ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Willard Wigan - Micro-sculptor
Willard Wigan sculpts figures small enough to fit on the head of a pin. To create these microscopic masterpieces, he works diligently through the stillest hours of the night, between his own heartbeats.

Why you should listen

Willard Wigan has immortalized the Obama family in the eye of a needle and Muhammad Ali on the head of a match. In producing sculptures so incredibly small, he works under a microscope and employs ingenious tools, such as a fly's hair or an ex-girlfriend's eyelash for paintbrushes.

This passion for the diminutive stems from feelings of insignificance in Wigan's childhood. He was severely dyslexic but undiagnosed, and his teachers' harsh words drove him to hide in a nearby shed where he made shoes and hats for his friends, the ants. Today, his art has earned him national honors and critical acclaim, proving that some treasures can't be seen with the naked eye.

More profile about the speaker
Willard Wigan | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2009

Willard Wigan: Hold your breath for micro-sculpture

维拉徳•威根:令人屏息的微雕艺术

Filmed:
764,304 views

维拉德·威根向大家讲述他如何在艰难孤独的童年生活中发现了自己的独特才能——创造用肉眼无法看见的艺术作品。他的幻灯片展示了显微镜下他那些令人叹为观止的艺术作品。
- Micro-sculptor
Willard Wigan sculpts figures small enough to fit on the head of a pin. To create these microscopic masterpieces, he works diligently through the stillest hours of the night, between his own heartbeats. Full bio

