口罩也能玩儿艺术 / 四六文摘

In the Old Normal, you bought a new shirt, wore it to work and people noticed.

在以前，你买了一件新衬衣穿着去上班时，人们就会注意到。

"Oh, new blouse!" Or, "Mmmm, new shirt."

“哇哦，新衬衫！”又或者“嗯嗯，买新衣服啦。”

These Now Normal pandemic days, working at home means wearing the same thing (in my case an old T-shirt and ancient huge blue shorts that are fitting better day after imprisonment day).

而在疫情隔离期间，在家办公就意味着每天都穿一样（我自己的话会穿一件旧T恤加上一条很旧的宽松的越来越合身的蓝色裤子。）

The only thing people comment on when you go out — if you go out — is your face mask.

如今出门人们唯一会评论—如果真的能出门的话—的东西就是你的口罩了。

And if the comment is positive, they can't even see you smile.

而如果别人夸了你，他们也看不见你的微笑。

Well, I've been doing a lot of smiling, discovering what museums are doing to help.

不过，看到最近博物馆的一些做法后，我忍不住笑得很开心。

Many museums are still closed, but their shops are doing a lively business with face masks that are funny, or gorgeous, or daring, and can be ordered online.

很多博物馆都还是关闭的状态，不过他们的商店已经在做卖口罩的生意啦，这些口罩或滑稽，或美艳，或前卫，都可以在网上订购。

Usually the masks are based on art in their collections.

通常这些口罩都是以博物馆里的馆藏为灵感设计的。

They're nonmedical (but at least one of them — The Detroit Institute of Arts — is selling liners you can tuck inside the mask, for extra protection.)

它们属于非医学口罩（不过至少有一家—底特律艺术学院—卖的一种产品可以放在口罩内层，增强保护效果）。

DIA is selling some stunning masks, too.

底特律艺术学院也在卖一种很好看的口罩。

One, based on a Monet painting, gives you an Impressionist beard!

其中有一款是根据莫奈的名画设计的，会让你拥有迷人的胡子！

The painting, Corbeille de Fleurs, is one of the most popular at the Detroit Institute of Arts, and this mask is the shop's top seller.

这幅名为《科贝尔·德·弗勒斯》的画是底特律艺术学院最受欢迎的作品之一，而这种口罩也成为了该店最畅销的产品。

Eric Huck, who runs retail operations at DIA, says he wanted "to have a cheery scene on something most people wouldn't choose to wear if we weren't in the middle of a pandemic."

艾瑞克·哈克在底特律艺术学院负责做零售，他说他想“在这种疫情之外人们都不会戴的东西上制造一点欢乐。”

That was the thinking behind choices for many museum retailers.

很多博物馆零售店也是这样想的。

Buyer Karen McNeely at the Milwaukee Art Museum picked a design that's less about beauty and more about mood.

密尔沃基艺术博物馆的买家凯伦·麦克尼利则选择了一个不太注重美感、更注重情绪的设计。

Edvard Munch's The Scream is Milwaukee's second bestselling mask.

爱德华·蒙克的《呐喊》是密尔沃基家第二畅销的面具。

Number one is Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night.

排第一的是文森特·梵高的《星空》。

Van Gogh exhibitions are usually blockbusters for museums.

梵高的展览通常是博物馆的重头戏。

Online, he's also a big hit.

在网上，他的作品也很热卖。

Van Gogh painted some 12 sunflower canvases.

梵高画了12幅向日葵油画。

That one above, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, inspired a mask.

费城艺术博物馆珍藏的一幅激发灵感创作出了一款口罩。

And still more sunflowers are planted on museum shop masks in The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, and at the Barnes Foundation shop in Philadelphia.

在里士满的弗吉尼亚美术馆和费城的巴恩斯基金会商店，还有更多的向日葵出现在博物馆商店的口罩上。

I've been lucky enough to have seen fields of sunflowers in different parts of France (and know that the sunlight of France turned van Gogh away from the dreary dark Dutch interiors he'd been painting).

我很幸运地在法国不同的地方看到了向日葵的田野(而且知道法国的阳光让梵高远离了他一直在画的沉闷黑暗的荷兰室内)。

But I never thought I'd see fields of sunflowers in museum shop catalogs.

但我从没想过我会在博物馆商店的目录上看到一片片的向日葵。

Let alone on anti-pandemic masks.

更不用说在防疫口罩上看到它们了。

The last examples — total magnets for people in love with the arts of Asia (me) — are offered in an unlikely place: Salem, Mass., home of the Peabody Essex Museum.

最后一个例子——对热爱亚洲艺术的人(我)来说很有吸引力——出现在一个不太可能的地方:塞勒姆，马萨诸塞州，皮博迪埃塞克斯博物馆所在地。

These masks in their shop uphold an ancient tradition of witchcraft.

他们店里的这些面具延续了巫术的古老传统。

They cast spells.

它们可以施咒。

One of them — The Great Sea Serpent — has sold out twice, says Peabody's director of merchandising, Victor Oliveira.

皮博迪的商品销售总监维克多·奥利维拉说，其中一种——“大海蛇”——已经卖断货了两次。

"I see a bit of humor in the image," he says, "as I don't know who looks more frightened, the sailors or the serpent. If I had to retitle the work, I would probably call it The Great Misunderstanding."

“我在这张照片中看到了一点幽默，”他说，“因为我不知道是水手还是蛇，谁看起来更害怕。”如果让我重新给这部作品命名，我可能会叫它《大误会》。”

(You can see the lithograph it's based on here.)

（你可以看到以此为基础创作的图片。）

Just a thought about the Old Normal: All the museums mentioned here, with the exception of LA's MoCA, are now open.

想想过去的常态:除了洛杉矶当代艺术博物馆，这里提到的所有博物馆现在都开放了。

Still, the pandemic may make a bit of virtual retail therapy useful, from time to time.

不过，时不时的，疫情还是可以让网上零售法发挥一下作用的。