2012年2月17日 星期五

2011 藝術回顧實

Arts review of 2011


Tracey Emin figured prominently in 2011 with a Hayward Gallery show, her opening of Tate Margate and her poster design for an Olympic poster
Tracey Emin(翠西艾敏)2011年作品多元富麗,包括Hayward畫廊秀,在Tate Margate開幕的展覽,和她為奧運所做的海報設計

A devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East, riots in London and Manchester, and the imminent threat of financial Armageddon in Europe.That was the big news of 2011.
Oh, and there were some good art exhibitions too.



這是2011年的大新聞。在日本發生一場毀滅性的地震和海嘯,北非和中東的革命,發生在倫敦和曼徹斯特的騷動,及歐洲迫在眉睫金融大決戰的威脅。

哦,當然還有一些很好的藝術展覽。

Tracey Emin at the Hayward Gallery, Mike Kelley at the Baltic, Gateshead, and Leonardo da Vinci at the National Gallery, to name just a few.


Tracey Emin



Mike Kelley (1954-2012)


Tracey EminHayward畫廊,Mike Kelley(麥克·凱利)在波羅的海,蓋茨黑德,及達文西在國家美術館裡的展覽,在這僅能舉幾例。

But then, enjoyable as they were, they hardly compare in news terms to the matters of life and death that were (and continue to be) played out during some of those major world events.


即使如此,盡情享受他們本來的樣貌吧,雖然他們在某些世界主要事件的新聞方面(繼續)已過時也很難在生命和死亡等諸如此類的新聞事項裡比較。

There is rarely a threat to human life in the arts; physical discomforts tend to be limited to an annoying ringing in the ears the morning after a gig, or pins and needles due to sitting in a theatre seat for too long.



藝術很少威脅人類生命;身體不適往往只限於像聽一場演奏後隔天早上耳邊仍嗡嗡作響的聲音,或由於在電影院的座位坐了太久而如坐針氈。

But then the arts do belong to the same world in which the wars and famines and social instabilities take place.
It is true that, to an extent, music, plays, books, paintings and movies are a sideshow. But that is the very attribute that gives them their value.



另一方面藝術和戰爭、飢荒和社會不穩定的發生屬於同一個世界中,。

這是真實的,在一定程度上,音樂,戲劇,圖書,繪畫和電影是一個餘興節目或插曲。但是,讓他們展現自己的價值,則非常具有特性。


It is through the observational lens of the arts that we are able to gain some perspective and a little more understanding of tumultuous events. Great art provides insight into the universal truths of life: it is unlikely to stop or start wars, but it might help explain them.


通過藝術的觀察鏡頭,我們能夠對動盪的事件獲得一些觀點和多幾分了解。偉大的藝術提供了洞察生活的普遍真理:雖不可能停止或發動戰爭,但卻可能有助於解釋它們。



Leonardo's Saint Jerome cannot fail to move its observer

達文西的聖-杰羅姆在觀察者眼中體感活現

*-杰羅姆,是最為早期西方《聖經》學家,並且將聖經譯成拉丁文的第一人,作為一位廣受尊重的聖職人員,曾出現在很多的意大利繪畫之中

Look at Leonardo's unfinished painting of Saint Jerome, included in the National Gallery exhibition, and you see what it is to be human with responsibility: the almost unbearable tensions between body and soul, right and wrong, life and death, spelt out by the great renaissance artist in pitilessly graphic detail.


看萊昂納多(達文西)在國家畫廊展出的他未完成的畫作聖杰羅姆中,你會看到人類應成就的責任:身體和靈魂之間幾乎難以忍受的緊張關係,正確與錯誤,生命和死亡,在剛毅無情的圖形細節拼寫出此位偉大文藝復興時期的藝術家。

That Leonardo produced the picture over half a millennium ago takes away none of its immediacy or haunting poignancy; maybe it even adds to it. Which of those leaders caught up in the struggles of the world could look at that picture and not be humbled and inspired?

萊昂納多此畫作即使超過
500年並未帶走直接或縈繞心頭的沉痛,反而讓人更加深刻感受。那些為了趕上世界尖端而奮鬥的領導者若看看這幅圖畫,能不感到謙卑和啟發呢?

Mind you it doesn't always take 500-plus years for an artistic work to arrive in Britain that in some way helps us make sense of the news. The National Theatre's excellent production London Road was an innovative and sensitive treatment of a news story from 2006.


提醒你,並不需要額外耗費500年去創作藝術作品就可以在英國以某種程度幫我們了解新聞其義。國家大劇院的優秀作品"倫敦路"是2006年從新聞故事事件發展出的一個創新和敏感治療。

Using words taken verbatim from interviews with the residents of London Road, Ipswich, the play tells the story - set to music - of a local community caught up in the middle of serial killer Steve Wright's murderous campaign in and around the area.