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

00:12
There's an old saying, "Just because you can't see something,
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有句老话说:“你看不见的,
00:15
doesn't mean it's not there."
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不见得是不存在的”。
00:18
My work is -- it's a reflection反射 of myself.
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我的作品——它是我内心的反映。
00:25
What I wanted to do is to
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我想借此
00:29
show显示 the world世界 that the little things
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向世界证明小不点
00:34
can be the biggest最大 things.
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也能有大作为。
00:37
We all seem似乎 to think that,
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我们似乎都认为
00:40
you know, if we look down on the ground地面, there's nothing there.
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地上什么都没有。
00:46
And we use the word "nothing."
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注意我们用的词语是“什么都没有”。
00:49
Nothing doesn't exist存在, because there is always something.
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“什么都没有”是不存在的,那里总会有些什么。
00:52
My mother母亲 told me that, when I was a child儿童,
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我小时候,母亲告诉我,
00:54
that I should always respect尊重 the little things.
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要尊重那些不起眼的东西。
00:59
What made制作 me do this work? I shall go into my story故事.
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想知道我怎么开始这项工作的吗?下面我将和大家分享一下我的故事。
01:03
This all started开始 when I was age年龄 five.
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这一切开始于我五岁的时候。
01:07
What made制作 me do it? At school学校, I will admit承认 this:
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我是怎么开始的呢?我必须承认,在学校的时候
01:10
academically学术上, I couldn't不能 express表现 myself.
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在学习上我无法展现自己的能力。
01:13
So I was, more or less, classed归类 as "nothing."
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所以,或多或少的,我在班级里仿佛“不存在”。
01:18
My world世界 was seen看到 as less.
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我的世界总是被忽视。
01:23
So I decided决定 I didn't really want to be a part部分 of that world世界.
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因此我下定决心不想成为那个世界的一部分。
01:27
I thought, I need to retreat撤退
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我想,我得退入
01:31
into something else其他.
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别的世界。
01:33
So when my mother母亲 used to take me to school学校,
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当我母亲送我去学校时,
01:36
she thought I was at school学校,
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她以为我会在学校呆着。
01:38
and I used to do a U-turn掉头, when her back was turned转身,
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等她一转过身,我就会跟着调头,
01:41
and run off and hide隐藏 in the shed at the back of the garden花园.
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一遛小跑溜到花园后面的棚子里躲起来。
01:45
Now, the one time I was in the shed,
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有一次,我躲在棚子里,
01:50
and my mother母亲 suspected嫌疑 something,
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我妈妈好像感觉到了什么,
01:53
thinking思维 I was at school学校.
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怀疑起我是否在学校里。
01:55
My mother母亲 was like the woman女人 in Tom汤姆 and Jerry杰瑞.
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她就像动画片《猫和老鼠》里的那个女人一样,
01:59
So you'd just see her feet.
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你只能看见她的脚。
02:02
(Laughter笑声)
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(观众笑)
02:06
So I was hiding in the shed, like that.
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我就那么猫在窝棚里。
02:10
And all of a sudden突然 ...
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突然……
02:15
And then I saw her legs.
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我看见了她的腿。
02:19
And then she said -- grabbed抓起 me like that, because my mother母亲 was quite相当 big --
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她一把抓住我,就像这样,因为她体格很壮。
02:22
and she lifted取消 me up and she says,
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她把我拎起来,对我说:
02:25
"How come you're not at school学校?"
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“你怎么没在学校里?”
02:27
I told her I couldn't不能 face面对 it because the way
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我告诉她我没法面对校园生活,因为
02:30
the teacher老师 was treating治疗 me, ridiculing嘲笑 me,
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老师待我不好,总是嘲弄我,
02:33
and using运用 me as an example of failure失败.
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而且总是拿我做反例。
02:36
So I told her.
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虽然我想告诉她这些情况。
02:38
At that age年龄, obviously明显, I couldn't不能 express表现 it that way,
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但我那时很小,显然不可能用这种方式表达。
02:42
but I told her I didn't feel right.
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所以我告诉她我不喜欢上学。
02:45
And then she just said, "You're going back to school学校 tomorrow明天."
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她对我说:“明天你必须回学校。”
02:47
And walked off. And I didn't expect期望 that,
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然后就走开了。这有些出乎我的意料。
02:49
because I expected预期 one of these ...
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我以为她会……(打屁股)
02:53
But I didn't get it.
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但是她没有。
02:55
So I'm sitting坐在 there thinking思维.
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于是我就坐在那儿开始思考。
02:57
And as I looked看着 down on the ground地面,
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当我低头看着地面的时候,
03:01
I noticed注意到 there was some ants蚂蚁 running赛跑 around.
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我发现有些蚂蚁在四周爬来爬去。
03:05
And I went into this little fantasy幻想 world世界.
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我不由自主地沉浸到这个小小的奇妙世界里了。
