It’s almost kind of like a blank canvas with some, like some texture.
这个感觉差不多像是一块空白的画布，只不过它有某种质感
I do see a white dot there but I don’t know if that’s supposed to be there.
我真的看到上面有一个白点，但我不知道它在那里是否合适
It looks like something I would cook on, like a baking sheet.
感觉像是我用来下厨的某种东西，比如烤盘
Could be a lot of flies stuck to a bit of paper.
会不会是一群苍蝇粘到了一张纸上呢
Yeah, ’cause I would put this down on my floor, my floor tiles.
嗯，我会把它放在我的，我的地砖上
These people are describing Robert Ryman’s painting “Bridge.”
他们描述的是罗伯特·莱曼的画作——《桥》
It sold for $20.6 million at a Christie’s auction in 2015.
在2015年奥斯陆的一场拍卖会上，这幅画卖出了2060万美元的天价
How is an all-white painting considered art,
一张白纸怎么就成了人们眼中的艺术品，
and why would anyone shell out millions for something like this?
为什么还有人愿意为它花成百上千万美金？
There are a lot of these “white paintings.”
这种“全白画”有很多
Many people trace them back to Kazimir Malevich’s 1918 work “White on White.”
很多人都认为这些画最初始于卡西米尔·马列维奇1918年的画作——《白上加白》
But there are many artists who created these kinds of paintings:
然而，很多艺术家都会创作这类画作：
Most of these artists were associated with an art movement called Minimalism,
其中有大部分都跟所谓的“极简主义”运动有关
which emerged in the late 1950s.
这一运动始于二十世纪五十年代晚期
When I say the Minimalists I mean Minimalism with a capital M, not a lowercase.
当我说“极简主义”，我指的是以大写字母M而不是以小写字母m开头的“Minimalism”
This is Elisabeth Sherman, she’s an assistant curator at the Whitney Museum in New York.
这位是Elisabeth Sherman，她是纽约惠特尼博物馆的助理研究员
It’s tempting to look at one of these paintings
看着这类画作
and think that some jerk just took a tube of white paint and spread it on a canvas —
大家很可能会以为它不过是某个混蛋拿着一管白色颜料在帆布上随便涂了两下——
but it’s not actually that easy.
但事实上并不是那么简单
I mean mine rules, obviously, because I’m a f****** genius,
我是说，显然，这只是我的看法，因为我TMD是个天才
but there’s usually a lot more than meets the eye.
要做的工作通常比让画作看起来顺眼要多得多
White isn't really a pure thing.
白色并不是一种单一色
White is always tinted in some way.
白色通常都会偏向某种色彩
Paint is made up of a variety of pigments.
一幅画通常是众多颜料调和的结果
If you've ever painted the walls of your house,
如果你在家刷过墙
you know how many different whites there are to choose from.
你就知道白色也有很多种可以选择
And maybe if you only look at one it looks like pure white,
可能你只看一种白色的话它看上去就像是纯白的
but when you hold them up in an array you can see the subtle differences.
但当你把各种白色都放在一起，你就能看出它们之间细微的差别
It's blue, it's green, it's purple, it's warm, it's cold.
这个有点偏蓝，那个有点偏绿，那个有点偏紫，这个带点暖色，那个带点冷色
And when you get close— HEY! Not too close, there’s a lot going on here.
当你走进看——嘿！也别太近了，这里面其实有很丰富的内容
Lines, texture, patterns, even color.
线条、纹理、团、甚至颜色
There are a lot of subtle intricacies that make it more than “just a white canvas.”
这里面有很多细微而复杂的内容，而不单单是“一块白布而已”
Minimalist artists wanted their work to embody order, simplicity, and harmony.
极简主义艺术家希望通过他们的作品来表达秩序、简洁和和谐
These artists began with these ideas as a rejection of abstract expressionism.
这些艺术家最初是为了反对抽象表现主义提出了这些想法
Abstract expressionism was a movement of artists in the 1940s and 50s
抽象表现主义是二十世纪四五十年代的一次艺术运动
who thought that art should be gestural, expressive, and emotional,
抽象表现主义艺术家认为艺术应该是表征性的、富有表现里、充满情感的
evoking the unconscious mind through movement and color.
能够通过运动和色彩激发无意识思维的活动
So if we think about Jackson Pollock as being kind of the abstract expressionist that many people think of,
如果我们把杰克逊·波洛克当做抽象表现主义的一个代表，其实很多人都这么认为，
you can take that picture of him with the canvas on the floor of his studio spilling paints everywhere,
那么你可以认为，是他那幅随意溅滴在地板上的油彩画作
and it's his gesture, it's his physical body, it's his arm,
是他的姿势、他的肉体、他的手臂
it's who he is as a person that's creating that canvas, that painting.
以及他这个人创造了那幅画作
Minimalists weren’t about that.
但极简主义并非如此
All that paint splashing everywhere? No thanks.
让颜料四处飞溅？谢谢，不用了
There was a lot of desire to get away from that sensibility
很多人都想抛弃抽象表现主义的情感
where the individual's expression was put into the canvas.
因为个人的感觉也被融入了画作中
The idea was that the art object — be it sculpture or painting or installation —
极简主义的理念是艺术对象——不管是雕像还是绘画还是一个装置——
should kind of be as far removed from the author as possible.
都应该尽量跟作者本人保持距离
You can see what she means when you compare the two schools of art.
对比抽象表现主义和极简主义两个艺术流派，你就能明白她在说什么了
Abstract expressionism, Minimalism.
