I recently fell in love with a story about a great piece of American art.
我最近喜欢上了一个故事,这个故事与一件伟大的美国艺术作品有关。
And it's about a guy named Bob Rauschenberg.
故事的主人公叫鲍勃·劳申贝格。
He was a young artist, and he went to go visit his idol.
此人当时是一位年轻的艺术家,他要去拜访他的偶像。
You know, he really loved this guy and he was totally terrified.
他真的非常崇拜他的偶像,因而内心极为恐慌。
He was so nervous that he was clutching a bottle of Jack Daniels for liquid courage.
他太紧张了,最后握着一瓶杰克·丹尼去了,打算以酒壮胆。
And the truth is: he actually wasn't just visiting.
实际上,鲍勃并不只是单纯拜访。
He was visiting Bill de Kooning to ask for something.
他拜访比尔·德库宁是为了索要某些东西。
He wanted one of Bill de Kooning's drawings.
他想要比尔·德库宁的一幅画。
You see, Bill de Kooning, he was a dumb guy, he knew exactly what Rauschenberg was up to,
要知道,比尔·德库宁也不是傻子,他很清楚劳申贝格正忙于做什么,
because Rauschenberg had recently been experimenting with his own art.
因为劳申贝格最近一直在拿他自己的作品做试验。
He had been creating these drawings and then erasing them.
他近来一直在创作画作,然后又将其擦掉。
But that wasn't enough for Bob Rauschenberg,
但对鲍勃·劳申贝格来说,这还不够,
because Bob Rauschenberg didn't want to just erase his own art, he wanted to erase the art of his hero.
他不仅想擦掉自己的艺术作品,还想把自己偶像的艺术作品也擦掉。
So de Kooning obliged but he took his time,
德库宁答应了劳申贝格的要求,但他不慌不忙,
and he tortured the young artist as he wandered around his studio in search of the perfect drawing.
在工作室里转来转去,想找出一幅完美的画作,这可把年轻的艺术家折磨坏了。
He didn't want to just give him a random drawing.
德库宁不想随意送给劳申贝格一幅画。
He wanted it to be something really great, something that he really loved.
他想把真正好的、自己也真正喜欢的画作送给劳申贝格。
And he finally settled on a drawing that was very, very hard to erase.
最后,他选定了一幅画,一副很难擦掉的画。
It was comprised of layers of lead and charcoal.
这幅画有很多涂层,是用铅和木炭画的。
And he generously gave it to Bob Rauschenberg.
他很大方地把画给了鲍勃·劳申贝格。
According to Bob, it took nearly two months to erase the drawing.
据鲍勃说,他花了近两个月才把这幅画擦掉。
But it was Jasper Johns who came along and framed it and he gave that drawing a title, called "Erased de Kooning by Bob Rauschenberg."
但后来是贾斯珀·约翰斯来把画裱了起来。他给这幅画取名叫《被鲍勃·劳申贝格擦掉的德库宁》。
It was Jasper Johns who recognized that in the process of erasing de Kooning's work,
贾斯珀·约翰斯意识到,在擦掉德库宁画的过程中,
Bob Rauschenberg had actually created something new, his own new work of art.
鲍勃·劳申贝格实际上创造了一种新的东西,创作了属于他自己的新的艺术作品。