03:07
And I thought,
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我想
03:09
"These ants蚂蚁, are they looking for the queen女王 ant蚂蚁?
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“这些蚂蚁是在寻找它们的蚁后吗?
03:14
Or do they need somewhere某处 to live生活?"
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还是在找安身的地方?”
03:16
So I thought "Perhaps也许,
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于是我又想,“也许,
03:18
if I made制作 these ants蚂蚁 some apartments公寓,
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要是我给它们造一些公寓,
03:22
they'll他们会 move移动 in."
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它们就会搬进来住了。”
03:26
(Laughter笑声)
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(观众笑)
03:30
So I did.
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我的确这么做了。
03:32
And how I set about that, I got some splinters稀里哗啦 of wood.
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怎么做的呢?我找了一些碎木块,
03:35
And I sliced切片 the little splinters稀里哗啦 of wood with a broken破碎 shard碎片 of glass玻璃,
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然后用一片碎玻璃把木块切成更小的木片,
03:38
constructed this little apartment公寓.
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用这些木片搭成蚂蚁的小公寓。
03:42
Well it looked看着 like a little shanty窝棚 shed when I'd finished.
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完工后的公寓看起来就像个破旧的小窝棚。
03:47
But I thought, perhaps也许 the ant蚂蚁 won't惯于 know, it'll它会 probably大概 move移动 in.
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不过我想蚂蚁大概不会知道这点,它会搬进去的。
03:49
And so they did.
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它们的确搬进去了。
03:51
That was a bit crude原油, at the time. And I made制作 all these little apartments公寓
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那个小公寓现在看来相当粗糙,但所有的小房间都是我亲手做的。
03:54
and little merry-go-rounds旋转木马轮, seesaws跷跷板 and swings波动, little ladders梯子.
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还有那些小旋转木马,小跷跷板,小梯子等等。
03:58
And then I encouraged鼓励 the ants蚂蚁 to come 'round'回合 by putting sugar and things like that.
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我把糖粒之类的食物摆在周围做诱饵,把蚂蚁们引到房子附近。
04:02
And then I satSAT down and all the ants蚂蚁 came来了 along沿.
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然后就坐下来看着蚂蚁们纷至沓来。
04:08
And all I could hear was "Is this for us?"
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我听见它们说:“这是给我们的吗?”
04:11
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑)
04:13
And I say, "Yes, they're all for you."
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我回答说:“是的,都是给你们的。”
04:15
And they moved移动 in, and decided决定 not to pay工资 me any rent出租.
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它们就搬进去了,而且不打算付房租给我。
04:19
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑)
04:22
And from there I was watching观看 this little world世界.
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由此我开始关注这个微型世界。
04:25
It became成为 part部分 of me.
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它成为了我的一部分。
04:30
When I discovered发现 that I had this gift礼品,
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我发现自己的这个天赋后,
04:37
I wanted to experiment实验 with this world世界
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就想在这个微型世界里检验一下。
04:41
that we can't see.
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这是个微小到肉眼不可见的世界。
04:43
So I realized实现 that there was more to life
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我意识到,这里有更丰富的生命的意义,
04:46
than just everything that we see around us that's huge巨大.
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相比我们肉眼可见到的周围巨大的世界而言。
04:50
So I started开始 to educate教育 myself on this molecular分子 level水平.
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我开始自学这种接近分子水平的微型雕刻。
04:55
And as I got older旧的, I continued继续. I showed显示 my mother母亲.
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随着年龄的增长,我一直都在持续练习。我向我母亲展示我的作品。
04:59
My mother母亲 told me to take it smaller.
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她说我还可以做得更小些。
05:01
Now I shall show显示 you something here.
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我现在想给你们看点东西。
05:05
And I'll explain说明.
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让我说明一下。
05:08
As you can see,
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正如你们所见,
05:11
that's a pinhead针头.
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那是大头针的顶端。
05:13
(Laughter笑声)
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(观众笑)
05:17
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
05:25
Now that is called the HufHUF Haus豪斯.
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这个小建筑名为霍夫屋。
05:29
The gentleman绅士 who commissioned委托 me to do this
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委托我做这个的那位先生,
05:31
was a gentleman绅士 called Peter彼得 HufHUF.
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他的名字叫彼得·霍夫。
05:34
And he says to me "Willard威拉德, can you put my house on a pinhead针头?"
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有一天他对我说:“维拉德,你能把我的房子放在大头针头上吗?”
05:38
(Laughter笑声)
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(观众笑)
05:43
So I say, "How are you going to fit适合 in there?"
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我回答说:“那你要怎么住进去呢?”
05:46
(Laughter笑声)
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(观众笑)
05:49
And then he said to me,
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然后他说:
05:52
"I don't believe you can do it. Can you really do it?"
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“我不相信你能做到。你真能做到吗?”
05:55
And I says, "Well, try me."
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我回答他:“那就试试吧。”
05:59
And then he said, "But I don't believe that you can do this." So I said, "OK."
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他接着又说:“我实在不太相信你真的能做到。”“那好吧。”我说。
06:05
So, to cut a long story故事 short,
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长话短说。
06:07
I went home, went underneath the microscope显微镜,
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我回到家,趴在显微镜前,
06:09
