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"It's almost kind of like a blank canvas with some, like some texture."
“差不多就是一块空白画布，带点儿纹理的空白画布？”
"I do see a white dot there but I don't know if that's supposed to be there."
“我确实看到上面有白点儿，但我不知道是不是画原本就有的。”
"It looks like something I would cook on, like a baking sheet."
“看着像我做饭会用到的砧板之类的东西。”
"Could be a lot of flies stuck to a bit of paper."
“可能是很多苍蝇粘到纸上留下的痕迹。”
"Yeah, 'cause I would put this down on my floor, my floor tiles."
“嗯，因为要换作是我，我可能会把它放到我的地板上或者地砖上。”
These people are describing Robert Ryman's painting "Bridge."
这些人描述的都是罗伯特·莱曼的油画《桥》。
It sold for $20.6 million at a Christie's auction in 2015.
这幅画在2015年佳士得的一次拍卖会上拍出了2060万美元的天价。
How is an all-white painting considered art, and why would anyone shell out millions for something like this?
这幅一片空白的画作怎么就成了艺术了呢？为什么会有人愿意花数百万美元买这样的东西呢？
There are a lot of these "white paintings."
事实上，这样的“空白画”还有很多。
Many people trace them back to Kazimir Malevich's 1918 work "White on White."
很多人都将这种画的源头追溯到了卡齐米尔·马列维奇1918年的画作《白上白》。
But there are many artists who created these kinds of paintings:
不过，很多画家都画过这种类型的画：
Agnes Martin, Joe Baer, Josef Albers...
艾格尼丝·马丁，乔·贝尔，约瑟夫·阿尔伯斯等等等等。
Most of these artists were associated with an art movement called Minimalism, which emerged in the late 1950s.
这些画家大多都与20世纪50年代末出现的一场名为“极简主义”（Minimalism）的文艺思潮有关。
"When I say the minimalists I mean minimalism with a capital M, not a lowercase..."
“我说的“极简主义”是m大写而不是小写的“极简主义”……”
This is Elisabeth Sherman, she's an assistant curator at the Whitney Museum in New York.
这位是伊丽莎白·谢尔曼，她是纽约惠特尼博物馆的助理馆长。
It's tempting to look at one of these paintings
看着这样的一幅画，
and think that some jerk just took a tube of white paint and spread it on a canvas, but it's not actually that easy.
我们很容易认为是某个混蛋拿起一管白色涂料在画布上瞎涂涂成这样的，但事实并没有那么简单。
I mean mine rules, obviously, because I'm a f****** genius, but there's usually a lot more than meets the eye.
我的意思是，按照我的逻辑，因为我TM简直就是个天才，很明显，按照我的逻辑，事情远不止我们表面看到的那么简单。
"White isn't really a pure thing.
“白色并其实不是一种纯粹的颜色。
White is always tinted in some way.
白色总是带有一定的调性的。
Paint is made up of a variety of pigments.
因为颜料是由各种颜色混合而成的。
If you've ever painted the walls of your house,
如果你自己动手刷过房子，
you know how many different whites there are to choose from.
你就知道有多少种白了。
And maybe if you only look at one it looks like pure white,
只看一个颜色你可能会觉得它就是纯白的，
but when you hold them up in an array you can see the subtle differences.
但当你把它放到一堆白色里，你就能看出它们之间都是有细微的差别的。
It's blue, it's green, it's purple, it's warm, it's cold."
这个偏蓝，那个偏率，那个偏紫，那个是暖白，这个是冷白，等等等等。”
And when you get close— "HEY!"
而且，当你走近看的时候……“喂！”
Not too close, there's a lot going on here.
但也别太近了哈，你会发现里面其实是有很多门道的。
Lines, texture, patterns, even color.
线条，质地，图案，甚至颜色都不一样。
There are a lot of subtle intricacies that make it more than "just a white canvas."
有许多微妙的精细之处让它不再只是“一张白色的画布而已”。
Minimalist artists wanted their work to embody order, simplicity, and harmony.
