Luke Syson: How I learned to stop worrying and love "useless" art

譯者: Becky Ma 審譯者: 杏儀 歐陽

Two years ago, I have to say there was no problem.

我必須說，兩年前什麼問題也沒有。

Two years ago, I knew exactly what an icon looked like.

兩年前，我很清楚一幅肖像該長什麼樣子。

It looks like this.

肖像就該長成這樣。

Everybody's icon, but also the default position

大家都是這麼想，

當時我身為義大利 文藝復興博物館館長，亦有同感。

of a curator of Italian Renaissance paintings, which I was then.

And in a way, this is also another default selection.

這幅畫大概是另一種公認的肖像。

Leonardo da Vinci's exquisitely soulful image

李奧納多·達文西的《抱銀鼠的女子》，

of the "Lady with an Ermine."

神態精緻又深情，

And I use that word, soulful, deliberately.

我特地用了"深情"這個詞。

Or then there's this, or rather these:

或者還有這幅畫，或者說這些畫：

the two versions of Leonardo's "Virgin of the Rocks"

李奧納多的"在岩洞中的聖母"，

that were about to come together in London for the very first time.

當時這兩個版本將要首次在倫敦一併展出。

In the exhibition that I was then in the absolute throes of organizing.

當時我正處於展覽籌畫的陣痛期，

I was literally up to my eyes in Leonardo,

完全沉浸於李奧納多的作品當中，

and I had been for three years.

而且我已經沉浸了三年。

So, he was occupying every part of my brain.

李奧納多佔據了我整個大腦。

Leonardo had taught me, during that three years,

在那三年間，他教導了我

about what a picture can do.

一幅畫有多大威力。

About taking you from your own material world into a spiritual world.

能將你從物質世界帶到心靈的世界。

He said, actually, that he believed the job of the painter

李昂納多曾說過， 他深信一個畫家的職責

was to paint everything that was visible and invisible in the universe.

是把宇宙中所有能看到的和不能看到的 都畫出來。

That's a huge task. And yet, somehow he achieves it.

這是一件艱巨的工作， 但他却又成功做到了。

He shows us, I think, the human soul.

我覺得，他向我們展示了人類的靈魂。

He shows us the capacity of ourselves

他向我們展示了

to move into a spiritual realm.

我們往精神領域邁進的能耐。

To see a vision of the universe that's more perfect than our own.

去看一個我們從未見過的更加完美的宇宙,

To see God's own plan, in some sense.

用另一種目光去看上帝的計劃。

So this, in a sense, was really what I believed an icon was.

可以說，這就是當時 我對肖像的想法和定義。

At about that time, I started talking to Tom Campbell,

大約在那段時間 我開始和 Tom Campbell 聊天，

director here of the Metropolitan Museum,

他是大都會藝術博物館的主管，

about what my next move might be.

我們談到我未來的動向。

The move, in fact, back to an earlier life,

事實上，我計劃回到過去的生活，

one I'd begun at the British Museum,

我以前在大英博物館裡展開的生活。

back to the world of three dimensions --

回到三維的世界，

of sculpture and of decorative arts --

雕塑和裝飾藝術的世界，

to take over the department of European sculpture and decorative arts, here at the Met.

接管大都會博物館的歐洲雕塑及裝飾藝術部。

But it was an incredibly busy time.

但那時我非常忙。

All the conversations were done at very peculiar times of the day --

所有談話都是在一天之中 極不尋常的時刻進行的--

over the phone.

而且是透過電話完成的。

In the end, I accepted the job

最後，我接受了這工作

without actually having been here.

儘管我沒有真正去那裡看過。

Again, I'd been there a couple of years before,

我幾年前去過那裡，

but on that particular visit.

但也就去過那麼一次。

So, it was just before the time that the Leonardo show was due to open

當我終於能夠回到紐約的大都會博物館

when I finally made it back to the Met, to New York,

視察我的新領域，

to see my new domain.

