TED演讲实录73-My life as a work of art

My day starts just like yours.

我每天的开始方式和你们一样。

When I wake up in the morning,I check my phone, and then I have a cup of coffee.But then my day truly starts. It may not be like yours, because I live my life as an artwork Picture yourself in a giant jewelry box with all the beautiful things that you have ever seen in your life. Then imagine that your body is a canvas. And on that canvas,you have a mission to create a masterpiece using the contents of your giant jewelry box. Once you've created your masterpiece, you might think,"Wow,I created that. This is who I am today." Then you would pick up your house keys, walk out the door into the real world, maybe take public transport to the center of the town .. Possibly walk along the streets or even go shopping.

当我一早醒来，我会看看手机，然后来一杯咖啡。可再之后，我的一天才算真正开始。也许和你们不一样了，因为我把自己活成了一件艺术品。试想一下你们置身于一个满是你们这辈子见识过的美好事物的巨型珠宝盒中。再把你们的身体想象成一块画布。在这画布上用你们 巨型珠宝盒里的珍藏来创作一份艺术杰作是你们的任务。当你们完成了这杰作，你们会想，“噢，我做完了。这就是今天的我。”然后你们拾起房门钥匙，出门步入现实世界，要么是去搭乘前往市中心的公交…… 要么是去遛弯儿，亦或是去购物。

That's my life, every day. When I walk out the door, these artworks are me.I am art.I have lived as art my entire adult life.Living as art is how I became myself.

我的生活，天天如此。当我走出房门，这些艺术品就是我。我就是艺术。自打成年后我就把自己当成艺术品来生活。作为艺术品而生活成就了现在的我。

I was brought up in a small village called Fillongley, in England, and it was last mentioned in the "Domesday Book," so that's the mentality.

我在一个叫做菲朗利的英格兰小村庄长大，这地方最近一次被提及还是在《末日审判书》里，就是这么个情况。

I was raised by my grandparents, and they were antiques dealers, so I grew up surrounded by history and beautiful things.I had the most amazing dress-up box. So as you can imagine, it started then. I moved to London when I was 17 to become a model. And then I went to study photography.I wasn't really happy with myself at the time, so I was always looking for escapism.I studied the works of David LaChapelle and Steven Arnold, photographers who both curated and created worlds that were mind- blowing to me.So I decided one day to cross over from the superficial fashion world to the superficial art world.

我是由爷爷奶奶带大的，而他们*是古董买卖，所以历史与美的事物伴随着我的成长。我有着最棒的扮装盒。那么可想而知，事情就这么开始了。17岁时我搬到了伦敦当模特。而后又去学了摄影。当时我对自己并不满意，所以我总是在寻求着逃避现实。我研究过大卫·拉切贝尔和史蒂文· 阿诺德的作品，他俩都是提炼且创造出令我思维炸裂的影像世界的摄影家。所以我决定有朝一日我要从这肤浅的时尚界跨界转行到那肤浅的艺术界。

I decided to live my life as a work of art.I spend hours, sometimes months, making things. My go-to tool is a safety pin, like this --They're never big enough.

我决定要以一件艺术作品的身份生活。我会花上数小时，乃至数月的时间搞创作。我最称手的工具是安全别针，就像这个——我总嫌它们不够大。

And I use my fabrics time and time again, so I recycle everything that I use.When I get dressed I'm guided by color, texture and shape.I rarely have a theme.I find beautiful objects from all over the world, and I curate them into 3-D tapestries over a base layer that covers my whole body shape … because I'm not very happy with my body.

我还会反复使用我的布料，所以我得回收我用过的每样东西。当我着装时，我会让色彩，质感和形状来引导我。我很少会有主题。我在世界各地寻找美丽的物件，并把它们攒成三维挂毯，披在一件能遮掩我整个体型的打底套件上……因为我对自己的体形不是很满意。

I ask myself,"Should I take something off or should I put something on? 100 pieces, maybe?" And sometimes, I do that.I promise you it's not too uncomfortable -- well,just a little --

我会问自己，“我是该取下点什么呢? 还是该添加点什么?再添100件，可好?”有的时候，我就这么做了。我保证这也没多难受——好吧，也就有那么点——

I might have a safety pin poking at me sometimes when I'm having a conversation with you, so I'll kind of go off --

在和你们交流的时候也许有根安全别针正戳着我，于是我觉得快绷不住了——

It usually takes me about 20 minutes to get ready, which nobody ever believes. It's true -- sometimes. So, it's my version of a t-shirt and jeans.

