Art Is How We Justify Our Existence藝術是人類存在的理由

大衛·卓納

Our technologies are tools. But our creative works carry the wisdom of the world. 科技是工具，而富有創造力的作品則是人類智慧的體現。

When I agreed to write this essay， little did I know that when I finally sat down to tackle it all my favorite museums would be closed to the public， along with every library， theater， concert hall and movie house and， of course， the galleries I own. Its a bit like our world faded abruptly and unexpectedly from vivid color to black and white.

But it dawned on me that there could hardly be a better moment to reflect upon the importance of art—or， better still， culture itself—than in the face of its almost complete physical absence.

Art is not something that happens at the periphery of our lives. Its actually the thing thats right there in the center， a veritable1 engine. Its like my mother once said： “Die Kunst ist unsere Daseinsberechtigung.2” Art is how we justify our existence.

Weve been creating art for much longer than recorded history. The earliest surviving visual art， as in the cave paintings of Sulawesi in Indonesia and El Castillo3 in Spain， date back to roughly 40，000 years ago. I have to assume theres earlier work that we dont yet know about. Our great rivals in the evolutionary race， the Neanderthals4， were stronger， bigger and had larger skulls than us， but left behind no sophisticated tools and very little in the way of artifacts. One argument holds that the Neanderthal imagination was limited， and that Homo sapiens5 more complex and adventurous way of thinking—our creativity—is what moved us to the forefront among the human species.

For me， art is not just sensory stimulation. I believe its most gratifying as an intellectual pursuit. Great art is， by definition6， complex， and it expects work from us when we engage with it. There is this wonderful moment， one that I have missed so much lately， when you stand before a work of art and， suddenly， the work is speaking back to you. Great works carry with them so many messages and meanings. And often those messages survive for centuries. Or—even more mysteriously—they change as the years and decades pass， leaving their power and import somehow undiminished.

Velázquez7s “Las Meninas”8 comes to mind， as does the intense pleasure Ive experienced every time Ive seen it， at different stages of my life， at the Prado museum9 in Madrid. Thinking about “Las Meninas” today， amid the new reality of a pandemic， reminds me how much I look forward to seeing works of art in their physical spaces again. There is no substitute for the artworks materiality， which ultimately and invariably relates to our senses， our bodies and our analyt-ical prowess and intellectual curiosity.

The appreciation of art is， more often than not， a communal experience. It brings us together—when we go to museums， to openings， to concerts， to movies or to the ballet or theater. And we argue， and sometimes we fight， but we certainly dont wage war over artistic expression. I would contend that art and culture are the most important vehicles by which we come to understand one another. They make us curious about that which is different or unfamiliar， and ultimately allow us to accept it， even embrace it.

Lately， a discussion has raged about how art and culture stack up against10 the hard sciences. More ominously， the question is weighing on11 the colleges and universities of the United States， where the humanities are playing an ever smaller role. Thats a dangerous proposition. While the sciences have brought into this world so many wonderful things， they are also implicated12 when it comes to our most sinister achievements—nuclear warfare， genetic manipulation and the degradation of nature.

While art can reach into the darkest places of the human psyche， it does so to help us understand and hopefully transcend13. Art lifts us up. In the end， I think its mission is simply to make us better people.

The machines have proven to be absolutely amazing during a pandemic， connecting us， informing us and entertaining us， but in the end they are limited. Theyre born of science and they have no imaginations. We have to imagine for them.

If we Homo sapiens are challenged again， it will not be by the Neanderthal—nor by any other species—but by the machines we invented ourselves. Winning that battle cant be done without firing up the most important engines we possess—culture and creativity—because reason is born out of our cultural experiences. Works of art carry with them the wisdom of the world.? ? ? ? ? ? ?■

應允寫這篇文章時，我并不知道自己終于坐下動筆之際，所有我最喜愛的博物館，連同圖書館、劇院、音樂廳還有電影院，會全部停止對外開放。當然，我自己的那些畫廊也一樣。這有點像整個世界突然之間就褪去鮮艷色彩，只剩下黑白，沒有任何征兆。

但我慢慢意識到，恰恰是幾乎完全無緣欣賞實體藝術的當下，最適合認真思考藝術的重要性（思考文化的重要性就更恰逢其會了）。

藝術在人的一生中并非可有可無，而是位居中心，堪稱生命的發動機。正如我母親曾說：“藝術是我們存在的理由。”藝術是人類存在的理由。

人類創作藝術的時間要遠長于有記載的歷史。印尼蘇拉威西島和西班牙埃爾卡斯蒂略史前洞穴的壁畫是現存最古老的視覺藝術作品，可追溯至大約四萬年以前。想必還存在更早的作品，只是我們暫未發現。在人科物種的演化競賽中，尼安德特人是我們智人的強勁對手，他們更為強壯，體型更大，頭骨也更大，但卻沒有留下復雜的工具，也沒什么手工制品。有種觀點認為，尼安德特人想象力有限，而智人憑借更為復雜、更具開拓精神的思維方式，即我們所說的創造力，在人類種群中脫穎而出。

