adjTED | Taking imagination seriously( 二 )


我决定自己走上艺术家之路 , 我画了十年的画 , 终于拿到傅尔布莱特奖学金 , 被邀请去印度 , 许诺了要办画展 , 我将画送上船运 , 然后抵达了玛玛拉普兰(Mahabalipuram) , 画展快要开幕了 , 可画还没运到 , 我必须找到代替品 , 这个渔村以雕塑闻名 , 因此我尝试了铜雕 , 但要雕刻大型的铜像很笨重且很费钱 , 一日我去海滩散步 , 看着渔民 , 在沙滩上将网捆绑成型 , 每天经过时我都看到这一场景 , 但这一次 , 我观察的角度变了 , 我看到了一种新的雕塑方式 , 它可以塑造立体几何的造型 , 而不必运用沉重坚实的材料 。
My first satisfying sculpture was made in collaboration with these fishermen. It's a self-portrait titled "Wide Hips." (Laughter) We hoisted them on poles to photograph. I discovered their soft surfaces revealed every ripple of wind in constantly changing patterns. I was mesmerized. I continued studying craft traditions and collaborating with artisans, next in Lithuania with lace makers. I liked the fine detail it gave my work, but I wanted to make them larger -- to shift from being an object you look at to something you could get lost in.
我第一个令人满意的雕塑 , 是和这些渔人们合作的成果 , 它是一个自画像 , 名为“宽臀” , 笑声 , 我们用杆将它支起来拍照 , 我发现 , 它柔软的表面 , 展现了风的褶皱 , 伴随着不断变化的图案 , 我被迷住了 , 我继续学习工艺传统 , 与工匠们合作 , 随后在立陶宛与花边编织者合作 , 我喜欢将这精美的细节赋予到我作品中 , 但我想把作品放大 , 让它不仅能供人观赏 , 还能让人迷失其中 。
Returning to India to work with those fishermen, we made a net of a million and a half hand-tied knots -- installed briefly in Madrid. Thousands of people saw it, and one of them was the urbanist Manual Sola-Morales who was redesigning the waterfront in Porto, Portugal. He asked if I could build this as a permanent piece for the city. I didn't know if I could do that and preserve my art. Durable, engineered, permanent -- those are in opposition to idiosyncratic, delicate and ephemeral.
回到印度后 , 我与渔人们合作 , 编织了一张网 , 有一百五十万个半手工编制的结 , 在马德里短暂安置 , 数千人看到了这件作品 , 其中一人是城市规划专家索拉莫拉雷斯(Manual Sola-Morales) , 当时他正在重新设计葡萄牙波尔图的海滨 , 他问我能不能把作它建成一座永久的作品 , 立在城市中 , 我不知道我能否在这样做的同时 保留我作品的艺术性 , 耐用 , 工程度高 , 永久 , 这些都与独特 , 精致 , 短暂 , 恰恰相反
For two years, I searched for a fiber that could survive ultraviolet rays, salt, air, pollution, and at the same time remain soft enough to move fluidly in the wind. We needed something to hold the net up out there in the middle of the traffic circle. So we raised this 45,000-pound steel ring. We had to engineer it to move gracefully in an average breeze and survive in hurricane winds. But there was no engineering software to model something porous and moving. I found a brilliant aeronautical engineer who designs sails for America's Cup racing yachts named Peter Heppel. He helped me tackle the twin challenges of precise shape and gentle movement.
我花了两年的时间 , 寻找一种纤维 , 能够抵抗紫外线 , 盐空气 , 污染 , 而同时能够保持足够的柔软度 , 在风中游动 , 我们需要一些东西支撑大网 , 让它能竖立在交通环道的中央 , 因此我们架起了这座45,000镑重的钢圈 , 我们必须进行工程设计 , 让网能在微风中优雅地流动 , 同时又能抵御飓风的袭击 , 但当时没有设计软件 , 来模拟这种多孔物体的移动 , 我找到了一个优秀的航空学工程师 , 他设计了美国杯竞赛帆船的帆 , 他是彼得·赫普尔(Peter Heppel) , 彼得帮助我解决了这个二重挑战 , 模拟了精确的外形和优雅的运动 。


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