10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times And Bad
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目录
“However glorious the history of art, the history of artists is quite another matter.”
—Ben Shahn
Words & phrases
无论艺术史多么辉煌，艺术家的历史又是另一回事。
the other way around 倒过来；从相反方向
You'd think you were the one who did me the favour, and not the other way around.
你会认为是你帮助了我，而不是我帮助了你。
other way around 相反的方向或相反的顺序
She usually reads the book first and then watches the movie, but this time she did it the other way around.
她通常是先读书再看电影，但这次她反过来做了。
slay: v.（以暴力）杀死；<美>（尤用于报章）谋杀；<非正式>给（某人）以极深印象，逗乐（某人）
Those old movies still slay me!
那些老影片依旧让我着迷！
monsters: n.怪物；怪兽；妖怪（monster 的复数形式）
There are monsters outside.
外面有怪兽。
My nominee for one of the dumbest sentences ever spoken about art goes to 60 Minutes commentator Andy Rooney, who said of Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain after his suicide, “No one’s art is better than the person who creates it.”
Words & phrases
我提名的关于艺术的最愚蠢的句子之一是《60分钟》的评论员安迪·鲁尼，他在涅槃乐队主唱库尔特·科本自杀后说:“没有人的艺术比创造它的人更好。”
nominee: n.被提名者，被任命者；（投资等的）名义持有人，注册人；代名人，代名组织
The presidential nominee was advised to choose a woman as a running mate.
有人建议总统候选人找一位女性竞选伙伴。
dumbest:
哑的
蠢的（dumb 的最高级）
This programme disproves the theory that TV, a middlebrow medium, is neither as smart as the smartest films nor as dumb as the dumbest.
该节目不赞同如下理论：作为中等品味媒体的电视既不如最富智慧的电影那样睿智，又不像最笨拙不堪的电影那样笨拙。
commentator
/ ˈkɑːmənteɪtər /n.现场解说员，实况播音员；评论员He achieved celebrity as a sports commentator.
他作为一名体育评论员而享誉四方。
front man 作为幕后人物或名义领导者的人；乐队中的主唱或主要表演者
The CEO is just a front man for the real power behind the company.
这位CEO只是公司背后真正权力的幕后人物。
Take a quick dip into any one of the thousands of years of art history and you’ll find that, no, actually, plenty of great art was made by jerks, creeps, assholes, vampires, perverts, and worse, all of whom left a trail of victims in their wake. To steal a term from Jenny Offill’s Dept. of Speculation, these people are what we call “Art Monsters.”
快速浏览一下几千年的艺术史，你会发现，事实上，很多伟大的艺术作品都是由混蛋、变态、混蛋、吸血鬼、变态甚至更糟的人创作的，他们都留下了一串受害者的痕迹。借用珍妮·奥菲尔(Jenny Offill)的推测部门的话，这些人就是我们所说的“艺术怪物”。
It can be hard and downright painful to grapple with the idea that people we find reprehensible in their personal lives might also be capable of producing work that is beautiful, moving, or useful to us. How we handle and process that information and how we choose to move forward is part of our work.
我们认为在个人生活中应该受到谴责的人，可能也有能力创造出美丽、动人或对我们有用的作品，这一想法很难接受，而且是彻头彻尾的痛苦。我们如何处理和处理这些信息以及我们如何选择前进是我们工作的一部分。
Words & phrases
dip into 伸进……里；翻看……；动用……
I have only had time to dip into the report.
这份报告我来不及细看，只是草草浏览了一遍。
dip:
v.浸，蘸；下降，下沉；把（手）伸入；将（汽车前灯）调为近光；给（动物）洗药浴；减少，降低；（路面）下沉，向下倾斜；浏览，翻看；动用（款项等）；<非正式>扒窃；（将蜡烛芯反复浸入热蜡中）制作（蜡烛）；给（某人）施洗礼
n.（在液体中的）浸，蘸；游泳；减少，下降；调味酱汁，蘸料；向下倾斜处；药浴液；傻瓜，笨蛋；低洼处，凹陷处；翻阅，浏览；涉猎，了解；一勺（的量）；（降而复升的）一动；（上坡前面）短距离的下坡；（与水平方向相比的向下的）倾角；视倾斜；<俚>扒手；<古>（将蜡烛芯反复浸入热蜡中）制作（蜡烛）
A brief dip into history serves to confirm this view.
随便翻阅一下历史就足以证实这种观点。
jerk:
n.急拉，急推；<美，非正式>傻瓜，坏蛋；肌肉抽搐；（举重）挺举；腌制后放在木火上烤的肉；颠簸，震摇
v.急拉，猛推；（举重）挺举过头；制肉干；（用调料浸泡及用木柴火烤）烹饪（猪肉，鸡肉）
adj.腌泡过的
I'm such a jerk.
