If you happened to be in the town of Lubec, Maine in July of 2016,
如果在2016年7月时，你恰巧在缅因州的鲁贝克镇上，
you may have seen something a little curious on the horizon when you looked out across the bay.
你望向海湾时，或许会注意到海平线上有个稀奇古怪的东西。
In the distance, on an otherwise uninhabited island, loomed large black letters that spelled the word "FOREVER."
在远处一个原本无人居住的岛屿上，隐约地出现了巨大的黑色字母拼写出的“永远”。
The sign was 15 feet tall and 50 feet wide, large enough so that on a clear day,
这个标志高4.5米，宽15米，大到在天气晴朗时，
you really could see "FOREVER," the word perfectly visible and legible in the distance.
你真的能够看见“永远”，这个词在远方清晰可见。
But on some days, a thick white fog would roll in off the ocean, erasing the word and the view altogether.
但有些时候，海上会泛起一阵白雾，把这个词和这片景象一同抹去。
And sometimes, like in this video, you could barely see "FOREVER" peeking out of the shifting fog,
而有时，就似这短片里的一样，你只能从不断变化的雾里勉强望见若隐若现的“永远”，
accompanied only by the rhythmic warning sounds of fog horns.
伴随着提醒船只的大雾警报声，有节奏地鸣响着。
It started out as a fairly simple idea, albeit a little strange,
最初只是出于一个简单又有点古怪的想法，
to put the word "FOREVER" in the landscape so it could appear and disappear in the fog.
把“永远”这几个字放在远处的景观中，让它能在迷雾中若隐若现。
But it took over a year to plan and execute, and it required the help of so many people,
但计划和执行就花了超过一年，且需要很多人的协助，
like the lobster boat captain, who helped transport all of the materials to the island.
比如龙虾船的船长，他帮助把所有的材料运到岛上。
And the volunteers, who helped carry thousands of pounds of wood and steel to the top of the hill through waist-high shrubs.
还有志愿者们，他们帮助搬运数千斤木材和钢材，穿过及腰的灌木，一路搬到山顶。
And in the end, "FOREVER" only lasted for three weeks.
最后，“永远”只撑过了三周。
So if you're wondering why I did it at all, as I often did during that process,
如果你很纳闷为什么我要做这件事，就像在那个过程中，我也经常纳闷一样，
it might help for you to know a little bit more about me and my upbringing.
也许你需要先了解一下我和我的成长环境。
I grew up in an evangelical Christian family.
我在一个基督教福音派的家庭长大。
And although I'm an atheist today, I've realized that my religious upbringing
尽管现在我是一位无神论者，但我知道宗教的培养环境，
has played a really important role in shaping the person that I've become.
对于我的人格塑造产生了很大的影响。
In 1986, when I was five years old, my parents became missionaries to South Africa.
在1986年，我五岁那年，我的父母以传教士的身份移居南非。
And that was during the last few years of the apartheid, so we lived in an all-white neighborhood,
那是种族隔离的最后几年，所以我们住在全是白人的社区，
and I attended an all-white public school, while my parents helped found a multiracial church in downtown Cape Town.
我读的也是全白人的公立学校，而我父母协助成立了一座位于开普敦市中心的多种族教堂。
Because I was so young, it was impossible for me to understand the magnitude of what was happening in South Africa at that time.
因为我那时很小，还无法理解南非当时状况的严重性。
I witnessed the racism and oppression of people of color I knew and loved on a daily basis,
我每天都会目睹种族主义行为，以及我认识并敬爱的有色人种群体遭受压迫，
but because of my own skin color, there was no way I could fully comprehend it.
但因为我是白种人，我不可能完全感同身受。
But I had the privilege to experience, firsthand, one of the most influential social movements of the 20th century.
但我有幸亲身体验了二十世纪最有影响力的社会运动之一。
And the thing that left a long-lasting impression on me
而让我久久难以忘怀的，
was how the people I met in South Africa could envision a better future for themselves and their country.