對我來說，藝術絕不只是感官刺激。我認為藝術更是對智慧的追求，讓人感到無比滿足。偉大的藝術本質上是復雜的，我們需要付出努力才能理解。當站在藝術品跟前，突然覺得作品在與自己對話，那個時刻當真妙不可言，我近來分外懷念這種體驗。偉大的作品寓意豐富，這些寓意往往歷久而不衰。更為奇妙的是，隨著歲月流逝，時代更迭，作品的寓意會隨之發生改變，而其影響力和重要性卻分毫不減。

此刻，我不禁想起委拉斯凱茲的《宮娥》，內心隨即產生極度的愉悅，人生的幾個不同階段，我都曾在馬德里的普拉多博物館看這幅畫，每次都能體會到這種感覺。如今疫情流行，在新的現實環境下想到這幅畫，讓我意識到自己多么渴望能再次在場館內欣賞藝術作品。沒有什么能替代藝術品的客觀實體，因為欣賞藝術品最終必然需要用到我們的感官、身體、分析能力和求知欲。

藝術欣賞往往是一種群體活動。參觀博物館，出席開幕式，聆聽音樂會，上影院觀影，觀看芭蕾或戲劇演出，我們因藝術齊聚一堂，也就藝術的表達各抒己見，有時還會爭辯，但顯然不會為此發動戰爭。我認為，文化藝術是我們得以了解彼此的最重要工具，讓我們對不同于自身或不熟悉的存在抱有好奇之心，最終愿意承認，甚而欣然接受這樣的事物。

最近，人們就文化藝術與自然科學孰高孰低展開激烈爭論。令人倍感沉重的是，這個問題讓人文學科影響力本就日漸式微的美國高校飽受壓力。這一論題非常危險。科學固然為這個世界創造了許多奇跡，但說到人類活動造成的最邪惡結果——核戰、基因操控、自然環境惡化，科學卻也難辭其咎。

盡管藝術可以抵達人心最陰暗的角落，它也由此讓我們學會理解他人，有望突破自我。藝術讓我們提升境界。我認為藝術的最終目的只為讓我們變得更好。

機器在疫情期間發揮的巨大作用確實令人贊嘆，使人們能夠保持聯系、獲取信息、娛樂放松，但它們畢竟不是萬能的。機器是科學的產物，沒有想象力。想象只能由人類替它們完成。

如果說我們智人會再次遭遇挑戰，挑戰不會來自尼安德特人，也不會來自其他物種，只會來自人類自己發明的機器。要想不被機器打敗，必須開動我們最為重要的馬達，即文化和創造力，因為文化體驗能產生理性思考。藝術作品正是人類智慧的體現。? ? ? ? ? ? ?□

（譯者單位：南京曉莊學院）

1 veritable不折不扣的;名副其實的。? 2此句對應“Art is our raison dêtre.”。

3埃爾卡斯蒂略史前洞穴位于西班牙坎塔布里亞（Cantabria）山中小鎮蓬特維耶斯戈（Puente? Viesgo）的卡斯蒂略山（Monte Castillo）中。這一帶有不少史前洞穴壁畫遺址，包括埃爾卡斯蒂略洞穴（El Castillo Cave，又稱Cave of the Castle）、拉斯莫奈達斯洞穴（Las Monedas Cave）、拉帕西加洞穴（La Pasiega Cave）等，這些洞穴統稱為“卡斯蒂略山洞穴群”（Caves of Monte Castillo）。? 4尼安德特人，簡稱尼人，因其化石發現于德國尼安德特山谷得名，后被智人取代，和智人屬于人屬下的不同種。? 5智人，人屬下的唯一現存物種。? 6 by definition根據自身特點;從本質上來講。

7指迭戈·委拉斯凱茲（Diego Velázquez，1599—1660），17世紀巴洛克時期西班牙畫家，以畫肖像畫著稱。? 8也譯《侍女》，為委拉斯凱茲創作的油畫。? 9普拉多博物館位于西班牙馬德里，是世界上最偉大的博物館之一，也是收藏西班牙繪畫作品最全面、最權威的美術館。

10 stack up against（和類似事物）相比，比高低。? 11 weigh on sb/sth（問題、責任等）使（某人）焦慮不安，使（某人）擔憂。? 12 implicate牽連，涉及。? 13 transcend超越，超出（尤指界限）。