ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Titus Kaphar - Artist
Titus Kaphar's artworks interact with the history of art by appropriating its styles and mediums.

Why you should listen

As Titus Kaphar says of his work: "I’ve always been fascinated by history: art history, American history, world history, individual history -- how history is written, recorded, distorted, exploited, reimagined and understood. In my work I explore the materiality of reconstructive history. I paint and I sculpt, often borrowing from the historical canon, and then alter the work in some way. I cut, crumple, shroud, shred, stitch, tar, twist, bind, erase, break, tear and turn the paintings and sculptures I create, reconfiguring them into works that nod to hidden narratives and begin to reveal unspoken truths about the nature of history."

Kaphar is founder/CEO of the NXTHVN, a multidisciplinary arts incubator that's being built to train professional artists and to further establish New Haven's growing creative community. His latest works are an investigation into the highest and lowest forms of recording history. From monuments to mug shots, this body of work exhibited at Jack Shainman gallery December-January 2017 seeks to collapse the line of American history to inhabit a fixed point in the present. Historical portraiture, mug shots, and YouTube stills challenge viewers to consider how we document the past, and what we have erased. Rather than explore guilt or innocence, Kaphar engages the narratives of individuals and how we as a society manage and define them over time. As a whole, this exhibition explores the power of rewritten histories to question the presumption of innocence and the mythology of the heroic.

More profile about the speaker
Titus Kaphar | Speaker | TED.com
TED2017

Titus Kaphar: Can art amend history?

提图斯·卡帕尔: 艺术能修正历史吗?