极简主义画家们希望他们的作品能表现出秩序、简约以及和谐。
"These artists began with these ideas as a rejection of abstract expressionism."
“这些画家一开始是出于对抽象表现主义的排斥才提出这些理念的。”
Abstract expressionism was a movement of artists in the 1940s and 50s
抽象表现主义是20世纪40年代和50年代掀起的一场艺术运动，
who thought that art should be gestural, expressive, and emotional,
该流派认为艺术应该是示意的、富有表现力且带有情绪的，
evoking the unconscious mind through movement and color.
作品应该通过运动和色彩唤醒观众的潜意识。
"So if we think about Jackson Pollock as being kind of the abstract expressionist that many people think of,
“所以，如果我们要和很多人一样，把杰克逊·波洛克当作抽象表现主义画家的话，
you can take that picture of him with the canvas on the floor of his studio spilling paints everywhere,
那我们不妨看看他蹲着在铺在地上的画布上作画，颜料撒得到处都是的那张照片，
and it's his gesture, it's his physical body, it's his arm, it's who he is as a person that's creating that canvas, that painting."
在那张照片里，作画的主体就变成了他的肢体语言，他的身体，他的手臂，以及他整个人。”
Minimalists weren't about that.
但极简主义画家不是这样的。
All that paint splashing everywhere?
把颜料溅得到处都是？
No thanks.
不了，谢谢。
"And there was a lot of desire to get away from that sensibility where the individual's expression was put into the canvas.
“人们很想摆脱那种把个人的情感放到画布上的表达。”
The idea was that the art object — be it sculpture or painting or installation —
当时的理念是，艺术作品——无论是雕塑、绘画还是艺术装置——
should kind of be as far removed from the author as possible."
都应该离作者越远越好。”
You can see what she means when you compare the two schools of art.
当我们把这两个流派放到一起一比较，你就知道她这句话的意思了。
Abstract expressionism. Minimalism. Abstract expressionism. Minimalism. Abstract expressionism. Minimalism.
抽象表现主义。极简主义。抽象表现主义。极简主义。抽象表现主义。极简主义。
Okay, you get it.
停，现在应该懂了吧。
Minimalist artists stripped art of the burden of being about "something else."
极简主义画家从作品身上剥离了作品要讲述“另外一个东西”的负担。
They presented art not as an imitation of reality but as an object unto itself.
他们呈现出的作品不再是对现实的模仿，而是作为其本身的一个物体。
Artist Frank Stella summed it up nicely when he said, "What you see is what you see."
画家弗兰克·斯特拉就很好地总结了这一点，他说：“你看到的就是你看到的。”
One of my favorite things about modern art is the rage that it seems to provoke in some people.
就现代绘画而言，我最喜欢的一点就是它们能激起一部分人的愤怒。
Cue videos of men freaking out:
说到这个我就要cue一下大家（被空白画搞得）抓狂的视频了：
"I'm not gonna sit there and try to find a meaning in a red circle on a blank white canvas, 'cause I'm not gonna find any meaning."
“我是不会坐那儿去找一张空白画布上的红色圆圈的意义的，因为就算我要找也找不出来。”
"I may not understand art but I do understand the English language, and that's pretentious nonsense."
“艺术我可能不懂，但我懂英语，说那些画是艺术品分明就是自命不凡的胡说八道。”
"Did you see the painting that was just a white painting that had nothing on it?"
“你看过那幅画吗？就是一片空白，上面什么都没有的那幅？”
"It's like super pretentious meets uber pretentious."
“感觉就像超级自命不凡遇上了另一个超级自命不凡。”
Modern art sets. people. off.
现代艺术会……让……人……爆……炸。
And believe me when I say that I am here for it.
如果我说今天我就是要让大家抓狂的话，请大家一定要相信我。
"But with modern art, by definition, every interpretation is genuine and legitimate and okay.