那剛好是李奧納多展覽開始的時間。

To see what European sculpture and decorative arts looked like,

為了看歐洲的雕塑和裝飾藝術，

beyond those Renaissance collections with which I was so already familiar.

看看我所熟悉的 文藝復興時期之後發生的演變。

And I thought, on that very first day, I better tour the galleries.

在那天，我想，我最好去參觀藝術館。

Fifty-seven of these galleries --

五十七間藝術館，

like 57 varieties of baked beans, I believe.

我相信，就像五十七種烤豆子，

I walked through and I started in my comfort zone in the Italian Renaissance.

我從自己的安全區—— 意大利文藝復興館開始參觀，

And then I moved gradually around,

然後慢慢四周走動，

feeling a little lost sometimes.

不時感到不知所措，

My head, also still full of the Leonardo exhibition

我的大腦，仍然想著 即將開放的李奧納多展覽，

that was about to open, and I came across this.

然後我看見了這個東西。

And I thought to myself: What the hell have I done?

我問我自己：我到底幹了什麼？

There was absolutely no connection in my mind

我的思維突然掉鏈，

at all and, in fact, if there was any emotion going on,

事實上，要是當時我有任何感覺，

it was a kind of repulsion.

那感覺就是厭惡之情。

This object felt utterly and completely alien.

這東西完全、十足地莫名其妙，

Silly at a level that I hadn't yet understood silliness to be.

竟然可以"愚蠢可笑"到這種程度。

And then it was made worse --

然後，更糟糕的是

there were two of them.

這玩意有兩個。

(Laughter)

(笑)

So, I started thinking about why it was, in fact,

所以，我開始想，為什麼我

that I disliked this object so much.

會那麼討厭這件東西。

What was the anatomy of my distaste?

到底我的厭惡是從何而來？

Well, so much gold, so vulgar.

嗯，太多金，太庸俗了。

You know, so nouveau riche, frankly.

你知道，活脫脫的暴發戶。

Leonardo himself had preached against the use of gold,

李奧纳多反對使用金來做藝術品，

so it was absolutely anathema at that moment.

所以當時我對這個極為反感。

And then there's little pretty sprigs of flowers everywhere. (Laughter)

然後它們還遍佈著小花枝 (笑)

And finally, that pink. That damned pink.

最後，那粉紅。那該死的粉紅。

It's such an extraordinarily artificial color.

真的是異常人工的顏色。

I mean, it's a color that I can't think of anything that you actually see in nature,

我是說，我想像不到在自然界中 有什麼東西是這種顏色。

that looks that shade.

那模樣、那色調

The object even has its own tutu. (Laughter)

這物件還有自己的芭蕾舞裙呢！(笑)

This little flouncy, spangly, bottomy bit

就好像衣裙上的荷邊裝飾，

that sits at the bottom of the vase.

那小小的金光閃爍物就在花瓶的底部。

It reminded me, in an odd kind of way,

它用一種奇怪的方式

of my niece's fifth birthday party.

讓我想起姪女的五歲生日派對，

Where all the little girls would come either as a princess or a fairy.

那裡所有的小女孩 不是打扮成公主，就是打扮成仙女。

There was one who would come as a fairy princess.

有一個更以仙女公主的造型前來呢！

You should have seen the looks.

你實在應該看看那些表情。

(Laughter)

(笑)

And I realize that this object was in my mind,

然後我意識到我對這玩意有印象，

born from the same mind, from the same womb,

簡直跟芭比娃娃的芭蕾舞演員

practically, as Barbie Ballerina. (Laughter)

如出一轍。 (笑)

And then there's the elephants. (Laughter)

然後就是上面的大象 (笑)

Those extraordinary elephants

那些與眾不同的大象

with their little, sort of strange, sinister expressions

露出牠們微細、有一點奇怪和奸詐的表情，

and Greta Garbo eyelashes, with these golden tusks and so on.

