【精彩图文】让叠起的巨石保持平衡,创造艺术作品的人.doc

让叠起的巨石保持平衡，创造艺术作品的人阿德里安格雷英国最古怪的艺术家利用垒叠的石头创造出神奇的艺术作品。一个清新灿烂的早晨，我站在多塞特布满岩石的荒芜海滩上。在我身后这个美丽的海湾，郁郁葱葱的悬崖表面生长着深浅不一的绿色植物。你也许会认为这是天赐之福。确实如此。只是我的手指疼，手臂酸（很抱歉这么说），我简直希望自己回到伦敦的办公室。The reason? For two hours Ive been desperately trying to balance giant rocks on top of each other. And failing badly.什么原因？要知道，两个小时了，我一直在拼命尝试平衡重叠的巨大岩石。结果惨败。Perhaps I should explain. I am here to meet Adrian Gray - one of Britains oddest artists. And this amazing beach, accessible only by boat or a treacherous climb, is Grays canvas.也许我应该解释一下。我来这里是为了见阿德里安格雷英国最古怪的艺术家。这片神奇的海滩就是格雷的画布，到那里只能靠小船或危险的攀爬。Balancing act: One of the stunning stone artworks created by Adrian Gray平衡行动：阿德里安格雷创作的令人惊叹的艺术作品之一。Gray, you see, has an unusual artistic technique. Remember that famous Monty Python sketch about The Society For Putting Things On Top Of Other Things? The joke was about how human beings can unwittingly immerse themselves in utterly futile activities.你知道，格雷有种不同寻常的艺术技能。你还记得有关“把物品放到其它物品上社团”著名的“巨蟒小组”梗概吗？这个喜剧有关人类如何能不知不觉地沉浸在绝对徒劳无功的活动中。 Well, the art Gray creates is a result of nothing more sophisticated than putting things on top of other things. Big rocks on top of other big rocks, to be precise.格雷创作的艺术品不过是把一些物品放到其它物品上而已，并不复杂。确切地说，就是把大石头放到其它大石头上。 Then he photographs the results and sells the images. How futile can you get?然后，他拍下这些成果，再销售这些照片。你还能多么徒劳？But the weird thing is that its not futile at all. The end results are, quite simply, breathtaking.不可思议的是，这根本不是徒劳无功。最终的结果简直令人惊叹。Rock on: Adrian Gray (left) demonstrates his amazing skill to Vincent Graff叠石：阿德里安格雷（左）向文森特格拉夫证明他令人惊叹的技能。Look at the images here. Surely these rocks - virtually floating on air - cannot possibly stay standing? Just what is holding them in place? Has the Government secretly repealed the laws of physics?看看这张图片。这些几乎漂浮在空中的石头肯定不可能保持挺立吧？到底是什么将它们固定在位置上？难道是政府秘密地废除了物理定律？Yet there is no cheating involved in any of the photographs. No steel rods, no magnets, no computer trickery. The only glue he uses is Natures. Gravity.然而，其中任何一张照片都没有涉及到欺骗。那里没有钢条、没有磁铁也没有电脑欺骗。他使用的唯一粘合剂是大自然的重力。By very carefully feeling the balancing point of each rock he handles - a process that requires awesome skill and patience - Gray is able to arrange them in ways that seem incredible.通过非常仔细地“感觉”拿着的每块石头的平衡点一种需要非凡技巧和耐心的过程格雷能够以似乎难以置信的方式把它们排列起来。 Imagine trying to balance a chest of drawers on just one of its legs, on top of a boulder, and you get an idea of what Gray gets up to.想像自己尝试仅仅依靠衣柜的一个腿把它平稳地放到一个大圆石上，你就知道格雷达到了什么境界。There is a real sense of wonder, says Gray, when I balance two rocks in such a way that it gives the impression that its impossible for them to stay in place. I dont want to sound pretentious, but it makes the sculpture seem almost alive.“确实有种神奇的感觉。”格雷说，“当我以这种方式使两块石头保持平衡时，留下了这样的印象：它们不可能留在那里。我不想说的自命不凡，但是，它使雕塑几乎活了起来。” Do people think he cheats? All the time.人们是否认为他在骗人？一直如此。 