and I crushed up a piece of glass玻璃,
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碾碎了一小片玻璃,
06:13
crushed it up.
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碾碎后,
06:15
And underneath the microscope显微镜
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放在显微镜下,
06:17
there were splinters稀里哗啦 of glass玻璃.
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可以看到很多玻璃碎片,
06:19
Some of them were quite相当 jagged盘陀.
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有一些非常参差不齐。
06:22
So I was crushing破碎 up these pieces of glass玻璃,
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我碾碎的这些玻璃碎片,
06:24
which哪一个, as you can see,
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就如你们看到的,
06:27
that's the actual实际 frame of the house.
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是这间小屋的主体结构材料。
06:29
And the actual实际 roof屋顶 is made制作 up of a fiber纤维,
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屋顶部分是用一根纤维制成的,
06:35
which哪一个 I found发现 in my sister's姐妹 old teddy泰迪熊 bear.
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那根纤维是从我妹妹的旧泰迪熊身上取来的。
06:38
(Laughter笑声)
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(观众笑)
06:41
So I got the teddy泰迪熊 bear and I said,
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我找到泰迪熊,对它说,
06:43
"Do you mind心神 if I pull out one of your fibers纤维?"
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“你介意我抽走一根纤维吗?”
06:46
So I did.
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我拔了一根,
06:48
And I looked看着 at it beneath下面 the microscope显微镜. And some of it was flat平面.
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把它放到显微镜下观察,发现纤维的某些部分是扁平的。
06:51
So I decided决定 to slice these up
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我打算把这些部分切割成更小的薄片。
06:53
with the tool工具 that I make
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就用我自己制作的工具。
06:55
by -- I sharpen削尖 the end结束 of a needle into a blade.
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我把一根针的尖端打磨成薄薄的刀刃。
06:59
And then I actually其实
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然后,
07:01
slow down my whole整个 nervous紧张 system系统.
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我开始平心静气,放慢呼吸,
07:04
And then I work between之间 my heartbeat心跳,
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聚精会神地开始小心翼翼的工作。
07:07
I have one-and-a-half1个半 seconds
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我有1.5秒钟的时间
07:10
to actually其实 move移动.
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移动工具,
07:12
And at the same相同 time I have to watch I don't inhale吸入
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同时我还得小心,
07:14
my own拥有 work, at the same相同 time.
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别把自己的工作成果吸入鼻子里。
07:16
(Laughter笑声)
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(观众笑)
07:19
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
07:25
Because that has happened发生 to me.
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那种事情的确发生过。
07:27
(Laughter笑声)
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(观众笑)
07:31
So what I did, like I said, come back to the glass玻璃.
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我的工作又回到玻璃上。
07:34
I found发现 these little bits of glass玻璃.
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我找到了一些小玻璃片,
07:36
And I had to make them square广场.
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但需要把它们弄成方形。
07:39
So I'm thinking思维 "How can I do this?"
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于是我就想,“怎么弄呢?”
07:41
So what I did, I got an oilstone油石. Broke布罗克 the edge边缘 of an oilstone油石 off.
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我找了块油磨石,把边角敲了一点下来。
07:45
And what I did, I took pieces of glass玻璃. And I started开始 to rub them.
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然后把玻璃片放到油磨石碎块上打磨。
07:49
I used a little tweezer which哪一个 I made制作 from a hair头发 clip.
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我用的是一把用小发卡改造成的镊子,
07:52
And I built内置 rubber橡胶 around the end结束 of the tweezer so it wouldn't不会 crush粉碎 the glass玻璃.
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为了防止镊子夹坏玻璃,我还在镊子顶部涂上了橡胶。
07:56
And then I started开始 rubbing, very very gently平缓,
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然后我开始小心翼翼地打磨玻璃,
08:01
till直到 some of the edges边缘 were quite相当 square广场. And then I constructed it.
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直到玻璃的边角变得十分齐整后,我才开始搭建房屋。
08:05
And how I constructed it,
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我是怎么搭起这座小屋的呢?
08:07
is by making制造 grooves凹槽 in the top最佳 of the pinhead针头.
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首先,我在大头针顶端刻出沟槽。
08:10
And then pushing推动 the glass玻璃 in with its own拥有 friction摩擦.
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然后,借用玻璃本身的摩擦力把玻璃片插入槽里。
08:13
And as I was doing it, what happened发生?
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就在我这么做的时候,出了点状况。
08:16
The instrument仪器 that I used turned转身 into a catapult弹射.
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我用的工具成了一个弹弓,
08:20
And it went like this ...
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就像这样……
08:24
And then that was it.
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我的工作成果化为乌有。
08:27
(Laughter笑声)
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(观众笑)
08:28
Gone.
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烟消云散。
08:30
So I'm thinking思维, "Mr先生. HufHUF isn't going to be very happy快乐
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“霍夫先生一定不怎么高兴,”我想,
08:32
when I told him his house has gone走了 to another另一个,
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“当我告诉他他的小屋已经去了另一个……
08:35
into the atmosphere大气层 somewhere某处."
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已经消失在空气中的时候。”
08:38
So to cut the story故事 short,
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还是长话短说吧。
08:40
I decided决定 that I had to go back and do it.
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我决定重新开始。
08:42
