The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
Issue link: https://thelinguist.uberflip.com/i/552383
thelinguist.uberflip.com AUGUST/SEPTEMBER The Linguist 7 FEATURES knowledge, skills and creativity, while our modern world keeps offering new materials, technologies, tools and other sources of inspiration. Contemporary art knows no boundaries. As the artist explores and discovers new means of expression, the art translator encounters new vocabulary that can be tough to find in another language, especially if the artist is a pioneer in a new technique on which little has yet been written. The shortcut 'mixed media' has become ubiquitous on labels accompanying such works. All this vocabulary research can be very time-consuming, so it is advisable to keep up with what artists are up to. As an art lover, this is no effort, as the activities I now call CPD (continuous professional development) have always been my favourite pastimes: reading art magazines and books; attending talks and conferences at the History of Art department of my local university; visiting exhibitions; and volunteering at an art gallery. I have volunteered as a steward at the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) since July 2013 and love every minute. It takes me out of the office, gives me the opportunity to meet artists, people working in the arts and other like-minded people, sometimes leading to useful connections. It also provides a more direct experience of the world my work relates to. While on duty, I take advantage of the quieter moments to look at the works more closely and familiarise myself with any new techniques, taking note of their names and looking them up later. Adding to my term base in this way enables me to save time when encountering these terms in my translation work. Understanding context When translating documents referring to the Old Masters and more traditional art forms, such as oil painting and sculpture, the techniques mentioned are not as wide-ranging as modern ones and they are extensively documented in all major languages. This terminology constitutes any art translator's basic vocabulary. The challenge here tends to lie in understanding the cultural and political context contemporary to the painters, as well as the status of the artist at the time. Some awareness of these elements can be very helpful to appreciate the work better and grasp what the artists might have been alluding to and, more crucially, what the author of the text is referring to. Translating a text on Turner's life and career was simple, as my MA dissertation was on Turner and the Industrial Revolution, whereas a project on photography in the Caribbean required some research to understand the cultural setting. Similarly, when working on academic texts, it is useful to be familiar with the topics commonly explored by artists or projected on to the works by critics and historians. Reading about art, attending events and following a couple of art groups on LinkedIn is a good way of staying informed. Being a member of the Association of Art Historians helps me to keep abreast of issues in the art interpretation arena. Calls for papers offer a brief overview of some of the themes currently being discussed. These touch on all sorts of areas, some typical (gender, identity, politics, death), some more topical (migration, the environment, war). Others may be quite novel: one session at this year's conference looked at the ground in representation (rocks, soil, dirt) and the ground of representation; another focused on 'Modernism, Occultism and Evolutionism'; and a third considered the notions of fluidity and flow in art, both literally and metaphorically. While it would be impossible to delve extensively into each theme in preparation for any potentially related translation work, being aware of the concepts makes a text on a new subject easier to follow. Finally, artists themselves can challenge the translator with their choice of titles. I recently worked on a short wall text for an exhibition called Life Painting. While I realised that this must have been a pun on 'life drawing', I felt that there was more to the word play. The gallery had closed for the weekend and the deadline was Monday morning, so after some fruitless research, I looked the artist up online. I found nothing that could shed light on the title, but there was a phone number on the artist's website, so I decided to call her. She explained that the title referred to 'life writing', which she also works with, and added that she'd rather the title was left in English. I explained that the pun would be lost on a French audience but it was clear that she wanted it to remain in English regardless. I know better than to interfere with an artist's creativity, and delivered my translation with an explanation as to why the title had not been translated. Being flexible and embracing novelty in all shapes and colours are certainly essential to enjoying art translation. ON SHOW The Annual Open Exhibition 2014 at Royal West of England Academy, where Karine volunteers (left); and the gallery's Autumn Art Party (above) The lexicon keeps expanding – and fast. Artists are constantly exploring new techniques