Filmed:
1,527,150 views

艺术家提图斯·卡帕尔(Titus Kaphar)创作的绘画和雕塑,与过去的挣扎搏斗,同时讲述了当下的多样性和进步。在这个令人难忘的现场工作室里,卡帕尔拿着一把刷子,给一幅17世纪弗兰兹·哈尔斯绘画的复制品刷上白漆,遮掩了构图的某些部分,并将其隐藏的故事呈现在眼前。卡帕尔说,艺术中有这样的叙事编码。当我们转移注意力,并面对未说出口的真相时,会发生什么?
- Artist
Titus Kaphar's artworks interact with the history of art by appropriating its styles and mediums. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
I love museums博物馆.
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我爱博物馆。
00:16
Have you guys ever been
to the Natural自然 History历史 Museum博物馆?
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你们去过自然历史博物馆吗?
00:19
In New York纽约 City?
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在纽约市的?
00:20
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
00:22
So one of the things that I do
is I take my kids孩子 to the museum博物馆.
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我会带着我的孩子去博物馆。
00:27
Recently最近 I took them
to the Natural自然 History历史 Museum博物馆.
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最近,我带他们去了
自然历史博物馆。
00:30
I had my two sons儿子 with me,
Sabian洒遍 and Dabith达比思.
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我有两个儿子,Sabian和Dabith。
00:33
And we go into the front面前
entrance入口 of the museum博物馆,
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我们从博物馆的前门进去,
00:36
and there's that amazing惊人 sculpture雕塑
of Teddy泰迪熊 Roosevelt罗斯福 out there.
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那里有着西奥多·罗斯福
令人惊诧的雕塑。
00:39
You guys know which哪一个 one I'm talking about.
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你们知道我说的是哪个。
00:41
Teddy泰迪熊 Roosevelt罗斯福 is sitting坐在 there
with one hand on the horse,
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西奥多·罗斯福坐在那里,
一只手放在马背上,
00:45
bold胆大, strong强大, sleeves袖子 rolled热轧 up.
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勇敢,强壮,跃跃欲试。
00:47
I don't know if he's bare-chested袒胸露背,
but it kind of feels感觉 like it.
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我不知道他是不是没穿
内里衬衣,但我感觉是没穿。
00:50
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
00:51
And on the left-hand左手 side of him
is a Native本地人 American美国 walking步行.
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在他的左手边有一个印第安人站着。
00:56
And on the right-hand右手 side of him
is an African-American非裔美国人 walking步行.
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在他的右手边有一个非裔美国人站着。
01:01
And as we're moving移动 up the stairs楼梯,
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当我们走上台阶,
01:05
getting得到 closer接近 to the sculpture雕塑,
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离雕塑越来越近时,
01:08
my oldest最老的 son儿子, who's谁是 nine, says,
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我九岁的大儿子说道,
01:10
"Dad, how come he gets得到 to ride,
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“爸爸,为什么他可以骑马,
01:15
and they have to walk步行?"
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而他们要走路呢?”
01:18
It stopped停止 me in my tracks轨道.
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这个问题让我怔住了。
01:20
It stopped停止 me in my tracks轨道.
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这个问题让我怔住了。
01:22
There was so much history历史
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要回答这个问题
01:24
that we would have to go through通过
to try to explain说明 that,
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就要牵扯到很多历史,
01:26
and that's something
I try to do with them anyways无论如何.
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我也一直想要回答这些问题。
01:30
It's a question that I probably大概
would have never really asked.
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这个问题,有可能我永远不会问。
01:34
But fundamentally从根本上 what he was saying was,
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但是本质上,他在说,
01:36
"That doesn't look fair公平.
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“那看起来不公平。
01:38
Dad, that doesn't look fair公平.
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爸爸,那看起来不公平。
01:41
And why is this thing that's so not fair公平
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为什么这么不公平的雕塑
01:43
sitting坐在 outside
of such这样 an amazing惊人 institution机构."
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可以摆放在那雄伟的博物馆外面?”
01:47
And his question got me wondering想知道,
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他的问题让我沉思,
01:49
is there a way for us
to amend修改 our public上市 sculptures雕塑,
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有没有一种方式可以让我们
改变我们的公共雕塑,
01:54
our national国民 monuments纪念碑?
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改变我们的国家纪念碑?
01:56
Not erase抹去 them,
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不是移除它们,
01:58
but is there a way to amend修改 them?
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而是找一种方式修改它们。
02:00
Now, I didn't grow增长 up going to museums博物馆.
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我小时候不常去博物馆。
02:05
That's not my history历史.
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我没有这个爱好。
02:07
My mother母亲 was 15 years年份 old
when I was born天生.
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我出生时,我的母亲才15岁。
02:09
She is amazing惊人.
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她是伟大的。
02:12
My father父亲 was struggling奋斗的
with his own拥有 things
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在我生命的大部分时间,
02:14
for most of my life.
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我父亲都在挣扎于自己的事情。
02:17
If you really want to know the truth真相,
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如果你想知道真相,
02:19
the only reason原因 I got into art艺术
is because of a woman女人.
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我步入艺术殿堂的真正原因
只是为了一个女人。
02:23
There was this amazing惊人, amazing惊人,
fantastic奇妙, beautiful美丽, smart聪明 woman女人,
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那是一个优秀的,美丽的,聪明的女人,
02:28
four years年份 older旧的 than me,
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比我大四岁,
02:30
and I wanted to go out with her.
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我想和她约会。
02:32
But she said, "You're too young年轻
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但她说,“你太年轻了,
02:33
and you're not thinking思维
about your future未来."
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而且你没有考虑过未来。”
02:35
So I ran on down to the junior初级 college学院,
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所以我跑到大专院校,
02:39
registered注册 for some classes,
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注册了几门课,
02:41
ran on back,
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跑了回来,
02:43
and basically基本上 was like,
"I'm thinking思维 about my future未来 now."
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基本上就像是,
“我现在考虑了我的未来。”
02:46
