经济学人47:抹去自我的大师

 　　Books and Arts; Cindy Sherman at MoMA

　　文艺；辛迪·谢尔曼在纽约现代艺术博物馆的展览

　　Mistress of self-effacement

　　抹去自我的大师

　　An American photographer reveals herself as never before

　　一位美国摄影师前所未有地展现自己

　　Cindy Sherman is a strangely elusive¹ artist. Her face has become famous through the photographs she takes of herself, but her work is not autobiographical. Coveted² by collectors and extolled³ by critics, her images explore raw human emotion and common artifice—without revealing who she really is.

　　艺术家辛迪·谢尔曼让人难以参透。她的作品不带自传性质，她的容颜却因这些自拍照广为人知；它们探寻人类最真实的情感，探寻人类最普遍的伪饰，却从不暴露真实的自我；它们被收藏家追捧，也被批评家称颂。

　　A retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York demonstrates that although the 58-year-old American may be her own model, she is not her own muse⁴. Her ninth-floor Manhattan studio also offers clues. Pinned to the walls are magazine cuttings and computer printouts of people in what she calls “preposterous” positions: society ladies in ball gowns making breakfast, actresses who are completely naked except for a designer handbag and costume jewellery. She keeps her props⁵ in meticulously⁶ organised cupboards—multicoloured wigs⁷, prosthetic noses, false boobs and funny clothes. An orange plastic chest of drawers holds loads of make-up; nearby is the giant track pad she uses to do her post-production digital work. It is here that Ms Sherman mutates into the objects of her fascination⁸.

　　从这场纽约现代艺术博物馆的回顾展，人们能看出58岁的谢尔曼身为自己的模特，却非自己的缪斯。她的工作室在曼哈顿一幢建筑的九楼，墙上钉着从杂志剪下或者用电脑印出的图片，图中人摆着被她称作“荒谬”的姿势：名媛身着舞会的华裳做着早点；女伶裸裎入镜，仅以定制手袋和廉价珠宝蔽身。她把自己的道具摆在橱柜上，整理得井井有条：七彩斑斓的假发，假鼻子，假胸，还有一些奇怪的衣服。橱柜的抽屉里，一个橙色的塑料匣子盛着大量化妆品；橱柜旁边的一块大手写板则用来给作品做后期数码处理。在这里，谢尔曼女士幻化成照片里那些令人心醉的人儿。

　　Why does the photographer appear in most of her work? One reason is shyness. Disguises can be liberating⁹ and delegating can be arduous¹⁰; she tried hiring models once, but found she hated it. Ms Sherman enjoys working alone and doing everything herself. She has also experimented with still lives in which she does not appear. These images appeal to her hard-core fans but they lack the life, literally¹¹, of her other work. They are also hard to sell. When collectors buy a Sherman photograph, they want her. Last year one of the 1981 “Centrefold” series (pictured) made $3.9m, then a record for a photograph at auction¹². Bemused by how much collectors want her in the frame, the artist mimics¹³ a male voice: “Is she behind that mask? I only want it if she is in there!”

　　为什么这位摄影家的大部分作品里都是她自己？羞涩是个原因。自己乔装打扮可以随心所欲，雇人办事可能麻烦得多。她也一度尝试使用模特，结果发现自己厌恶此事。谢尔曼乐于独立工作，独自做事，也曾拍摄过自己不存于斯的照片。这些照片吸引着她的铁杆拥趸，但却没有其它作品里的那个“活物”。收藏家就是为了看她，才会买她的照片，所以这类照片并不畅销。去年，1981年的《中央插页》（Centrefold）系列中的一张照片（见上图）拍出了390万美元，成为当时照片拍卖的一项纪录。这让她为收藏者看她入镜的执念震惊，学着男人的声音开玩笑说：“面具后面的是她吗？是她我才买这相片儿！”

　　Unlike many of her male peers who have jumped ship to bigger galleries, Ms Sherman has stayed loyal to her original dealers—Metro Pictures, the New York gallery that presented her first solo show in 1979, and Sprüth Magers, which has represented her in Europe since 1984. Neither gallery puts pressure on her; they let her get on with her work at her own pace. As a result, she does not overproduce or aimlessly repeat herself.

　　许多男同侪都跳槽去了大画廊，谢尔曼却对老东家——纽约的Metro Pictures从一而终。1979年，她在该画廊举行了第一次个人作品展；1984年，又在欧洲的Sprüth Magers画廊举行了个人展。两家画廊都未曾给她压力，让她按自己的步调行事，所以她不会粗制滥造，也不做无益的重复。

　　Ms Sherman broke into the art world with “Untitled Film Stills”, a series of 69 black-and-white images that were taken in the late 1970s. A fictional¹⁴ archive of publicity¹⁵ shots in which she poses as characters in films from the 1950s and 1960s, the work was an immediate¹⁶ hit. Its exploration of media culture took Pop Art beyond celebratory consumerism into a more critical vein¹⁷. And its satire¹⁸ of female stereotypes¹⁹ was subtly feminist²⁰—so subtle, in fact, that a feminist art historian advised the young Ms Sherman to superimpose text on the works to bring out the irony²¹.

