Titus Kaphar: Can beauty open our hearts to difficult conversations? | TED

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Pui-Ching Siu

I believe there is beauty

我相信去聆聽沒有被聆聽的人，

in hearing the voices of people who haven't been heard.

這當中有著美麗。

["Drawing the Blinds," 2014]

〔《拉上窗簾》，2014〕

["The Jerome Project (Asphalt and Chalk) III," 2014]

〔《傑若米計畫（瀝青與白堊）Ⅲ》 2014〕

[Beneath an Unforgiving Sun (From A Tropical Space)," 2020]

〔《無情太陽下（來自熱帶空間）》 2020〕

那是個複雜的想法，

That's a complex idea,

因為必須要說出來的話 不見得一定都很美好。

because the things that must be said are not always lovely.

But somehow,

但，在某種層面上，

if they're reflective of truth,

如果它們反映出真相，

I think, fundamentally, that makes them beautiful.

我想，基本上，

它們就是美麗的。

(Music)

（音樂）

There's the aesthetic beauty of the work

在某些情況中，作品美感的功能

that in some cases functions as more of a Trojan horse.

就像是特洛伊木馬一樣。

It allows one to open their hearts to difficult conversations.

它讓人能夠打開心，

接受困難的對話。

Maybe you feel attracted to the beauty,

也許你會覺得被美麗吸引，

and while compelled by the technique,

同時很佩服用到的技巧、

the color,

色彩、形式或構圖，

the form or composition,

maybe the difficult conversation sneaks up.

也許困難的對談就悄悄出現了。

["Billy Lee and Ona Judge Portraits in Tar," 2016]

〔《比利·李和奧妮·賈奇的 焦油瀝青畫像》，2016〕

I really taught myself how to paint

我自學畫畫的方式

by spending time at museums

是花時間在博物館裡，

and looking at the people that --

去看人——

the artists, rather -- that I was told were the masters.

或說藝術家——別人所稱的大師。

Looking at the Rembrandts ["The Night Watch"],

我看著林布蘭〔《守夜》〕、

Renoir ["Luncheon of the Boating Party"],

雷諾瓦〔《船上的午宴》〕、 馬奈〔《草地上的午宴》〕，

Manet ["Luncheon on the Grass"],

很明顯地，

it becomes quite obvious

that if I'm going to learn how to paint a self-portrait

如果我要透過研究這些人

by studying those people,

來學習如何畫自畫像，

I'm going to be challenged

我一定會受到挑戰，

when it comes to mixing my skin

因為我需要混合出我的膚色

or mixing the skin of those people in my family.

或我家人的膚色。

There's literally formulas written down historically

對於要如何畫出白人的皮膚，

to tell me how to paint white skin --

歷史上是已經存在公式——

what colors I should use for the underpainting,

要用什麼顏色打底，

what colors I should use for the impasto highlights --

要用什麼顏色 做厚塗顏料的強調部分——

that doesn't really exist for dark skin.

黑皮膚沒有這些公式。

It's not a thing.

不存在。

It's not a thing

不存在是因為

because the reality is, our skin wasn't considered beautiful.

現實是人們認為 我們的皮膚不美麗。

The picture, the world that is represented in the history of paintings

在繪畫歷史中 所呈現出來的那個世界、

doesn't reflect me.

那個寫照，沒有反映出我。

It doesn't reflect the things that I value in that way,

沒有用那種方式 反映出我重視的東西，

and that's the conflict that I struggle with so frequently,

那是我經常要掙扎著面對的衝突，

is, I love the technique of these paintings,

我很喜愛這些畫作的技巧，

I have learned from the technique of these paintings,

我從這些畫作的技巧中學習，

and yet I know that they have no concern for me.

但我也知道它們完全不在乎我。

And so there are so many of us who are amending this history

所以我們有許多人

在修改這個歷史，

in order to simply say we were there.

目的只是要說，我們也存在其中。

Because you couldn't see doesn't mean we weren't there.

你看不見，不表示我們不存在。

We have been there.

我們一直都在那裡。 我們一直都在這裡。

We have been here.