So I found发现 some more. And I decided决定 to, sort分类 of,
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我找到一些玻璃片。这次我打算,
08:45
construct构造 it very, very slowly慢慢地,
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慢慢地,非常小心地搭建它们。
08:47
holding保持 my breath呼吸, working加工 between之间 my heartbeat心跳,
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我屏气凝神,小心翼翼地工作,
08:50
and making制造 sure everything is leveled夷为平地.
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确保每一个部分都保持平稳。
08:52
Because it's such这样 a small sculpture雕塑,
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这么小的雕塑,
08:56
nothing can go wrong错误.
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一点点差错都是不允许的。
08:58
And I decided决定 to build建立 it up.
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而其,这次我下定决心要完成这个作品。
09:01
Then I used fibers纤维 out of my jumper跨接器,
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这回我用的是自己毛衣上的纤维。
09:04
which哪一个 I held保持 and stretched拉伸.
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我抽出纤维,拉伸它们,
09:06
And made制作 the beams going around the house.
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做成房屋四周的梁柱。
09:08
And the actual实际 windows视窗 and the balcony阳台
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窗户和阳台
09:10
had to be sort分类 of constructed.
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也需要搭建出来。
09:12
I used a money spider's蜘蛛 web卷筒纸
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我用了一些蛛丝
09:14
to actually其实 attach连接 certain某些 things,
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来粘合一些部件。
09:16
which哪一个 sent发送 me insane.
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这些蛛丝简直快让我疯掉了,
09:18
But I managed管理 to do it.
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但我还是做成了。
09:21
And when I finished it, I came来了 back the next下一个 day.
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完工后第二天,
09:24
I noticed注意到 that the house was occupied占据.
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我发现房子里竟然有了住客。
09:28
Have we ever heard听说 of a dust灰尘 mite?
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你们有没有听说过尘螨?
09:32
Darren达伦 dust灰尘 mite and his family家庭 moved移动 in.
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尘螨达伦一家住进了我的小屋。
09:34
(Laughter笑声)
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(观众笑)
09:37
So basically基本上 I'd completed完成 the house.
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至此,霍夫小屋基本完成。
09:41
And there you are.
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就是你们看到的这个样子。
09:44
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
09:51
(Laughter笑声)
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(观众笑)
09:55
Right. As you can see,
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正如你们所见,
09:57
Bart巴特 Simpson辛普森 is having a little argument论据.
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巴特·辛普森正和老爸发生了口角。
10:01
I think they're arguing争论 about the space空间 on the pin.
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我想他们是在为大头针头上的空间而争吵。
10:04
There's not enough足够 room房间 for the two of them.
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好像空间不太够。
10:07
So I didn't think he was going to throw Bart巴特 off.
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不过我不认为老爸真的会把巴特扔下去,
10:09
I think he was just warning警告 him actually其实.
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我想他只是在警告他。
10:11
But this one was made制作 out of a nylon尼龙 tag标签
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这个雕塑是用一枚我衬衣上的
10:15
out of my shirt衬衫.
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尼龙标签做的。
10:17
What I did, I plucked拨弦 the tag标签 out
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怎么做的呢?我把标签拔下来,
10:20
and put it underneath the microscope显微镜.
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放到显微镜下。
10:23
I used the needle which哪一个 has got a slight轻微 blade on the end结束.
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还是用那种尖端有刀刃的针。
10:26
Can anybody任何人 see the blade on the end结束 of that needle?
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有人能看见这根针头上的刀刃吗?
10:28
Audience听众: No.
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观众:不能。
10:30
WWWW: So what I did is the same相同 process处理 where I
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维拉德:所以,还是像之前一样,
10:33
just kind of hold保持 my breath呼吸
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我屏住气,
10:36
and just work away very, very slowly慢慢地,
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很慢很慢地进行一步一步的操作。
10:40
manipulating操纵 the plastic塑料, cutting切割 it, because it behaves的行为 different不同.
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我捏住塑料,进行切割。塑料的质地会变得很不一样,
10:44
Whenever每当 you work on that level水平, things behave表现 different不同.
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到了那么微小的程度,什么东西的质地都会变得很不一样。
10:47
Because it's on this molecular分子 level水平 things change更改
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因为在分子水平上,物体会发生变化,
10:49
and they act法案 different不同.
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它们的反应也会发生变化。
10:51
And sometimes有时 they turn into little catapults弹射器 and things go up in the air空气.
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有时候它们会变成小弹弓,把零件弹上天。
10:54
And, you know, all different不同 things happen发生.
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有时候,各种各样稀奇古怪的事情都会发生。
10:57
But I had to make a little barrier屏障, going around it, out of cellophane玻璃纸,
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我不得不用玻璃纸做一个小围栏,围住它们,
11:00
to stop it moving移动.
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防止它们四散。
11:02
Then static静态的 electricity电力 set in.
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可是又出现了静电,
11:04
And it went ...
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事情就变得……
11:06
And I'm trying to remove去掉 it. And the static静态的 is interfering干扰 with everything.
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我试图去除静电,因为它干扰了所有的工作。
11:09
So there is sweat dripping滴水 off my head,