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
02:48
"Can we go out?"
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“我们可以约会了吗?”
02:51
For the record记录, she's even more amazing惊人.
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顺便说一下,
她比我想象的更让人惊叹。
02:53
I married已婚 her.
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我娶了她。
02:54
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
03:00
So when I randomly随机 ran down
to the junior初级 college学院
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实际上,当我跑到大专院校
03:05
and registered注册 for classes,
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注册课程的时候,
03:06
I really wasn't paying付款 attention注意
to what I was registering注册 to.
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我根本没有注意我注册了什么课。
03:10
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
03:11
So I ended结束 up with an art艺术 history历史 class,
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结果我选的是艺术历史课,
03:14
and I didn't know a thing
about art艺术 history历史.
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而我对艺术历史一无所知。
03:17
But something amazing惊人 happened发生
when I went into that class.
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但当我踏进课堂时,
不可思议的事情发生了。
03:21
For the first time in my academic学术的 career事业,
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在我的职业生涯中,
03:25
my visual视觉 intelligence情报 was required需要 of me.
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我第一次需要用到视觉智能。
03:28
For the first time.
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第一次。
03:30
The professor教授 would put up an image图片,
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教授放了一张图片,
03:32
bold胆大 strokes of blues蓝调 and yellows,
and say, "Who's谁是 that?"
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蓝色、黄色的粗线条,
问道,“这是谁?”
03:36
And I'd go, "That's Van面包车 Gogh梵高.
Clearly明确地 that is Van面包车 Gogh梵高.
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我回答,“这是梵高。很明显是梵高。
03:39
I got this."
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我知道。”
03:41
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
03:43
I got a B in that class.
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那门课我拿了B。
03:46
For me, that was amazing惊人.
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对我来说,这已经很棒了。
03:50
In high school学校, let's just say
I wasn't a great student学生. OK?
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在高中,我不是个好学生。知道吗?
03:54
In high school学校, my GPAGPA was .65.
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在高中,我的GPA只有0.65。
03:57
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
03:58
Decimal十进制 point first, six five.
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前面只有小数点,六,五。
04:02
So me getting得到 a B was huge巨大, huge巨大,
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所以拿到B是一个很大很大的
04:07
absolutely绝对 huge巨大.
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成就。
04:08
And because of the fact事实 that I realized实现
that I was able能够 to learn学习 things visually视觉
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正因为我意识到我可以
通过视觉来学习一些
04:13
that I couldn't不能 learn学习 in other ways方法,
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用其它方式无法学习到的东西,
04:15
this became成为 my strategy战略,
this became成为 my tactic战术
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这变成了我的策略,变成了
04:18
for understanding理解 everything else其他.
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我理解其他事物的手段。
04:21
I wanted to stay in this relationship关系.
Things were going well.
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我想留在这段关系中。
事情发展得很顺利。
我决定继续上这些艺术历史课。
04:24
I decided决定, let me keep taking服用
these art艺术 history历史 classes.
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我永远不会忘记艺术历史
的最后一堂课,永远不会忘记。
04:27
One of the last art艺术 history历史 classes,
I will not forget忘记, I will never forget忘记.
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04:31
It was one of those survey调查
art艺术 history历史 classes.
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那是一堂艺术史概论。
有人上过艺术史概论课吗?
04:33
Anybody任何人 ever have one of those
survey调查 art艺术 history历史 classes,
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那种在短短一学期,就试图讲完
04:36
where they try to teach you
the entire整个 history历史 of art艺术
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04:38
in a single semester学期?
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整个艺术史的课。
04:40
I'm talking about cave洞穴 paintings绘画
and Jackson杰克逊 Pollock波洛克
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我说的是从洞穴壁画
到杰克逊·波洛克,
04:45
just crunched嘎吱嘎吱 together一起 all in the same相同 --
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把所有艺术史都放进来
04:47
It doesn't really work,
but they try anyway无论如何.
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其实学不到什么,
但是还是有这门课存在。
04:51
Well, at the beginning开始 of the semester学期,
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刚开学的时候,
04:54
I looked看着 at the book,
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我看了看教科书。
04:55
and in this 400-page-页 book
was about a 14-page-页 section部分
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在这本400页的书里面
有14页的篇幅
04:59
that was on black黑色 people in painting绘画.
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讲了关于绘画里的黑人。
05:01
Now, this was a crammed临时抱佛脚 in section部分
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就这么一点儿的篇幅
05:03
that had representations交涉
of black黑色 people in painting绘画
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涵盖了所有画里出现的黑人
05:07
and black黑色 people who painted.
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和黑人画家。
05:10
It was poorly不好 curated策划,
let's just put it that way.
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说白了,没什么人会注意。
05:15
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
05:16
Nonetheless尽管如此 I was really excited兴奋 about it,
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但我对此感到很兴奋,
05:19
because in all
the other classes that I had,
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因为我上的所有其他的课
05:21
we didn't even have that conversation会话.
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连这么一点点篇幅都没有。
05:25
We didn't talk about it at all.
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压根儿没有人讨论。
05:27
So imagine想像 my surprise
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所以我带着疑惑
05:29
when I get to class
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走入课堂,
05:31
and on the day that we're supposed应该
to go over that particular特定 chapter章节,
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那天我们应该讲那个章节,
05:35
my professor教授 announces宣布,
