MoMA的變革與新生

Last Call: MoMA's Closing, and Changing
MoMA的變革與新生

NEW YORK — The Museum of Modern Art is slouching toward a shutdown starting June 15, in order to complete its latest expansion — which is really an attempt to fix the last one. With the museum on the brink of change, the art and architecture critics of The New York Times took the occasion to revisit favorite (or famous) artworks, review shows not yet covered and consider the implications of the ghost in the machine — the loss of the American Folk Art Museum, once next door but now part of the Modern's new footprint.
紐約——紐約現代藝術博物館（The Museum of Modern Art，簡稱MoMA）從6月15日起暫時關閉，以完成新的規模擴張——而這實際上是爲了修補上一次擴張帶來的問題。在這座博物館處於變革邊緣之際，《紐約時報》的藝術與建築評論家藉此機會回溯了一些最受喜愛（或最著名）的藝術品，重新審視了一些此前的評論未能涵蓋的展覽，並探討美國民俗藝術博物館(American Folk Art Museum)的“幽魂”意味着什麼——在MoMA的新藍圖中，這家曾坐落在隔壁的博物館將成爲它的一部分。

Over the next four months, the museum will cut six openings in its western wall to connect three floors of new galleries to existing ones, and will install the largest-ever display of its vast permanent collection, a feat that curators have been planning for years.
接下來四個月裏，MoMA將在其西牆開鑿六個出口，將新的三層畫廊與現有建築連接起來。以外，館長準備多年的一項壯舉也將得以實現，博物館將設置迄今爲止最大規模的永久館藏展品陳列。

We are told that when the museum reopens on Oct. 21, after its $450 million overhaul, it will be physically more comfortable, allow better traffic flow, offer free access to the ground floor and its new galleries, and add about 40,000 square feet for the permanent collection. But most important, the story of modernism as we know it — linear and dominated by European male geniuses — will be radically revised, expanded and rendered more inclusive.
據悉，這次耗資4.5億美元的大型翻修完成後，博物館將於10月21日重新開放，屆時它將變得更舒適，能容納更大的參觀流量，整個地面層和新建的畫廊都將對公衆免費開放，新增大約4萬平方英尺的面積用於陳列永久館藏。但最重要的是，我們所熟知的現代主義歷史——由歐洲男性天才主導的單線敘事將被徹底改變、延展、變得更有包容性。

In preparation for the closing, MoMA has already dismantled its permanent collection galleries on the fourth floor and slightly reconfigured those on the fifth in a way that foreshadows some changes to come. Assessing what remains on view, like tea leaves, provides a moment to think about MoMA's past, present and future, and above all the challenges it faces.
在爲閉館做準備工作的過程中，MoMA已經拆除了位於四層的永久館藏展廳，並且重新佈置了五層的一些展廳，預示一些變化即將來到。瀏覽這些留下來的展品，就好像在進行一場茶葉占卜似的，我們可以藉此機會好好思考一下MoMA的過去、現在和未來， 以及最重要的——它正面臨的那些挑戰。

Even before you enter the fifth-floor galleries, there are gestures large and small to consider. In mid-April, with less than two months to shutdown, MoMA went to the trouble of installing Jennifer Bartlett's 1975-76 magnum opus, "Rhapsody," in the atrium. A preparator's nightmare in the form of 987 12-inch steel tiles that perfectly fit the long walls of that yawning space, this jubilant battle of artistic styles and mindset covers stark geometric abstraction, paint-by-numbers realism and everything in between. It looks ever more prescient and in some ways exemplifies the pluralism that MoMA needs to aim for in its next life.
就算還沒進入五層畫廊，大大小小的暗示也已經早就隨處可見了。在四月中旬，還有不到兩個月就要閉館的時候，MoMA在試圖將詹妮弗·巴特萊特(Jennifer Bartlett)創作於1975至76年的鉅作《狂想曲》(“Rhapsody”)安裝在中庭時遇到了麻煩。將987片12英寸的鐵片完美地嵌入那個巨大空間長長的牆壁上，堪稱布展者的噩夢。這是一場藝術風格與思維模式的歡快較量，涵蓋了鮮明的幾何抽象主義、數字繪畫現實主義以及方方面面。它看起來是如此具有預示性，並且某種程度上展現了MoMA在轉世新生後需要關注的多元主義。

