So here we are. I'm at home, as I'm sure many of you are, too. And we've all begun to understand how our relationship with ourselves, with each other and the spaces we exist in can deeply impact our sense of identity and purpose. So much has dramatically changed. There's a sense of distance now unlike ever before.
此时此刻, 我在家里,我敢肯定 你们中的许多人也一样。 我们都开始了解 我们与自己、 与彼此、 与我们存在空间的关系 是如何深刻地影响 我们对身份和目标的认知。 太多事情发生了巨变。 我们都感到了前所未有的距离感。
But what if I told you that you could find a way from your heart to your hand to reconnect again, and that through this practice and embracing this cause, I could help you to recalibrate your mind so that you could explore this new reality with joy, enthusiasm, imagination and hope? And all it would take is a simple pen. To get you there, let's go back to the beginning.
但是如果我告诉你, 你可以找到一个由心至手的办法 重新进行连接, 通过这种做法, 通过拥抱这项事业, 我可以帮你调整心态, 让你心怀喜悦、热情、想象与希望, 去探索这个新的现实, 又会如何呢? 而你只需要一支简单的笔。 为了帮你找到这个办法, 让我们回到故事的开头。
As a kid growing up in a council estate in Southeast London, I was an outsider. I'm the oldest of six kids, and all of my siblings look very English: blond hair, blue eyes, very cute. And then there was me: half Nigerian, brown, with an Afro. So what happens when you look different and you feel different, and in many ways, start to think differently from everyone and everything around you? How do you find your way out of a dark, racist, homophobic and very lonely place?
小时候,我在伦敦东南部的 一间公营房屋里长大。 那时的我是一个局外人。 我是六个孩子中的长女, 我所有的兄弟姐妹 长得都很像英国人: 金色的头发,蓝色的眼睛,非常可爱。 然后是我: 半尼日利亚血统,褐色皮肤, 顶着一头非洲卷发。 当你长相不同、 感受不同、 并且在很多方面的想法开始有别于 你周围所有人和一切时, 会发生什么? 你该如何找到一条路,带你走出 一个充满黑暗、种族主义、恐惧同性恋的 寂寞之地?
This is where the pen comes in. I started to draw. So as you can see, I've got this pen, and it knows where it's going. And I've learned very well how to follow it. And the first thing I did is I followed this line, and I drew myself out of a culture that was only telling me what I couldn't do. I trusted my pen, and it led me to Central Saint Martin's, a very fancy art school in London, where I graduated top of my year. However, I soon realized there wasn't a place for me in London, because whether you wish to believe it or not, England is still a country that is rooted and functions within the class system. And as a young, black, gay female artist from a working-class family, I didn't stand a chance.
这就是笔派上用场的地方。 我开始画画。 如你所见,我有这支笔, 而它知道该前往何方。 而我很好地学会了 该怎样跟随它。 我做的第一件事是 跟随这条线, 我用画画让自己脱离了 一个只会告诉我 不能做什么的文化。 我相信我的笔, 而它把我领进了 中央圣马丁艺术与设计学院, 这是伦敦一所非常高端的艺术学校, 我以年级第一名的身份从这里毕业。 但是,我很快意识到, 我在伦敦没有归属, 因为不管你是否愿意相信, 英国仍然是一个深深根植于 社会阶级系统的国家, 并以此为基础运转。 作为来自工人阶级家庭的 年轻黑人同性恋女性艺术家, 我没有任何机会。
So I left London and I moved to Japan, where I didn't experience people asking me where I was really from. I was just another gaijin, which, ironically, means "outsider." I was immersed in a culture that honors both making and craft, where people perfect their craft over generations. It's a culture that masters both time and space, so that artists can truly create with freedom. And what I discovered was a place I wasn't angry with. Tokyo hadn't wronged me in any way. I could no longer create with anger or out of pain. I had to bravely allow myself to create from a different place. And what I found is this incredible tool transcended a line on paper. I found this thing that connected my head to my heart and my hand to everything.
所以我离开伦敦,搬到了日本, 没有人问我究竟来自哪里。 我只不过是另一个 “gaijin(外国人)”, 讽刺的是,这个词也代表 “局外人” 的意思。 我沉浸在这个尊崇 工匠精神的文化中, 这里的人们代代相传地 精心打磨自己的工艺。 这是一个掌控了时间 与空间的文化, 让艺术家们得以 真正自由地创作。 我发现这是一个 不会让我动怒的地方。 东京丝毫没有排斥我。 我再也无法出于愤怒 或痛苦而进行创作。 我必须大胆地让自己 从一个不同的出发点进行创作。 我发现这个不可思议的工具 超越了纸上的线。 我发现的这件事物 将我的头脑连至我的心, 又将我的手与万物相连。
I could see the world in new ways. I found connections in corners and the solutions to problems I never knew existed. It's like the world with all its positive and negative spaces could now be seen. And just by seeing it, there was no longer any fear. It's like my pen was a flashlight, and the unknown was still there, but it wasn't scary.
我可以用新的方式看世界。 我在拐弯处找到了联系, 并意外发现 一些问题的解决方案早已存在。 就好像世界所有的正负面之处 如今都映在你的眼中。 仅仅只是看见, 就能让你不再有任何恐惧。 我的笔就像是手电筒, 未知虽然依旧存在, 却不再让人害怕。
After five years of living in Japan and focusing on my craft, I felt like I needed a new challenge. So I moved to New York, because that's what you do as an artist, right? You move to the greatest city in the world that has the ability to make you feel completely and utterly invisible. This is when I began to truly ask myself, "Who are you?" I would wake up in the morning, and before I began my day, I would meditate on this. And with this question in mind, I kept drawing. I followed the line. I let it lead the way. The process of picking up a pen, something everyone has access to, the act of giving myself permission to let go of all thoughts, all fears, insecurities -- anything that would get in the way of allowing myself to be completely me -- that became my way of experiencing freedom.
