2017的年度色彩 ：帶來(lái)希望的青草綠

When the question of what will define 2017 comes up, the response most often includes words like “Trump” and “populism” and “division” and “anger.”

塑造2017年面貌的會(huì)是什么?每當(dāng)被問(wèn)及這樣的問(wèn)題時(shí)，“特朗普”、“民粹主義”、“分裂”、“憤怒”等詞匯都在人們最常給出的答案之列。

“Green” — not so much.

“綠色”則是一個(gè)不那么常見(jiàn)的答案。

Yet if you believe the team at the Pantone Color Institute, which calls itself the “global color authority,” green will be everywhere in 2017. Not just any old green, of course: Pantone 15-0343, colloquially known as greenery, which is to say a “yellow-green shade that evokes the first days of spring.”

不過(guò)，如果你信得過(guò)自稱“全球色彩權(quán)威”的潘通色彩研究所(Pantone Color Institute)的團(tuán)隊(duì)，在2017年，綠色將無(wú)處不在。當(dāng)然了，并非任何一種綠，而是潘通15-0343，俗稱青草綠，據(jù)說(shuō)是一種“讓人聯(lián)想起早春的黃綠色調(diào)”。

That is, the Color of the Year for 2017.

它是2017年的年度色彩。

Because, although you may not realize it, it turns out that green has everything to do with all of those other things. Not literally. (Despite the fact that President-elect Donald Trump clearly loves green — at least when it comes to dollars — he rarely wears it, and it doesn’t figure much in his decorating sense or what we know of his diet.) But emotionally and imaginatively.

因?yàn)椋M管你可能沒(méi)意識(shí)到，但綠色和其他所有的一切息息相關(guān)。不是切實(shí)的息息相關(guān)。(候任總統(tǒng)唐納德·特朗普[President-elect]顯然很喜歡綠色——至少是在涉及美元的時(shí)候，但他很少穿綠色的衣服，此外，綠色在他的裝修品味或者據(jù)我們所知的他的飲食喜好中都沒(méi)什么作為。)而是在情感上和想象中。

“We know what kind of world we are living in: one that is very stressful and very tense,” said Leatrice Eiseman, the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “This is the color of hopefulness, and of our connection to nature. It speaks to what we call the ‘re’ words: regenerate, refresh, revitalize, renew. Every spring we enter a new cycle and new shoots come from the ground. It is something life-affirming to look forward to.”

“我們知道自己生活在什么樣的世界里：一個(gè)充滿壓力和緊張感的世界，”潘通色彩研究所的執(zhí)行總監(jiān)萊亞特麗斯·艾斯曼(Leatrice Eiseman)說(shuō)。“這種顏色代表著希望，以及我們和自然的關(guān)聯(lián)。它代表著我們平常所說(shuō)的以‘re’(一再，重新)為詞根的詞：regenerate(再生)，refresh(煥然一新)，revitalize(重振)，renew(更新)。每逢春天，我們都會(huì)進(jìn)入一個(gè)新循環(huán)，新芽都會(huì)從泥土中冒出。它是某種令人期待的使人向上的東西。”

In other words, if 2016 was your annus horribilis, as 1992 was for Queen Elizabeth II, whether because of elections or market forces or because you were suckered by fake news on Facebook, this suggests the possibility of something different in 2017. It contains within it the promise that we can all start afresh, with a healthier attitude unfurling like a pea shoot and our feet firmly planted on the earth, as opposed to that isolated, alienating place known as cyberspace.

換言之，如果說(shuō)2016年對(duì)你而言是可怕的一年——就如1992年對(duì)女王伊麗莎白二世(Queen Elizabeth II)而言一樣——不論是因?yàn)檫x舉、市場(chǎng)力量，還是因?yàn)镕acebook上那些讓你受到愚弄的假新聞，那么這種顏色就意味著事情在2017年有所不同的可能性。它蘊(yùn)含著這樣一種希望：我們都可以秉持像豌豆芽一樣生機(jī)盎然的健康心態(tài)、腳踏實(shí)地重新來(lái)過(guò)，而不是沉迷于網(wǎng)絡(luò)空間，一個(gè)孤立的讓人產(chǎn)生疏離感的地方。

That may seem facile as a reading, but, well ... who ever said humanity was subtle? Certainly the psychology of color ranges from the obvious (red represents aggression; pink is swaddling and calms people) to the chiaroscuro.