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我急得满头大汗。
11:12
because I have to carve雕刻 Homer荷马 Simpson辛普森 like that, in that position位置.
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因为我必须把霍默辛普森刻成那个姿势,放在那个位置上。
11:17
And after I've cut out the shape形状,
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形状出来后,
11:19
then I have to make sure that there is room房间 for Bart's巴特的 neck颈部.
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还得确保有足够的空间放下巴特的脖子。
11:23
So after I've doneDONE the same相同 thing,
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重复前面的工作后,
11:25
then I have to paint涂料 it.
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该给雕塑上色了。
11:27
And after I've actually其实 sculpted雕刻 them,
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等我完完全全地把他们雕塑出来后,
11:29
I have to paint涂料 them.
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准备给他们上色。
11:31
I experimented试验 with a --
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我拿了一个小东西做实验 ——
11:34
I found发现 a dead fly.
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一只死苍蝇。
11:36
And I plucked拨弦 the hair头发 off the fly's飞的 head.
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拔下它头上的一根毛,
11:38
Decided决定 to make a paintbrush画笔.
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打算拿这个做颜料刷。
11:40
(Laughter笑声)
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(观众笑)
11:46
But I would never do it to a living活的 fly.
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我可不会对一只活苍蝇这么做。
11:50
(Laughter笑声)
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(观众笑)
11:53
Because I've heard听说 a fly in pain疼痛.
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因为我听到过苍蝇痛苦的呻吟,
11:58
And they go "Meow! Ow!"
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就像这样,“呜嘤——呜嘤——”
12:01
Even though虽然 they get on our nerves神经,
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虽然苍蝇总是让人烦躁,
12:03
I would never kill an insect昆虫
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但我不会杀死任何一只昆虫。
12:05
because, "All creatures生物 great and small" --
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因为“所有的生命,无论大小……”——
12:09
there is a hymn圣歌 that says that.
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有一首赞美诗里这么写的。
12:11
So what I decided决定 to do
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于是我决定,
12:14
is to pluck采摘 fine hair头发 out of my face面对.
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拔下自己脸上的一根汗毛。
12:18
And I looked看着 at it underneath the microscope显微镜.
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我把它放到显微镜下,
12:22
That was the paintbrush画笔.
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发现很适合作画笔。
12:24
And whilst同时 I'm painting绘画 I have to be very careful小心,
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上色的时候必须非常小心,
12:26
because the paint涂料 starts启动 to turn into little blobs斑点.
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颜料变成了小液滴,
12:29
And it starts启动 to dry very quickly很快.
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很容易干掉。
12:33
So I have to be very quick.
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我必须动作很快,
12:36
If I'm not, it will end结束 up looking
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否则,它就会看上去
12:39
not like what it's supposed应该 to look like.
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不像我想要的样子。
12:41
It could end结束 up looking like Humpty矮胖 Dumpty矮胖子 or somebody else其他.
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它可能会看上去像汉普蒂·邓普蒂(蛋壳先生)或者别的什么人。
12:46
So I have to be very very careful小心.
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所以我得非常小心。
12:48
This one took me approximately,
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这个雕塑花了我大概
12:52
I would say, six to seven weeks.
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六七个星期左右。
12:55
My work, rough estimate估计,
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粗略估计,我的作品
12:57
sometimes有时 five, six to seven weeks;
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一般会花五周,六周或七周时间。
13:00
you can't always anticipate预料.
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有时也很难说。
13:04
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
13:11
As you can see,
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如你们所见,
13:13
that's Charlton查尔顿 Heston赫斯顿 brought down to size尺寸.
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这是缩微的查尔顿·赫斯顿。
13:15
(Laughter笑声)
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(观众笑)
13:22
He says to me, "Willard威拉德" --
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他在对我说:“维拉德,”
13:24
You can see him saying, "Why me?"
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你们可以看到他在对我说,“为什么是我?”
13:28
I says, "I enjoyed享受 your film电影. That's why."
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我的回答是,“因为我喜欢你演的电影。”
13:30
As you can see, there's an aphid fly there.
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你们可以看到,那边有一只蚜蝇。
13:34
That's just to show显示 the scale规模
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放在那儿是为了显示出照片的放大比例
13:36
and the actual实际 size尺寸 of the sculpture雕塑.
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和雕塑的真实大小。
13:39
I would say it probably大概 measures措施 ...
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我想大概是……
13:44
a quarter25美分硬币 of a millimeter毫米.
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四分之一毫米吧。
13:46
In America美国 they say a period stop.
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美国人把句号称作“period stop”,
13:48
So say if you cut a period stop in half,
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如果你把一个句号切成两半,
13:51
a full充分 stop, that's about the size尺寸 of the whole整个 thing.
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一个句号的一半,大概就是这个雕塑的体积。
13:55
It's made制作 -- the chariot is made制作 of gold.
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双轮战车是纯金制成的,
13:59
And Charlton查尔顿 Heston赫斯顿 is made制作 of a floating漂浮的 fiber纤维,
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查尔顿·赫斯顿则是用一根漂浮的纤维做的。