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我的教授说,
05:38
"We're going to skip跳跃 this chapter章节 today今天
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“我们今天就跳过这章,
05:40
because we do not have time
to go through通过 it."
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“因为我们没时间了。”
05:42
"Whoa, I'm sorry,
hold保持 on, professor教授, professor教授.
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“哇,不好意思,
等一下,教授,教授。”
05:45
I'm sorry. This is a really
important重要 chapter章节 to me.
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“很抱歉,但那章对我来说意义非凡。
05:49
Are we going to go over it at any point?"
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我们真的完全略过吗?”
05:51
"Titus泰特斯, we don't have time for this."
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“Titus,我们没时间过这章了。”
05:53
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
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“很抱歉,真的很抱歉,
但我真的需要搞清楚缘由。
05:55
please, I really need to understand理解.
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很明显,作者本人
觉得这一篇很重要。
05:57
Clearly明确地 the author作者 thinks
that this is significant重大.
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为什么我们要略过呢?”
05:59
Why are we skipping跳绳 over this?"
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“Titus,我没时间。”
06:01
"Titus泰特斯, I do not have time for this."
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06:03
"OK, last question, I'm really sorry here.
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“好吧,最后一个问题,
非常不好意思。
06:05
When can we talk,
because we need to talk."
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我们什么时候能谈谈?必须谈谈。”
06:07
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
06:09
I went to her office办公室 hours小时.
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我去了她的答疑时段。
06:11
I ended结束 up getting得到 kicked
out of her office办公室.
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结果呢,被她赶了出来。
06:14
I went to the dean院长.
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我去找院长。
06:15
The dean院长 finally最后 told me,
"I can't force her to teach anything."
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院长告诉我:“我不能
对她的教学指手画脚。”
06:18
And I knew知道 in that moment时刻
if I wanted to understand理解 this history历史,
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那一刻我明白了,
如果我想要了解那段历史,
06:23
if I wanted to understand理解 the roles角色
of those folks乡亲 who had to walk步行,
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如果我想要了解
为什么那群人必须得走,
06:27
I was probably大概 going
to have to figure数字 that out myself.
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我需要靠自己找到答案。
06:33
So ...
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所以,
06:39
above以上 you right here on the slide滑动
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你们看到的这张幻灯片,
06:43
is a painting绘画 by Frans弗兰斯 Hals哈尔斯.
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是弗兰斯·哈尔斯的一幅画。
06:47
This is one of the kinds of images图片
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这是在那篇章节里的
06:51
that was in that chapter章节.
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其中一幅画。
06:55
I taught myself how to paint涂料
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我通过去博物馆
06:57
by going to museums博物馆
and looking at images图片 like this.
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观摩类似的画作,自学了画画。
07:03
I want to show显示 you something.
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我想让你们看一个东西。
07:18
I made制作 this.
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我画了这幅,
07:20
I --
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我——
(掌声)
07:21
(Applause掌声)
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07:23
I made制作 some alterations改变.
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我做了些调整。
07:24
You'll你会 see there are
some slight轻微 differences分歧 in the painting绘画.
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你们可以看到这幅画
跟上面那幅有些不同的地方。
07:28
All this art艺术 history历史
that I had been absorbing吸收
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通过对艺术史的学习,
07:33
helped帮助 me to realize实现
that painting绘画 is a language语言.
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我意识到画画是一门语言。
07:41
There is a reason原因
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他之所以这么高
是有原因的。
07:47
why he is the highest最高
in the composition组成 here.
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07:57
There is a reason原因
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作者画了这条金项链,
08:01
why the painter画家 is showing展示 us
this gold necklace项链 here.
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也是有原因的。
08:08
He's trying to tell us something
about the economic经济 status状态
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他想要通过这个告诉我们
08:11
of these people in these paintings绘画.
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这些画中人的阶级。
08:16
Painting绘画 is a visual视觉 language语言
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画作是视觉语言。
08:20
where everything in the painting绘画
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画中的所有元素
08:23
is meaningful富有意义的, is important重要.
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都是有意义的,重要的。
08:26
It's coded编码.
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都想要传达一些信息。
08:32
But sometimes有时, because
of the compositional成分 structure结构体,
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但有些时候,由于构造框架,
08:35
because of compositional成分 hierarchy等级制度,
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由于构造等级阶层,
08:38
it's hard to see other things.
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我们很难看到别的东西。
08:56
This silk is supposed应该 to tell us also
that they have quite相当 a bit of money.
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这个丝缎试图告诉我们这些人很有钱。
09:02
There's more written书面
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艺术史里,
09:04
about dogs小狗 in art艺术 history历史
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关于狗的描述,
09:08
than there are about
this other character字符 here.
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要比这里的一位人物多得多。
09:13
Historically历史 speaking请讲,
in research研究 on these kinds of paintings绘画,
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从历史的角度来说,
通过对于这种类型的画作的研究,
09:16
I can find out more about the lace花边
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我可以找出的
09:20
that the woman女人 is wearing穿着
in this painting绘画 --
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关于这幅画里女性
穿戴的蕾丝的信息,
关于蕾丝的制造商的信息——
09:23
the manufacturer生产厂家 of the lace花边 --
than I can about this character字符 here,
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09:28