We've continued to be seen as not beautiful,

我們一直被視為是不美麗的，

but we are,

但我們是美麗的，

and we are here.

且我們在這裡。

So many of the things that I make

所以，我的許多作品

end up as maybe futile attempts to reinforce that idea.

最終也許依然無法加強那個觀念。

["Drawing the Blinds," 2014]

〔《拉上窗簾》，2014〕

["Seeing Through Time," 2018]

〔《看越時間》，2018〕

Even though I've had the Western training,

雖然我受過西方的訓練，

my eye is still drawn to the folks who look like me.

我的眼睛仍然被那些 外表與我相似的人所吸引。

And so sometimes in my work,

有時，在我的作品中，

I have used strategies like whiting out the rest of the composition

我會用些策略，比如 將構圖的其他部分給抹白，

in order to focus on the character who may go unseen otherwise.

讓焦點能落在本來可能 不會被看見的角色上。

I have cut out other figures from the painting,

我也曾經將其他人物從畫作中割掉，

one, to either emphasize their absence,

一方面強調他們的缺席，

or two, to get you to focus on the other folks in the composition.

二方面讓你專注在 構圖中的其他人身上。

["Intravenous (From a Tropical Space)," 2020]

〔《靜脈內（來自 熱帶空間）》，2020〕

So "The Jerome Project," aesthetically, draws on hundreds of years

在美感上來說，《傑若米計劃》

利用了數百年的

of religious icon painting,

宗教肖像繪畫，

["The Jerome Project (My Loss)," 2014]

〔《傑若米計劃》 （我的損失），2014〕

a kind of aesthetic structure that was reserved for the church,

一種教堂、聖人專用的

美感結構。〔《聖母子》〕

reserved for saints.

["Madonna and Child"]

〔《希臘詩篇與新約中的一頁》〕

["Leaf from a Greek Psalter and New Testament"]

〔《基督全能的主》〕

["Christ Pantocrator"]

It's a project that is an exploration of the criminal justice system,

這個計劃是在探索刑事司法體系，

not asking the question "Are these people innocent or guilty?",

不是問「這些人是 無辜的還是有罪的？」

but more, "Is this the way that we should deal with our citizens?"

而是問「我們應該用這種方式 對待我們的公民嗎？」

I started a body of work,

我開始創作一系列作品，

because after being separated from my father

因為在與我父親分開

for almost 15 years,

近十五年之後，

I reconnected with my father, and ...

我和他重新連結上，且……

I really didn't know how to make a place for him in my life.

我真的不知道要如何 在人生中空出個位置給他。

As with most things I don't understand,

和所有我不了解的事物一樣，

I work them out in the studio.

我會在工作室中想辦法處理。

And so I just started making these portraits of mug shots,

我剛開始畫這些入監照，

starting because I did a Google search for my father,

這是因為我 Google 搜尋了我父親，

just wondering what had happened over this 15-year period.

只是想知道在這十五年間 發生了什麼事。

Where had he gone?

他去哪兒了？

And I found his mug shot, which of course was of no surprise.

然後我找到了他的入監照， 當然我並不意外。

But I found in that first search 97 other Black men

但我在第一次的搜尋結果中 發現了另外九十七名黑人，

with exactly the same first and last name,

有完全相同的姓和名，

and I found their mug shots, and that -- that was a surprise.

且我找到他們的入監照， 那——那就讓我很意外。

And not knowing what to do,

我不知道該怎麼辦，

I just started painting them.

所以我就開始畫他們。

Initially, the tar was a formula that allowed me to figure out

一開始，瀝青是一種配方，

讓我可以理解這些人 在監禁中失去了多少人生。

how much of these men's life had been lost to incarceration.

But I gave up that,

但我放棄了那麼做，

and the tar became far more symbolic

隨著我繼續畫下去， 瀝青變得更有象徵性，

as I continued,

because what I realized is

因為我了解到， 你被監禁的時間只是個開端，

the amount of time that you spend incarcerated is just the beginning

of how long it's going to impact the rest of your life.