在日本生活了五年, 专注于磨练技艺后, 我觉得我需要一个新的挑战。 于是我搬到了纽约, 因为这是作为艺术家 会做的事情,对吧? 搬去世界上最好的城市, 这座城市能够 让你感觉自己 完完全全地隐身了。 正是此时,我开始真正地问自己, “你是谁?” 我会在早上醒来, 在开始新的一天之前, 针对这个问题进行沉思。 心中带着这个问题, 我继续作画。 我跟随着笔下的线条。 我让它为我带路。 拾起画笔的过程 是每个人都有机会去尝试的过程, 这个行为能让我允许自己 放开一切想法、恐惧、不安—— 任何会妨碍我 完完全全做我自己的东西—— 那成了我体验自由的方式。
When I got to New York, I didn't want to play by the rules of the art world. I continued my practice as an outsider. I kept drawing. Curiosity became the ink for my pen, and I continued to dive deeper. Over time, I began to create a bold, confident space for myself, a space that was all my own. Initially, it was just my bedroom. But that bedroom ended up in "The New York Times," and suddenly, I was being seen and known for this world I had created. Since then, I've created and collaborated with some of the most unique artists, institutions and spaces, from the screens of Times Square, to the New York City Ballet for their incredible artist series, where I interviewed a number of dancers. Their stories and words became the foundation of over 30 drawings and artworks, which took over the promenade walls, windows and floors.
初到纽约时, 我不想遵守艺术世界的规则。 我继续做我的局外人。 我继续画画。 好奇心成为了我笔中的墨水, 而我继续挖掘得更深。 随着时间流逝,我开始为自己 创造一个大胆、自信的空间, 仅属于我一个人的空间。 最初,这个空间只是我的卧室。 但是那个卧室 出现在了《纽约时报》上, 突然间,我创造的这个世界 让我被世人所见、所知。 自那以后, 我开始与一些最独特的 艺术家、机构和空间 合作进行创作, 从时代广场的屏幕, 到纽约芭蕾舞团 令人惊叹的艺术家系列, 在这里我采访了一些舞者, 以他们的故事和话语为基础, 创作了 30 多件画作和艺术品, 占据了长廊墙壁、 窗户和地板。
For a long time, I wanted to create a space for contemplation and poetry. And in 2019, I was given the opportunity to do just that by the Trust of Governor's Island. They provided me with the perfect canvas in the form of a former military chapel. Meet "The May Room." With drawings on the exterior inspired by the history of the island, you walk inside, you take your shoes off, and there's a drawing on the floor in the form of a maze that brings you back to you. It's an invitation to become calm. And this allows you to see phrases on the wall. "May you be wise." "May you sleep soundly at night." "May we save trees." "May you," "may you," "may we." And these phrases seem like they're rising from you or falling into you.
在很长一段时间里, 我都想为冥想和诗歌 创造一个空间。 而在 2019 年, 总督岛信托基金会 给了我这样一个机会。 一座曾经的军事教堂 就是他们为我提供的完美画布。 欢迎来到 “五月室”(The May Room)。 教堂外壁的图画 受到了岛屿历史的启发, 当你走进去,脱掉鞋, 地板上有一幅画 以迷宫的形式 将你带回你自己身边。 这是在邀请你变得平静。 而这能让你看见墙上的短句: “愿你明智。” “愿你晚上安然入睡。” “愿我们保护树木。” “愿你”,“愿你”,“愿我们”。 这些短句仿佛从你身上升起, 或是向你心中坠落。
I've let my lines become much like a language, a language that has unfolded much like life. And when there has been silence, I've sought connection through conversation, asking questions to push through the discomfort. Drawing has taught me how to create my own rules. It has taught me to open my eyes to see not only what is, but what can be. And where there are broken systems, we can create new ones that actually function and benefit all, instead of just a select few.
我让我的线条 变得像是一种语言, 一种如同生活一般 展开的语言。 在沉默之中, 我通过对话寻求联系, 通过提问来克服不适。 绘画教会了我 如何创建自己的规则。 它教我睁开眼睛, 不只要看见眼前的东西, 还要看见有什么可能。 在系统失灵的地方, 我们可以创造出正常运转、 惠及全体的新系统, 而不是仅仅造福少数人。
Drawing has taught me how to fully engage with the world. And what I've come to realize through this language of lines is not the importance of being seen, but rather the gift of seeing that we give to others and how true freedom is the ability to see. And I don't mean that literally, because sight is only one way in which one can see. But what I mean is to experience the world in its entirety, maybe even more so during the most challenging moments like the one we face today.
绘画教会了我 如何与世界充分互动。 通过这种线条的语言, 我意识到的 不是被看见的重要性, 而是我们赠与他人的 去看见的才能, 以及真正的自由 是看见的能力。 我指的不是字面意义的“看见”, 因为视力仅仅是 “看见”的一种途径。 我的意思是, 去完整地体验世界的全貌, 而在像我们今天面对的这样 最具挑战性的时刻, 我们更应该这么做。
I'm Shantell Martin. I draw. And I invite you to pick up a pen and see where it takes you.
我叫珊特尔 · 马丁 (Shantell Martin)。 我擅长绘画。 我邀请你拿起一支笔, 看看它能将你带往何方。
(Music)
(音乐)