14:03
which哪一个 I took out of the air空气.
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我从空气里收集到的一根纤维。
14:05
When the sunlight阳光 comes through通过 the window窗口 you see these little fibers纤维.
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当阳光照进窗户的时候,你会看到一些细小的纤维。
14:08
And what I normally一般 do is walk步行 'round'回合 a room房间 --
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一般我都会这样在屋里四处走动,
14:11
(Laughter笑声) --
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(观众笑)
14:15
trying to find one. And then I put it underneath the microscope显微镜.
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试图收集一根纤维,然后我就把它放到显微镜下。
14:18
I remember记得 one time I was doing it, and the window窗口 was open打开.
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我记得有一次,窗户开着,我正在四处走动,
14:21
And there was a lady淑女 standing常设 by the bus总线 stop.
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公交车站旁站着一位女士,
14:23
And she saw me walking步行 around like this.
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她看见我这样在屋里转来转去。
14:25
(Laughter笑声)
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(观众笑)
14:28
And then she looked看着 at me.
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她有些惊讶地看着我,
14:30
And then I went ...
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于是我就……(假装打个招呼)
14:35
And then she went, "Hmm, OK, he's not mad."
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她就走开了,想着“嗯,还好,他没疯。”
14:38
Yeah, to actually其实 do this thing --
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那么,这个作品是怎么完成的呢——
14:41
the actual实际 chariot is made制作 of gold.
276
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战车是纯金的。
14:44
I had a 24-karat-karat gold ring.
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我有一枚24K的金戒指。
14:46
And I cut off a little flake薄片 of gold.
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我从上面切下一小片金子,
14:48
And I bent弯曲 it 'round'回合,
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加以切削,弯成环形,
14:50
and made制作 it into the chariot.
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然后做成战车的模样。
14:52
And the horse is made制作 from nylon尼龙.
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马是尼龙做的。
14:54
And the spider's蜘蛛 web卷筒纸 is for the reins on the horse.
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马的缰绳是蛛丝做的。
14:57
To get the symmetrical对称 shape形状 of the horse
283
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做出匀称的马的造型
14:59
was very difficult,
284
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非常难。
15:01
because I had to get the horse to rear up
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因为马前蹄扬起,我必须让马表现出跃起的姿态,
15:03
and look as though虽然 it was in some kind of action行动.
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看上去有动感。
15:05
When I did this one,
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当我在做这个作品的时候,
15:07
a gentleman绅士 seen看到 it and said to me,
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有位先生见到了,他对我说,
15:09
"There's no way you can do this, you must必须 have used some kind of machine.
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“你不可能靠手把它做出来,你肯定用了某种机器。
15:12
There's no way a man can do that.
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人手不可能做出这样的雕塑,
15:14
It must必须 be a machine."
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肯定是机器做的。”
15:16
So I says, "OK then, if you say it's a machine ..."
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我回答说:“好吧,如果你一定要说是机器做的话……”
15:20
(Laughter笑声)
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(观众笑)
15:26
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
15:32
That one took me approximately six weeks.
295
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这个作品花了我大概六周的时间。
15:40
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
15:46
The most famous著名 statue雕像 in the world世界.
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世界上最著名的雕像。
15:49
This one, I would say,
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我得说,这个
15:51
was a serious严重 challenge挑战.
299
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的确是个挑战。
15:54
(Laughter笑声)
300
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(观众笑)
16:05
Because I had to put the torch火炬 on the top最佳.
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因为我必须把火炬放在最顶上。
16:08
That one is, more or less, the same相同 type类型 of process处理.
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制作的过程和前面的多少有些类似。
16:12
The bottom底部 of it is carved from a grain粮食 of sand,
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雕像的基座由一粒沙子雕刻而成。
16:18
because I wanted to get a bit of the stone effect影响.
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因为我想让它有一点石头的质感。
16:20
I used a microscopic显微 shard碎片 of diamond钻石
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我用一片非常微小的钻石
16:23
to actually其实 carve雕刻 the actual实际 base基础.
306
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雕刻出基座。
16:25
Well, I can look at this one and I can be very proud骄傲 of this,
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看着这个作品,我总是感到非常自豪。
16:29
because that statue雕像 has always sort分类 of
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这座雕像总是
16:31
kept不停 an image图片 in my head of, you know,
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萦绕在我的脑海中,
16:33
the beginning开始 of people coming未来 to America美国.
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让我想起初到美国的人们。
16:37
So it's sort分类 of Ellis埃利斯 Island, and seeing眼看 America美国 for the first time.
311
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就像埃利斯岛是第一次看到美国的地方,
16:41
And that's the first thing they saw.
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这座雕像是他们看见的第一座标志性物体。
16:43
So I wanted to have that little image图片.
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我一直想拥有那么一个雕像,
16:45
And this is it.
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现在我做到了。
16:50
(Laughter笑声)
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(观众笑)
16:57
