聲波形象化呢？

So I came up with the following setup.

我想到以下的裝置

I took a speaker, I placed a thin foil

我找了一個揚聲器

在上面鋪上一層塑膠薄片

of plastic on top of that speaker,

and then I added tiny little crystals

並放了小小的水晶

on top of that speaker.

在揚聲器上

And now, if I would play a sound through that speaker,

這樣一來，使用揚聲器播放聲音時

it would cause the crystals to move up and down.

上面的水晶會上下跳動

Now this happens very fast,

這一切都在轉瞬間發生

in the blink of an eye,

以迅雷不及掩耳的速度進行

so, together with LG, we captured this motion

我們藉助一部 LG 的攝影機

with a camera that is able

以每秒捕捉三千張圖像以上的速度

to capture more than 3,000 frames per second.

拍下了一切

Let me show you what this looks like.

以下是我們所捕捉到的圖像

(Music: "Teardrop" by Massive Attack)

（音樂：強烈衝擊合唱團的《淚珠》）

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Thank you very much.

非常感謝

I agree, it looks pretty amazing.

我也覺得那令人嘆為觀止

But I have to tell you a funny story.

但我要告訴你們一個有趣的事

I got an indoor sunburn doing this

在洛杉磯拍攝時

while shooting in Los Angeles.

我居然在室內曬傷了

Now in Los Angeles, you could get a decent sunburn

這個季節，到洛杉磯任一海灘

just on any of the beaches,

都可以曬出一身美麗的古銅色

but I got mine indoors,

但我卻是在室內

and what happened is that,

而原因是

if you're shooting at 3,000 frames per second,

若你想以每秒三千個畫面去拍攝

you need to have a silly amount of light, lots of lights.

所需光量將非常可觀、無比大量的光

So we had this speaker set up,

我們把揚聲器準備好

and we had the camera facing it,

攝影機朝它拍攝

and lots of lights pointing at the speaker,

並投以大量的光線

and I would set up the speaker,

一切準備就緒之後

put the tiny little crystals on top of that speaker,

再將水晶珠子放在揚聲器上

and we would do this over and over again,

不斷重複這樣的步驟

and it was until midday that I realized

直到中午我才發現

that I had a completely red face

我的臉被揚聲器上投射的強光

because of the lights pointing at the speaker.

曬得像關二哥一樣

What was so funny about it was that

有趣的是

the speaker was only coming from the right side,

揚聲器架設在我的右邊

so the right side of my face was completely red

所以只有右半邊的臉被曬紅

and I looked like the Phantom of the Opera

後來的幾天

for the rest of the week.

我看起來就像歌劇魅影裡的魅影

Let me now turn to another project

我的第二個構想

which involves less harmful substances.

涉及了一些低強度的有害物質

Has anyone of you heard of ferrofluid?

在座有人聽過鐵磁流體嗎?

Ah, some of you have. Excellent.

有人聽過，太棒了！

Should I skip that part?

我要省略那個部份嗎？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Ferrofluid has a very strange behavior.

鐵磁流體的特性非常奇妙

It's a liquid that is completely black.

它是一種極黑的液體

It's got an oily consistency.

濃稠度和油相似

And it's got tiny little particles of metal in it,

含有微小的金屬微粒

which makes it magnetic.

金屬微粒使它具有磁性

So if I now put this liquid into a magnetic field,

若是將液體注入磁場中

it would change its appearance.

外觀就會改變

Now I've got a live demonstration over here

我準備現場示範讓各位更加清楚

to show this to you.

So I've got a camera pointing down at this plate,

這台攝影機朝著下方薄板拍攝

and underneath that plate, there is a magnet.

薄板下面，有一塊磁鐵

Now I'm going to add some of that ferrofluid

現在我要在磁鐵上方

to that magnet.

注入一些鐵磁流體

Let's just slightly move it to the right

然後稍微地向右移

and maybe focus it a little bit more. Excellent.

調整一下焦距，很好！

So what you can see now is that

現在可以發現

the ferrofluid has formed spikes.

鐵磁流體形成尖刺狀

This is due to the attraction and the repulsion

成因是鐵磁流體內

of the individual particles inside the liquid.

金屬微粒相吸與相斥的作用

Now this looks already quite interesting,

這已經相當有趣

but let me now add some watercolors to it.

我現在要加點水彩進去

Those are just standard watercolors

就只是一般的水彩

that you would paint with.

平常用來畫畫那種

You wouldn't paint with syringes,

你可能不會用針筒來畫

but it works just the same.

但原理是一樣的

So what happened now is,

你看到的是

when the watercolor was flowing into the structure,

當水彩流進這個結構裡

the watercolors do not mix with the ferrofluid.