我通常会花上20分钟左右来完成造型，而这没人相信。有时候——是可以的。所以，这就是我眼中的休闲装。

When I get dressed,I build like an architect.I carefully place things till I feel they belong. Then,I get a lot of my ideas from lucid dreaming.I actually go to sleep to come up with my ideas, and I've taught myself to wake up to write them down.I wear things till they fall apart, and then, I give them a new life. The gold outfit, for example -- it was the outfit that I wore to the Houses of Parliament in London. It's made of armor, sequins and broken jewelry,and I was the first person to wear armor to Parliament since Oliver Cromwell banned it in the 17th century. Things don't need to be expensive to be beautiful.Try making outfits out of bin liners or trash you found out on the streets. You never know, they might end up on the pages of "Vogue."

我会像建筑师一样穿配衣服。我会谨 慎地把每样服饰配在我觉得他们该在的地方。然后，我会在清醒梦中获得许多灵感。为了寻求灵感我还真会去睡觉，我已练就了一手为了记录灵感而主动从梦中醒来的本事。我会把服饰穿到支离破碎为止，然后，再给予它们新的生命力。就拿这件黄金外衣来说——我就是穿着这件外衣去了伦敦的国会大厦。它由盔甲，亮片和破碎的珠宝制成，而我是自从奥利弗· 克伦威尔在17世纪下令禁止在国会里穿戴盔甲后第一个这么穿的人。能让事物变美的不是高昂的价格。我们也可以试着用垃圾袋或是街边捡的破烂来制作外衣。指不定它们结果就登上《时尚》杂志了。

There's over 6,000 pieces in my collection, ranging from 2,000-year-old Roman rings to ancient Buddhist artifacts.I believe in sharing what I do and what I have with others, soI decided to create an art exhibition, which is currently traveling to museums around the world.

我的藏品已超过6000件，从2000年前的罗马指环到古代佛具。我相信与他人分享我所从事的事业和我所拥有的东西是有意义的，所以我决定创办一个艺术展，也就是目前正巡展于世界各地的博物馆之间的这个艺术展。

It contains an army of me --life-size sculptures as you can see behind me, they're here -- they are my life,really. They're kind of like 3-D tapestries of my existence as living as art. They contain plastic crystals mixed with diamonds, beer cans and royal silks all in one look. I like the fact that the viewer can never make the assumption about what's real and what's fake.I find it important to explore and share cultures through my works.I use clothing as a means to investigate and appreciate people from all over the world.

它展示了一支由我个人组成的军队——一个个如我身后的塑像这般的真人大小的形象。就在这儿——说真的，它们就是我的生命。它们就像是照着我而造的三维挂毯，如艺术般鲜活。一眼望去你就能看到它们中包含了混了钻石的塑胶水晶，啤酒罐和御用丝绸。我喜欢这样一种感觉，观众永远无法区分真假。我觉得通过我的作品来探讨与分享文化是很重要的。我把穿配衣服当作是一种研究与欣赏来自世界各地的人的一种手段。

Sometimes, people think I'm a performer or a drag queen. I'm not. Although my life appears to be a performance, it's not. It's very real. People respond to me as they would any other type of artwork. Many people are fascinated and engaged. Some people walk around me, staring, shy at first. Then they come up to me and they say they love or absolutely hate what I do.I sometimes respond, and other times I let the art talk for itself. The most annoying thing in the world is when people want to touch the artwork. But I understand. But like a lot of contemporary art, many people are dismissive.Some people are critical, others are abusive.I think it comes from the fear of the different -- the unknown. There are so many reactions to what I do, and I've just learned not to take them personally.