左边是抽象表现主义，右边是极简主义
Abstract expressionism, Minimalism.
左边是抽象表现主义，右边是极简主义
Abstract expressionism, Minimalism.
左边是抽象表现主义，右边是极简主义
Okay, you get it.
好的，你已经名表了
Minimalist artists stripped art of the burden of being about “something else.”
极简主义艺术家让艺术不再有“表征他物”的负担

They presented art not as an imitation of reality but as an object unto itself.
他们创作的艺术不再是对现实的模拟，而是艺术本身
Artist Frank Stella summed it up nicely
艺术家Frank Stella的总结很漂亮
when he said, “What you see is what you see”
他说，"你看见的是什么就是什么"
One of my favorite things about modern art is the rage that it seems to provoke in some people.
我最喜欢现代艺术的地方之一就是它似乎激怒了某些人
Cue videos of men freaking out:
点击链接，看看有哪些人崩溃了：
I’m not gonna sit there and try to find a meaning in a red circle on a blank white canvas, ’
我不会坐在那儿，企图寻找一块白布上的一个红色圆圈所代表的含义
cause I’m not gonna find any meaning.
因为我找不出它有什么意义
I may not understand art but I do understand the English language,
我可能不懂艺术，但我懂英语
and that's pretentious nonsense.
那都是自命不凡的人说的废话
Did you see the painting that was just a white painting that had nothing on it?
你看过那幅什么都没有的白色画吗
It’s like super pretentious meets uber pretentious.
感觉就像是一个自命不凡的人遇到了另一个自命不凡的人
Modern art sets. people. off.
现代艺术
And believe me when I say that I am here for it.
我说这话的时候，你要相信我
But with modern art, by definition every interpretation is genuine and legitimate and okay.
但现代艺术嘛，它本来的意思就是任何一种解读都是真实的、合法的，没问题的
Or not, how about not?
也可能不是，如果不是呢？
I love it.
我喜欢
There’s even an entire play about a group of lifelong friends who are torn apart
甚至还有一个讲述一群一辈子的好朋友
when one of them buys an all-white painting for $200,000.
因为其中一个人花了20万美元买了一幅只有白色的画而反目的故事
With a very kind of absent blank painting
要画一幅几乎是全白的画
you have to do a lot more work in some ways than maybe you have to do with, let's say,
在某些方面你要做的工作可能比，我们打个比方啊，
pop art that has tons of obvious references
通俗画有无数显而易见的含义
and you see the Coca-Cola or the American flag and you can say,
比如可口可乐，美国的星条旗，你可以说
I have all of these relationships with these objects with these brands with these things.
我跟这些东西，这些品牌，这些事物都有这些联系
When you're looking at simply a square of white paint,
但当你看到一幅方形的白色画的时候
you have to do a lot more work,
你需要做更多的工作
but sometimes there maybe is something more rewarding in the end.
但有时候可能这种画最后给你带来的回报更丰厚
Another common reaction to modern art,
人们对现代艺术的另一个反应
specifically minimalist pieces like white paintings is, c’mon, say it with me now,
尤其是看到像白色画这种极简主义作品时，人们的反应是，来吧，跟我一起说
“I could do that". Good
“我也行”qhQlHir#DC0VX#dNvpJ。不错
Almost no matter what show I've worked on in my career somebody has said that.
在我的职业生涯中，我每次上节目，几乎都有人说那句话
While there is a lot of skill in a lot of modern and contemporary art
虽然现当代艺术都涉及到很多的技巧
there's also a lot of art that is more about the idea than it is about skill.
而且，有很多艺术更加注重的不是技巧，而是它们传达的思想
And so yes you could do it but you didn't.
所以，没错，你也能画出来，但你没有呀
Damn Elisabeth.
伊丽莎白你好可恶
And that may sound obnoxious or flip
虽然听着可能有点儿讨厌，有点儿失礼
but the reality is is that once art begins to live
但事实就是，一旦艺术的存在
just as much in the mind as it does in the eye,
人们看到的有多普遍，就有多深入人心的话
you have to bring your ideas as well as your physical construction of the work.
你就不仅要绘制这幅作品，你还要传达你的思想
White paintings are a fascinating kind of Rorschach test.
白色画就像是罗夏测验的一个更具吸引力的版本
They offer viewers an ambiguous, I’m so sorry,
观众看到的是一幅模棱两可，抱歉，
but, canvas to project their own interpretations, emotions, beliefs, and stories onto.
的作品，供观众投射他们自己的理解、情感、信念和故事
So if looking at a white painting makes you feel angry or excited or soothed,
所以，如果看到一幅全白的画让你感到生气、感到兴奋，或是感到安慰的话
those are all valid responses.
那么这些反应都是有根据的
But take a moment to think about why that was your response.
但你稍微停下来想一想，为什么你会有那种反应
It's very easy to be dismissive of things that we’re not immediately attracted to.
我们很容易轻视那些第一眼我们不喜欢的东西
So if you have a kind of negative gut reaction,
所以，如果你的反应是消极的
one of defensiveness or fear or anxiety or rejection
无论是自我防卫性的，还是害怕、焦虑或是排斥的
maybe try to move past that and see what's available afterwards.
或许你可以走开，看看后面还有什么可看的
And it doesn't have to change your mind,
你不用为了这幅画改变你的思想
but it's sometimes the process of working through that reaction
但有时候，正是通过这种反应
that you learn the most about the work but also about yourself.
我们才对一幅画有更深刻的了解，同时也对自己有更深刻的了解