接下來監禁還會對你剩下的人生 衝擊很長的一段時間。

So in terms of beauty within that context,

所以，就那種情境中的美麗來說，

I know from my friend's family

我從曾經或正在被監禁的

who have been incarcerated,

朋友家人那裡得知，

who are currently incarcerated,

folks want to be remembered.

人會想要被記得。

Folks want to be seen.

人會想要被看見。

We put people away for a long time,

我們把人關起來很長一段時間，

in some cases,

在某些案例中，只因為他們 做過那麼一件大錯事。

for that one worst thing that they've done.

So to a degree,

在某種程度上，

it's a way of just saying,

這其實就是在說：

"I see you.

「我看見你了。我們看見你了。」

We see you."

And I think that, as a gesture,

我想，這是一種

美麗的示意。

is beautiful.

In the painting "Behind the Myth of Benevolence,"

在《善行迷思的背後》畫作中，

there's almost this curtain of Thomas Jefferson

有張似乎畫著湯瑪斯·傑佛遜的帷幔

painted and pulled back to reveal a Black woman who's hidden.

被拉開來，揭示出

藏在後面的黑人女子。

This Black woman is at once Sally Hemings,

這名黑人女子同時是莎麗·海明斯，

but she's also every other Black woman

也代表蒙蒂塞洛農園中

who was on that plantation Monticello

每一個黑人女子，

and all the rest of them.

以及所有其他黑人女子。

The one thing we do know about Thomas Jefferson

關於湯瑪斯·傑佛遜， 我們確實知道一件事：

is that he believed in liberty,

他相信自由，

maybe more strongly than anyone who's ever written about it.

也許這信念比任何人 所撰寫的都還要強。

And if we know that to be true, if we believe that to be true,

如果我們知道那是真的， 如果我們相信那是真的，

then the only benevolent thing to do in that context

那麼在那個情境中， 唯一能做的善行

would be to extend that liberty.

就是把那自由延伸出去。

And so in this body of work,

所以，在這系列的作品中，

I use two separate paintings

我用了兩張不同的畫作，

that are forced together on top of one another

強迫疊合在一起，

to emphasize this tumultuous relationship between Black and white

來強調這些構圖中

這種黑與白之間的混亂關係。

in these compositions.

And so, that --

所以，那種——

that contradiction,

那種矛盾，

that devastating reality that's always behind the curtain,

那種讓人心力交瘁的現實， 總是藏在帷幔後，

what is happening in race relations in this country --

在這個國家，種族關係 發生了什麼事——

that's what this painting is about.

那正是這幅畫作的重點。

The painting is called "Another Fight for Remembrance."

畫作的名稱叫做 《為了紀念再打一戰》。

The title speaks to repetition.

名稱就點出了不斷的重覆。

The title speaks to the kind of violence against Black people

名稱也點出了

警方對黑人

所採用的那種暴力，

by the police

that has happened and continues to happen,

這種暴力曾經發生過， 也還持續在發生，

and we are now seeing it happen again.

現在我們看到它再次發生。

The painting is sort of editorialized as a painting about Ferguson.

這幅畫作有點算是被當成

關於佛格森的畫作來編輯。

It's not not about Ferguson,

它並非與佛格森無關，

but it's also not not about Detroit,

但它也並非與底特律無關，

it's also not not about Minneapolis.

它亦並非與明尼亞波里斯無關。

The painting was started because

這幅畫作的起緣是因為

on a trip to New York

我和我兄弟前往紐約

to see some of my own art with my brother,

去看我自己的藝術作品時，

as we spent hours walking in and out of galleries,

我們有數小時的時間進出畫廊，

we ended the day by being stopped by an undercover police car

那天的結束方式卻是

我們在街上被臥底警車給攔下來。

in the middle of the street.

These two police officers with their hands on their gun

兩位警員把手放在槍上，

told us to stop.

要我們停下來，要我們面對著牆。

They put us up against the wall.

They accused me of stealing art

他們指控我從畫廊 空間中偷竊藝術品，

out of a gallery space where I was actually exhibiting art.

