位于哈特参议院办公大楼内的这座巨型雕塑正在接受一项重要的、具有创新性的修复工作。这座由亚历山大·考尔德创作的名为《山与云》的巨型艺术装置占据了大楼中庭的大部分空间。此次修复工作将首次实现该装置中可移动部分的动态运动效果——这一效果正是这位著名艺术家最初所设想的。修复计划由考尔德基金会于周四正式宣布。
A mountain-sized sculpture inside the Hart Senate Office Building is getting a major — and moving — cutting-edge upgrade. Mountains and Clouds, the massive installation by Alexander Calder that fills much of the building's atrium, is undergoing a restoration effort that will include, for the first time, a mobile that will finally move in the way that the famed artist intended. The restoration project was announced Thursday by The Calder Foundation.
考尔德在1976年去世前不久构思了这件由两部分组成的艺术作品；《山与云》于十年后首次在哈特参议院办公大楼内展出。其中静止不动的部分高51英尺，通常被视为雕塑的“主体”；而可移动的部分长75英尺，被称为“云”。然而，根据考尔德基金会的说明，“由于当时的工程技术限制及可用材料的局限”，该可移动部分始终无法按照艺术家的原意进行移动。
Calder conceived the two-part "aesthetic equilibrium" sculpture shortly before his death in 1976. Mountain and Clouds made its debut inside Hart 10 years later. The 51-foot-high grounded stabile is often viewed as the "mountains" of the sculpture, while the mobile, which spans 75 feet, is known as the "clouds." But according to Calder's eponymous foundation, "due to the limits of engineering technology and available materials at that time," the mobile component didn't move how the sculptor originally had envisioned.
直到2014年，这个可移动部分才被拆除。考尔德基金会表示，此次耗资1200万美元的修复工作采用了“最新的工程技术”。基金会发布的声明称：“这项修复项目将让来自美国各地乃至世界各地的游客，以及在该大楼工作的参议员和工作人员，都能按照考尔德的设想来欣赏《山与云》——让这件作品的静态部分与可移动部分呈现出一种富有诗意、动态的互动效果。”
The mobile had frozen in place by 1992 before ultimately being deinstalled in 2014. As part of the $12 million restoration effort, the mobile was rebuilt "employing new, cutting-edge advances in engineering and technology," The Calder Foundation said. "This restoration project will allow visitors from across the United States and around the world, as well as the Senators and staffers who work in Hart, to experience Mountains and Clouds as Calder envisioned, with the work’s mobile and stabile in poetic, dynamic dialogue," a statement said.
该基金会指出，这项修复工作是由慈善家乔恩·雪莉和金·雪莉资助的“历史性公私合作项目”，并且整个修复过程并未给纳税人带来任何负担。基金会还表示：“随着可移动部分的重新安装，中庭将再次成为一个充满活力的公共空间，让公众能够近距离接触美国艺术的这一伟大杰作。”
The restoration, expected to be completed later this year, was part of a "historic public-private initiative" funded by philanthropists Jon and Kim Shirley, the foundation said, noting that the project "came at no cost to taxpayers." "With the mobile's return, the atrium will once again serve as a living civic space where the public can encounter one of the great achievements of American art," the nonprofit said.
两党议员——其中许多人曾积极推动这项历时十年的计划——纷纷称赞了对哈特大楼内这件标志性多层动态雕塑的升级改造。参议员艾米·克洛舒尔（民主党，明尼苏达州）说：“《山峦与云》是一件美国艺术作品，四十年来一直是哈特大楼的一部分。”“修复工程提醒人们，守护美国国会大厦的艺术与历史至关重要，”克洛舒尔说。
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, many who championed the decade-long initiative, hailed the upgrade to the iconic multi-story mobile inside Hart. "Mountains and Clouds is an American work of art that has been a part of the Hart Building for four decades," Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said. "The restoration is a reminder of the importance of preserving the art and history of the U.S. Capitol," Klobuchar said.
“哈特大楼属于美国人民，其中的艺术作品也同样属于美国人民，”参议员詹姆斯·兰克福德（共和党，俄克拉荷马州）说。“随着《山峦与云》的修复工作接近完成，每一位访客——无论是前来参加听证会、参观，还是只是路过——都将有机会亲身体验这件美国艺术史上的标志性作品，”他说。“亚历山大·考尔德的作品矗立在我位于华盛顿和芝加哥的办公室外。但长期以来，《山峦与云》的故事始终缺失了一半，”参议员迪克·德宾（民主党，伊利诺伊州）在一份声明中表示。
"The Hart Building belongs to the American people, and so does the art within it,” Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said. “With the restoration of Mountains and Clouds almost complete, every visitor, whether they're here for a hearing, a tour, or simply passing through, will get to experience an icon of American art history," he said. “The work of Alexander Calder stands tall outside of my offices in both Washington and Chicago. But for too long, half of the story of Mountains and Clouds has been missing," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said in a statement.
他感谢谢利一家和考尔德基金会，并表示，“公众将再次按照亚历山大·考尔德设想的方式体验这件非凡的雕塑。”参议员罗伊·布伦特（共和党，密苏里州）说：“我出任规则委员会主席时，向一位同事提出的第一个要求就是：‘我们能把‘云’重新挂起来吗？’”“这件事花了十多年时间，但现在答案是肯定的，”布伦特说。
Thanking the Shirleys and The Calder Foundation, he said that "this remarkable sculpture will once again be experienced by the public the way Alexander Calder intended." "When I became the Chairman of the Rules Committee, my very first request from a colleague was, 'Can we rehang the clouds?'" Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said. "It has taken more than a decade, but the answer is yes,” Blunt said.
参议员克里斯·墨菲（民主党，康涅狄格州） Soon表示：“来自美国各地、前往参议院的 Americans 将看到这件杰作以修复后的完整华美面貌呈现在眼前。”参议员安格斯·金（独立，缅因州）说：“我国最重要的公共艺术作品之一，几十年来一直以未完成的状态矗立在美国参议院。”“我非常高兴亚历山大·考尔德的《山峦与云》修复工作正在顺利推进，”金说，“‘云’也已经回到了哈特大楼。”
Soon, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said, "Americans from across the country traveling to the Senate will be greeted by this masterpiece in all its restored glory." “One of our nation's most significant works of public art has stood incomplete for decades, right here in the U.S. Senate," Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said. "I'm thrilled that the restoration of Alexander Calder's Mountains and Clouds is moving forward," King said, "and that the ‘Clouds’ have returned to Hart."