Photographic things are about controlling really tiny amounts of light.

攝影是需要控制非常微量的光

[New York Close Up]

聚焦紐約

A few years ago,

幾年前

a friend was doing me a favor looking for something in the darkroom,

一個朋友幫我再暗室找東西

and I asked her to open some boxes

然後，我讓她幫我打開些許箱子

and one of the boxes was a roll of unexposed paper.

其中一箱是一卷未曝光的紙

And she says,

然後她說

"Oh there's nothing in here but this peach-colored mural print."

這裡只有桃色的壁畫印刷品

[Mariah Robertson, Artist]

藝術家，Mariah Robertson

And I'm like, "It’s not a print! No!"

然後我的反應是：不！那不是一個印刷品！

Suddenly all the keys on the piano being like, "No!"

瞬間，一切就只剩下：不！

["Mariah Robertson's Chemical Reactions"]

Mariah Robertson 化學反應

[4 Years Ago]

4年前

I started fiddling around with that paper that was "blown".

我開始擺弄這些“壞了”的紙

Either this paper was gonna go in the trash

這些紙要麼就是扔掉

or I was going to play with it.

要麼就是給我擺弄

At the end of each workday

每個工作日結束時

I would just sort of douse it with leftover chemicals.

我就會把這些紙用剩餘的化學試劑弄濕

There's always a bit of that, like, chemical mess at the edge of prints

當你在暗室工作的時候

when you're working in a darkroom.

總會有一些這種情況，比如：化學試劑把印刷品的邊角弄的一團糟

It's just normally considered a flaw

這通常被認為是瑕疵

or something that you crop off.

或者你可以切掉這些瑕疵

I always enjoy trying to make something out of the unwanted thing

我總是非常享受試著製造出一些不被需要的東西

and go deeper into the disaster.

或者是製造更大的災難

[MATTHEW DIPPLE] You..are you speaking...are you speaking to me through a mask?

你...你是在通過面具和我說話嗎？

[ROBERTSON] I am!

是的！

[DIPPLE] Okay.

好吧

Yeah, I just called her.

是的，我剛和她通完電話

She said she can’t pick up the phone,

她說她沒法接電話

[48 Hours Before the Opening]

開幕前48小時

but she's gonna be done at 3:30.

但她會在3:30的時候完成

Things are a little bit delayed today.

今天，事情有些被耽擱了

It's maybe slower that it would have otherwise been.

或者它可能會變得更慢

[Matthew Dipple, Gallerist]

畫廊主，Matthew Dipple

[ROBERTSON] When you're young, there's nothing to stop you

當你年輕氣盛時，沒有東西可以阻止你

from always working up to the last minute.

工作到最後一分鐘的腳步

The mental locomotive is really pumping.

精神層面的馬力十足

Scattered ideas that were all over,

想法總是層出不窮

they're suddenly, like, crystallized and form new things.

它們猶如結晶和新事物那樣突然出現

The language for describing these

想要清楚的用言語表達

either comes from photography or from painting.

不是通過攝影就是通過繪畫

But there are no optics involved in making them.

但製作它們可不涉及到光學

There's no brushing on top of things.

在上面可沒有筆觸

They're just a series of chemical reactions on this one flat piece of paper.

這張紙上有的只是一系列的化學反應

Paper was wet and then I sprayed it

我用噴霧把紙弄濕

so all these little droplets, like, hit that spray

所有這些小水滴與噴霧碰撞

and then just slid down.

最後滴落了下來

Developer is like black

顯影劑就像黑色

and fixer is like white,

而定影劑就像白色

and when it's just one of them you can...

當你只有它們其中一個時...

you know what’s going to happen.

你會知道接下來會發生什麼

But then as they mix with water in varying strengths of each one,

但是當它們以各自的優勢相互融合在水裡時

then things happen.

就會發生化學效應

I can coax them to happen,

我可以慢慢誘導它們產生化學效應

but they won't happen on my command.

但結果總是不同於我所要求的

Slowly there started to be some, like, purple magenta.