這種闡釋看上去也許很淺顯，但是，唉……誰(shuí)說(shuō)人性就一定是微妙的呢?顯然，色彩心理學(xué)既然有淺顯易懂的一面(紅色代表侵略性;粉色很柔和，會(huì)讓人感到平靜)，也有半隱半顯的一面。

When the Pantone team started noticing the creeping preponderance of green, there was a sense that perhaps it reflected what was regarded earlier this fall as the possibility of a new beginning with the first female president. But in the wake of Trump’s victory and the dissension it highlighted, Eiseman said, green “could have an even more significant meaning.”

當(dāng)潘通團(tuán)隊(duì)開(kāi)始注意到綠色慢慢地變得越來(lái)越多，有人覺(jué)得它反映的或許是今年秋天早些時(shí)候我們眼中的這樣一種可能性：一位女總統(tǒng)會(huì)帶來(lái)一個(gè)新的開(kāi)始。但艾斯曼說(shuō)，鑒于特朗普的勝選以及由此得以凸顯的分歧，綠色“可能具有更重要的意義”。

“This particular green is an unusual color: a combination of yellow and blue, or warmth and a certain cool,” she said. “It’s a complex marriage.”

“這種綠很特別，是一種不同尋常的色彩：是黃與藍(lán)相結(jié)合的產(chǎn)物，或者說(shuō)是暖和某種冷相結(jié)合的產(chǎn)物，”她說(shuō)。“這是一種復(fù)雜的聯(lián)姻。”

Which is probably putting what is going to have to happen in the current political climate mildly.

這或許也是對(duì)當(dāng)前政治氛圍中必將發(fā)生的情況輕描淡寫(xiě)的一種形容。

Pantone started choosing Colors of the Year at the turn of the millennium, in part as a way to demonstrate the psychology around what makes a color take off and to answer the question every fashion person is routinely asked, “Why is the color -___ so popular this season?”

潘通是從新千年之初開(kāi)始挑選年度色彩的，部分是為了以此展示關(guān)于某種顏色何以成為流行色的心理學(xué)理論，并回答每一個(gè)時(shí)尚人士常常會(huì)問(wèn)的問(wèn)題，“為什么___色在本季如此流行?”

Although the selections serve no direct consumer purpose — Pantone doesn’t sell any products related to the choices, nor does it license a symbol to other companies to denote they are using the Color of the Year — and hence the company has no way of measuring the effect of its declaration, the colors have become a sort of windsock for determining which way the national mood is blowing.

潘通的選擇并不直接牽涉消費(fèi)目的——它沒(méi)有出售與其選擇有關(guān)的產(chǎn)品，也沒(méi)有把某個(gè)標(biāo)識(shí)授權(quán)給其他公司，以表明后者正在使用年度色彩——因此該機(jī)構(gòu)無(wú)法衡量公布年度色彩的效應(yīng)，但這些色彩已經(jīng)成為了某種預(yù)示國(guó)民情緒走向的風(fēng)向標(biāo)。

Certainly, I can attest to the fact that pretty much just minutes after the announcement is made, my inbox is inundated with emails from brands and retailers promoting products available in the Color of the Year. Airbnb was so excited, it is collaborating with Pantone for the first time next year on a Color of the Year “experience,” transforming one of its listed properties into an immersive greenery environment.

對(duì)此我深有感觸：潘通發(fā)布消息僅僅幾分鐘后，我的收件箱里就塞滿了各個(gè)品牌和零售商發(fā)來(lái)的郵件，推廣的都是主打年度色彩的產(chǎn)品。Airbnb非常興奮，它將在明年與潘通合作提供年度色彩“體驗(yàn)”，把在其網(wǎng)站上掛牌的一處房產(chǎn)，變成沉浸于青草綠之中的所在。

You could argue that the selection is something of a self-fulfilling prophecy, except the point is that the products are already there (otherwise they couldn’t be marketed so immediately), which supports Pantone’s contention that it has identified a burgeoning trend.

你或許認(rèn)為潘通的選擇有點(diǎn)像是自我實(shí)現(xiàn)的預(yù)言，但重點(diǎn)是那些產(chǎn)品已經(jīng)存在(否則不可能立即展開(kāi)推廣)，從而為潘通的說(shuō)法提供了支撐：它識(shí)別出了一種方興未艾的趨勢(shì)。

For 2015, thus, it chose Marsala, an “earthy” red-brown shade named after the fortified wine, which also happened to be the color of many politicians’ ties leading up to election year, in part because the color conveys a sense of comfort and security. For 2013, it was emerald, as seen that year on Michelle Obama in Marchesa at the Kennedy Center Honors, a dress that practically broke the internet.

