PBS高端访谈:雕塑家眼中的海水（在线收听）

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Finally tonight, our NewsHour Shares, which is something that caught our eye. Sculptors traditionally use bronze or marble or even wood. But one Israeli artist works with a rather striking material. The NewsHour's Julia Griffin explains.

JULIA GRIFFIN: From the waters of the Dead Sea recently emerged the glistening, dripping form of a ballerina's tutu. It wasn't weighted down by the heft of water, but crystallized in salt, a dancer's costume frozen in time.

SIGALIT ETHEL LANDAU, Artist: This mineral is really like rocks. You put something completely flimsy and weightless, and after the sea and the crystal accumulation, you're raising something which has multiplied its weight times 10, times 20.

JULIA GRIFFIN: Sigalit Ethel Landau is an Israeli sculptor, video creator and installation artist. But, for nearly 15 years, the Southern Basin of the Dead Sea has been her studio.

SIGALIT ETHEL LANDAU: It's not the easiest water. It's not the nicest place to be in August. But I have a language going on there, definitely.

JULIA GRIFFIN: At more than 1,400 feet below sea level, the Dead Sea lies on the lowest piece on land on Earth. Its mineral-rich water is nearly 10 times saltier than the ocean and nearly devoid of all life. But it has attracted health-conscious tourists for millennia. In the summer, temperatures in the area regularly top 100 degrees, and because heat speeds up the crystallization process, summer is when the Dead Sea becomes Ethel Landau's artistic partner.

SIGALIT ETHEL LANDAU: Anybody can just come and you can put your glasses in. And if you take good care and if you are lucky, you might end up with a beautiful piece of art. But there is a limit. And there's a right size and there's a right time of year.

JULIA GRIFFIN: As a child, Ethel Landau spent many Saturdays with her family relaxing on the Israeli shore of the Dead Sea. After working indoors for years, she first experimented creating art using its hypersaline waters in 2003. Since then, she has placed nearly 100 handcrafted pieces and everyday items, such as shoes and musical instruments, underwater. Some objects, like the ballerina's tutu, have biographical ties. Ethel Landau used to be a dancer. Others play off the water's ability to transform, like this traditional Yiddish mourning gown, now a sparking wedding dress, or blue flags turned white.

SIGALIT ETHEL LANDAU: With a white flag, you can go to a president and say, look, this is a kind of healing process. A white flag says something about sharing, about water, about coping, about healing.

JULIA GRIFFIN: And while Ethel Landau's salt sculptures have traveled the world for museum exhibitions, she never loses the constant pull of the Dead Sea.

SIGALIT ETHEL LANDAU: I work in many mediums, but there is something about the Dead Sea, that I'm proud of realizing that I chose to stay close to it.

JULIA GRIFFIN: A book chronicling Ethel Landau's work in the Dead Sea will be released in the spring. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Julia Griffin.

威廉·布兰汉姆：今晚的《新闻一小时》将分享一件很吸睛事情。以前，雕塑家是用青铜或者大理石甚至是木头来做雕塑的。但一位以色列艺术家却用了一种与众不同的材料。下面请听《新闻一小时》记者茱莉亚·格里芬发回的报道。

茱莉亚·格里芬：最近，兰多通过从死海获得的灵感创作了闪耀的作品芭蕾舞短裙。这个作品不是靠水的作用制成的，而是靠盐的结晶凝聚成的。

埃塞尔·兰多，艺术家：这种矿物质跟石头很像。一开始，它很轻薄，在经过海水和晶体聚集的作用后，质量就会变为原来的10倍、20倍。

茱莉亚·格里芬：埃塞尔·兰多是以色列的一名雕塑家，她还会做视频和做安装。但近15年来，死海的南海盆地就是她的工作室。

埃塞尔·兰多：这不只是简单的海域，8月的这里是黄金地带。但关于选择来这里，我肯定是有理由的。

茱莉亚·格里芬：死海的海拔在海平面以下1400多英尺，是地球上海拔最低的地方。死海水域富含矿物质，其盐度是普通海洋的近10倍，所以几乎没有生命存在。但长期以来，热衷于追求身体健康的游客络绎不绝。一般情况下，该地区夏季的温度最高可达100°，而由于高温会加速结晶的过程，所以死海就成了埃塞尔·兰多做艺术创作的好伙伴。

埃塞尔·兰多：大家都可以来，拿杯子舀这里的水。如果仔细又够幸运的话，最后就可能创作出精美的艺术品。但也是有限度的，大小和时间都要合适。

茱莉亚·格里芬：还是孩子的时候，埃塞尔·兰多只要周六有空，都会和家人在以色列的死海海滨上放松。在室内工作了多年后，她先是在2003年用超盐性水来试着做雕塑。从那以后，她就更换了近100个手工作品和日常用品，比如鞋子、乐器。有一些作品，比如芭蕾舞短裙的作品，跟她的个人经历有关。因为埃塞尔·兰多以前是一名舞者。还有一些作品展现了水的张力，比如传统的意第绪丧服、现在金光闪闪的婚纱、由蓝变白的旗子。

埃塞尔·兰多：有了白旗之后，就可以走到总统跟前说，看，这是愈合的过程。白色的旗子代表着分享、水、合作、愈合。

茱莉亚·格里芬：而虽然埃塞尔·兰多用盐做的雕塑在世界各地的博物馆里巡展，但她从未忘记从死海中寻找无限的灵感。

埃塞尔·兰多：我用很多材料试过，但死海有某种魔力，我很高兴自己选择跟死海如此亲近的接触。

茱莉亚·格里芬：有一本书以时间顺序记录了埃塞尔·兰多与死海有关的工作，将于春天发表。感谢收听茱莉亚·格里芬发回的《新闻一小时》报道。