Bruce McCall: Nostalgia for a future that never happened

譯者: Shelley Krishna Tsang 審譯者: Zhu Jie

I don't know what the hell I'm doing here.

我不知道自己在這裡幹什麼。

I was born in a Scots Presbyterian ghetto in Canada,

我出生在加拿大一個蘇格蘭長老會貧民窟，

and dropped out of high school. I don't own a cell phone,

高中就輟學了。我沒有手機，

and I paint on paper using gouache, which hasn't changed in 600 years.

我用廣告彩在紙上畫畫，六百年來沒變過。

But about three years ago I had an art show in New York,

但是三年前我在紐約有個藝術展，

and I titled it "Serious Nonsense."

我叫它《嚴肅荒誕》。

So I think I'm actually the first one here -- I lead.

所以，我覺得我其實是第一個做這個的人 -- 我領導的。

I called it "Serious Nonsense" because on the serious side,

我叫它《嚴肅荒誕》，是因為從嚴肅的一面來說，

I use a technique of painstaking realism of editorial illustration

我用一種細緻的現實主義手法畫社評插畫，

from when I was a kid. I copied it and I never unlearned it --

從我小時候開始。我反復使用它，從沒忘記過，

it's the only style I know. And it's very kind of staid and formal.

這是我知道的唯一一種風格。而它是很保守、很正統的。

And meanwhile, I use nonsense, as you can see.

與此同時，你可以看到，我也用了荒誕元素。

This is a Scottish castle where people are playing golf indoors,

這是一座蘇格蘭城堡，人們在室內打高爾夫球，

and the trick was to bang the golf ball off of suits of armor --

規則是要把高爾夫球從一副身中世紀鎧甲上打下來 --

which you can't see there.

你們可能看得不太清楚。

This was one of a series called "Zany Afternoons," which became a book.

這是《滑稽下午》系列的其中一幅，後來出版成書。

This is a home-built rocket-propelled car. That's a 1953 Henry J --

這是一輛自制的火箭推進車。這是1953年產的亨利J --

I'm a bug for authenticity -- in a quiet neighborhood in Toledo.

我喜歡原創，在拖雷多一個安靜的社區裡。

This is my submission for the L.A. Museum of Film.

這幅是我提交的洛杉磯電影博物館設計圖。

You can probably tell Frank Gehry and I come from the same town.

你應該能看出來，弗蘭克·蓋裏（著名建築師）和我是從一個地方來的。

My work is so personal and so strange

我的作品很個性化、很奇特

that I have to invent my own lexicon for it.

所以我不得不為它發明新的辭彙。

And I work a lot in what I call "retrofuturism,"

另外，我創作了很多我稱之為『復古未來主義』的作品，

which is looking back to see how yesterday viewed tomorrow.

就是回顧一下昨天是怎麼看明天的。

And they're always wrong, always hilariously, optimistically wrong.

他們總是錯的，總是滑稽的、樂觀的錯了。

And the peak time for that was the 30s,

最高潮的時間是三十年代，

because the Depression was so dismal

因為大蕭條太淒涼了

that anything to get away from the present into the future ...

任何東西只要能把大家從現在帶進未來就行，

and technology was going to carry us along.

而科技將會帶領我們走下去。

This is Popular Workbench. Popular science magazines in those days --

這是《大眾工作台》。一本當時很流行的科學雜誌，

I had a huge collection of them from the '30s --

我收集了很多類似的三十年代雜誌，

all they are is just poor people being asked to make sunglasses

他們全都是一些被人叫他們用晾衣架的鐵絲來造墨鏡的可憐人，

out of wire coat hangers and everything improvised

而所有事都是即興的。

and dreaming about these wonderful giant radio robots

他們幻想著這些神奇的巨型無線電機器人

playing ice hockey at 300 miles an hour --

以每小時300英里的時速打著冰上曲棍球。

it's all going to happen, it's all going to be wonderful.

這些事全部將會實現，將會變得妙極了。

Automotive retrofuturism is one of my specialties.

汽車的『復古未來主義』是我的特長之一。

I was both an automobile illustrator and an advertising automobile copywriter,

因為我既是一個汽車插畫家，又是一個汽車廣告撰稿人，

so I have a lot of revenge to take on the subject.

所以對這個主題我有點兒報復性心理。

Detroit has always been halfway into the future -- the advertising half.

底特律總是在邁向未來的途中，特別是在廣告裡，

This is the '58 Bulgemobile: so new, they make tomorrow look like yesterday.

這是58年的Bulgemobile，多新，他們讓明天看上去像昨天。

This is a chain gang of guys admiring the car.

