ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Reuben Margolin - Kinetic sculptor
Reuben Margolin's moving sculptures combine the logic of math with the sensuousness of nature.

Why you should listen
Reuben Margolin makes wave-like sculptures that undulate, spiral, bob and dip in gloriously natural-seeming ways, driven by arrays of cogs and gears. As a kid, Margolin was into math and physics; at college, he switched to liberal arts and ended up studying painting in Italy and Russia. Inspired by the movement of a little green caterpillar, he began trying to capture movements of nature in sculptural form. Now, at his studio in Emeryville, California, he makes large-scale undulating installations of wood and recycled stuff. He also makes pedal-powered rickshaws and has collaborated on several large-scale pedal-powered vehicles.
More profile about the speaker
Reuben Margolin | Speaker | TED.com
TED2012

Reuben Margolin: Sculpting waves in wood and time

罗本 马格林: 用时光与木头雕成的浪

Filmed:
678,880 views

罗本 马格林是一个动态雕刻家, 他创作了一个个像波浪一样流动的作品。用接下来的九分钟陶醉,沉思在他那包含着数学与自然的艺术里。
- Kinetic sculptor
Reuben Margolin's moving sculptures combine the logic of math with the sensuousness of nature. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
Usually平时 I like working加工 in my shop,
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平时我就挺喜欢我的工作室的
00:18
but when it's raining下雨 and the driveway车道 outside turns into a river,
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但当雨水降临,在门前的车道汇成小河的时候
00:22
then I just love it.
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我爱死它了
00:24
And I'll cut some wood and drill钻头 some holes and watch the water,
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我就边欣赏着雨水,边割块木头钻几个孔
00:28
and maybe I'll have to walk步行 around and look for washers垫圈.
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或者四处寻找(装置用的)垫圈
00:31
You have no idea理念 how much time I spend.
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你恐怕想不到我在这事上花了多少时间
00:34
This is the "Double Raindrop雨滴."
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这个装置名为“两颗雨滴”
00:36
Of all my sculptures雕塑, it's the most talkative贫嘴.
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在我所有的雕塑里,这件是最有表现力的
00:44
It adds增加 together一起 the interference干扰 pattern模式
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它把两颗雨滴掉落在相邻的地方时的波纹
00:47
from two raindrops雨滴 that land土地 near each other.
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组合在了一起
00:50
Instead代替 of expanding扩大 circles, they're expanding扩大 hexagons六边形.
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不过波纹不像圆圈那样散开的,而是以六边形扩散
01:00
All the sculptures雕塑 move移动 by mechanical机械 means手段.
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所有的雕塑都由机械系统制动的
01:10
Do you see how there's three peaks to the yellow黄色 sine正弦 wave?
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看见这个黄色的正弦波纹有三个波峰么
01:15
Right here I'm adding加入 a sine正弦 wave with four peaks and turning车削 it on.
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我在这里加入了第四个波峰,然后启动它
01:36
Eight hundred two-liter两升 soda苏打 bottles瓶子 --
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八百个两公升的苏打瓶子
01:40
oh yea是啊.
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太赞了
01:41
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑)
01:54
Four hundred aluminum cans.
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四百个铝罐子
02:00
Tule途乐 is a reed芦苇 that's native本地人 to California加州,
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图里苇(Tule)是加州本土的一种芦苇
02:03
and the best最好 thing about working加工 with it is that it smells气味 just delicious美味的.
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最让人享受的是芦苇在使用过程中所散发的香气
02:21
A single drop下降 of rain
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一颗雨滴
02:24
increasing增加 amplitude振幅.
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波幅会逐渐增大
02:48
The spiral螺旋 eddy涡流 that trails步道 a paddle on a rafting漂流 trip.
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划船时咬着你船桨的漩涡
03:04
This adds增加 together一起 four different不同 waves波浪.
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这个装置把四个波形组合到了一起
03:07
And here I'm going to pull out the double wavelengths波长
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我把这双波减小一点
03:09
and increase增加 the single.
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把单波加大
03:13
The mechanism机制 that drives驱动器 it has nine motors马达
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这个装置由九个马达
03:16
and about 3,000 pulleys滑轮.
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和三千个滑轮驱动
03:28
Four hundred and forty-five四十五 strings字符串 in a three-dimensional三维 weave编织.
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四百四十五根线从四面八方编在一块儿
03:33
Transferred转入 to a larger scale规模 --
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现在这个规模更大……
03:35
actually其实 a lot larger, with a lot of help --
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事实上在大家的帮助下 变得大多了……