about his dreams, about his hopes希望,
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相比这位男性的梦想和追求,
09:30
about what he wanted out of life.
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以及关于他想要的
生活的信息还要多。
09:35
I want to show显示 you something.
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我还想要给你们看一些东西。
09:39
I don't want you to think
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不要以为,
09:41
that this is about eradication根除.
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我在毁坏这幅作品。
09:45
It's not.
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我并没有。
09:46
The oil that you saw me
just put inside of this paint涂料
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我使用的这种油,
09:50
is linseed亚麻籽 oil.
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是亚麻籽油。
09:51
It becomes transparent透明 over time,
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它过段时间会变透明。
09:54
so eventually终于 what's going to happen发生
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所以最终,
09:57
is these faces面孔
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这些脸,
10:00
will emerge出现 a little bit.
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还是会露出来。
10:04
What I'm trying to do,
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我想要做的,以及
10:06
what I'm trying to show显示 you,
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我想要让你们看的是,
10:08
is how to shift转移 your gaze凝视 just slightly,
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如何轻微转移你们的注意力,
10:11
just momentarily瞬间,
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只是暂时的,
10:13
just momentarily瞬间,
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只是暂时的,
10:15
to ask yourself你自己 the question,
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问问自己一个问题,
10:18
why do some have to walk步行?
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为什么有些人必须得走路呢?
10:20
What is the impact碰撞 of these kinds
of sculptures雕塑 at museums博物馆?
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这些在博物馆里的雕刻
会为我们带来什么样的影响呢?
10:24
What is the impact碰撞
of these kinds of paintings绘画
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当我们社会中最脆弱的群体
10:28
on some of our most vulnerable弱势 in society社会,
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时时刻刻都会看到
这样的画面的时候,
10:31
seeing眼看 these kinds of depictions描写
of themselves他们自己 all the time?
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这些画作会对他们
产生什么影响呢?
10:35
I'm not saying erase抹去 it.
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我不是说要抹除这样的画作,
10:37
We can't erase抹去 this history历史.
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我们无法抹除历史。
10:39
It's real真实. We have to know it.
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这些都是既定存在的,
我们必须对此有所了解。
10:41
I think of it in the same相同 way
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我和大家的想法
10:43
we think of --
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是一致的。
10:47
Let me step back a second第二.
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我们来回溯一下。
10:49
You remember记得 old-school老套 cameras相机,
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记得老式相机吗?
10:52
where when you took a picture图片,
you actually其实 had to focus焦点. Right?
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当你想要拍照的时候,
你需要对焦对吧?
10:55
You'd put the camera相机 up,
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你得架起相机,
10:56
and if I wanted you in focus焦点,
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如果我想对焦你,
10:58
I would move移动 the lens镜片 a little to the left
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我就得把镜头向左移一点,
11:00
and you would come forward前锋.
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你也得往前站一步。
11:02
I could move移动 the lens镜片
a little to the right,
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我也可以把镜头往右移一点儿,
11:04
and you would go back and the folks乡亲
in the background背景 would come out.
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你就得往后走一点,在后面的
那些人镜头里也能看得清。
我现在就在做类似的事情。
11:07
I'm just trying to do that here.
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11:09
I'm trying to give you that opportunity机会.
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我在试图让你们能够
有机会看清后面的人。
11:13
I'm trying to answer回答 that question
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我在试图回答
11:15
that my son儿子 had.
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我儿子问我的那个问题。
11:20
I want to make paintings绘画,
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我想要做出真实的
11:22
I want to make sculptures雕塑
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绘画
11:24
that are honest诚实,
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和雕塑,
11:26
that wrestle搏斗 with
the struggles斗争 of our past过去
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是和我们走过的曲折息息相关的,
11:31
but speak说话 to the diversity多样
and the advances进步 of our present当下.
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和我们的多样性以及
现今社会的进步是息息相关的,
11:36
And we can't do that by taking服用 an eraser橡皮
and getting得到 rid摆脱 of stuff东东.
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我们不能靠抹去历史来进步。
11:40
That's just not going to work.
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那样做是行不通的。
11:41
I think that we should
do it in the same相同 way
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我认为我们应该
向美国国会学习。
11:43
the American美国 Constitution宪法 works作品.
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11:45
When we have a situation情况
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当我们出现了问题,
11:46
where we want to change更改
a law in the American美国 Constitution宪法,
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想要更改美国国会的法律,
11:50
we don't erase抹去 the other one.
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我们不用去推倒重来,
11:53
Alongside并肩 that is an amendment修订,
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只需要对它们进行修改,
11:55
something that says,
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修改成
11:57
"This is where we were,
but this is where we are right now."
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“这就是我们的历史,
但现在我们有所进步。”
12:01
I figure数字 if we can do that,
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我发现,如果能做到,
12:03
then that will help us
understand理解 a little bit
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就会帮助我们更好的理解
12:06
about where we're going.
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我们的现在和未来。
12:38
Thank you.
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谢谢。
12:39
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by Lizzy Li
Reviewed by sophia chen