因此，潘通為2015年選擇的年度色彩是瑪莎拉紅(Marsala)，一種以加烈葡萄酒瑪莎拉命名的“質(zhì)樸的”紅棕色。在大選年即將到來(lái)的時(shí)候，很多政治人物恰好都扎起了這種顏色領(lǐng)帶，部分是因?yàn)樗o人以舒適和安全質(zhì)感。2013年的年度色彩則是祖母綠，那一年，米歇爾·奧巴馬(Michelle Obama)出席肯尼迪中心榮譽(yù)獎(jiǎng)(Kennedy Center Honors)頒獎(jiǎng)典禮時(shí)穿的祖母綠色瑪切薩(Marchesa)禮服在網(wǎng)上紅極一時(shí)。

Last year, Pantone took the radical step of choosing two colors — serenity and rose quartz (aka baby blue and light pink) — the better to reflect the gender-bending move toward “equality and fluidity” taking place across society (and fashion).

去年，潘通劍走偏鋒，選了兩種色彩——寧?kù)o藍(lán)天(一種淺藍(lán)色)和粉水晶(一種淺粉色)——以便更好地反映在整個(gè)社會(huì)(以及時(shí)尚界)興起的主張“平等和流動(dòng)性”的運(yùn)動(dòng)。

The process, which takes about nine months, is highly subjective, as Pantone admits, and more about instinct than science. Essentially, the team fans out across the globe and explores industries, to collect what they refer to as “proof points” — from car shows, on the runways, in decorator showcases and so on. At a certain stage they begin to notice meaningful overlap and narrow down the choices. Then one shade achieves critical mass.

正如潘通所承認(rèn)的那樣，耗時(shí)9個(gè)月的選擇過(guò)程極為主觀，更多地是以直覺(jué)而非科學(xué)為依據(jù)。該團(tuán)隊(duì)基本跑遍了全球，對(duì)各個(gè)行業(yè)進(jìn)行研究，從車展、伸展臺(tái)、家居裝飾展等各種場(chǎng)合搜集他們口中的“證據(jù)點(diǎn)”。在某個(gè)階段，他們會(huì)開(kāi)始注意有意義的重合，并縮小選擇范圍。然后，有一種色調(diào)會(huì)達(dá)到臨界值。

“We ask ourselves about the message that color brings, and how we may be trying to use color to shape our experience,” Eiseman said.

“我們會(huì)問(wèn)自己：那種顏色所傳遞的信息是什么，我們可能以何種方式竭力用顏色塑造我們的體驗(yàn)，”艾斯曼說(shuō)。

Although many women may recoil when they are told green is the Color of the Year — some think it is hard to wear — Julianne Moore wore leaf green Givenchy to the 2016 Screen Actors Guild awards, and Hillary Clinton wore it on the campaign trail. (Full disclosure: The New York Times has leaf green office chairs in many of its meeting rooms and offices.) If, as fashion theory holds, three examples of anything is a trend, this is a tsunami.

當(dāng)被告知年度色彩是綠色時(shí)，很多女人可能會(huì)退縮——一些人認(rèn)為這是一種很難穿出去的顏色——但朱麗安·摩爾(Julianne Moore)穿著葉綠色的紀(jì)梵希(Givenchy)禮服參加了2016年美國(guó)演員工會(huì)獎(jiǎng)?lì)C獎(jiǎng)典禮，希拉里·克林頓(Hillary Clinton)在一連串競(jìng)選活動(dòng)中也曾把綠色穿在身上。(大揭秘：《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》的很多會(huì)議室和辦公室里都擺放著葉綠色的辦公椅。)如果真的像時(shí)尚理論所言，只要找出三個(gè)隨便什么例子就能證明一種潮流的存在，那這簡(jiǎn)直是山呼海嘯般的潮流。

“There’s a Japanese concept called ‘forest bathing,’ which says that when you are feeling stressed, one of the best things to do is go walk in the forest,” Eiseman said. “But if you can’t do that, what can you do? Bring green into your environment. Put in on your body, or in your house or near your desk. That symbolic message is very important.”

“有一種日式概念叫‘森林浴’，說(shuō)是當(dāng)你覺(jué)得壓力大的時(shí)候，最好是到森林里走走，”艾斯曼說(shuō)。“但如果你無(wú)法那樣做，該怎么辦呢?可以讓你周圍的環(huán)境充滿綠色。把綠色穿在你身上，讓綠色出現(xiàn)在你的房子里或者桌子旁。那種象征意義是非常重要的。”

In any case, you get the idea. And if you don’t, the seeds have been planted. It’ll grow on you.

無(wú)論如何，你應(yīng)該明白了。如果還沒(méi)有，種子也已經(jīng)在你內(nèi)心種下。它會(huì)生根發(fā)芽的。