有时候，人们会认为我要么是个戏精，要么是个女装癖。我不是。尽管我的生活看着像是一场戏，但它不是戏。它很真实。人们会像回应任何一种其它艺术形式一样来回应我。许多人对此着迷，受此吸引。有的人会走近我，盯着我，一开始他们还不太好意思。然后他们会靠上来，告诉我他们是喜爱还是十分厌恶我的所作所为。我有时也会回应，而别的时候艺术本身就会为自己发言。世上最恼人的事儿就是会有人想摸一摸艺术品。但我也理解。可就像许多当代艺术一样，很多人对此不屑一顾。有的人严辞以对，有的人恶言相对。我想这是出于对“未知”这种异类的恐惧。对我所作所为的回应可多了，而我也才学会不要把这些回应往心里去。

I've never lived as Daniel Lismore, the person. I've lived as Daniel Lismore, the artwork. And I've faced every obstacle as an artwork. It can be hard … especially if your wardrobe takes up a 40-foot container, three storage units and 30 boxes from IKEA --and sometimes, it can be very difficult, getting into cars, and sometimes -- well, this morning I didn't fit through my bathroom door, so that was a problem.

我从没有把自己活成我本人，丹尼尔·利斯莫尔。我把自己活成了一件叫丹尼尔·利斯莫尔的艺术品。而我也以艺术品的身份面对了每一次挫折。这确实不容易……尤其是在你的战袍得占用一个40英尺的收纳箱、三个储物间和30个宜家买的盒子时。有的时候，要上车都会是一件艰难的事情，还有的时候…… 对了，今天早上我就没能挤进我家洗手间的门，所以这也是个问题。

What does it mean to be yourself? People say it all the time, but what does it truly mean, and why does it matter? How does life change when you choose to be unapologetically yourself?

“做自己”是什么意思?人们老把这话挂在嘴边，但这话究竟是什么意思，这话有什么了不起的?当你选择无怨无悔地做自己时生活怎么就改变了?

I've had to face struggles and triumphs whilst living my life as art. I've been put on private jets and flown around the world.My work's been displayed in prestigious museums, and I've had the opportunity -- that is my grandparents, by the way, they're the people that raised me, and there I am --

在我把艺术当作身份的这段生命里我曾面对过磨难也面对过辉煌。我曾被请上私人飞机飞行于世界各地。我的作品曾被陈列在举世闻名的博物馆中，我有过这样的机遇…… 顺便一提，这是我的爷爷奶奶，他们就是养育了我的人，于是有了我……

So I've been put on private jets, flown around the world, and yet, it's not been that easy because at times, I've been homeless, I've been spat at, I've been abused, sometimes daily, bullied my entire life, rejected by countless individuals, and I've been stabbed But what hurt the most was being put on the "Worst Dressed" list.

所以我被请上过私人飞机，飞行于世界各地，然而，事情并非向来如此轻松，因为时不时地，我也曾无家可归，也曾遭人唾弃，有时，遭人辱骂是我的日常，而我一生都在被欺凌，被数不清的人拒之门外，我还被捅过刀子。但最令我受伤的是被列入“最差着装”名单。

It can be hard, being yourself, but I've found it's the best way. There's the "Worst Dressed."

做自己，确实不容易，但我已明白这才是最好的方式。那个就是“最差着装”。

As the quote goes,"Everyone else is already taken."I've come to realize that confidence is a concept you can choose. I've come to realize that authenticity is necessary, and it's powerful.I've tried to spend time being like other people.It didn't work. It's a lot of hard work, not being yourself.

老话说得好，“做自己吧，别人已经有人做了。”我已经开始意识到自信的概念可以取决于你。我已经开始意识到做到独一无二是必不可少的，那才叫强大。我曾耗费时间试着成为别人。但一无所获。

I have a few questions for you all. Who are you? How many versions of you are there? And I have one final question: Are you using them all to your advantage?

不做自己，是件费力不讨好的事。我有几个问题留给你们。你是谁?你有多少个版本的自己?我还有最后一个问题。

In reality, everyone is capable of creating their own masterpiece. You should try it sometime.It's quite fun.

这些版本你是否都用上了，来使自己受益?在现实中，每个人都有能力创造出属于他们自己的杰作。你们也应该试试。挺有意思的。