這是一眾愛車人士膜拜的車。

That's from a whole catalog -- it's 18 pages or so --

那是從一整本目錄冊來的，有差不多18頁，

ran back in the days of the Lampoon, where I cut my teeth.

回顧我在《諷刺》的日子，我開始的地方。

Techno-archaeology is digging back and finding past miracles that never happened --

『科技考古學』的意思是挖掘以前、找尋過去從未發生過的奇跡，

for good reason, usually.

通常是出於善意的。

The zeppelin -- this was from a brochure about the zeppelin

《齊柏林飛船》，這是從一本關於齊柏林飛船的小冊子上來的。

based, obviously, on the Hindenburg.

很顯然，是取材於 興登堡號。

But the zeppelin was the biggest thing that ever moved made by man.

但是，齊柏林飛船是人類所創造的、會動的、最大的玩意兒。

And it carried 56 people at the speed of a Buick at an altitude you could hear dogs bark,

它能載56人，速度和一輛 別克（美國轎車品牌）差不多，飛行高度能讓你聽見狗叫，

and it cost twice as much as a first-class cabin on the Normandie to fly it.

而想坐著它飛，價錢要比坐巨輪 諾曼第號 的頭等艙還貴兩倍。

So the Hindenburg wasn't, you know, it was inevitable it was going to go.

所以 興登堡號（慘劇），你知道，是無可避免地發生的。

This is auto-gyro jousting in Malibu in the 30s.

這是1930年馬里布的自轉旋翼機長槍比武大賽。

The auto-gyro couldn't wait for the invention of the helicopter,

這時旋翼機還沒等到直升飛機的發明，

but it should have -- it wasn't a big success.

但是它應該等等 —— 因為它不是很成功。

It's the only Spanish innovation, technologically, of the 20th century, by the way.

這是唯一的西班牙發明，技術上，在二十世紀裡，順帶一提。

You needed to know that.

你需要知道。

The flying car which never got off the ground -- it was a post-war dream.

飛車從沒離開過地面——這算是後二戰時代的一個夢吧。

My old man used to tell me we were going to get a flying car.

我老爸曾經告訴我，我們將來會有一輛飛車。

This is pitched into the future from 1946,

這是從1946年的角度投射未來，

looking at the day all American families have them.

看著將來每個美國家庭都能擁有他們。

"There's Moscow, Shirley. Hope they speak Esperanto!"

插畫的題注：『到莫斯科啦，雪麗。希望他們會說世界語。』

Faux-nostalgia, which I'm sort of -- not, say, famous for, but I work an awful lot in it.

人造懷舊，我不能說自己成名於此，但是我畫了很多這類的作品。

It's the achingly sentimental yearning for times that never happened.

那是對從未發生的過去一份多愁善感的留戀。

Somebody once said that nostalgia is the one utterly most useless human emotion --

有人曾經說過，懷舊是一種最最沒用的人類情感。

so I think that’s a case for serious play.

所以我覺得這是嚴肅遊戲的一個例子。

This is emblematic of it -- this is wing dining,

這是其中具代表性的一個 —— 這個叫 機翼餐，

recalling those balmy summer days somewhere over France in the 20s,

回想起那些暖洋洋的夏日，在法國某處，在二十年代，

dining on the wing of a plane. You can't see it very well here,

在飛機的機翼上進餐。你在可能看得不太清楚，

but that's Hemingway reading some pages from his new novel

但那是海明威朗讀了幾頁他的新小說

to Fitzgerald and Ford Madox Ford until the slipstream blows him away.

給 菲茨傑拉德 和 福特·馬多克斯·福特 聽，直到他被螺旋槳的滑流吹走。

This is tank polo in the South Hamptons.

這是南漢普頓的坦克馬球。

The brainless rich are more fun to make fun of than anybody. I do a lot of that.

開沒腦子的有錢人的玩笑，比開其他人玩笑都好玩，我常幹這些事。

And authenticity is a major part of my serious nonsense.

而原創性是我《嚴肅荒謬》的一個重要部分。

I think it adds a huge amount.

我覺得它給我的作品增色不少。

Those, for example, are Mark IV British tanks from 1916.

那些，舉例說，是1916年英產的馬克四型坦克。

They had two machine guns and a cannon,

他們有兩支機關槍和一支大炮，

and they had 90 horsepower Ricardo engines.

還有九十馬力的裏卡多引擎。

They went five miles an hour and inside it was 105 degrees in the pitch dark.

他們每小時只能在走五英里，而裏面有華氏105度（攝氏40度），一片漆黑。

And they had a canary hung inside the thing

他們在裏面還掛著一隻金絲雀

to make sure the Germans weren't going to use gas.

以防德國人使用毒氣。

Happy little story, isn't it?