“但就现代艺术而言，根据现代艺术的定义来看，每一种解释都是真实、合法，没有问题的解释。
Or not, how about not?"
也可能不是，说不是会死吗？
I love it.
我爱死这哥们儿了。
There's even an entire play about a group of lifelong friends who are torn apart when one of them buys an all-white painting for $200,000.
有人甚至还拍了一部剧，讲一群玩儿了一辈子的朋友因为他们其中一个人花了20万美元买了一张一片空白画分道扬镳的故事。
"With a very kind of absent blank painting,
“欣赏空白画时
you have to do a lot more work in some ways than maybe you have to do with,
观众要做的工作比欣赏其他的画，比如有各种指涉的流行画时
let's say, pop art that has tons of obvious references
要做的工作多得多，
and you see the Coca-Cola or the American flag and you can say,
比如，大家看到可口可乐或美国国旗的时候，你可以说，
I have all of these relationships with these objects, with these brands, with these things.
我和这些事物，这些品牌，这些东西有怎样怎样怎样的关系。
When you're looking at simply a square of white paint,
但当你看到的就是一块白色涂料涂成的方块的时候，
you have to do a lot more work, but sometimes there maybe is something more rewarding in the end."
你就需要费很大的心力去欣赏它，但有的时候你会发现看这种画你能得到更大的收获。”
Another common reaction to modern art, specifically minimalist pieces like white paintings is,
对现代艺术，尤其是对空白画这种极简主义作品，大家还有另一个比较普遍的反应，
c'mon, say it with me now, "I could do that." Good.
来，跟我一起说出来，“我也能画。”很好。
"Almost no matter what show I've worked on in my career somebody has said that.
“我职业生涯做过的所有展览，不管是什么样的展览，几乎每次都会听到有人说这句话。
While there is a lot of skill in a lot of modern and contemporary art,
虽然很多现当代艺术作品都蕴含了很多的技巧，
there's also a lot of art that is more about the idea than it is about skill.
但也很多现当代艺术更注重思想而不是技巧。
And so yes you could do it but you didn't."
所以，是的，你也能画，但你没有啊。”
Damn Elisabeth.
扎心了，老铁。
"And that may sound obnoxious or flip,
“这话听着可能让人觉得有点厌烦或无礼，
but the reality is that once art begins to live just as much in the mind as it does in the eye,
但现实就是这样，艺术只有存在在了观众的眼里，才会存在于观众的心里，
you have to bring your ideas as well as your physical construction of the work."
你不仅要有想法，还要把你的想法落地成实体的东西。”
White paintings are a fascinating kind of Rorschach test.
空白画也算是一种洛夏墨迹测验吧。
They offer viewers an ambiguous, I'm so sorry, but, canvas to project their own interpretations, emotions, beliefs, and stories onto.
它们呈现在观众面前的是一幅含义很模糊的画布，供观众去投射他们自己的解读，投射他们自己的情感、信仰或故事。
So if looking at a white painting makes you feel angry or excited or soothed, those are all valid responses.
所以，如果看一幅空白画会让你感到愤怒、兴奋或安慰的话，那就说明你已经做出了有效的响应。
But take a moment to think about why that was your response.
但是，你不妨停下来想想，你为什么会做出那样的反应。
"It's very easy to be dismissive of things that we're not immediately attracted to.
“我们很容易对那些第一眼不是特别吸睛的东西不屑一顾。
So if you have a kind of negative gut reaction, one of defensiveness or fear or anxiety or rejection,
如果空白画引起了你某种负面的反应，某种防御的、恐惧的、焦虑的或抗拒的反应，
maybe try to move past that and see what's available afterwards.
那你不妨走开，看看后面还有什么可看的作品。
And it doesn't have to change your mind,
一幅作品不一定非要改变你的思想才算成功，
but it's sometimes the process of working through that reaction that you learn the most about the work but also about yourself."
但有的时候，我们就是在对某个作品产生某种反应的过程中加深对作品的了解的，有时甚至还能在这个过程中加深对我们自己的了解。”