是我在南非所遇见的人们如何能为他们自己和他们的国家展望一个更好的未来。
A future they really believed was possible.
一个他们真心相信可以实现的未来。
And then they worked together, relentlessly, for decades, until they achieved that extraordinary historic change.
在接下来的数十年间，他们坚持不懈地共同努力，直到他们实现了非凡的历史改革。
I was there to see Nelson Mandela released from prison, and I watched an entire country begin a major transformation.
我在那里看到了尼尔森·曼德拉从监狱被释放，我见证了整个国家的重要转型。
And that transformed me as a person.
这也改变了我。
It instilled in me a sense of wonder and optimism and possibility that permeates everything I create.
向我灌输了一种好奇感、乐观主义以及可能性，这一切也融入了我的所有作品中。
I make sculptures like "FOREVER" as a way of giving physical, tangible forms to language and time.
我创作了像“永远”这样的雕塑，是想要赋予语言和时间触手可及的物理形态。
Those powerful but invisible forces that shape the way we perceive and experience our realities.
那些强大却无形的力量塑造了我们感知和体验现实的方式。
And in doing so, I try to give other people the opportunity to reflect on their own perception of reality
与此同时，我也试图给予他人机会去反思自己对现实的感知，
and inspire them to wonder and imagine what else might be possible.
激励他们去好奇、去想象其他的可能性。
I often use signs to do this,
我经常通过标牌来实现，
because of how simply and effectively they're able to grab our attention and communicate information.
因为它们能够简单又有效地吸引我们的注意力，并且传递信息。
They often point out things we would otherwise overlook, like this sign on the side of the highway in Texas.
它们通常能指出我们往往会忽略的事情，比如这块位于德州高速公路旁的标牌。
They can often signify things that we can't see at all, like the distance to our destination.
它们通常会指示出我们无法看见的东西，比如到目的地的距离。
Signs often help to orient us in the world by telling us where we are now and what's happening in the present moment,
标牌通常能帮助我们在世界上找到方向，通过告诉我们现在所处的位置以及目前正在发生的事，
but they can also help us zoom out, shift our perspective and get a glimpse of the bigger picture.
但标牌也能帮助我们拉远视线，转换视角，从而一窥全局。

Imagine, for example, you're walking down the street in Philadelphia.
想象一下，比如，你走在费城的街上。
A city in the US that contains so much history, the birthplace of our constitution.
这是一座充满历史的美国城市，也是我们宪法的诞生地。
But imagine you're walking down the street in an area that's undergoing a huge transformation due to gentrification.
但想象你走在某条街上，这个地区因为中产阶级化正在经历巨大的转变。
And as you walk down that street, you notice something flashing up above you. So you look up and you see this.
当你走在街上时，你注意到上方有什么东西在闪烁。于是你抬起头，看见了这个。
A flashing neon sign that says "All the light you see is from the past,"
一块闪烁的霓虹标识，写着，“你看见的光都是来自过去，”
and then "All you see is past," before turning off completely for a brief moment.
接着是“你看见的都是过去”，之后，它会完全熄灭一会儿。
It asks you to stop and notice the history embedded in everything that you see.
它邀你驻足，留意你所看见的一切中所隐埋的历史。
And it reminds you that because light takes time to travel across space,
它会提醒你，因为光在空间中旅行要花时间，
even from just across the street or across the room,
即使只是穿过街道或房间，
everything you're seeing in the present moment is technically an image of the past.
你当下所见的一切实际上只是过去的影像而已。
Signs influence the way we all navigate the world,
标牌会影响我们探索这个世界的方式，
which means they have the ability to create a collective experience or understanding.
也就是说，它们有能力创造集体的体验或理解。
My time in South Africa taught me that when people are able to find common ground
我在南非的经历教会了我，当大家能够找到彼此的共同点，
and work together towards a mutual goal, powerful things can happen and so much more becomes possible.
