艺术的力量（2006）

was of the essence. Venice.
在断断续续将近20年间 这个城市一直是他的心灵挚友
For 20 years, off and on, Turner made the floating city his soul mate.
透纳对此地着迷不已难以自拔
Turner was spellbound and conjured
这里的一撇那里的一捺
from a wisp here, a daub there,
这个地方如纱似雾的浅粉色
the gauzy radiance of the place.
评论家们认为这幅作品中透纳犯下的最大失误就是画面的不清晰
Turner's critics accused him of the cardinal sin of indistinctness.
但是这个水上都市到处都是水
But here in the floating city where everything was liquid and slippery,
所以透纳有理由去选择这个水的特性来谱写自己特有的荣光
he could embrace that indistinctness, make it his own particular glory.
威尼斯令透纳的内心得以平静
Turner could have been tranquillised by Venice,
令他成为一个为人们带去更多醇美的享受
seduced into becoming an accomplished supplier of sensuous bliss.
但是这个城市的静态美令他有了其它想法
But the stagnant beauty of the city made him think of something else.
看着威尼斯 他想到了死亡
He looked at Venice and he saw death.
一生中大部分时间 透纳的身体状况很不好
For most of his life, Turner had been the picture of rude health.
如今的他又生了病 体重下降 呼吸困难
Now he's sick, losing weight, wheezing.
他感到那个生与死的古老故事正在自己身上上演
He feels the grip of the ancient story of life and death in his very own bones.
死亡正一点点的吞噬着他
Mortality eats away at him.
他那不可或缺的工作多面手父亲也去世了
His indispensable, multi-tasking old dad had died.
老父亲不仅仅是他的业务经纪人 还是他最好的朋友
Not just his personal jack of all trades, but his best friend.
他的另一个挚友沃尔特.福克斯也去世了
Other cherished intimates, Walter Fawkes, the old radical, had gone, too.
为了抗拒病痛
To keep the aches and pains at bay,
他使用了一种曼陀罗花制成的酊剂来镇痛
he uses a tincture of thorn apple to cope,
那可是一种麻醉剂
a narcotic, which probably sends his always hyperactive visual imagination
可以导致幻觉
into planetary orbit.
一个圣经上的悲惨事件出现在噩梦中
And from his bad dreams gallops a biblical horror.
我注视着一匹白马
And I looked and beheld a pale horse
名字就写在它的身上-死亡
and his name that sat on him was Death,
随之而来的就是地狱
and Hell followed with him.
但是透纳通过创作摆脱了梦魇
But Turner paints his way out of the nightmare.
近处看来 那副骨架很柔软
Look closely, the skeleton is limp.
死亡也没有什么可怕的
Death is dead.
既然还没有死 透纳就继续画下去
Turner lives to paint on.
他才不会像其他那些肺病患者轻易的向死亡投降
He won't limply surrender like some consumptive Romantic.
相反 他拼尽了最后的力气去创作
Instead he gathers his energies, puts his obsession to work,
从而完成生与死的轮回 苦难与救赎的轮回
makes the cycle of life and death, suffering and salvation,
这是他创作的最伟大时期的主题
the theme of his greatest period of painting.
他人已中年
He's deep into his middle age.
当他注视着海浪拍打着肯特郡的海岸的时候
When he stares at the waves pounding the coast of Kent,
他仿佛感受到了摧毁与创造的节奏
he feels that rhythm of destruction and creation.
如今 在人们眼中
Now, Margate might not seem to you
Margate（英国肯特郡海滨小城）可能不会是个孕育历史宿命的地方
much of a place to brood on historical destiny,
但是对于透纳来说
but for Turner, it was definitely more than just seaside ozone
这里不仅仅是个适合漫步的滨海地带
and a stroll along the beach.
大海不仅仅是能量与财富的承载者
The sea becomes something more than the carrier of power and wealth.
它也是一幕幕英国历史朝代轮番上阵的舞台
It's the stage on which the drama of British history gets played out.
剧情时而狂暴凶残
Sometimes that drama is fierce and turbulent,
时而又是革命时期一个温和的故事
and sometimes it's a comforting story for revolutionary times.