我真是个混蛋。
creeps:
n.缺磷症；佝偻病；毛骨悚然的感觉
v.爬；蔓延（creep 的第三人称单数形式）
The rabbit creeps away.
兔子悄悄溜走了。
asshole
n.屁眼儿，肛门；令人讨厌的人
adj.愚蠢的；窝囊的；可恶的
I'm going to enjoy kicking these assholes off campus.
我很高兴吧这些蠢货踢出校园。
pervert:
v.使走样，败坏；腐蚀，使堕落；使性欲反常，使性变态；歪曲，曲解
n.性变态者，性欲反常者
I hope the police track down these perverts and charge them with rape.
我希望警方追查这些性变态者，并以强奸罪起诉他们。
a trail of 一串：一连串的物体或事件。
The detective followed a trail of footprints to solve the mystery.
侦探通过跟踪一串脚印来解开谜团。
in sth.'s wake 在某事物的影响下：在某个事件或行动之后，随之而来的结果或影响。
When fish swim, they leave little swirling vortices in their wake.
当鱼儿游来游去时，在它们的航迹里会留下小小的漩涡。
speculation: n.投机，投机买卖；猜测，推测，推断
I am tired of all the speculation.
我厌烦了所有这些猜测。
downright
adj.（强调反面的或令人不快的事物）彻头彻尾的，十足的；（人的举止或行为）直截了当的，生硬的
adv.（强调反面的或令人不快的事物）彻头彻尾地，十足地
The man was downright rude to us.
这个家伙对我们无礼至极。
grapple
/ ˈɡræpl /
v.扭打，搏斗；努力解决问题，应对困境（grapple with）；抓住，抓牢（某人）；<古>用抓钩抓住
n.格斗，摔跤；摔跤比赛；抓具，抓钩；抓斗机
grapple with 努力应对：与某事物搏斗或努力应对。
The new government has yet to grapple with the problem of air pollution.
新政府还需尽力解决空气污染问题。
reprehensible: adj.应斥责的；应该谴责的
I thought that is really reprehensible.
我觉得这是应该谴责的。
Now, we all have our own little Art Monsters inside us. We’re all complicated. We all have personal shortcomings. We’re all a little creepy, to a certain degree. If we didn’t believe that we could be a little better in our art than we are in our lives, then what, really, would be the point of art?
What is heartening right now, I think, is that our culture is having its moment of reckoning with Art Monsters. The terrible myth that being an absent parent, a cheater, an abuser, an addict, is somehow a prerequisite to or somehow excused by great work is slowly being torn down. If making great art ever gave anyone a Get Out of Jail Free card for their monstrous failures as a human being, I think those days are going away. And good riddance to them. Art Monsters are not necessary or glamorous and they are not to be condoned, pardoned, or emulated.
Words & phrases
那种糟糕的说法正在慢慢地被打破：一个不称职的父母，一个骗子，一个虐待者，一个瘾君子，在某种程度上是伟大工作的先决条件或某种程度上的借口。
如果创作伟大的艺术作品曾经给那些犯了滔天大罪的人一张免于牢狱之灾的卡片，我想那些日子已经一去不复返了。
艺术怪物不是必要的，也不是迷人的，他们不应该被宽恕、宽恕或模仿。
creepy adj.<非正式>怪异的，令人毛骨悚然的；爬行的
As soon as you get them, you get loads of creepy guys.
一旦你得到他们，你就得到许多令人毛骨悚然的家伙。
heartening: adj.鼓舞人心的，令人振奋的
It is heartening to see the determination of these young people.
看到这些年轻人如此坚决真令人鼓舞。
reckon with 结算账目或索赔；处理，应对；考虑到
We'll have to reckon with the consequences of our actions.
我们必须应对我们行为的后果。
reckoning:
n.计算；清算；算账
v.计算；认为；指望（reckon 的现在分词）
The mechanical clock kept equal hours, and this implied a new time reckoning.
机械钟的时间是一样的，这就意味着要进行新的时间计算。
cheater: n.骗子；背叛者；眼镜
He was a ladies' man. A cheater. A player.
他曾是个花花公子，一个骗子，一个四处寻欢作乐的浪子。
abuser: n.滥用者；施虐者
She forgave her abuser.
她原谅了她的虐待者。
addict:
n.（尤指毒品）上瘾者，瘾君子；<非正式>对……入迷的人
v.使上瘾，使沉迷
He's only 24 years old and a drug addict.
他只有24岁，可已经是一个瘾君子。
prerequisite:
n.先决条件，前提；预备课程
adj.先决的，必备的
Good self-esteem is a prerequisite for a happy life.