People think I use everything from Blu Tack to Velcro to steel rods. While Im balancing the stones, I can hear people saying: Hes waiting for the glue to set.“人们认为我用了各种东西，从蓝丁胶到魔术贴到钢条。在平衡这些石头的时候，我能听到人们在说：他在等粘合剂固定。”Having witnessed Grays magic, I can confirm there is no trickery involved. Only patience, dexterity and what Gray calls listening with my fingers.我亲眼看到格雷的魔法，能够证实，其中没有诈术，只有耐心、灵巧和格雷所谓的“用我的手指倾听”。Hes not even very good with theoretical physics. After a brief conversation about centres of gravity, he admits that he failed his O-level in the subject.他甚至并不擅长理论物理。简单地谈了重力中心问题之后，他承认，自己的这门课没有达到O级。In his Indiana Jones hat and sunshades, Gray is also sweetly modest about his skill. The trick is putting together stones which look like they couldnt possibly sit on top of one another. Only then can you you make something extraordinary.戴着印第安纳琼斯帽和太阳镜的格雷还非常谦虚地谈到自己的技能。“其窍门是，把看起来不可能互相重叠的石头放到一起。到那时，你才能创造非凡。”Seemingly impossible? But no camera trickery or other means were used to create these pictures貌似不可能？可是创作这些照片并没有用到相机骗局及其它方法。Five miniature sculptures sit at the waters edge in Lyme Regis五个微型雕像坐在莱姆里吉斯的水岸Forty-four-year-old Gray certainly lives an extraordinary life. Home is a one-room limestone house carved out of the cliffside above the beach, half a mile from the nearest public road. Theres no electricity beyond that provided by one old solar panel that powers two dim lights for a few hours a day.44岁的格雷当然过着一种特别的生活。他的家是在距最近公路半英里海滩上的悬崖边凿出来的一间石灰岩房子。这里没有电，只有一个旧太阳能电池板，每天提供几个小时微弱的灯光。Television is out of the question, though he does have a woodburning stove and a gas supply that enables him to boil a kettle.电视更不用提，不过他有一个烧木料的炉子和一个燃气装置能让他烧开一壶水。Over coffee, he explains how he got here. He tells me he used to run an expedition company and, for years, escorted backpackers through the Madagascan rainforest. Then he caught a nasty virus - and the world he knew came crashing down around him.他边喝咖啡边向我解释他如何来到这里。他告诉我，他以前经营着一家探险公司，陪伴背包客穿越马达加斯加的雨林好几年。后来，他染上了一种讨厌的病毒，他熟悉的世界在他的身边崩溃了。Though cured of the tropical bug, he succumbed to post-viral ME and became, he says, pretty much allergic to modern life. Electricity, TV, laptops, even mobile phones brought on headaches, nausea and mood changes. The only way of avoiding these things, he felt, was to opt out of mainstream society.他说，虽然热带病治愈了，自己却屈从于病毒感染后的自我，变得相当讨厌现代生活。电、电视、笔记本，甚至手机都会导致他头疼、恶心和情绪的变化。他认为，回避这些事情的唯一方法是选择离开主流社会。 He had friends in Lyme Regis, so moved there - first to a shack, then a yurt in a friends garden,and then the clifftop home where he lives today. And that was when began his work with the stones.他有朋友在莱姆里吉斯，所以搬到那里先是住在一个棚屋，然后住在朋友家花园的帐篷里，接着搬到悬崖上的家，一直住到今天。也是从那时起，他开始了垒石头的工作。 Though his allergy symptoms have all but passed now, he doesnt want to give up his hill-top life.虽然他的过敏症现在已经完全好了，但是他不愿意放弃自己的山顶生活。 a clear, sunny day like this, I can see why.这么阳光明媚的日子，我能明白为什么。Undisturbed: Not even the crashing surf appears able to move the rocks from their positions泰然自若：即使是激荡的海浪好像也无法把这些石头冲开。