　　谢尔曼凭借《无题电影剧照》（Untitled Film Stills）系列闯进艺术世界。这组作品摄于20世纪70年代末，包含69张黑白照片。她在其中扮演五六十年代年的电影角色。这套虚构的照片大出风头，一炮而红。它对媒体文化的探索，让大众艺术跳出了让人喜闻乐见的消费主义框框，走上了更有意义的道路。它对女性刻板角色的讽刺也带着微妙的女权主义色彩——微妙得让一位女权主义艺术史学家建议给作品加上说明，让讽刺变得明显些。

　　Ambiguity²² is a characteristic of Ms Sherman's work. One is never quite sure where the artist stands in relation to her characters, and they in turn are often difficult to define. The “Centrefold” series of 12 colour photos in which the artist shot herself from above with fearful or pensive²³ expressions added a layer of anxiety to the uncertainty²⁴.

　　谢尔曼作品的一大特色是含糊。人们很难确定她和这些角色的关系，而这些角色本身也很难定义。在《插页》系列中，谢尔曼用俯瞰的角度拍摄了12张彩色照片。她像在害怕，又像在沉思，还在这两种感觉外敷了一层焦虑，让人很难确定真实情感。

　　Among Ms Sherman's most celebrated²⁵ later works are her “Clowns”, which were shot in 2003 and 2004. Eva Respini, who has curated the MoMA show, believes that the clown is a “stand-in” for the artist. In one picture, the name Cindy is embroidered²⁶ on the jacket of a heavily made-up clown with prosthetic cheeks and nose. It is typical of Ms Sherman's style that she would be disguised beyond all recognition, looking sad and ugly, in a work that flirts²⁷ with self-portraiture.

　　《小丑》（Clowns）系列是谢尔曼最著名的作品之一，摄于2003~2004年。曾管理MoMA展览的Eva Respini说，小丑是谢尔曼的“替身”。在一张照片里，小丑戴着假脸蛋和假鼻子，脸上的妆浓墨重彩，身上的夹克绣着“Cindy”。谢尔曼就常常这样把自己掩藏起来，让人无从辨认，在有点“自画像”性质的照片里也不例外。

　　Indeed, looking over all the photographs, it is interesting to see how the artist has aged²⁸ gracefully²⁹ in real life but intriguingly³⁰ badly in her fictions. In 2007 French Vogue³¹ commissioned her to do a series of six photographs in which she transformed herself into desperate middle-aged³² fashion victims dressed in Balenciaga. These pictures led to “The Socialites” in which she depicted³³ herself as older women whose multimillionaire husbands, one suspects, have cast them off for younger versions. Their dignity in the face of faded glamour³⁴ reveals both the empathy and brutality³⁵ of the artist's eye.

　　当然，看完这些照片，你会发现她在岁月里优雅地老去，在幻境里却无比迷人，甚是有趣。2007年，法国《时尚》杂志委托她拍摄一组六张照片，化身为一位身着Balenciaga的中年“潮人”，让人想起《名流》（The Socialites）系列。在《名流》中，她扮演一些疑心已成箧中弃扇的年长妇女。她们面对年华老去的姿态庄严，说明她观察人时能做到感同身受，鞭辟入里。

　　Ms Sherman is a kind of actor-director of still pictures who delves³⁶ into the representation of women—and occasionally men—in Western society. Back in the 1970s, when she first embarked³⁷ on this artistic³⁸ path, few would have predicted that she could make so many compelling bodies of work through depicting³⁹ herself. But much like a character actor who takes pleasure in nailing a bit part, Ms Sherman takes a detailed⁴⁰ interest in others while mastering the art of making it up.

　　谢尔曼自导自演，拍摄了许多照片，潜心钻研表现西方女性（有时是男性）的方法。回想20世纪70年代，她刚刚踏上这条艺术道路，很少有人能想到她竟能用描绘自己的办法创造这么多引人瞩目的作品。她也像个乐于仔细刻画小角色的性格演员，不但对别人观察入微，塑造角色的功夫也是炉火纯青。

1 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

2 coveted   

adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图

参考例句：

• He had long coveted the chance to work with a famous musician. 他一直渴望有机会与著名音乐家一起工作。
• Ther other boys coveted his new bat. 其他的男孩都想得到他的新球棒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 extolled   

v.赞颂，赞扬，赞美( extol的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school. 他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Tessenow decried the metropolis and extolled the peasant virtues. 特森诺夫痛诋大都市，颂扬农民的美德。 来自辞典例句

