经济学人128:威尼斯玻璃制品业 吹制的艺术

 　　Venetian glass

　　威尼斯玻璃制品业

　　Blow up

　　吹制的艺术

　　How high art will come to the rescue of Venice's glassblowers (fingers crossed)

　　高雅艺术拯救威尼斯玻璃吹制匠（祈求好运）

　　A pointedly¹ new approach

　　新颖艺术

　　A CITY of enchantment², Venice is also besieged³ with problems. It is threatened by rising sea levels, polluted lagoons⁴ and a grim economy. And glassmaking, its most famous industry, has long been sinking along with the city.

　　威尼斯是魅力之都，同时也是问题之城。周边海平面升高，城内水质污染，经济形势严峻。威尼斯玻璃制造业最负盛名。长期以来，这个盛名之业也随威尼斯一起沉落。

　　Murano, an island near the city centre, has been home to glass factories for 700 years. But a shift in taste from elaborate, heavy glass to inexpensive, contemporary designs that go in the dishwasher has hurt local artisans. More than a third have shut up shop in the past decade. At the bottom end of the market Chinese glass now does the job more cheaply.

　　慕拉诺是城中心的一座小岛，是玻璃工厂之家，已有700年的历史。但是，人们的审美情趣发生了改变，从原来的工艺精湛的重质玻璃转向了能装进洗碗机廉价设计品。这种转变伤害了当地的工匠，近十年里关闭了三分之一多的店铺。中国的玻璃产业处于行业市场的底端，其产品更加廉价。

　　玻璃制品业.jpg

　　Venice's Chamber⁵ of Commerce estimates that 5m visitors a year trail down Murano's Fondamenta dei Vetrai , where the shop windows are stacked with glass gondoliers and grotesque⁶ glass clowns. But the profit margin⁷ for producing these gewgaws is very small. Gas prices have soared and some studios now find it more cost-effective to dispense⁸ altogether with manufacture. Some of Murano's glass studios are, however, turning to a new source of income: contemporary art. Across Venice this month no fewer than nine exhibitions feature contemporary artists using glass, only some of which are in this year's Biennale.

　　威尼斯商会估算，每年会有500万游客到慕拉诺的Fondamenta dei Vetrai观光，街道两旁有很多玻璃饰品商店，店外整齐地堆放着威尼斯船夫的玻璃像以及各种风格奇异、引人发笑的玻璃制品。但这些制品非常便宜，利润微小，因为燃气价格飙升。一些工坊发现，省去全部的手工程序更加划算。还有工坊转向了新的收入来源：现代艺术。本月，威尼斯有少于9家的展会，展出了艺术家用玻璃制成的现代艺术品。其中一些仅是在本年的威尼斯双年展3中展出。

　　Leading this local initiative is Adriano Berengo, who has divided his Murano studio in two. One side still churns out lamp stands; the other collaborates¹⁰ with artists such as Thomas Schütte and Tony Cragg to create works in glass in the same way that artists collaborate⁹ with a foundry. The deal is that two editions are created at Mr Berengo's expense: one is given to the artist, who can sell it, the other Mr Berengo keeps for himself. Occasionally a third edition is made and the proceeds are split between artist and studio. Mr Berengo has just completed two glass heads by Mr Schütte, which sold to a London-based Turkish collector for 200,000 ($261,000). “Cristina's Frozen Dreams” by a Catalan sculptor¹¹, Jaume Plensa, is on sale at the studio for 100,000. The glassmaker says his contemporary-art studio has an annual turnover¹² of 6m. It beats making glass fish for 7 a throw.

　　此项运动是由阿德里亚诺·贝伦戈发起，他把自己的工坊一分为二。一个继续生产灯座；另一个与托马斯·舒特和托尼·克拉格合作，创作玻璃艺术品，跟铸造的工作方式相同。双方之间有一项协议：由贝伦戈出资生产双份艺术品，一份赠给作者本人，可以将其出售，另一份则由贝伦戈个人保留。有时，艺术品也会制造出第三份，所得利益就会均分。现在，贝伦戈刚刚完成两件舒特头像。它们以20万欧元卖给一位现居伦敦的土耳其收藏家。现在，贝伦戈工坊出售加泰罗尼亚雕塑家乔玛·帕兰萨的作品《克里斯蒂娜冰冻的梦想》，售价10万欧元。贝伦戈说，自己的现代艺术品工坊年营业额为600万欧元，鱼类玻璃制品每件7欧元。

　　Mr Berengo founded his studio in 1989. He got the idea of working with artists by following the example of Peggy Guggenheim who reportedly said, “Glass is too important a material to be left in the hands of glass masters.” It is a sentiment he has taken to heart. But rather than wait for artists to realise they want to make glass sculptures, Mr Berengo contacts them and dangles¹³ the prospect¹⁴ of coming to Murano to work with a glassblower. Few refuse the challenge. So far, he has worked with more than 160 artists including Cornelia Parker, Joseph Kosuth and Cai Guo-Qiang from Britain, America and China respectively.