所以在他称之为自己的“老情人”的作品中
So in the painting he calls his ''old darling'',
对于特拉法尔加海战中的战舰 透纳给我们展现出了一种浪漫的渴望
he gives us romantic wistfulness for the veteran battleship of Trafalgar,
“泰麦雷尔号♥战舰”
The Fighting Temeraire.
这艘想象中被修复了的战舰
The vessel is restored fictitiously
在最终解体之前进行了一次英雄般的告别航行
to one last heroic farewell voyage before being broken up.
作品里的战舰风帆叠起 桅杆挺立
In Turner's picture, its masts are still standing, its sails furled.
但是那艘拉着它的蒸汽拖船
But the little steam-power tug that pulls it
却不像是在隐喻某种现代的反面势力
isn't some sort of modern villain.
这只不过新生英国的一个真实写照
It's simply a fact of life in the new Britain, a nation in upheaval
当时的英国随着工业革命渐渐的积聚力量 将要发生一场巨变
as the Industrial Revolution gathers momentum.
而透纳则给那些
And Turner has perfect pitch for a British public
挣扎于追慕往日和憧憬将来之中的大众
torn between affection for the past
做了一个精确的定位
and anticipation of the future.
从情感上说 这幅作品可以说是万能的
It's so emotionally versatile, this picture,
无论你的情绪如何 它都能令你沉迷其中
that it lets you indulge whatever mood takes you.
像是一首挽歌♥吗
Feel like an elegy?
好吧 这就是以纳尔逊(海军大将 1805年在特拉尔加摧毁了 法国和西班牙的海军力量并身负重伤)为代表的旧英国的衰落
Well, fine, then this can be the sunset of Nelson's England.
从工业专利上赚了一大笔 并且感觉还不错吧
Just made a lot of money from an industrial patent, and feeling good?
作品真实太棒了 这同样也是在预示着新工业帝国的崛起
Fine again, this is the sunrise of your new industrial empire.
但是透纳那无穷尽的想象力是不会满足于令人痛苦的温柔的
But Turner's restless imagination won't settle for poignant gentleness.
他知道真♥相♥一定是非常的剧烈狂暴
He knows the truth is more tumultuous
而且大海会告诉我们一个可怕的故事
and that the sea has terrible tales to tell.
在十九世纪三十年代后期
In the late 1830s,
一个更为严重的问题唤醒了英国的道德暴行
one issue galvanised British moral outrage
那就是奴隶贸易
more than any other; slavery.
大英帝国版图内是禁止进行奴隶贸易的
Britain had outlawed slavery throughout the Empire.
但是在西班牙帝国和美♥利♥坚♥合众国
But in the Hispanic empires and the United States,
奴隶贸易并没有被禁止 而且还十分兴旺
it not only survived, but thrived.
于是在1840年的伦敦召开了一次国际会议
In 1840, in London, an International Convention of the Great and Good
大会准备对这种行为表达正义的愤慨
was planned to express righteous indignation at this fact.
早在多年前就被赞助人沃尔特.福克斯引入这个事业的透纳
Turner, initiated into the cause so many years ago by his patron, Walter Fawkes,
也想用他的画笔来发出自己的声音
wanted to have his say in paint.
他又是怎么做的呢
And how does he do it?
身为那些沾沾自喜者的眼中钉
By being a thorn in the side of self-congratulation.
透纳追溯到了60年前
Turner reaches back 60 years to resurrect one of the most shameful episodes
大英帝国的一段最为可耻的历史
in the history of the British Empire.
在1781年 一名英国奴隶贩子和Zong号♥奴隶船
In 1781, the British slaver, the Zong,
在完成了一趟常规到非洲的获利丰厚的旅程之后
was off the coast of Jamaica
驶离了牙买♥♥加海岸
after a routinely profitable journey from Africa.
但是在船舱里却出了问题
But deep below decks, there was trouble.
里面的奄奄一息的奴隶比往常多了许多
Slaves were dying at more than the usual rate.
船长鲁克.克林伍德突然间就这样碰上了一趟折本买♥♥卖♥♥
And the ship's master, Luke Collingwood, suddenly had a business disaster on his hands.