還有如葛麗泰·嘉寶的睫毛， 這些金黃色的獠牙等等。

I realized this was an elephant that had

我意識到這是一頭 完全和橫跨塞倫蓋提

absolutely nothing to do with a majestic march across the Serengeti.

威嚴的步操一點關係也沒有的大象。

It was a Dumbo nightmare. (Laughter)

這是一場小飛象惡夢。(笑)

But something more profound was happening as well.

但一些更深邃的事情也正在發酵。

These objects, it seemed to me,

這些物件，似乎正跟

were quintessentially the kind that I and my liberal left friends in London

我和我倫敦的自由主義左派朋友

had always seen as summing up

常常對十八世紀法國貴族

something deplorable about the French aristocracy

所總結出的悲慘

in the 18th century.

有異曲同工之妙。

The label had told me that these pieces were made

標籤告訴我這些東西

by the Sèvres Manufactory,

出產於塞弗爾製造廠，

made of porcelain in the late 1750s,

在 1750 年代末用陶瓷製造而成，

and designed by a designer called Jean-Claude Duplessis,

並由一個叫Jean-Claude Duplessis的設計師設計，

actually somebody of extraordinary distinction

此人，我後來知道

as I later learned.

是一個特別卓越的人。

But for me, they summed up a kind of,

但對我來說，它們可總結成

that sort of sheer uselessness of the aristocracy

一種十八世紀

in the 18th century.

貴族十足的無用。

I and my colleagues had always thought

我和我的同事都常想

that these objects, in way, summed up the idea of,

這些東西某程度總結了一個想法，

you know -- no wonder there was a revolution.

你知道的 - 難怪有大革命，

Or, indeed, thank God there was a revolution.

又或者，感謝主世上曾經有大革命。

There was a sort of idea really, that,

真的，我們曾這麼想：

if you owned a vase like this,

就是如果你擁有一個如此的花瓶

then there was really only one fate possible.

只會有一種可能的命運。

(Laughter)

(笑)

So, there I was -- in a sort of paroxysm of horror.

所以，我當時杵在那，一陣恐懼發作。

But I took the job and I went on looking at these vases.

但我接受這工作並繼續觀察這些花瓶。

I sort of had to because they're on a through route in the Met.

我非看不可，因為它們在博物館的必經之路中。

So, almost anywhere I went, there they were.

所以，無論我去哪，它們都在。

They had this kind of odd sort of fascination,

它們有這種奇怪的吸引力，

like a car accident.

就像一場交通意外，

Where I couldn't stop looking.

讓我難以控制自己不望過去，

And as I did so, I started thinking:

而當我這樣做的時候，我開始想：

Well, what are we actually looking at here?

我們到底在看什麼？

And what I started with was understanding this

而我開始了解到

as really a supreme piece of design.

這其實是一個很棒的設計。

It took me a little time.

這用了我一點時間。

But, that tutu for example --

但以那芭蕾舞裙為例，

actually, this is a piece that does dance in its own way.

其實這是一個會以 自己的方式跳舞的作品。

It has an extraordinary lightness

它十分輕，

and yet, it is also amazing balanced.

但仍能奇妙地平衡，

It has these kinds of sculptural ingredients.

它有著這幾種雕塑的材料，

And then the play between --

以及事實上經過 縝密分配的色彩與鍍金，

actually really quite carefully disposed color and gilding, and the sculptural surface,

巧妙地搭配著雕琢而出的表面--

is really rather remarkable.

這其實是個傑作。

And then I realized that this piece went into the kiln

且不久後我發現這份作品

four times, at least four times in order to arrive at this.

至少進了四次燒窯， 才有辦法抵達這樣的境界。

How many moments for accident can you think of

在這過程中，

that could have happened to this piece?

有多少可能發生的意外啊?

And then remember, not just one, but two.

提醒你一下，這裡還有兩個喔。

So he's having to arrive at two exactly matched

所以他必須讓兩個相稱的瓷瓶

vases of this kind.