A small hint at the possibilities can be found near the fifth floor escalator, where "Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, Pardons a Sentry," by Horace Pippin, the great self-taught African American painter, hangs beside "Christina's World," by the white realist painter Andrew Wyeth and one of the Modern's most popular paintings. This should bode well for the increased visibility and equal status of self-taught and folk artists, whose work had a big role in MoMA's early years. It's also time to end this sidelining of American art from before World War II. It should be mixed in with art from Europe and beyond.
在五層的電梯附近我們能找到一個關於未來可能性的小小提示。在那裏，自學成才的著名美籍非裔畫家霍拉斯·皮平(Horace Pippin)的作品《偉大的解放者亞伯拉罕·林肯赦免一名哨兵》(“Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, Pardons a Sentry”)被懸掛在白人現實主義畫家安德魯·魏斯(Andrew Wyeth)的《克里斯蒂娜的世界》(“Christina's World”)旁邊，後者是MoMA最受歡迎的繪畫作品之一。這對自學成才和來自民間藝術家來說應該是個好兆頭，意味着他們的關注度和地位都在提高，這些藝術家的作品曾在MoMA的早年歲月發揮了重要作用。也是時候不再將二戰前的美國本土藝術邊緣化了，它應該與歐洲和其他地區的藝術融合在一起。

The collection, as now installed in the fifth-floor galleries, is something of a stopgap measure, highly truncated, that starts with the standard hits of post-impressionism and cubism and Matisse and ends with Jasper Johns' 1958 flag, becoming more inclusive in terms of nonwhite, nonmale artists as it proceeds. It is a snapshot of a collection in flux, looking at once full of possibility and a little forlorn.
目前被安置於五層畫廊中的展品更像是一種過渡時期的權宜之計，它被高度濃縮，起始於後印象派、立體主義和馬蒂斯(Matisse)的經典名作，以賈斯培·瓊斯(Jasper Johns)創作於1958年的《三面旗》收尾，在一路深入展覽的進程中，更多非白人、非男性藝術家的作品被包含進來，顯得更加多元。這是處於變化之中的館藏品的縮影，看上去充滿可能，也帶着一絲孤獨。

In some places you'll see MoMA trying to bend its linear view of history toward the justice, and reality, of this more complex view. But it is going to take some doing.
在一些地方你能看出，MoMA試圖把自己線性的歷史觀朝着公正、接近現實，更爲複雜的觀念上靠攏。但這並不容易。

The absence of art by women in the first six galleries is breathtaking. The only exception to the unrelieved maleness is Sonia Delaunay-Terk's fiery 1915 "Portuguese Market," acquired in 1955.
MoMA的前六個展廳中，女性藝術家作品的缺失令人震驚。在男性藝術家作品包圍之中，唯一的例外是索尼婭·德勞內-特克(Sonia Delaunay-Terk)創作於1915年的作品《葡萄牙集市》“Portuguese Market”，它於1955年被收入MoMA。

In the collection's next iteration, a mixing of mediums has been promised and this may help the paucity of female artists: For example, according to its collection as listed online, MoMA has no painting by Marie Laurencin, but it has several of her prints and drawings that could be installed in the new order of things. MoMA owns nothing at all, as listed online, by Gabriele Münter, a talented German expressionist painter (and Kandinsky's companion). Perhaps MoMA might sell or trade some Picassos to acquire work by female artists from this crucial"heroic" period, perhaps the biggest challenge the museum faces. Blasphemous as selling Picassos may sound, it would not only create a better balance of the sexes but also adjust the scales in a collection heavily weighted toward Picasso. (MoMA lists 1,241 Picasso works online, compared to 385 by Matisse and 46 by Braque.) And selling Picassos would not be new. A catalog of deaccessions assembled by the artist Michael Asher, indicates MoMA sold 20 Picasso paintings between 1929 and 1998.
經過迭代的館藏將包含更多種類的介質，這也許有助於改善女性藝術家作品缺失的現狀。舉例來說，MoMA公開在網上的館藏名單裏並不包括任何瑪麗·洛朗森(Marie Laurencin)的畫作，但有一些她的版畫和素描，這些作品可能出現在新的展覽中。在線館藏列表還顯示，MoMA沒有收藏任何加布裏埃爾·穆特(Gabriele Münter)的作品，她是一位才華橫溢的德國印象派畫家（也是康定斯基[Kandingsky]的伴侶）。也許MoMA可以通過出售或者交易一些畢加索(Picasso)的作品換取一些出自這個重要的“英雄”時期的女性藝術家的傑作，這也許是博物館所面臨的最大挑戰。儘管賣掉畢加索作品這個主意聽上去大爲不敬，但這樣做不僅可以在性別上取得更好的平衡，也能調整博物館館藏對畢加索作品的過分倚重。（MoMA在線列出的館藏中有1241件畢加索作品，與之相比，馬蒂斯的作品數量是385件，布拉克[Braque]則是46件。）而且出售畢加索的作品並非新鮮事。一份由藝術家邁克爾·亞瑟(Michael Asher)整理的博物館藏品出售目錄顯示，在1929到1998年間，MoMA賣出了20件畢加索畫作。