虽然他已经为这些人类货物入了保险
His human cargo was insured, but the underwriters would only pay up
但是保险公♥司♥只会以在海上失踪的人数理赔
if the casualties could be accounted for as losses at sea,
所以到达目的地的死人是不在理赔范围之内的
not dead on arrival.
所以克林伍德船长下到船舱
So Captain Collingwood went below decks
开始进行一场残忍♥的挑选活动
and began the merciless business of selecting which slaves
那些他认为撑不下去的奴隶将会在海上失踪
he would swiftly turn into ''losses at sea. ''
最终男人女人小孩共132人被挑中
132 Africans, men, women and children,
他们的手脚被铁链锁上
their hands and feet fettered, were thrown overboard
然后从甲板上被抛入鲨鱼出没的加勒比海
into the shark-infested waters of the Caribbean.
这件道德恐怖事件发生的时候
The moral horror of the case of the Zong was the moment
正是广大英国人们良心重现
when thousands of Britons abandoned their indifference
并成为奴隶贸易的反对者的时候
and became campaigners against the slave trade.
132名非洲人悲惨的死去了
132 Africans perished horribly,
但是它却孕育出了一场轰轰烈烈的大众运动
but a mass movement was born from their martyrdom.
重现这场历史悲剧的透纳并不是以历史事件的插画作家身份出现的
Turner's approach to this appalling tragedy was not that of a literal historical illustrator.
就像普洛斯彼罗（莎翁《暴风雨》中的人物） 这幅作品的伟大作者的目的是
What the great enchanter of the canvas wanted was, Prospero-like,
想召唤一场飓风 一场大动♥乱♥
to summon an apocalypse, a typhoon.
作品“奴隶船”把我们掷入
The Slave Ship pitches us into the midst
一场充满灾难和恐惧
of a feverish dream of catastrophe and terror,
罪恶与报应的狂热梦境之中
sin and retribution.
显出侧面轮廓的船只几乎被奔涌的浪潮所吞没
The silhouetted ship, almost engulfed in the erupting spray,
它就像一艘真实的船只和某些被诅咒折磨的事物的混合体
is both a real vessel and something cursed and haunted,
就像古老水手的船只
like the ship of the Ancient Mariner.
怪兽出没 浪花翻腾
Waves seethe with monsters,
就像是一种猥琐的食人鱼在啃噬
a kind of obscene piranha-like nibbling and gobbling.
乘浪而来的怪物并不是来自牙买♥♥加沿海地区
And the oncoming fishy monster is not to be caught off the coast of Jamaica,
而是取材于希罗尼穆斯·波希的作品
but off the canvas of Hieronymus Bosch, Hell, in high-water.
当然 作品也有其不完整之处
Of course, it has its imperfections, all that flailing flurry of action
比如画面前景部分展现出带着枷锁的人们在海面慌乱的扑腾
in the foreground, the mysteriously floating iron fetters,
扑腾的肢体不好说是否已经和躯干分离
the flung limb that may or may not be detached from its torso.
那些类食人鱼的啃噬动作看起来太过于夸大
All the frantic fishy action could seem too fussily staged.
最后 只剩下一项重要的测验
In the end, there's only one test that matters.
当你进入房♥间 当你注视着这幅作品
You come into the room, you fix it in your sights,
它会不会震撼你的心灵令你难以忍♥受呢 会的
does it or does it not attack you in the guts? It does.
你的心跳是否会加速 会不会瞪大了眼睛
Does your heart jump? Do your eyes widen? Does your pulse race?
你的双脚会不会感到穿上了铅鞋 然后就觉得人在向下坠落
Do your feet get a bad attack of lead boots, you're so struck down by it?
会的
They do.
对于透纳来说 这一刻你已经被水淹没了
For Turner has drowned you in this moment,
然后你就会被扯进恐怖的海洋深渊中
pulled you into this terrifying chasm in the ocean,
在血腥的光线下浸透你的身体
drenched you in his bloody light.
当你在眩目的阳光中闭上眼睛时
Exactly the hue you sense on your blood-filled optic nerves
你的视野中满是血红色
when you close your eyes in blinding sunlight.
尽管所有的评论家们都认为 由于透纳对艺术创作规则的不屑一顾