水彩不會和鐵磁流體相融合

That's because the ferrofluid itself

因為鐵磁流體本身具有疏水性

is hydrophobic.

That means it doesn't mix with the water.

也就是不和水融合

And at the same time, it tries to maintain its position

同時它也盡量在磁鐵上方

保持原來的位置

above the magnet,

and therefore, it creates those amazing-looking

因而產生了

令人驚豔的

structures of channels and tiny little ponds

of colorful water paint.

水彩運河和迷你池塘

So that was the second project.

這是我第二個構想

Let me now turn to the last project,

而最後一個實驗

which involves

會用到

the national beverage of Scotland.

蘇格蘭的國民飲料

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

This image, and also this one,

這個影像，還有這個

were made using whiskey.

都是威士忌的貢獻

Now you might ask yourself,

你心想︰

how did he do that?

他怎麼辦到的？

Did he drink half a bottle of whiskey

他是乾掉半瓶的威士忌後

and then draw the hallucination he got

然後把酒醉的幻覺

from being drunk onto paper?

畫在紙上嗎？

I can assure you I was fully conscious

我保證在拍這些照片時

while I was taking those pictures.

是完全清醒的

Now, whiskey contains 40 percent of alcohol,

威士忌含有 40％ 的酒精

and alcohol has got some very interesting properties.

而酒精有些非常有趣的特性

Maybe you have experienced

也許你曾經體驗過

some of those properties before,

其中一些特性

but I am talking about the physical properties,

但我說的物理特性

not the other ones.

跟你們想的可不太一樣

So when I open the bottle, the alcohol molecules

當我打開酒瓶後

would spread in the air,

酒精分子會瀰漫在空氣中

and that's because alcohol is a very volatile substance.

因為酒精是易揮發的物質

And at the same time, alcohol is highly flammable.

同時也相當易燃

And it was with those two properties

歸功於這兩個特性

that I was able to create the images

我才有辦法創作出

that you're seeing right now.

你們眼前所見的這些影像

Let me demonstrate this over here.

讓我做個現場示範

And what I have here is an empty glass vessel.

這是一個空的玻璃容器

It's got nothing in it.

裡面什麼都沒有

And now I'm going to fill it with oxygen

我要在裡面填充氧氣

and whiskey.

和威士忌

Add some more.

再多加一點

Now we just wait for a few seconds

只要等個幾秒鐘

for the molecules to spread inside the bottle.

讓分子散佈在瓶子內

And now, let's set that on fire.

然後一把火燒了它

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So that's all that happens.

就是這樣

It goes really fast, and it's not that impressive.

反應的速度真的很快，感覺沒什麼了不起的

I could do it again to show it one more time,

我可以重做一遍

but some would argue that this is a complete waste

有些人可能會抗議

of the whiskey, and that I should rather drink it.

這簡直就是浪費威士忌，我寧願把它喝掉

But let me show you a slow motion

但請看看慢動作版

in a completely darkened room

這是在沒有光線的暗房裡拍攝的

of what I just showed you in this live demonstration.

如同我剛才在現場示範的一樣

So what happened is that the flame

火焰

traveled through the glass vessel from top to bottom,

從玻璃瓶口到瓶底

burning the mix of the air molecules

燃燒了空氣分子和酒精的混和物

and the alcohol.

燃燒了空氣分子和酒精的混和物

So the images that you saw at the beginning,

所以你們一開始所看到的影像

they are actually a flame stopped in time

其實就是火焰在瓶子裡

while it is traveling through the bottle,

燃燒時定格的畫面

and you have to imagine

試著想像

it was flipped around 180 degrees.

將影像翻轉180度後

So that's how those images were made.

就是我所呈現出來的圖片

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Thank you.

謝謝

So, I have now showed you three projects,

我展示了以上三個實驗

and you might ask yourself, what is it good for?

你或許會納悶：這有什麼了不起的？

What's the idea behind it?

你究竟想表達些什麼？

Is it just a waste of whiskey?

學會怎麼浪費威士忌？

Is it just some strange materials?

不過是些奇特的材質？

Those three projects, they're based on very simple

以上三個實驗基於非常簡單的

scientific phenomena,

科學現象

such as magnetism, the sound waves,

例如：磁力、聲波、

or over here, the physical properties of a substance,

或是物質的物理特性

and what I'm trying to do

而我希望呈現的

is I'm trying to use these phenomena

是利用這些科學現象

and show them in a poetic and unseen way,

並以具詩意的、前所未見的方式

and therefore invite the viewer

藉此邀請觀賞者

to pause for a moment

暫停片刻

and think about all the beauty

思索一下

這些生活週遭的美麗事物

that is constantly surrounding us.

Thank you very much.

非常感謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）