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Titus Kaphar - Artist
Titus Kaphar's artworks interact with the history of art by appropriating its styles and mediums.

Why you should listen

As Titus Kaphar says of his work: "I’ve always been fascinated by history: art history, American history, world history, individual history -- how history is written, recorded, distorted, exploited, reimagined and understood. In my work I explore the materiality of reconstructive history. I paint and I sculpt, often borrowing from the historical canon, and then alter the work in some way. I cut, crumple, shroud, shred, stitch, tar, twist, bind, erase, break, tear and turn the paintings and sculptures I create, reconfiguring them into works that nod to hidden narratives and begin to reveal unspoken truths about the nature of history."

Kaphar is founder/CEO of the NXTHVN, a multidisciplinary arts incubator that's being built to train professional artists and to further establish New Haven's growing creative community. His latest works are an investigation into the highest and lowest forms of recording history. From monuments to mug shots, this body of work exhibited at Jack Shainman gallery December-January 2017 seeks to collapse the line of American history to inhabit a fixed point in the present. Historical portraiture, mug shots, and YouTube stills challenge viewers to consider how we document the past, and what we have erased. Rather than explore guilt or innocence, Kaphar engages the narratives of individuals and how we as a society manage and define them over time. As a whole, this exhibition explores the power of rewritten histories to question the presumption of innocence and the mythology of the heroic.

More profile about the speaker
Titus Kaphar | Speaker | TED.com