該劇 藉由採訪易普威治倫敦路的居民集結使用逐字稿,並設置音樂,講述的故事是發生在當地社區捕捉在周圍地區當中活動的連環殺手Steve Wright的殺人行動。

It wasn't the only exceptional production I saw this year that had been set to music. The National Theatre of Scotland's show The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, inspired by Border Ballards, sees a straight-laced academic being led on a not very merry dance by the devil. It is superb. The good news is the show will tour in 2012 - catch it if you can.


這不是今年唯一我所看到設置音樂的例外作品。蘇格蘭國家劇院的"Prudencia Hart 的奇異解放之旅",由Border Ballards啟發,訴說一位詢規蹈矩的學者被一個舞姿不甚歡樂的魔鬼帶領。這是富麗堂皇的。好消息是,展會將在2012年巡迴展覽,盡你所能去參予盛會。


* 這部戲講述要去參加學術討論的Prudencia Hart,在寒冷的早上被積雪所困,卻展開一段自我發現的神奇旅程,迷人夢幻,充滿蘇格蘭風情。
與劇場演出相比,廣場表演別具風情。愛丁堡藝術節當中以藝穗節邊緣戲劇節著名,它設在Royal Miles 步行街上,滿眼皆是好看的廣場表演。每個人都可以以單人、雙人或群體的形式,當眾表演,完全自動自發、隨意隨性。路過的人,則可以成為這種廣場藝術的一部分。(取材至網路)

There are times when the arts not only reflect upon the news, but make it. Sadly, too often, it is due to death. Amy Winehouse's premature exit from the world's stage was shocking and sad in equal measure: her talent was evident and would have become more and more so.



許多次 藝術不僅反映新聞消息,也創造時事。可悲的是,由於死亡而消聲覓跡的事件也過於頻繁。Amy Winehouse比預期的時間過早退出世界舞台,同樣令人感到震驚和悲傷:她的天賦是顯而易見的,並有可能越來越有成就。

Activists campaigned for Ai Weiwei's release which eventually came in June
艾未未最終在6月因支持者抗議活動而被釋放

*遭中國當局拘禁的藝術家艾未未被美國《時代周刊》雜誌評選為「2011年全球最具影響力百名人物」之一。

Artist Ai Weiwei, an outspoken critic of the Chinese government, also made headline news after he was detained at Beijing airport by the Chinese authorities for alleged tax evasion and the destruction of evidence. This is nothing trivial.


藝術家艾未未,直言不諱地批評中國政府,他被中國當局因涉嫌逃稅和銷毀證據拘留在北京機場成為頭條新聞。這簡直太讓人震驚了。

But five-star reviews and 140-character Twitter comments tend to be. Now they have become the lingua-franca of critical analysis. Fame and fortune appear to have removed the political impulse from many artists. Not, though, Ai Weiwei, who has used his position as an artworld heavyweight to campaign for issues about which he believes passionately, even when his personal safety is compromised.



但五星級的評語和Twitter140個字符的意見具呈。現在,他們已經成為關鍵分析的通用媒介。名利似乎已經讓許多藝術家免除政治衝動。不過,艾未未卻例外,他運用他在藝壇重量級的地位去投注他關心的議題,即使他的人身安全受到威脅。
It was a relief and a pleasure to see Penguin's re-issue of the work of one of New Journalism's most gifted writers. Gay Talese: Frank Sinatra Has a Cold and Other Essays, provides a page-by-page masterclass in observational journalism. Talese, taking the role of flaneur, captures his subjects with skill and intimacy in articles of depth and breadth that are far too rare in today's time and space compressed media.


看到Penguin's(企鵝集團)新新聞最有天賦的作家之一再發行的作品令人感到安慰和高興。Gay Talese(蓋伊塔利斯)”Frank Sinatr(弗蘭克·辛納特)感冒了和其他散文,提供了一頁頁觀察新聞的精闢講學。塔利斯,扮演一個浪蕩子,在具深度和廣度的文章應用他的技能和熟稔度抓住主題,在今日的新聞和遭空間壓縮媒體實屬罕見。

We know much of the news is dominated with stories based on man's endless capacity to destroy. But there is also space to report on our ability to create. Beauty is an unfashionable word in these cynical times, but even the most hardened misanthrope would have been moved by Claudio Abbado's return to the South Bank Centre with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra.