從這裡慢慢開始變成紫色，紫紅色

There started to be green when the developer was cold

當顯影劑冷卻後會變成綠色

or when the fixer and developer would mix

或者是當顯影劑和定影劑相互融合時

there would be some yellow and orange.

它會變成黃色和橘色

Sometimes there are areas where I don't know what's happening,

有時候，我並不知道這個領域會發生些什麼

and it makes this lavender-hippie-rainbow-unicorns color.

它可能是薰衣草-嬉皮-彩虹色-獨角獸的顏色

It's a fleeting mystery.

一切猶如飛逝的奧秘

I go in there with a plan,

我是有計劃的

but the good ones are ones where they sort of exceed the plan.

但是好的計畫往往是超出原本所預計的

I don't even know, like, what's happening on 75% of it,

我甚至不知道，其中75%發生了什麼

and then it's done, and I wash it and I'm like, "That's amazing!"

但當一切塵埃落定時，一切都棒極了

"Who did that!?" [LAUGHS]

誰做出來的？（笑）

[DIPPLE] It's about creating some sort of

這是關於創造出一些

educated or controlled chaos

有教養，可控制的混亂

and then seeing what can come from that

但是看到了所發生的一切

and whether it's beautiful or successful or unsuccessful.

不管它是美麗的，還是成功的，亦或者是失敗的

And I think she’s very conscious it--

而且我覺得她對此非常關心

it's not always going to be successful.

並不是每次都要是成功的

[ROBERTSON] No!

不！

It's fine.

沒關係

No, it's so...

不，這太...

Please don’t touch it!

請不要碰！

It's so...don’t...

這太...不要...

No, no, it’s fine.

不，不，這很好

I don’t know how to explain what to do!

我不知道該怎麼解釋如何去做

[American Contemporary]

畫廊American Contemporary

[The Bowery, Manhattan]

鮑威爾街，曼哈頓

[LISA] Anything else?

還需要其他嗎？

[ROBERTSON] I've got some wood that's all taped up together.

我拿了一些木頭，它們都被貼在一起

It's so different....

這個太特別了

[WOMAN] Matthew Dipple.

Matthew Dipple

[DIPPLE] Hi, very nice to meet you.

嗨，很高興見到你

She frames them using the frame as a kind of a sculptural element.

她用類似於雕塑元素的框架來框裱它們

[ROBERTSON] I really wanted to work with metallic paper.

我真的很想用金屬紙來進行創作

But, by the time I got around to

但是，當我準備去

being able to do anything serious with it,

認真對待我做的每件事時

they stopped selling it in sheets,

他們不成片出售了

and it only came on rolls.

他們改一卷卷售賣了

And I didn't have a way to cut the paper down

而我又沒辦法把這些紙都切下來

to, like, 16 by 20,

在暗室裡把它們

in the dark.

切成16片或20片

And they were coming out all...

他們會變得

all wacky.

奇奇怪怪的

And it took me way too long to realize,

我花了太長時間才意識到

"Oh, I could make this any size I want."

哦，我可以做出任何我想要的尺寸

All of the edges became really special.

所有的邊邊角角都會變得非常特別

It seems like in your work

這就好像在你的作品中

you can express some part of your personality

你可以表達出你性格的一部分

that you’re maybe not consciously aware of all the time.

而這部分可能都是你平時沒有注意到的

Like maybe your better self.

比如說：你更好的自己

I have heard similar things like,

我聽過一些類似的事情

"They feel free and joyful and positive and optimistic."

“他們覺得我是自由自在並積極向上”

And I'm like, "Oh really?"

而我的反應是：真的嗎？

"'Cause I'm so anxious and like…" [LAUGHS]

“因為我非常急躁啊...”（笑）

"I mean, like, living,"

“我的意思是，活力十足”

I’m like, "Whaaaa!,"

我的反應是：“天哪！”

like, "That's good that that comes out like that."

這就是表現出來的好的一面

I had been thinking I could do a long one,

我也一直在考慮，可以做個長點的作品

and then finally it clicked.

接著我終於恍然大悟了

I'm like, “Oh just take the whole box,"

我說：“可以只用那一整個箱子”

"Like, as it is, don’t cut it.”