03:38
14,064 bicycle自行车 reflectors反射器 --
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14060个自行车反光镜
03:42
a 20-day-天 install安装.
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在20天内组装好的
04:05
"Connected连接的" is a collaboration合作
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"结"是和舞蹈家吉迪恩(Gideon Obarzanek)
04:07
with choreographer编舞 Gideon吉迪恩 ObarzanekObarzanek.
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合作完成的作品
04:11
Strings字符串 attached to dancers舞者.
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线与舞者相连
04:14
This is very early rehearsal排演 footage镜头,
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这还是很早以前排练的场景
04:16
but the finished work's作品 on tour游览
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不过现在完成品已经在巡回展览了
04:19
and is actually其实 coming未来 through通过 L.A. in a couple一对 weeks.
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并且几周之后就会在洛杉矶展出
04:28
A pair of helices螺旋 and 40 wooden slats板条.
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一对螺旋装置和四十块木板
04:53
Take your finger手指 and draw this line线.
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伸出你的手指来比划一下
04:56
Summer夏季, fall秋季, winter冬季, spring弹簧,
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夏,秋,冬,春
05:00
noon中午, dusk黄昏, dark黑暗, dawn黎明.
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正午,黄昏,黑夜,破晓
05:07
Have you ever seen看到 those stratus层云 clouds
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看过一片又一片平行着的云
05:10
that go in parallel平行 stripes条纹 across横过 the sky天空?
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划过天际吗?
05:13
Did you know that's a continuous连续 sheet of cloud
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那其实是一整块云
05:15
that's dipping浸渍 in and out of the condensation缩合 layer?
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在对流层翻来覆去形成的
05:19
What if every一切 seemingly似乎 isolated孤立 object目的
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那些看起来彼此分离的个体
05:22
was actually其实 just where the continuous连续 wave of that object目的
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会不会其实也是某个完整的东西
05:25
poked through通过 into our world世界?
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钻进我们这个世界所显露出的浪尖?
05:29
The Earth地球 is neither也不 flat平面 nor也不 round回合.
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地球不是平的。不是圆的
05:33
It's wavy波浪状的.
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而是由波组成的
05:38
It sounds声音 good, but I'll bet赌注 you know in your gut肠道 that it's not the whole整个 truth真相,
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听起来不错。但你们心里肯定知道这不是真的
05:43
and I'll tell you why.
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我懂
05:45
I have a two-year-old二十岁 daughter女儿 who's谁是 the best最好 thing ever.
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我有一个两岁的女儿。世界上最美的东西
05:47
And I'm just going to come out and say it:
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我现在要告诉你们:
05:49
My daughter女儿 is not a wave.
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我女儿就不是波
05:52
And you might威力 say, "Surely一定, Rueben鲁本, if you took even just the slightest丝毫 step back,
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你可能会说,"罗本(Rueben),你只要回顾一下就会发现,
05:57
the cycles周期 of hunger饥饿 and eating,
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饥饿与进食,
06:00
waking醒来 and sleeping睡眠, laughing and crying哭了
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醒与梦,笑与泪,
06:03
would emerge出现 as pattern模式."
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这些周期都是一种波形."
06:05
But I would say, "If I did that,
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不过让我告诉你:"如果我这样观察世界,
06:08
too much would be lost丢失."
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那我也会损失很多东西."
06:11
This tension张力 between之间 the need to look deeper更深
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到底是去深入思考这个世上的一切,
06:16
and the beauty美女 and immediacy直接 of the world世界,
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还是欣赏它第一眼的美貌?
06:19
where if you even try to look deeper更深 you've already已经 missed错过 what you're looking for,
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当你想要去深入探究事物时,它们的韵味就已经淡去了
06:23
this tension张力 is what makes品牌 the sculptures雕塑 move移动.
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正是这种矛盾推动着我的作品
06:26
And for me, the path路径 between之间 these two extremes极端
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对我而言,这两种极端
06:28
takes the shape形状 of a wave.
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就是由波形来连接的
06:31
Let me show显示 you one more.
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再给你们看最后一件
07:16
Thank you very much. Thanks谢谢.
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谢谢。十分感谢
07:19
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
07:21
Thanks谢谢.
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谢谢
07:22
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