一起向着共同目标努力时，就会产生巨大的能量，以及带来非比寻常的可能。
And I want to create more opportunities for people to find that kind of common ground.
而我想创造更多的机会，让大家能找到那样的共同点。
I want people to feel the power of collaboration, sometimes quite literally.
我想要人们感受合作的力量，有时就是字面上的意义。
A few years ago, a friend of mine showed me how our bodies can safely conduct small amounts of electricity.
几年前，一位朋友给我展示了人体如何能够安全地传导少量电流。
And if you hold hands with another person, a small electrical current can pass through your held hands
当你和另一个人手牵手时，会有微量电流通过你们握着的手，
and become like a switch that can trigger something else to happen.
变成像是一个触发其他事的开关。
So last year, I used that form of human connection to activate an inflatable sculpture.
所以去年，我使用这种人类连结的形式启动了一个充气雕塑。
I put two sensors on a platform far enough apart so that one person can't make it work on their own.
我把两个传感器放在平台上，它们之间留出足够距离，仅靠一个人无法启动。
But when two or more people work together to complete that electrical circuit, the inflatable comes to life.
但若是两个或者更多人一起合作，就能完成这个电路，这个充气式雕塑就会活过来。
And it begins to fill with air, and the longer people hold hands,
它会开始充气，大家握手的时间越长，
the larger it becomes, expanding into the words "You are magic."
它就会变得越大，展开成“你就是魔法”这个句子。
I always love to see how each group of people finds a different way to bridge that physical and metaphorical divide.
我总是很喜欢看到每一群人如何找到不同的方式来跨越那实体和象征性的距离。
But as soon as they release their hands and break that connection,
但只要他们放开手，连接不再，
the words immediately begin to slouch and fall over and eventually return to a lifeless pile of fabric on the ground.
这些字马上就会垂下来，最终，会变回地上没有生命的一团布料。
At this moment in time, I think we could all agree that the future feels pretty bleak and uncertain.
在这个时刻，我想我们都会同意，未来感觉无望，充满着不确定性。
But maybe the hope for a brighter, more sustainable, more equitable future depends first on our ability to imagine it.
但或许一个更光明、更可持续、更公平的未来首先取决于我们的想象力。
But after we imagine it, we actually have to believe it's possible.
而且，我们还要真正相信这种想象是可能的。
And then we have to find common ground with people we would maybe otherwise disagree with
然后，我们必须要和与我们观点相左的人找到彼此的共同点，
and work together towards that mutual goal.
协力朝共同的目标努力。
And if we do that, I believe we have the capacity for magic.
如果我们这样做，我坚信，我们就会拥有魔法的能力。
So if you can humor me for one more minute, I'm going to ask everyone in this theater to hold hands.
所以，如果各位愿意配合我一下，我想邀请所有坐在下面的观众手牵手。
When was the last time you held hands with a stranger?
你上一次和陌生人牵手是什么时候？
And if you feel comfortable, go ahead and make that metaphorical gesture of reaching across the aisle.
如果你觉得自在，大家可以做出象征性的跨越过道的手势。
And after you've held hands with people on either side of you, if you feel comfortable, please close your eyes.
当你和两侧的人都拉起手后，如果没觉得不适，请闭上你们的眼睛。
Now take a minute to imagine what you want, what you want the future to look like.
现在，花一分钟想象你想要什么，你想要的未来是怎样的。
And give yourself permission to be at least a little bit idealistic.
允许自己有一点理想主义也没关系的。
What do you want to see change or happen in your own life as an individual?
在你自己的生活中，你希望看到怎样的改变？
What do you want to see change or happen for everyone, for the planet? Can you picture it?
对所有人，对地球，你又希望看到怎样的改变？你能想象出来吗？
And can you start to see how, if we all worked together, it might actually be possible?
你能否开始看见，如果我们同心协力，这想象或许会成为可能？
Now open your eyes, and let's make it real. Thank you.
现在睁开你的眼睛，让我们将它变成现实。谢谢大家。