快樂的小故事，不是麼？

This is Motor Ritz Towers in Manhattan in the 30s,

這是三十年代的曼哈頓麗茲汽車大廈，

where you drove up to your front door, if you had the guts.

你夠膽的話，可以開車直達你的房間正門。

Anybody who was anybody had an apartment there.

住在這裡的人非富則貴。

I managed to stick in both the zeppelin and an ocean liner out of sheer enthusiasm.

我還一股傻勁的把飛艇和巨輪畫進去了。

And I love cigars -- there's a cigar billboard down there.

還有我喜歡雪茄，下面還有個雪茄廣告牌。

And faux-nostalgia works even in serious subjects like war.

人造懷舊還能用在嚴肅的主題上，比如說，戰爭。

This is those wonderful days of the Battle of Britain in 1940,

這是1940年 不列顛空戰 中的那些好日子，

when a Messerschmitt ME109 bursts into the House of Commons

當梅塞斯密特Me-109型戰鬥機闖進英國下議院時，

and buzzes around, just to piss off Churchill, who's down there somewhere.

戰鬥機嗡嗡做響，就為了氣一氣下面的邱吉爾。

It's a fond memory of times past.

這是多麼美妙的往事啊。

Hyperbolic overkill is a way of taking exaggeration to the absolute ultimate limit,

『雙曲線矯枉過正』是一種把誇張伸展到絕對極限的表達方式，

just for the fun of it. This was a piece I did -- a brochure again --

就為了好玩。我畫的這幅畫，又是一個小冊子，

"RMS Tyrannic: The Biggest Thing in All the World."

英國皇家郵輪鐵瑞尼號，全世界最大的玩意兒。

The copy, which you can't see because it goes on and on for several pages,

這份稿件，你沒法看，因為它就這麼下去好多好多頁，

says that steerage passengers can't get their to bunks before the voyage is over,

說下等艙的乘客到整個行程已經結束了還沒到他們的鋪位，

and it's so safe it carries no insurance.

它安全得連保險都不需要。

It's obviously modeled on the Titanic.

這個原型當然是鐵達尼號。

But it's not a cri de coeur about man's hubris in the face of the elements.

但它不是為了道出人類的驕傲狂妄，

It's just a sick, silly joke.

它只是一個瘋癲、愚蠢的笑話。

Shamelessly cheap is something, I think -- this will wake you up.

『不知廉恥的低俗』是一些，我覺得，可以把你叫醒的東西。

It has no meaning, just -- Desoto discovers the Mississippi,

它沒有什麼任何意義，只是，迪索托（美國汽車品牌）發現密西西比，

and it's a Desoto discovering the Mississippi.

而這就是，一輛迪索托發現密西西比。

I did that as a quick back page -- I had like four hours to do a back page

我趕工畫了這個封底，我當時只有四個小時

for an issue of the Lampoon, and I did that,

為一期《諷刺》畫一個封底，我就畫了它，

and I thought, "Well, I'm ashamed. I hope nobody knows it."

我想：『嗯，我有點慚愧，希望沒有人注意到它。』

People wrote in for reprints of that thing.

居然有讀者寫信來要求再版那幅畫。

Urban absurdism -- that's what the New Yorker really calls for.

『城市荒誕主義』，這是《紐約客》真正想要的。

I try to make life in New York look even weirder than it is with those covers.

我畫這些封面的時候，試圖讓紐約的生活看上去比實際更光怪陸離。

I've done about 40 of them, and I'd say 30 of them are based on that concept.

我畫了大概40幅左右，其中有大概30幅是基於這個理念。

I was driving down 7th Avenue one night at 3 a.m.,

我有一次夜裏三點開車下第七街，

and this steam pouring out of the street, and I thought, "What causes that?" And that --

看見一股蒸汽從地下冒出來，然後我就想：『這是什麼造成的呢？』而這個……

who’s to say?

誰說得準？

The Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan in New York -- it's a very somber place.

紐約大都會博物館裏的古埃及頓都神廟是個很陰鬱的地方。

I thought I could jazz it up a bit, have a little fun with it.

我想把它弄活潑點，搞得有點樂趣。

This is a very un-PC cover. Not in New York.

這封面很不合時宜，至少在紐約不合適。

I couldn't resist, and I got a nasty email from some environmental group saying,

我實在忍不住要畫，之後我收到一封從什麼環保組織發來的煩人電郵，

"This is too serious and solemn to make fun of. You should be ashamed,

說：『這個問題很認真嚴肅，不應該拿來開玩笑。你應該感到慚愧，

please apologize on our website."

請在我們的網站上道歉。』

Haven't got around to it yet but -- I may.

我一直沒時間做這件事兒，但說不定我會。

This is the word side of my brain.