07:27
June六月 Cohen科恩: Looking at each of your sculptures雕塑,
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朱科恩:"你的一件件作品
07:29
they evoke唤起 so many许多 different不同 images图片.
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展示了许多不同的画面
07:31
Some of them are like the wind and some are like waves波浪,
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一些像是风,一些像是波浪
07:34
and sometimes有时 they look alive and sometimes有时 they seem似乎 like math数学.
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有时候它们看起来栩栩如生,有时候像是数学的表达
07:36
Is there an actual实际 inspiration灵感 behind背后 each one?
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我想知道每一件作品背后都有灵感的来源吗?
07:39
Are you thinking思维 of something physical物理 or somthing财产以后 tangible有形 as you design设计 it?
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你有没有从什么实物上面获得过灵感??
07:42
RMR M: Well some of them definitely无疑 have a direct直接 observation意见 --
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罗本:"很明显有一些是观察现实生活而获得的灵感--
07:46
like literally按照字面 two raindrops雨滴 falling落下,
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比如说 看着两个雨滴落地的过程
07:48
and just watching观看 that pattern模式 is so stunning令人惊叹.
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那波纹就足够震撼人心了
07:51
And then just trying to figure数字 out how to make that using运用 stuff东东.
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之后我就想着怎么样能把这幅画面用实物表现出来
07:57
I like working加工 with my hands.
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我喜欢自己动手
08:00
There's nothing better than cutting切割 a piece of wood
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切割木头并让它们运动
08:02
and trying to make it move移动.
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真是最棒的工作
08:04
JCJC: And does it ever change更改?
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朱可恩: "它们会偏离你的初衷吗?
08:05
Do you think you're designing设计 one thing,
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你在设计的时候想着某个东西,
08:06
and then when it's produced生成 it looks容貌 like something else其他?
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完成后会不会看起来像别的东西?"
08:08
RMR M: The "Double Raindrop雨滴" I worked工作 on for nine months个月,
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罗本:"诺,那个"两颗雨滴"。我在它身上花了九个月,
08:12
and when I finally最后 turned转身 it on,
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可是最后启动它时,
08:14
I actually其实 hated it.
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我竟然感到厌恶
08:18
The very moment时刻 I turned转身 it on, I hated it.
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就在启动它的那一霎那,我讨厌它了
08:22
It was like a really deep-down深跌 gut肠道 reaction反应, and I wanted to throw it out.
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它看起来就像肠胃的蠕动,搞的我想把它给丢出去"
08:25
And I happened发生 to have a friend朋友 who was over,
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正巧这时候一个朋友来访
08:27
and he said, "Why don't you just wait."
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他问:"干吗不等等看?"
08:29
And I waited等待, and the next下一个 day I liked喜欢 it a bit better,
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于是我等了。第二天我稍微喜欢它了一点
08:34
the next下一个 day I liked喜欢 it a bit better, and now I really love it.
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第三天我又稍微多喜欢了一点,现在我爱上它了
08:37
And so I guess猜测, one, the gut肠道 reactions反应 a little bit wrong错误 sometimes有时,
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我想,首先,肠胃有时候会蠕动不畅--
08:41
and two, it does not look like as expected预期.
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然后,这个作品也许不像我当初设想的那样
08:44
JCJC: The relationship关系 evolves演变 over time.
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朱可恩: "的确,事态毕竟都会发展
08:46
Well thank you so much. That was a gorgeous华丽 treat对待 for us.
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十分感谢,你的演讲让我们大饱眼福"
08:47
RMR M: Thanks谢谢. (JCJC: Thank you, Reuben鲁本.)
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罗本:"谢谢" (朱可恩:"谢谢")
08:50
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by Tyler Yan
Reviewed by Feiyi Kuai

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Reuben Margolin - Kinetic sculptor
Reuben Margolin's moving sculptures combine the logic of math with the sensuousness of nature.

Why you should listen
Reuben Margolin makes wave-like sculptures that undulate, spiral, bob and dip in gloriously natural-seeming ways, driven by arrays of cogs and gears. As a kid, Margolin was into math and physics; at college, he switched to liberal arts and ended up studying painting in Italy and Russia. Inspired by the movement of a little green caterpillar, he began trying to capture movements of nature in sculptural form. Now, at his studio in Emeryville, California, he makes large-scale undulating installations of wood and recycled stuff. He also makes pedal-powered rickshaws and has collaborated on several large-scale pedal-powered vehicles.
More profile about the speaker
Reuben Margolin | Speaker | TED.com