You don't see another painting by a woman until the seventh gallery, where Russian constructivist Varvara Stepanova's weirdly brushy yet angular "Figure" of 1921 (acquired in 1941) shares a corner with Sophie Tauber-Arp's abstract "Composition of Circles and Overlapping Angles" from 1930 (acquired 1983). And the display finally departs the European continent with "Colorhythm 1," by Venezuelan artist Alejandro Otero, a 1955 painting on wood acquired with alacrity in 1956, and "Planes in Modulated Surface 4" by Brazilian artist Lygia Clark. Her work in Formica and industrial paint on wood was made in 1957 but didn't reach MoMA until 1983.
直到抵達第七展廳你才能再次見到女性藝術家的作品。在那裏，俄羅斯構成主義藝術家瓦爾瓦拉·斯捷潘諾娃(Varvara Stepanova)創作於1921年（MoMA在1941年收入）的怪異而棱角分明的作品《人像》(“Figure”)與蘇菲·陶伯-阿爾普(Sophie Tauber-Arp)1930年（收入於1983年）的抽象主義作品《圓和重疊角度的構圖》(“Composition of Circles and Overlapping Angles”)被置放在同一個角落。委內瑞拉藝術家亞力桑卓·奧特羅(Alejadro Otero)的《色彩韻律 作品1號》“Colorhythm 1”）和巴西藝術家麗吉婭·克拉克(Lygia Clark)的作品《調製表面上的平面 作品4號》(“Planes in Modulated Surface 4”)則讓展覽終於不再侷限於歐洲大陸。奧特羅這幅畫在木頭上的作品創作於1955年，次年即被MoMA收入；克拉克用膠木和工業塗料在木頭上完成的作品創作於1957年，但直到1983年才被MoMA納入收藏。

In the final fifth-floor galleries, devoted primarily to painting from the 1950s and '60s, and surrealism, the cavalcade of male innovation is disrupted by Lee Krasner, Helen Frankenthaler, Meret Oppenheim, Frida Kahlo and Louise Bourgeois along with recent acquisitions by artists of color like Norman Lewis and Beauford Delaney. Kazuo Shiraga, known for painting with his feet, is represented by a muscular, lava-like swoosh of red from 1964. Acquired this year, it makes Barnett Newman's robust abstract expressionist classic "Vir Heroicus Sublimis" look frail.
在五層最後的幾個展廳裏，展示的重點放在了1950年代和60年代的畫作和超現實主義作品上，雖然創新浪潮仍由男性主導，但李·克拉斯納(Lee Krasner)、海倫·弗蘭肯瑟勒(Helen Frankenthaler)、梅列特·奧本海默(Helen Frankenthaler)、弗裏達·卡羅(Frida Kahlo)和露易絲·布爾喬亞(Louise Bourgeois)這樣的女性藝術家以及諾曼·劉易斯(Norman Lewis)、博福德·德萊尼(Beauford Delaney)這樣的有色人種藝術家仍然佔據了一席之地，後者的作品新近被MoMA收入館藏。來自白髮一雄(Kazuo Shiraga)作品《無題》創作於1964年，它筆觸剛健，呈現出如熔漿般絢爛的一湍鮮紅。白髮一雄以用腳作畫而聞名，他的這幅作品今年剛剛被收入，令巴內特·紐曼(Barnett Newman)的抽象表現主義經典之作《英雄而崇高的人》(“Vir Heroicus Sublimis”)相形之下顯得脆弱。

One of the most striking new sights in this area is "The Moon," an abstract landscape by Brazilian modernist Tarsila do Amaral, from 1928 but decades ahead of its time and also acquired this year. Just outside the galleries, you can't miss Faith Ringgold's hair-raising "American People Series #20: Die" made in 1967, a year of widespread race riots in America. It was acquired a half-century after it was painted.
這個展區裏最具衝擊力的新景象來自巴西現代主義畫家塔爾希拉·多·阿瑪拉爾(Tarsila do Amaral)的抽象派風景畫《月亮》(“The Moon”)。這幅作品創作於1928年，卻遠遠超越了當時那個時代，它也同樣是今年剛被收入。走出畫廊你就會立刻被費斯·林格爾德(Faith Ringgold)創作於1967年的令人毛骨悚然的作品《美國人民系列 #20: 死亡》(“American People Series #20: Die”)所牢牢吸引，那正是種族主義騷亂席捲全美的一年。這幅作品在它問世半個世紀以後被博物館收入館藏。

MoMA's imminent closing and reopening casts everything now on view in an unusual light. You can see the future bearing down on the museum's fabulous if blinkered past, which is about to be stretched and rearranged. The question of how profoundly and effectively this will be done should keep us on the edge of our seats all summer.
MoMA的關閉和即將到來的重新開放令人們以一種不尋常的眼光看待當下的一切。你能看到這家博物館卓越但也有其侷限性的歷史正面臨衝擊，將被拓展和重新佈局。而MoMA將如何深刻而有效地實現這些改變，會讓我們在這一整個夏天裏拭目以待。