He gives me a quick demo with few of the rocks he keeps outside his house. He picks up a large,pointy piece of sandstone and attempts to place it point down on a much larger round boulder.利用留在屋外的几块石头，他快速地为我演示了一番。他拣起一块尖尖的大砂岩石，试图尖头朝下地把它安置在更大的一块圆石上。His eyes are fixed on the stones like a surgeon studying the innards of a patient. But its his fingers that are doing the real work. A tiny twist here, a small shift there. The movements are almost imperceptible.他像外科医生研究患者内脏似地把目光集中在这些石头上。而真正在做这个工作的是他的手指。这里微微扭一下，那里稍稍动一下。那些动作细微的几乎感觉不到。A minute later, hes there. A smile crosses his face: the smaller rock in place, as if hovering in space.一分钟以后，他成功了。他的脸上掠过一丝微笑：更小的石头到位了，仿佛停悬在空中。How secure is it? Why dont you grab hold of it and see?它有多稳当？“你为什么不抓住它，看看？”Big mistake. I very gently nudge the top stone, which is about 18 in by 12 in at its widest point. Unfortunately I dont grab it quite firmly enough, and I only just prevent it slamming to the ground. In the process of catching it, I snag my finger. It hurts.大错。我非常小心地推推顶上的石头，它最宽处大约18X12英寸（约0.46X0.30米）。遗憾的是，我抓的不够稳，只是阻止了它砸到地上。就在抓住它的过程中，我插进了手指，把手指弄伤了。I should have warned you, says Gray. Its heavier than it looks.“我本该提醒你的。”格雷说，“它比看起来的要重。”Practice session over, we make our way down to the beach, finishing our journey down to the shore with a rickety ladder and rope. I go about selecting a few rocks.练习结束，我们艰难地下到海滩，完成了利用摇晃的梯子和绳子下到海滨的旅程。我着手选择一些石头。I decide to start with something rather easier than Grays jaggedy rocks. Mine are more lozenge shaped. Youre not being creative, complains my teacher. I chuck them back on the beach.我决定从比格雷用的形状各异岩石更简单的东西开始。我用的石头更多的是菱形。“你没有创新精神。”我的老师抱怨道。我把石头扔回到海滩上。Gray selects a pair of stones for me. One, a piece of blue Lias rock (no, Id not heard of it either) resembles a small gravestone. The other, a piece of sandstone, is banana shaped. Its an easy one, by his standards: he does it in about 90 seconds. Now its my turn.格雷为我选择了一对石头。一块是类似墓碑的蓝色石灰岩石（是的，我也没有听说过）。另一块是香蕉形状的砂岩石。按他的标准，这很容易：他在大约90秒的时间内完成了它。现在轮到我了。Basically, youre feeling for any kind of catch at the point of contact, Gray tells me. Youre feeling for where theres any kind of resistance, and you work with that.“大致说来，你要感觉接触点上的任何一种接触。”格雷告诉我，“如果你感觉哪里有阻力，你就配合那里行动。”I twiddle, I twist. How will I know when Im near balance point?我旋转，我扭动。我怎么知道什么时候我会接近平衡点？When it becomes balanced, the stone becomes weightless. Just let your fingers go light on it and see if it wants to fall. If its waving around all the time, youre not getting started. Get the rock as still as you can.“平衡了的时候，石头就失重了。你把手指轻轻地搭在上面，看看它是否要落下来。如果它始终摇摆不定，你就没有入门。你要尽可能使石头静止不动。”In the next two hours, boulder after boulder crashes to the ground. In the end, I declare myself out of the game. Ive no patience trying to get bits of Ikea flatpack to fit together, let alone boulders.在随后的两个小时内，一块又一块的圆石落在地上。最后，我宣布自己出局。我没有耐心尝试把宜家家具的组合件组装起来，更不用说岩石了。Hard at work: Adrian Gray feels for the balancing point of rocks s