都達到如此境界才行。

And then this question of uselessness.

現在再來談談"無用"。

Well actually, the end of the trunks were originally candle holders.

事實上，它的尾端原本是燭台。

So what you would have had were candles on either side.

所以你原本應該看到兩邊插上蠟燭。

Imagine that effect of candlelight on that surface.

想像一下燭光在那表面，

On the slightly uneven pink, on the beautiful gold.

那輕微不均的粉紅、那美麗的金箔 所將造成的效果。

It would have glittered in an interior,

它應能在室內空間裡熠熠閃爍，

a little like a little firework.

像小型的煙火。

And at that point, actually, a firework went off in my brain.

思及此，一串煙火 也在我腦海中綻放了。

Somebody reminded me that, that word 'fancy' --

有人提醒了我"花俏"這個字眼--

which in a sense for me, encapsulated this object --

它某種程度上精確概括了這項物件--

actually comes from the same root as the word 'fantasy.'

事實上它和"幻想"這詞有相同根源。

And that what this object was just as much in a way,

而這作品也是用它自己的方式，

in its own way, as a Leonardo da Vinci painting,

如同達文西的畫作，

is a portal to somewhere else.

打開了某扇門，通往另一個世界。

This is an object of the imagination.

它是充滿想像力的作品。

If you think about the mad 18th-century operas of the time -- set in the Orient.

若你想起背景設在東方的 十八世紀瘋狂歌劇，

If you think about divans and perhaps even opium-induced visions of pink elephants,

若你想起華麗沙發椅， 甚至被誘以鴉片的粉紅大象，

then at that point, this object starts to make sense.

那麼這項物件就開始有點意思了。

This is an object which is all about escapism.

一言以蔽之，它代表了逃避主義。

It's about an escapism that happens --

代表著當時法國貴族

that the aristocracy in France sought

刻意追求的逃避現實風格，

very deliberately

只為了把自己與平凡人

to distinguish themselves from ordinary people.

區別開來。

It's not an escapism that

然而，這種避世主義

we feel particularly happy with today, however.

可不是我們現代人所想的那麼歡樂。

And again, going on thinking about this,

想到這裡

I realize that in a way we're all victims

我又發覺，某方面而言

of a certain kind of tyranny

我們都是

of the triumph of modernism

現代主義大獲全勝之後 暴政的受害者，

whereby form and function in an object

因為在此主義下

have to follow one another, or are deemed to do so.

各項物件的型態 和功能被認為必須相似，

And the extraneous ornament is seen as really,

使得外在裝飾

essentially, criminal.

被視為十分罪惡。

It's a triumph, in a way, of bourgeois values rather than aristocratic ones.

看起來，這是中產階級的 價值觀打敗了貴族們。

And that seems fine.

這樣感覺沒什麼不好。

Except for the fact that it becomes a kind of sequestration of imagination.

除了它逐漸開始沒收了我們的想像力。

So just as in the 20th century, so many people

就像二十世紀時，

had the idea that their faith

許多人開始認為，

took place on the Sabbath day,

自己的信仰屬於安息日那天，

and the rest of their lives --

剩下的生命——

their lives of washing machines and orthodontics --

充滿機械清洗和牙齒矯正的日子——

took place on another day.

都和信仰無關。

Then, I think we've started doing the same.

我想我們都開始做這樣的事了。

We've allowed ourselves to

我們允許自己

lead our fantasy lives in front of screens.

在螢幕前過著夢幻人生。

In the dark of the cinema, with the television in the corner of the room.

無論是在漆黑戲院中， 或在房間角落的電視機前。

We've eliminated, in a sense, that constant

我們將這些瓷瓶所代表的 恆常的想像力

of the imagination that these vases represented in people's lives.

從日常生活中徹底移除了。

So maybe it's time we got this back a little.