And we all know that is the Hulk废船.
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众所周知,这个是绿巨人。
17:00
I wanted to create创建 movement运动 in the eye of a needle.
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我起初想在针眼里创造一种动感。
17:03
Because we know we see needles,
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我们都见过针,
17:05
but people aren't familiar with the eye of a needle
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但人们对针眼却并不那么熟悉,
17:07
apart距离 from putting a thread线 through通过 it.
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除了穿针引线时会看看。
17:09
So I broke打破 the needle.
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我把针眼打开了,
17:11
And made制作 a needle look like
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让它看上去像
17:14
the Hulk's废船的 broken破碎 it.
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是被绿巨人撑开的。
17:16
It's -- I had to make little holes
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它是……我得在针头底部扎一些小洞,
17:17
in the base基础 of the needle, to shove his feet in.
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以安放绿巨人的脚。
17:19
So most of my work, I don't use glue.
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我的绝大部分作品都没有使用胶水。
17:22
They go in with their own拥有 friction摩擦.
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它们只是靠自己的摩擦力固定在一起。
17:24
And that's how I managed管理 to do it.
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这就是我如何做到的。
17:26
As you can see, he's looking at the moment时刻. He's got a little grimace鬼脸 on his face面对.
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你们可以看到,他正瞪着眼睛,面部有点狰狞。
17:28
And his mouth must必须 be probably大概 about
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他的嘴巴大概有
17:32
three microns微米.
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三微米左右。
17:35
So the eyes眼睛 are probably大概 about one micron微米 or something.
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眼睛大概是一微米左右。
17:41
That ship there,
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那艘船
17:45
that's made制作 from 24-karat-karat gold.
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是由24K黄金雕刻而成。
17:47
And I normally一般 rig操纵 it with the web卷筒纸 of a money spider蜘蛛.
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通常我会用皿蛛的网丝做帆索,
17:51
But I had to rig操纵 it with strands of glue.
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但这次我不得不用胶水拉出的丝,
17:54
Because the web卷筒纸 of the spider蜘蛛, it was sending发出 me insane,
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那些蛛丝已经让我快要疯了,
17:57
because I couldn't不能 get the web卷筒纸 to move移动 off.
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我没法把它们分开。
18:00
And that's 24-karat-karat gold. And it's constructed. I built内置 it.
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这是24K纯金,我把它们组装起来,搭建起来,
18:03
Constructed each plank of gold.
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把每一块金片组装起来。
18:07
And the whole整个 thing is sort分类 of symmetrical对称.
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整体看上去还算匀称。
18:10
The flag had to be made制作 out of little strands of gold.
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旗帜是小金丝做的。
18:13
It's almost几乎 like doing a surgical外科 operation手术 to get this thing right.
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做这个几乎就得像做外科手术一样精确。
18:21
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
18:27
As you can see, dressage盛装舞步.
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这个是,盛装舞步。
18:31
(Laughter笑声)
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(观众笑)
18:33
It's something I wanted to do just to show显示 how I could get the symmetrical对称 shape形状.
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我做这个小东西只是想看看如何做出匀称的造型。
18:36
The actual实际 rigging索具 on the reins on the horse
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马的缰绳等索具
18:39
are made制作 from the same相同 sort分类 of thing.
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都是用同等材质制造的。
18:41
And that was doneDONE with a particle粒子 from my shirt衬衫.
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是从我衬衣上取下的一点点材料。
18:46
And the pinhead针头 I've made制作 green绿色 around there
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大头针头部的绿色草地
18:50
by scraping the particles粒子 off a green绿色 shirt衬衫
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是刮了一点绿衬衫上的材料做的,
18:53
and then pressed压制 onto the needle.
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然后按压在大头针顶部。
18:55
It's very painstaking刻苦 work,
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这是一项非常辛苦细致的工作,
18:57
but the best最好 things come in small packages.
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但是快乐就在这一点一滴中积累起来。
19:00
(Laughter笑声)
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(观众笑)
19:02
Bruno布鲁诺 Giussani吉萨尼: Willard威拉德 Wigan维冈!
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布鲁诺·吉桑尼:维拉德·威根!
19:04
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by Igrain Hu
Reviewed by Zhu Jie

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Willard Wigan - Micro-sculptor
Willard Wigan sculpts figures small enough to fit on the head of a pin. To create these microscopic masterpieces, he works diligently through the stillest hours of the night, between his own heartbeats.

Why you should listen

Willard Wigan has immortalized the Obama family in the eye of a needle and Muhammad Ali on the head of a match. In producing sculptures so incredibly small, he works under a microscope and employs ingenious tools, such as a fly's hair or an ex-girlfriend's eyelash for paintbrushes.

This passion for the diminutive stems from feelings of insignificance in Wigan's childhood. He was severely dyslexic but undiagnosed, and his teachers' harsh words drove him to hide in a nearby shed where he made shoes and hats for his friends, the ants. Today, his art has earned him national honors and critical acclaim, proving that some treasures can't be seen with the naked eye.

More profile about the speaker
Willard Wigan | Speaker | TED.com