ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alexa Meade - Visual artist
Alexa Meade paints mesmerizing, illusionistic portraits directly on living subjects, subverting familiar visual cues with perspective and color.

Why you should listen

Alexa Meade creates paintings in 3D space that make the real world appear to be a 2D painting. What may look like a traditional painted portrait is actually a photograph of a living, breathing person whose face, clothes and surroundings are all covered in acrylic paint. The 3D paintings can be photographed from any angle and maintain the illusion of flatness without the need for digital effects.

Alexa stumbled upon this technique by accident. While she was studying political science in college, she had an idea for an art project: what would it look like if she covered up shadows in the landscape with black paint? This question led her down a rabbit hole of experiments with painitng in 3D space that led to her discovery of this new style of optical illusion. She paints on people around the world who become part of the urban landscape as living street art. The photographs of the ephemeral painting performances hang on the walls of galleries and museums.

She recieved critical acclaim from CNN, Wired, NPR, the Wall Street Journal, and more. She has lectured at the CalArts, UC-Berkeley, Apple, Adobe and National Geographic London

Alexa travels the world creating live painting performances, art installations and commisioned portraits. Currently, Alexa is collaborating with scientists and researching spacetime at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Alexa is making a series of magical paintings with David Blaine, transforming her home into a "Fun House" with Chris Hughes, developing a line of toys and volunteering in the art program at the Braille Institute. 

More profile about the speaker
Alexa Meade | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2013

Alexa Meade: Your body is my canvas

Alexa Meade: 你的身体即我的画布

Filmed:
2,815,934 views

Alexa Meade 用一种创新的手法创造艺术。对于她来说,艺术不是素描练习,也不是在画布上反复练习。而是她选择一个主题并将它在实体上画出来。她将场景上的一切 -- 人、椅子、食物,只要是你能够想到的东西 -- 都以模仿颜料下面的实物的手法将它绘画出来。在这个演讲中,Meade为我们展示了一些她成功作品的照片,并分享了有关人、画和牛奶的新艺术项目。
- Visual artist
Alexa Meade paints mesmerizing, illusionistic portraits directly on living subjects, subverting familiar visual cues with perspective and color. Full bio