所以或許是時候我們將它奪回來。

I think it's beginning to happen.

該是時候行動了。

In London, for example,

比如說，在倫敦

with these extraordinary buildings

近年來出現了

that have been appearing over the last few years.

這些卓越而特殊的建築。

Redolent, in a sense, of science fiction,

令人聯想起科幻小說

turning London into a kind of fantasy playground.

將倫敦轉變成一座夢幻遊樂場。

It's actually amazing to look out of a high building nowadays there.

儘管欣賞這些高聳建築 是一件如此驚奇的體驗。

But even then, there's a resistance.

它們依然受到了阻力。

London has called these buildings the Gherkin, the Shard, the Walkie Talkie --

倫敦人管它們叫"黃瓜"、"碎片"、"大哥大"，

bringing these soaring buildings down to Earth.

把這些奇幻飛揚的建築帶回現實的塵土

There's an idea that we don't want these

似乎大家都不希望這些令人興奮、

anxious-making, imaginative journeys to happen in our daily lives.

充滿想像的旅程出現在日常生活中似的，

I feel lucky in a way,

我感到很幸運，

I've encountered this object.

自己能遇到這個作品:

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

I found him on the Internet when I was looking up a reference.

我在網絡上查資料時發現了它。

And there he was.

現在呈現在各位眼前。

And unlike the pink elephant vase,

不像那個粉紅大象瓷瓶，

this was a kind of love at first sight.

我一看見這個就愛上它了。

In fact, reader, I married him. I bought him.

事實上，我和它結了婚，把它買回家。

And he now adorns my office.

現在它裝飾著我的辦公室。

He's a Staffordshire figure made in the middle of the 19th century.

它是十九世紀中期出產的史塔福郡人偶，

He represents the actor, Edmund Kean, playing Shakespeare's Richard III.

代表了扮演莎士比亞劇中 理查三世的演員，Edmund Kean。

And it's based, actually, on a more elevated piece of porcelain.

它是採用更高級的陶瓷所製成的，

So I loved, on an art historical level,

所以以藝術史的角度而言，

I loved that layered quality that he has.

我熱愛它所具備的層次感和質感。

But more than that, I love him.

但更重要的理由是，我愛"他"。

In a way that I think would have been impossible

在我那尚未遇見 粉紅塞弗爾瓷瓶的李奧納多時期，

without the pink Sèvres vase in my Leonardo days.

這想必是不可能的事吧。

I love his orange and pink breeches.

我愛他那粉橘色的褲子，

I love the fact that he seems to be going off to war,

以及看起來像剛梳洗完畢，

having just finished the washing up. (Laughter)

要去打仗的模樣。(笑聲)

He seems also to have forgotten his sword.

他看起來好像也忘了帶他的劍。

I love his pink little cheeks, his munchkin energy.

我愛他那粉嫩的雙頰， 像小矮人般的活力。

In a way, he's become my sort of alter ego.

就某方面來說，他像是另一個我。

He's, I hope, a little bit dignified,

他，我希望是，稍有威嚴的

but mostly rather vulgar. (Laughter)

但大部分是頗庸俗。(笑聲)

And energetic, I hope, too.

我也希望，他是精力充沛的

I let him into my life because the Sèvres pink elephant vase allowed me to do so.

若不是因為那粉紅象塞弗爾瓷瓶， 他也不會進入我的生活。

And before that Leonardo,

撇開達文西不談。

I understood that this object could become part of a journey for me every day,

我明白了這項待在我辦公室的作品，

sitting in my office.

將成為我每天旅程的一部分。

I really hope that others, all of you,

我真的希望你們，在場的所有人

visiting objects in the museum,

若來美術館參觀

and taking them home and finding them for yourselves,

發掘並帶了藝術品回家，

will allow those objects to flourish in your imaginative lives.

能夠讓這些作品 為你們的想像中的生活增色。

Thank you very much.

謝謝，

(Applause)

(掌聲)