這是我大腦中 文字的一面。

(Laughter)

（笑聲)

I love the word "Eurotrash."

我喜歡 歐洲廢物 這個詞。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

That's all the Eurotrash coming through JFK customs.

這是所有 歐洲廢物 經紐約甘迺迪機場入海關時的特別通道。

This was the New York bike messenger meeting the Tour de France.

這是紐約自行車遞送員迎戰環法自行車大賽。

If you live in New York, you know how the bike messengers move.

如果你住在紐約，你就會知道這些遞送員是怎麼輾轉騰挪的。

Except that he's carrying a tube for blueprints and stuff -- they all do --

除了他們還會背個裝圖紙一類的畫筒，他們全都這樣，

and a lot of people thought that meant it was a terrorist

很多讀者還以為他是恐怖分子

about to shoot rockets at the Tour de France --

正要向環法自行車賽發射火箭炮呢，

sign of our times, I guess.

我猜，這算是我們時代的印記了。

This is the only fashion cover I've ever done.

這是我畫的唯一一個時裝封面。

It's the little old lady that lives in a shoe, and then this thing --

這些小老太太們住在鞋裏面，然後出來這麼個東西，

the title of that was, "There Goes the Neighborhood."

這個題目叫《鄰里之間》。

I don't know a hell of a lot about fashion --

對於時裝，我懂得不多。

I was told to do what they call a Mary Jane,

我被叫來畫一幅被他們稱為 瑪麗·簡 的鞋，

and then I got into this terrible fight between the art director and the editor saying:

之後我捲進了與藝術總監和總編的一場可怕爭論中，

"Put a strap on it" -- "No, don't put a strap on it" -- "Put a strap on it -- "Don't put a strap on it" --

要鞋帶，不，不要鞋帶，要鞋帶，不要鞋帶……

because it obscures the logo and looks terrible and it's bad and --

因為要的話就會擋住雜誌標題，而且看上去也不美，不好……

I finally chickened out and did it for the sake of the authenticity of the shoe.

但我最後還是臨陣退縮了，為了保住鞋子的原創性，我畫了鞋帶。

This is a tiny joke -- E-ZR pass. One letter makes an idea.

這是一個小玩笑 -- 電子快捷收費站。一個字母（E）帶來這個意念。

This is a big joke.

這是個大玩笑。

This is the audition for "King Kong."

這是金剛的試鏡現場。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

People always ask me, where do you get your ideas, how do your ideas come?

總有人問我，你在哪里找靈感的，你的靈感從哪裡來？

Truth about that one is I had a horrible red wine hangover,

說實在的，這是一天我喝紅酒宿醉，

in the middle of the night, this came to me like a Xerox -- all I had to do was write it down.

大半夜，這個想法突然閃現，我唯一要做的就是把它寫下來。

It was perfectly clear. I didn't do any thinking about it.

清晰無比。我想都不需要想。

And then when it ran, a lovely lady, an old lady named Mrs. Edgar Rosenberg --

出版以後，一位優美的女士，名叫 愛德格·羅森伯格 女士，

if you know that name -- called me and said she loved the cover, it was so sweet.

如果你知道這個名字，打電話給我，跟我說她愛上了這個封面，它太貼心了。

Her former name was Fay Wray, and so that was --

她以前的名字是菲伊·雷（1933年版金剛的女主角），所以嘛，

I didn't have the wit to say, "Take the painting."

我當時沒有那個智慧對她說：『把畫拿走吧。』

Finally, this was a three-page cover, never done before,

最後，這是一個三連頁的封面，以前從來沒有做過，

and I don't think it will ever be done again --

我估計也不會再做的

successive pages in the front of the magazine.

連頁雜誌封面。

It's the ascent of man using an escalator, and it's in three parts.

畫中用了一部自動扶梯展示了人類的進步，分為三個部分。

You can't see it all together, unfortunately, but if you look at it enough,

遺憾的是，你沒法一下看全，但是如果你看得夠久，

you can sort of start to see how it actually starts to move.

你就會發現它實際上是會動的。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Pretty elegant. Nothing like a crash to end a joke. That completes my oeuvre.

相當精美。沒有什麼比摔一跤更適合完結一個笑話。這就是我的藝術生涯。

I would just like to add a crass commercial --

我想貿然插一個廣告，

I have a kids' book coming out in the fall called "Marvel Sandwiches,"

我有個兒童讀物今年秋天要出版了，叫《神奇的三明治》，

a compendium of all the serious play that ever was,

是所有嚴肅遊戲的概要，

and it’s going to be available in fine bookstores, crummy bookstores,

將會從十月開始，在精緻的書店、破舊的書店、

tables on the street in October.

路邊的書報攤有售。

So thank you very much.

非常感謝大家。