“你看，就這樣，不用切割它們”

Like, it’s already been cut at the factory.

它出廠前就已經被切割過了

It’s already one real long rectangle.

這就是一個成品的長矩形

It’s a bit of a technical challenge

這有點像是技術上的挑戰

to try and process it by hand.

純手工的去嘗試和操作

Exposing it is pretty mellow.

曝光的過程是很柔和的

But then once the chemistry comes out

不過一旦化學效果浮現了

you're just stuck doing it.

你就只能埋頭苦幹了

You've got to go until you process the whole thing.

只有你完成了所有事，你才能離開

The long ones that have images,

長的部分在15個小時的時候

they start at, like, 15 hours.

開始有圖像呈現了

The next day is usually devoted to, like, sleeping and crying.

接下來的一天，就全用在了睡覺和大哭

Like... [LAUGHS]

就像...（笑）

And then, I just didn't quite know how to install it.

接下來，我不是很清楚該如何去安裝

It's just so big.

它太大了

What do you do with it now?

你現在準備怎麼做呢

Matthew from the gallery called and said,

畫廊的Matthew打電話來說：

"Mariah, would you be willing to sell one of them long pieces to an institution?"

“Mariah，你願意把你長作品的其中一個賣給一個機構嗎？”

And I'm like,

我的反應是：

"What does that mean?"

“這是什麼意思？”

"Yes. Fine...get the...you know,"

“是的，好啊”

"like, fine, sure, sure.” [LAUGHS]

“就好像，好啊，當然可以”（笑）

[Midtown, Manhattan]

曼哈頓市中心

He didn't say who it was.

他沒有和我說是誰要買

If he had, I would have said, "Give them for free." [LAUGHS]

如果他說了，我可能會說：“送給他們吧”（笑）

"Give them three of them. Please."

“請給他們三個吧”

I remember, as a kid, I'd get one-hour photos done

我記得很小的時候，我花了一個小時完成的照片

and I would throw the negatives away because they were meaningless to me,

我原本想把它們扔了，鑒於它們對我來說沒有任何意義

and my grandmother would keep those.

但我的外婆把它們保留了下來

I had no idea.

我可是一點都不知道這事

I'm like, "What are these little like orange things? Yuck!"

我的反應是：“這些橘色的小東西是什麼呀？好噁心啊！”

"I want this 4 by 6 picture."

“我要這6張裡面的4張”

And it feels so powerful when you have a photograph in your hand,

當你手中拿著一張照片的時候，你的感覺會非常的強烈

like, this will last forever.

就好像，這個照片可以一直留存下去

I have this piece of time in my hand.

我把這段時間停格住並握在手中

I have control over it.

我可以掌控它

There's a lot of information you can have on that paper,

照片蘊含著太多的資訊

but it's also very delicate.

但又十分的微妙

Like, its ability to record is also its vulnerability to damage.

它有記錄的能力，同時又容易受到傷害

When those long pieces are done and when they're beautiful,

當長幅作品完成時，它們非常的漂亮

there are so many tiny chemical reactions--

許許多多細小的化學反應

chance things that are coming together that can never be replicated.

一起改變了它們，並使得它們不可複製

And it's all on one big vulnerable thing,

這一切都是基於這個巨大的脆弱的事物上

and then it's just installed, out for the air,

接下來就只是安裝的部分了

in the least safe way possible,

盡可能以一種安全的方式

over those, like, trapeze bars.

像吊架一般進行佈置

[Roxana Marcoci, Senior Curator]

高級策展人，Roxana Marcoci

Roxana Marcoci said something really good, looking at it.

Roxana Marcoci看著作品並稱讚著

She said, "We try to control everything but we can't."

她說：“我們一直試圖控制所有，但其實我們無法做到”

It reminded me that that's what this is about.

這也提醒了我，一切其實就是這麼一回事

All your attempts are going to fail at controlling life,

當你企圖掌控所有時，你註定會失敗

so you should let that go so you can actually see what's happening.

所以，你不如順其自然，這樣你才能真正看到發生了什麼