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

00:12
You may可能 want to take a closer接近 look.
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你可能想要离近点儿看它。
00:14
There's more to this painting绘画 than meets符合 the eye.
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除了表面上你所看到油画
它隐含了更多内容
00:17
And yes, it's an acrylic丙烯酸树脂 painting绘画 of a man,
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是的,它是一个人的丙烯油画
00:21
but I didn't paint涂料 it on canvas帆布.
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但我并没把它漆在画布上。
00:24
I painted it directly on top最佳 of the man.
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我直接在这个人的身体上作画。
00:27
What I do in my art艺术 is I skip跳跃 the canvas帆布 altogether,
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我所做的艺术是略过画布本身,
00:30
and if I want to paint涂料 your portrait肖像,
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如果我想要给你画张肖像,
00:32
I'm painting绘画 it on you, physically物理 on you.
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我会把它画在你身上,
你的身体之上。
00:35
That also means手段 you're probably大概 going to end结束 up
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这也就意味着你可能最后
00:37
with an earful大发牢骚 of paint涂料,
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耳朵里全都是颜料,
00:39
because I need to paint涂料 your ear on your ear.
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因为我要在你的耳朵上画一只耳朵。
00:43
Everything in this scene现场, the person, the clothes衣服,
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这个场景里的一切,人、衣服、
00:46
chairs椅子, wall, gets得到 covered覆盖 in a mask面具 of paint涂料
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椅子、 墙壁、 都被一层画遮盖着
00:49
that mimics模仿 what's directly below下面 it,
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这层画模仿画下的物体,
00:52
and in this way, I'm able能够 to take a three-dimensional三维 scene现场
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以这种方式,我就能够创造一个三维的场景
00:56
and make it look like a two-dimensional二维 painting绘画.
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并使它看起来像一幅二维的画。
00:59
I can photograph照片 it from any angle角度,
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我可以从任何角度拍摄,
01:01
and it will still look 2D.
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而它仍然看起来像是一幅二维图画。
01:04
There's no PhotoshopPhotoshop中 here.
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我并没有使用图像处理软件。
01:07
This is just a photo照片
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这只是
01:09
of one of my three-dimensional三维 paintings绘画.
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我的三维油画的一张照片而已。
01:13
You might威力 be wondering想知道 how I came来了 up with this idea理念
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你可能想知道我是如何产生这个想法去
01:15
of turning车削 people into paintings绘画.
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把人变成绘画。
01:17
But originally本来, this had nothing to do
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最初,这与人或颜料
01:20
with either people or paint涂料.
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都无关。
01:22
It was about shadows阴影.
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而有关于阴影。
01:25
I was fascinated入迷 with the absence缺席 of light,
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我着迷于阴影,
01:27
and I wanted to find a way that I could give it materiality实质性
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我想要找到一种可以给予它物质性地存在并
01:31
and pin it down before it changed.
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在它改变之前把它固定下来。
01:33
I came来了 up with the idea理念 of painting绘画 shadows阴影.
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于是我想出了画阴影的想法。
01:36
I loved喜爱 that I could hide隐藏 within this shadow阴影
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我对可以将我所画的阴影
隐藏在真实的阴影中
01:38
my own拥有 painted version,
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乐此不疲,
01:40
and it would be almost几乎 invisible无形
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而且它几乎是隐形的
01:43
until直到 the light changed, and all of a sudden突然
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直到光改变了,
01:45
my shadow阴影 would be brought to the light.
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突然之间,我的阴影就被现形在日光之下。
01:48
I wanted to think about what else其他 I could put shadows阴影 on,
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我在想还有别的什么是我可以将阴影画上去的,
01:51
and I thought of my friend朋友 Bernie伯尼.
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于是我想到了我的朋友伯尼。
01:54
But I didn't just want to paint涂料 the shadows阴影.
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但我不仅仅只是想画上去一些阴影。
01:57
I also wanted to paint涂料 the highlights强调
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我还想要画上一些亮色
01:59
and create创建 a mapping制图 on his body身体 in greyscale灰阶.
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于是在他的身体上创造出一个灰度的绘画。
02:02
I had a very specific具体 vision视力 of what this would look like,
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对于它具体会变成什么样,
我有一个非常细致的构想,
02:06
and as I was painting绘画 him,
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当我开始画他的时候,
02:08
I made制作 sure to follow跟随 that very closely密切.
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我仔细地遵循着我的构想。
02:10
But something kept不停 on flickering闪烁 before my eyes眼睛.
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但有个东西一直在我的眼前闪烁。
02:13
I wasn't quite相当 sure what I was looking at.
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我不确定我在看什么。
02:15
And then when I took that moment时刻 to take a step back,
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于是我往后退一步看它,
02:19
magic魔法.
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奇迹出现了。
02:21
I had turned转身 my friend朋友 into a painting绘画.
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我把我的朋友变成了一幅画。
02:24
I couldn't不能 have foreseen预见 that
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我并不能预料到这件事的发生,
02:25
when I wanted to paint涂料 a shadow阴影,
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当我想要画一个阴影的时候,
02:28
I would pull out this whole整个 other dimension尺寸,
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我会把其他的维度也一并带出来,
02:30
that I would collapse坍方 it,
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并将它瓦解,
02:31
that I would take a painting绘画 and make it my friend朋友
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我会画一下画再画一下我的朋友
02:36
and then bring带来 him back to a painting绘画.
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然后将他带回到画中。
02:39
I was a little conflicted冲突 though虽然,
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不过,我又有点矛盾,
02:41
because I was so excited兴奋 about what I'd found发现,
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因为我对于我所发现的东西太过于兴奋,
02:45
but I was just about to graduate毕业 from college学院
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但我就要从大学毕业
02:47
with a degree in political政治 science科学,
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并且获得政治科学学位,
02:49
and I'd always had this dream梦想
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而且我一直有一个梦想是
02:51
of going to Washington华盛顿, D.C.,
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去华盛顿,
02:53
and sitting坐在 at a desk
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在办公室里
02:56
and working加工 in government政府.
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为政府工作。
02:58
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
03:00
Why did this have to get in the way of all that?
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为什么这个要在其中挡路?
03:04
I made制作 the tough强硬 decision决定
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我做出了一个艰难的决定
03:05
of going home after graduation毕业
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那就是在毕业之后回家
03:09
and not going up to Capitol国会大厦 Hill爬坡道,
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不是去国会山,
03:12
but going down to my parents'父母' basement地下室
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而是去我父母家的地下室
03:14
and making制造 it my job工作 to learn学习 how to paint涂料.
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使学习如何作画变成我的工作。
03:17
I had no idea理念 where to begin开始.
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我真不知道应该从哪里开始。
03:21
The last time I'd painted,
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我最后一次画画,
03:22
I was 16 years年份 old at summer夏季 camp,
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是我十六岁的时候在夏利营里,
03:25
and I didn't want to teach myself how to paint涂料
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我并不想要通过复制那些画家
03:27
by copying仿形 the old masters主人
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或者在一块画布上
03:29
or stretching拉伸 a canvas帆布
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反复的练习
03:31
and practicing over and over again on that surface表面,
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来教自己如何画画,
03:34
because that's not what this project项目 was about for me.