　　贝伦戈工坊创立于1989年。艺术家佩姬·古根海姆经说过，在一些玻璃制作大师或店主的手中，玻璃的重要性远远超过材料。当时贝伦戈与他合作时得到了启发，把古根海姆的这句肺腑之言铭记在心。他没有等待，期待着艺术家们自发地用玻璃进行创作，而是与他们进行联系，说服他们来慕拉诺进行合作，阐明了前景。拒绝邀请的还不多。迄今，他已经和160多位艺术大师进行了合作，其中包括英国的科妮莉亚·帕克，美国的约瑟夫·科瑟斯和中国的蔡国强。

　　“Artists love new toys to work with,” Mr Berengo says. “What we have to do is make them think in glass.” The results can be seen in “Glasstress: White Light/White Heat”, an exhibition that is split between the Palazzo Franchetti and a converted studio space on Murano itself. It is a mixed bag. Some artists can indeed “think in glass”. Miroslaw Balka's piece comprises a row of shutters¹⁵, in wood or opaque¹⁶ glass, that exude¹⁷ a ghostly and ominous¹⁸ air. Francesco Gennari has gone for triangular¹⁹ minimalism and Gavin Turk has subverted²⁰ tradition by blowing a larger-than-life glass exhaust pipe. Others, such as Tracey Emin, have not got the hang of it at all—unless her cat is an ironic²¹ comment on the kitsch glass animals found in shop windows off San Marco.

　　“艺术家喜欢摆弄新玩意儿，”贝伦戈说。“我们的工作就是让艺术家站在玻璃的角度去思考。”从艺术展“玻璃应力：白光/白热”中可以看到成果。此次展览由弗兰凯蒂宫和威尼斯穆拉诺岛贝伦哥玻璃工坊共同承揽，展品无所不包。一些艺术家确实能“站在玻璃的角度思考。”比如，米罗斯瓦夫·巴尔卡的作品。他的作品用木材和不透明玻璃制成，散发着一种幽灵般的神秘气息。弗朗西斯科·真纳里的作品极简主义三角形。还有加文·特克，他用玻璃吹制了一个具有传奇色彩的排气管，颠覆了传统。其他人，比如翠西·爱美，她也理解了其中的真谛，否则她关于猫的作品就是圣马可附近商店橱窗里那些工艺拙劣的玻璃动物的讽刺。

　　Working with artists brings other benefits than just cash. It encourages studios to discover new techniques. The Schütte head, for example, had to be blown into a lost wax mould, and required 40 days' cooling before it was completed. When Mr Berengo was asked to create a piece that resembled green bamboo, he consulted the Venetian archives and discovered that in the 16th century glassmakers had created an effect called avventurina, which makes glass look green.

　　与艺术家合作带来的不仅是金钱。工坊受到了鼓励去发掘新技术。比如，制作舒特头像，要吹进一个失蜡模具里，需要40天的冷却才能成型。当让贝伦戈去创造一件类似于绿竹的作品时，他咨询了维也那档案馆后发现，16世纪的玻璃工匠们已经发明了一种叫avventurina的工艺，可以使玻璃发绿。

　　Historically it is through innovation and concentrating on quality that Murano has survived the previous challenges from other glassmaking centres. David Landau, who, with his wife Marie-Rose Kahane, was one of the founders²² of Le Stanze del Vetro, a glass museum which has also created a centralised archive of Murano studio designs, points out that almost every century something has altered the working pattern of Murano, starting in the 16th century when the rival Dutch glass industry made a leap forward by learning how to make glass for telescopes.

　　纵观历史，只有通过创新发明和专注质量，慕拉诺才经受处了来自其它玻璃制造中心的挑战，生存至今。Le Stanze del Vetro是一家玻璃制品博物馆，集中收集贝伦哥玻璃工坊艺术设计。大卫·朗道和妻子玛丽·加亨是博物馆的创始人之一。朗道说，16世纪，荷兰学到了如何用玻璃制造望远镜后，其玻璃产业产生了飞跃。此后，几乎每个世纪都会有某样东西改变慕拉诺的工作模式。

　　Mr Landau is convinced that the only way forward for Murano is to raise standards. Le Stanze del Vetro, which opened its new galleries on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore last September, has already made a mark. Its first show, by Carlo Scarpa, an architect who was also artistic²³ director of the Venini Glassworks from 1932 to 1947, is travelling to the Metropolitan²⁴ Museum of Art in New York in November. It is a reminder²⁵ of Murano's pre-eminence as the backlash against cheap glass gains momentum²⁶. As Mr Landau says, it could be that Murano's future lies in its history.

　　朗道确信，慕拉诺在今后的进程是必须提升品质。去年9月，Le Stanze del Vetro在圣乔治马乔雷教堂小岛开办了新展馆，已经迈出了第一步。首次展出由斯卡帕主办。斯卡帕是位建筑师，曾担任威尼尼1932至1947年玻璃工艺品巡展的艺术总监。11月，展品将前往纽约大都会艺术博物馆。此次巡展提醒人们，慕拉诺的突出地位强烈反对了廉价的玻璃制品的发展势头。正如朗道所言，慕拉诺的未来可能根植于历史之中。

　　1.shut up 安静，闭嘴；关严

　　Qaddafi never seemed to shut up, and libyans were his conscripted audience.