4 muse   

n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感

参考例句：

• His muse had deserted him,and he could no longer write.他已无灵感，不能再写作了。
• Many of the papers muse on the fate of the President.很多报纸都在揣测总统的命运。

5 props   

小道具； 支柱( prop的名词复数 )； 支持者； 道具； （橄榄球中的）支柱前锋

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The government props up the prices of farm products to support farmers' incomes. 政府保持农产品价格不变以保障农民们的收入。

6 meticulously   

adv.过细地，异常细致地；无微不至；精心

参考例句：

• The hammer's silvery head was etched with holy runs and its haft was meticulously wrapped in blue leather. 锤子头是纯银制成的，雕刻着神圣符文，而握柄则被精心地包裹在蓝色的皮革中。 来自辞典例句
• She is always meticulously accurate in punctuation and spelling. 她的标点和拼写总是非常精确。 来自辞典例句

7 wigs   

n.假发，法官帽( wig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They say that wigs will be coming in again this year. 据说今年又要流行戴假发了。 来自辞典例句
• Frank, we needed more wigs than we thought, and we have to do some advertising. 弗兰克，因为我们需要更多的假发，而且我们还要做点广告。 来自电影对白

8 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

9 liberating   

解放，释放( liberate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Revolution means liberating the productive forces. 革命就是为了解放生产力。
• They had already taken on their shoulders the burden of reforming society and liberating mankind. 甚至在这些集会聚谈中，他们就已经夸大地把改革社会、解放人群的责任放在自己的肩头了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

10 arduous   

adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的

参考例句：

• We must have patience in doing arduous work.我们做艰苦的工作要有耐性。
• The task was more arduous than he had calculated.这项任务比他所估计的要艰巨得多。

11 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

12 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

13 mimics   

n.模仿名人言行的娱乐演员，滑稽剧演员( mimic的名词复数 )；善于模仿的人或物v.（尤指为了逗乐而）模仿( mimic的第三人称单数 )；酷似

参考例句：

• Methods:Models were generate by CT scan,Mimics software and Abaqus software. 方法：采用CT扫描，Mimics软件和Abaqus软件的CAD进行三维有限元模型的创建。 来自互联网
• Relaxing the mind and body mimics the effect that some blood-pressure pills would have. 放松身心会产生某些降压药才能产生的效果。 来自辞典例句

14 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

15 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

16 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

17 vein   

n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络

参考例句：

• The girl is not in the vein for singing today.那女孩今天没有心情唱歌。
• The doctor injects glucose into the patient's vein.医生把葡萄糖注射入病人的静脉。

18 satire   

n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品

参考例句：

• The movie is a clever satire on the advertising industry.那部影片是关于广告业的一部巧妙的讽刺作品。
• Satire is often a form of protest against injustice.讽刺往往是一种对不公正的抗议形式。

19 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

20 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

21 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

22 ambiguity   

n.模棱两可；意义不明确

参考例句：

• The telegram was misunderstood because of its ambiguity.由于电文意义不明确而造成了误解。
• Her answer was above all ambiguity.她的回答毫不含糊。

23 pensive   

a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的

参考例句：

• He looked suddenly sombre,pensive.他突然看起来很阴郁，一副忧虑的样子。
• He became so pensive that she didn't like to break into his thought.他陷入沉思之中,她不想打断他的思路。

24 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

25 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

26 embroidered   

adj．绣花的

参考例句：

• She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
• She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。

27 flirts   

v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She flirts with every man she meets. 她同她遇到的每个男人调情。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She flirts with every handsome man she meets. 她和所遇到的每个美男子调情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

28 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

29 gracefully   

ad.大大方方地；优美地

参考例句：

• She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

30 intriguingly   

参考例句：

• Intriguingly, she gave to the music a developed although oddly malleable personality. 最神奇的是，她的音乐具有成熟却又很奇怪地极富可塑性。 来自互联网
• Intriguingly, the patients brains were riddled with tangles, but not amyloid plaques. 有趣的是，患者的大脑中充满了各缠结，但并没有粉斑。 来自互联网

31 Vogue   

n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的

参考例句：

• Flowery carpets became the vogue.花卉地毯变成了时髦货。
• Short hair came back into vogue about ten years ago.大约十年前短发又开始流行起来了。

32 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

33 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

34 glamour   

n.魔力，魅力；vt.迷住

参考例句：

• Foreign travel has lost its glamour for her.到国外旅行对她已失去吸引力了。
• The moonlight cast a glamour over the scene.月光给景色增添了魅力。

35 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

36 delves   

v.深入探究，钻研( delve的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• That delves the grave duly. 误不了你的洞房。 来自互联网
• The exhibition delves deep into the physics, aromatics and even the timbre of flatulence. 此次展览向人们介绍了人体物理、气味甚至肠胃胀气的声音等各方面知识。 来自互联网

37 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

38 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

39 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

40 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。