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因为这并不是我想要的。
03:37
It was about space空间 and light.
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而是关于光和空间。
03:40
My early canvases画布 ended结束 up being存在
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我早期的画布是
03:43
things that you wouldn't不会 expect期望 to be used as canvas帆布,
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一些你不会想到能用作画布的东西,
03:46
like fried油炸 food餐饮.
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比如说油炸食品。
03:48
It's nearly几乎 impossible不可能
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要让颜料固定在蛋的油脂上面
03:50
to get paint涂料 to stick to the grease润滑脂 in an egg.
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几乎是不可能。
03:53
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
03:55
Even harder更难 was getting得到 paint涂料 to stick
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要使颜料固定在
03:58
to the acid in a grapefruit葡萄柚.
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西柚中的酸更是不可能。
04:00
It just would erase抹去 my brush strokes
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它会像隐形墨水一样
04:03
like invisible无形 ink墨水.
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把颜料从我的画笔上擦去。
04:05
I'd put something down, and instantly即刻 it would be gone走了.
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我一把什么东西画下去,它就会立即消失。
04:08
And if I wanted to paint涂料 on people,
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如果我想要在人的身体上画画,
04:10
well, I was a little bit embarrassed尴尬
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好吧,我是有点尴尬
04:13
to bring带来 people down into my studio工作室
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把人带到我的工作室里面
04:15
and show显示 them that I spent花费 my days in a basement地下室
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并且让他们看我成天在地下室里面
04:18
putting paint涂料 on toast烤面包.
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在土司上面画画。
04:21
It just seemed似乎 like it made制作 more sense
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在我自己身上练习作画
04:23
to practice实践 by painting绘画 on myself.
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更容易被实施。
04:26
One of my favorite喜爱 models楷模 actually其实 ended结束 up being存在
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我最喜欢的模特之一是
04:29
a retired退休 old man
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一个退休的老男人
04:31
who not only didn't mind心神 sitting坐在 still
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他不仅仅只是不在意坐在那里不动
04:33
and getting得到 the paint涂料 in his ears耳朵,
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把他的耳朵里面涂满丙烯,
04:36
but he also didn't really have much embarrassment困窘
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并且他对于把他带到一些公共的场合
04:38
about being存在 taken采取 out into very public上市 places地方
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进行展览这件事
04:40
for exhibition展览,
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也并不感到尴尬,
04:42
like the Metro地铁.
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比如到地铁上去。
04:45
I was having so much fun开玩笑 with this process处理.
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在这一过程中,我收获了许多的快乐。
04:49
I was teaching教学 myself how to paint涂料 in all these different不同 styles款式,
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我教自己如何用不同的风格绘画,
04:53
and I wanted to see what else其他 I could do with it.
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并且想看看我还能够做些什么。
04:56
I came来了 together一起 with a collaborator合作者, Sheila希拉 VandVAND,
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我与 Sheila Vand 合作
04:59
and we had the idea理念 of creating创建 paintings绘画
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我们有的绘画创作想法是
05:02
in a more unusual异常 surface表面,
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在一个更不寻常的表面上作画:
05:04
and that was milk牛奶.
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牛奶。
05:07
We got a pool. We filled填充 it with milk牛奶.
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我们有一个游泳池。我们把它装满了牛奶。
05:10
We filled填充 it with Sheila希拉. And I began开始 painting绘画.
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我们把Sheila也放在牛奶里面。
并且开始作画。
05:13
And the images图片 were always
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最后创作出来的图像
05:15
completely全然 unexpected意外 in the end结束,
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总是完全出乎意料,
05:17
because I could have a very specific具体 image图片
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因为如果只是画画的话,
我对于最后所出来的效果
05:20
about how it would turn out,
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都有一个非常具象的想象,
05:21
I could paint涂料 it to match比赛 that,
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我可以用画去配合我的想象,
05:23
but the moment时刻 that Sheila希拉 laid铺设 back into the milk牛奶,
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但当Sheila在牛奶中躺下的时候,
05:26
everything would change更改.
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一切都会改变。
05:28
It was in constant不变 flux通量,
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它是在不断变化,
05:30
and we had to, rather than fight斗争 it, embrace拥抱 it,
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与其去与之斗争,我们不如去拥抱它,
05:33
see where the milk牛奶 would take us
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看牛奶会把我们带向什么样的方向
05:34
and compensate补偿 to make it even better.
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甚至是使初始想法变得更好。
05:38
Sometimes有时, when Sheila希拉 would lay铺设 down in the milk牛奶,
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有时,当Shila在牛奶里躺下的时候,
05:42
it would wash all the paint涂料 off of her arms武器,
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牛奶会将她胳膊上所有的颜料的洗干,
05:44
and it might威力 seem似乎 a little bit clumsy笨拙,
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我们的解决方法可能有些笨拙,
05:47
but our solution would be, okay, hide隐藏 your arms武器.
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那就是把你的胳膊藏起来。
05:50
And one time, she got so much milk牛奶 in her hair头发
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有一次,她的头发沾染了太多牛奶
05:53
that it just smeared all the paint涂料 off of her face面对.
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并且牛奶把她脸上的画都抹干了。
05:56
All right, well, hide隐藏 your face面对.
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那么,好吧,把你的脸藏起来吧。
05:59
And we ended结束 up with something far more elegant优雅
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而最后我们得到的作品却是
06:02
than we could have imagined想象,
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比我们的想象中更高雅的作品,
06:04
even though虽然 this is essentially实质上 the same相同 solution
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即使这跟一个沮丧的孩子不会画手的时候
06:06
that a frustrated受挫 kid孩子 uses使用 when he can't draw hands,
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就把手画在口袋里藏起来所用的策略
06:09
just hiding them in the pockets口袋.
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是一样的。
06:13
When we started开始 out on the milk牛奶 project项目,
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当我们开始这个牛奶项目的时候,
06:15
and when I started开始 out,
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当我开始的时候,
06:17
I couldn't不能 have foreseen预见 that I would go
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我不能预见到我将去向何方
06:20
from pursuing追求 my dream梦想 in politics政治
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从追求我的政治理想
06:22
and working加工 at a desk
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在办公室工作
06:24
to tripping跳闸 over a shadow阴影
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到被阴影所迷的神魂颠倒
06:25
and then turning车削 people into paintings绘画
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然后把人变成油画
06:28
and painting绘画 on people in a pool of milk牛奶.
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和在一池牛奶中的人身上绘画。
06:32
But then again, I guess猜测 it's also not unforeseeable不可预见的
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但话又说回来,我猜也不是不能预见
06:35
that you can find the strange奇怪 in the familiar,
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你总可以在熟悉的事物中找到新奇的,
06:38
as long as you're willing愿意 to look beyond
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只要你愿意抛下你的现状
06:40
what's already已经 been brought to light,
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看得更远些,
06:41
that you can see what's below下面 the surface表面,
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那么你就可以知道隐藏在表面之下,
06:44
hiding in the shadows阴影,
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躲在暗处的事物,
06:46
and recognize认识 that there can be more there
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并认识到有更多不仅仅
06:48
than meets符合 the eye.
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在表面上的东西。
06:50
Thank you.
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谢谢。
06:51
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by Sophia Liu
Reviewed by xuan wang