其實我是在那裡展覽我的藝術品。

And as they stood there with their hands on their weapons,

當警員站在那裡，手放在武器上時，

I asked the police officer what was different about my citizenship

我問警員，我的公民資格

和所有其他人有什麼不同，

than that of all of the other people

who were not being disturbed in that moment.

為什麼此刻他們就不會被打擾？

He informed me that they had been following us for two hours

他告訴我，他們已經 跟蹤我們兩個小時了，

and that they had been getting complaints about Black men,

且他們一直接到申訴，

說有兩名黑人不斷進出畫廊。

two Black men walking in and out of galleries.

That painting is about the reality,

那幅畫作在畫的是現實，

that it's not a question

問題並不是這種情況

of if this is going to happen again,

「是否」會再次發生，

it's a question of when.

而是「何時」會再發生。

This most recent body of work is called "From a Tropical Space."

這是最新一系列的作品， 叫做《來自熱帶空間》。

This series of paintings is about Black mothers.

這系列畫作的主題是黑人母親。

The series of paintings takes place in a supersaturated,

這系列畫作發生在一個

過飽和的，也許是 超自然主義的世界，

maybe surrealist world,

not that far from the one we live in.

和我們所居住的世界差不多。

But in this world,

但在這個世界中，

the children of these Black women

這些黑人女性的孩子

are disappearing.

正在消失。

What this work is really about is the trauma,

這件作品的真正重點是創傷，

the things that Black women and women of color in particular

黑人女性，尤其是我們 族群中的有色人種女性，

in our community

have to struggle through in order to set their kids out

必須要掙扎渡過什麼

才能讓她們的孩子踏上人生的道路。

on the path of life.

What's encouraging for me

讓我很振奮的是，

is that this practice of mine

我的這種做法

has given me the opportunity

讓我有機會

to work with young people in my community.

可以和我的族群中的年輕人合作。

I'm quite certain the answers are not in me,

我很肯定，答案不在我身上，

but if I'm hopeful at all,

但若我還懷抱有希望， 也許答案會在他們身上。

it's that they may be in them.

"NXTHVN" is a project that started about five years ago.

《NXTHVN》是在 大約五年前開始的計劃。

NXTHVN is a 40,000-square-foot arts incubator

NXTHVN 是一個 四萬平方英呎的藝術孵化地，

in the heart of the Dixwell neighborhood

位於康乃狄格州紐哈芬市 狄克斯威爾區的中心。

in New Haven, Connecticut.

This is a predominantly Black and Brown neighborhood.

這一區主要是黑色和褐色 皮膚人種居住的地區。

It is a neighborhood that has the history of jazz at every corner.

這一區的每個角落

都有爵士的歷史。

Our neighborhood, in many ways, has been disinvested in.

我們居住的這一區， 在許多層面上都遭受到減資。

Schools are struggling to really prepare our population

學校要非常辛苦

才能讓我們這些居民 為將來做好準備。

for the futures ahead of them.

I know that creativity is an essential asset.

我知道創意是很重要的資產。

It takes creativity

要有創意

to be able to imagine a future

才能夠想像出

一個不同於眼前的未來。

that is so different than the one that is before you.

And so every artist in our program has a high school studio assistant:

所以，我們計劃中的每位藝術家

都有一名高中工作室助理：

there's a high school student that comes from the city of New Haven

有一位來自紐哈芬市的高中生

who works with them and learns their craft,

和他們合作，學習他們的手藝，

learns their practice.

學習他們的做法。

And so we've seen the ways

所以我們見識到

in which pointing folks at the power of creativity

讓人們了解創意的力量

能如何改變他們。

can change them.

Beauty is complicated,

美麗是很複雜的，

because of how we define it.

那是因為我們定義它的方式。

I think that beauty and truth

我認為美麗和真相

are intertwined somehow.

以某種方式編結在一起。

There is something

有某種

beautiful

美麗

in truth-telling.

存在於訴說真相當中。

That is:

就是：

that as an act, truth-telling

訴說真相的這個動作，

and the myriad ways it manifests --

以及它各式各樣的呈現方式——

there's beauty in that.

有美麗存在其中。