　　卡扎菲似乎从不闭嘴，利比亚人则是被召集来的听众。

　　In effect, western groups are being asked to put up or shut up.

　　事实上，尼日利亚正要求西方集团要么采取行动，要么闭嘴。

　　2.stack with 堆栈

　　These bonuses do not stack with other enhancement bonuses.

　　这些加值不和其他增强加值累加。

　　Prayer of spirit: will no longer stack with other raid spell power buffs.

　　祈祷的精神：将不再与其他栈突袭拼写权力爱好者。

　　3.such as 比如

　　Women were learning vocational skills, such as sewing.

　　妇女接受一些职业技能训练，比如缝纫。

　　Water-soluble nutrients²⁷ such as vitamin c are particularly vulnerable.

　　水溶性营养素如维生素c特别容易损失。

1 pointedly   

adv.尖地，明显地

参考例句：

• She yawned and looked pointedly at her watch. 她打了个哈欠，又刻意地看了看手表。
• The demand for an apology was pointedly refused. 让对方道歉的要求遭到了断然拒绝。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 enchantment   

n.迷惑，妖术，魅力

参考例句：

• The beauty of the scene filled us with enchantment.风景的秀丽令我们陶醉。
• The countryside lay as under some dread enchantment.乡村好像躺在某种可怖的魔法之下。

3 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

4 lagoons   

n.污水池( lagoon的名词复数 )；潟湖；（大湖或江河附近的）小而浅的淡水湖；温泉形成的池塘

参考例句：

• The Islands are by shallow crystal clear lagoons enclosed by coral reefs. 该群岛包围由珊瑚礁封闭的浅水清澈泻湖。 来自互联网
• It is deposited in low-energy environments in lakes, estuaries and lagoons. 它沉淀于湖泊、河口和礁湖的低能量环境中，也可于沉淀于深海环境。 来自互联网

5 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

6 grotesque   

adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物）

参考例句：

• His face has a grotesque appearance.他的面部表情十分怪。
• Her account of the incident was a grotesque distortion of the truth.她对这件事的陈述是荒诞地歪曲了事实。

7 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

8 dispense   

vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施

参考例句：

• Let us dispense the food.咱们来分发这食物。
• The charity has been given a large sum of money to dispense as it sees fit.这个慈善机构获得一大笔钱，可自行适当分配。

9 collaborate   

vi.协作，合作；协调

参考例句：

• The work gets done more quickly when we collaborate.我们一旦合作，工作做起来就更快了。
• I would ask you to collaborate with us in this work.我们愿意请你们在这项工作中和我们合作。

10 collaborates   

合作( collaborate的第三人称单数 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Third, main economy Central Bank collaborates to cut the interest rate. 第三，主要经济体央行联手降低利率。
• Any one who collaborates should be shot. 与敌人勾结者一律枪决。

11 sculptor   

n.雕刻家，雕刻家

参考例句：

• A sculptor forms her material.雕塑家把材料塑造成雕塑品。
• The sculptor rounded the clay into a sphere.那位雕塑家把黏土做成了一个球状。

12 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

13 dangles   

悬吊着( dangle的第三人称单数 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• A kite dangles from a telephone wire. 一只风筝悬挂在电话线上晃来晃去。
• Her hand, which dangles over the side, sparkles cold with jewels. 她一只手耷拉在一边，闪耀着珠宝的寒光。

14 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

15 shutters   

百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门

参考例句：

• The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
• The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。

16 opaque   

adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的

参考例句：

• The windows are of opaque glass.这些窗户装着不透明玻璃。
• Their intentions remained opaque.他们的意图仍然令人费解。

17 exude   

v.(使)流出，(使)渗出

参考例句：

• Some successful men exude self-confidence.有些成功的人流露出自信。
• The sun made him exude sweat.烈日晒得他汗流浃背。

18 ominous   

adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的

参考例句：

• Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
• There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

19 triangular   

adj.三角（形）的，三者间的

参考例句：

• It's more or less triangular plot of land.这块地略成三角形。
• One particular triangular relationship became the model of Simone's first novel.一段特殊的三角关系成了西蒙娜第一本小说的原型。

20 subverted   

v.颠覆，破坏（政治制度、宗教信仰等）( subvert的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某人）道德败坏或不忠

参考例句：

• Their wills could be subverted only by death. 只有死神才能使他们放弃他们的意志。 来自教父部分
• Indiana State laws deliberately subverted the intent of the constitutions 14th Amendment. 印第安纳州的法律有意歪曲联邦宪法第十四条修正案的愿意。 来自辞典例句

21 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

22 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

23 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。

24 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

25 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

26 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

27 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》