良好的自尊心是幸福生活的先决条件。
torn down: 拆除、摧毁或破坏
Most of the older buildings have been torn down and replaced by modern monstrosities.
绝大部分旧建筑已被拆除，取而代之的是奇丑无比的现代建筑物。
get out of jail free 免于惩罚：指在某些游戏中的特殊卡牌，使用后可以让玩家免于惩罚或处罚。也可用于比喻，表示某人或某事物可以免于惩罚或处罚。
He thought he could get out of jail free, but the judge sentenced him to five years in prison.
他以为自己可以免于惩罚，但法官判他五年监禁。
monstrous
/ ˈmɑːnstrəs /adj.不公正道德的，残忍的；巨大的，庞大的；丑陋的，骇人的"It's monstrous!" Jackie fumed.
“这太不像话了！”杰基表达了气愤。
riddance: n.摆脱；驱逐；解除
He's gone back to Cleveland in a huff, and good riddance.
他已经怒气冲冲地回克利夫兰了，真是谢天谢地！
glamorous:
/ ˈɡlæmərəs /adj.迷人的，富有魅力的Smoking is still attractive to many young people who see it as glamorous.
吸烟仍然对很多年轻人有诱惑力，他们将之视为魅力标志。
condoned: v.宽恕；原谅（condone 的过去分词）
Terrorism can never be condoned.
决不能容忍恐怖主义。
pardoned:
n.赦免；宽恕，原谅；（中世纪欧洲出售的）赎罪券，赦罪符
v.赦免；宽恕，原谅；免除（债务）；请原谅（表示礼貌，用于所问或所说的话有可能被认为无礼时）
int.（用于请求别人重复某事）什么，请再说一遍；对不起，不好意思（发出不雅声音之后的道歉用语）；你说什么？（表示惊讶或者受到冒犯）
The convict was pardoned after serving five years of his sentence.
罪犯服刑5年才获赦免。
Great artists help people look at their lives with fresh eyes and a sense of possibility. “The purpose of being a serious writer is to keep people from despair,” writes Sarah Manguso. “If people read your work and, as a result, choose life, then you are doing your job.”
Quite simply: Art is supposed to make our lives better.
This is as true for the making of the art as it is for the art itself. If making your art is ruining anyone’s life, including your own, it is not worth making.
“There’s always going to be a temptation for people who are suffering to believe that to become an artist would be the solution when, in fact, it may be more of the problem,” says writer and psychologist Adam Phillips. “There are a number of people whom you might think of as casualties of the myth of the artist. They really should have done something else.”
Words & phrases
艺术应该让我们的生活更美好。
temptation
/ tempˈteɪʃ(ə)n /n.引诱，诱惑；诱惑人的东西；（魔鬼对耶稣的）引诱（the Temptation）An expensive bicycle is a temptation to thieves.
高档自行车对窃贼是个诱惑。
casualties: n.伤亡人员；受害者（casualty 的复数）
Casualties remained remarkably low.
伤亡人数依然很少。
You might not be meant to be an artist. “You might be meant to teach kids math or raise money for a food bank or start a company that makes Rubik’s Cubes for babies,” writes comedian Mike Birbiglia. “Don’t rule out quitting. There is going to be an insane amount of work ahead, and your time might be spent better elsewhere.”
If making your art is adding net misery to the world, walk away and do something else. Find something else to do with your time, something that makes you and the people around you feel more alive.
The world doesn’t necessarily need more great artists. It needs more decent human beings.
Art is for life, not the other way around.
Words & phrases
不要排除辞职的可能性。前面的工作多得惊人，你把时间花在其他地方可能会更好。
它需要更多正派的人。
be meant to be 注定要成为；命中注定
These letters seem to be meant to be read out loud.
这些书信似乎需要大声朗读出来。
rule out 排除、消除或阻止某事发生
He refused to rule out the possibility of a tax increase.
他拒绝排除增税的可能性。
net
n.网，网状物；因特网；球网，球门网；广播网，通讯网；安全网；捕鱼总量；净赚，纯利；（板球）练球场；（板球）一次练球；网眼织物；陷阱；候选人的选择面
adj.净得的；净重的；最后的，最终的
v.净赚，净得；设法获得，巧妙地做；（用网）捕捉；（篮球或足球）得分，进（球）；用网覆盖；（计算时）扣除……（以得出净额）
adv.净赚地
The group had a net profit margin of 30% last year.
该集团去年的净利润空间为30%。
misery
/ ˈmɪzəri /n.痛苦，苦难；穷困，悲惨境遇；<英，非正式>老发牢骚的人Fame brought her nothing but misery.
名声只给她带来了痛苦。
“I am for an art that helps old ladies across the street.”
—Claes Oldenburg