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alexa Meade - Visual artist
Alexa Meade paints mesmerizing, illusionistic portraits directly on living subjects, subverting familiar visual cues with perspective and color.

Why you should listen

Alexa Meade creates paintings in 3D space that make the real world appear to be a 2D painting. What may look like a traditional painted portrait is actually a photograph of a living, breathing person whose face, clothes and surroundings are all covered in acrylic paint. The 3D paintings can be photographed from any angle and maintain the illusion of flatness without the need for digital effects.

Alexa stumbled upon this technique by accident. While she was studying political science in college, she had an idea for an art project: what would it look like if she covered up shadows in the landscape with black paint? This question led her down a rabbit hole of experiments with painitng in 3D space that led to her discovery of this new style of optical illusion. She paints on people around the world who become part of the urban landscape as living street art. The photographs of the ephemeral painting performances hang on the walls of galleries and museums.

She recieved critical acclaim from CNN, Wired, NPR, the Wall Street Journal, and more. She has lectured at the CalArts, UC-Berkeley, Apple, Adobe and National Geographic London

Alexa travels the world creating live painting performances, art installations and commisioned portraits. Currently, Alexa is collaborating with scientists and researching spacetime at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Alexa is making a series of magical paintings with David Blaine, transforming her home into a "Fun House" with Chris Hughes, developing a line of toys and volunteering in the art program at the Braille Institute. 

More profile about the speaker
Alexa Meade | Speaker | TED.com