我們知道太多的消息是基於人的無窮權力慾望而遭摧毀的故事。但也有報告是對我們的能力能創造的空間。美容時尚在這樣的世界是不時髦的詞,在這個憤世嫉俗的時代,即使是最頑固的孤癖者也會因Claudio Abbado(克勞迪奧·阿巴多)的回歸盧塞恩節日管弦樂團在南岸中心的演出而感動。

Three sublime concerts in the autumn conducted by the - now frail - great maestro were as dazzling as they were subtle. Abbado himself is mesmerising to watch, moving his arms and fingers with the grace and poise of a prima ballerina, while directing his orchestra with precision and a velvet touch.



三個出眾的秋季音樂會 由現在體弱但偉大的名音樂家所指揮讓人不可思議的迷戀。阿巴多自己如痴如醉觀看,優雅移動他的手臂和手指以和芭蕾首席女舞者平衡,並用精確和如天鵝絨觸動指揮他的樂隊。

Fashion is not a subject that often makes headlines, although a royal wedding helps. Sarah Burton, creative director of the Alexander McQueen fashion house, produced dress designs for the Duchess of Cambridge and her sister, Pippa, which have already become part of the fabric of royal legend.


時尚通常不是一個頭條的主題,但卻透過王室婚禮的幫助而躍上版面。Sarah Burton(莎拉·伯頓)Alexander McQueen的時裝屋創意總監,為劍橋公爵夫人和她的妹妹皮帕的服裝設計,這已經成為織物製作的皇室傳奇。


* Kate Middleton 穿上了由 Sarah Burton 設計的 McQueen 品牌婚紗下嫁威廉王子。

象牙色的裙擺長達九尺,配上上身V-neck 與長袖設計,簡單且優雅;而Kate的頭紗也選了同色系的lace,頭紗更以人工釘上了精緻的刺繡花邊作點綴。

一向祟尚簡約的Kate 亦沒有帶浮誇的飾物,她只戴上了梨形鑽石耳環,手執百合花球的她,低調中不失人民王妃應有的高貴。


celebrated in the hugely successful exhibition Savage Beauty in Manhattan
亞歷山大·麥昆慶祝在曼哈頓獲得巨大成功的野蠻美展覽活動 

There was an even better Alexander McQueen moment this year that began almost as soon as Kate and William walked away from Buckingham Palace as husband and wife. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York opened their retrospective featuring the designs of the fashion house's eponymous founder.


亞歷山大
·麥昆此時期比今年稍早凱特和威廉走出白金漢宮成為丈夫和妻子的那一刻是更美好的開始。在紐約大都會藝術博物館特別報導追溯時裝屋的同名創始人的設計的展覽。


*Alexander McQueen亞歷山大·麥昆,他是英國時尚圈著名的壞小子,被稱作頑童英國時尚界流氓,他設計的衣服比較有個性且富有爭議,他的設計注重戲劇性和天馬行空的創意,喜歡的人非常喜歡,另一堆人則視為妖異。


I have never seen a better conceived and presented fashion exhibition; a show that not only celebrated the work of the designer who died in 2010, but with taste and intellect drew out his creative genius. The great shame is that there is still no agreement to bring the show - a blockbuster success in Manhattan - to London, McQueen's home town.



我從沒見過比這更好的時裝展覽展示構想,不僅頌揚一個在2010年去世的設計師鉅作,並擷取出他創作品味和非凡才華。巨大的恥辱是- 在曼哈頓的大轟動- 仍未協議將節目帶回倫敦,McQueen的家鄉。

It seems odd to be spending so much on a Cultural Olympiad in 2012 and yet not be able to find the necessary money or partners to put on a show of one of the country's most gifted contemporary talents.


似乎很奇怪的是,在2012年文化奧運會上開支那麼多,卻無法找到必要的資金或合作夥伴展示一個國家當代最有天賦的人才的創作。

In 2011, the recession nipped at the ankles of the arts: book publishing took a hit, the booming live events market started to feel the squeeze, and an over-reliance on brand names across the piece suggests a waning appetite for risk among commissioners.


2011年,經濟衰退扼殺藝術的步履:圖書出版受到了打擊,景氣活絡蓬勃發展的市場,開始覺得緊縮,委員們普遍過度依賴品牌的加持超過部分建議風險承擔減弱。

This year's nip will be 2012's bite as the cuts imposed in 2011 materialise. There will still be plenty of ground-breaking, thought-provoking, trend-setting art, plays, books, songs, festivals and films to report on but I suspect, when it comes to the arts overall, it won't be all good news.


2011年實行的發行計劃被削減的將是2012年緊盯的部份。仍然會有大量的開創性,發人深省,引領潮流的設置藝術,戲劇,圖書,歌曲,藝術節和電影報告,但我懷疑,當涉及到整體藝術,不會總是好消息。


campaigned 戰役活動競選運動
detaine[dɪteˋni] 被拘留者未判決囚犯


參考資料:


20120217 Aircafe Break (1)
20120217 Arcafe Break (2)

沒有留言:

張貼留言