How to talk about your creative work at a party
如何在派对上谈论自己的创意作品
Plus a charming new artist book from Japan
另外还有一本来自日本的迷人的艺术家新书
The other night I was at a fancy party feeling out of place.
有一天晚上,我参加了一个高级派对,感觉自己格格不入。
For the first few moments I lurked on the sidelines hoping someone would deem me interesting enough to approach.
刚开始的时候,我一直潜伏在一旁,希望有人会觉得我很有趣,可以接近我。
After waiting in vain, I struck up a conversation with a woman standing nearby. She quickly revealed an impressive personal and professional background.
在徒劳地等待之后,我与站在附近的一位女士攀谈起来。她很快透露了令人印象深刻的个人和职业背景。
“What about you?” she asked. “What do you do?”
"你呢?"她问。"你是做什么的?"
This question was easy to answer. A lay-up. But a mix of energy from the party and fear of inadequacy made me blurt out instead.
这个问题很容易回答。铺垫。但派对上的活力和对自己不足的恐惧让我脱口而出。
“I’m a writer and I have a project I’m working on called Metalabel,” I gasped.
"我是个作家,我正在做一个叫《金属标签》的项目,"我喘着气说。
“What’s Metalabel?” she asked.
"什么是 Metalabel?"她问。
“A new space to release and collective creative work,” I answered too fast.
"一个释放和集体创作的新空间,"我回答得太快了。
“Oh, okay,” the woman said, unsure. She kept looking at me, waiting for me to say more.
"哦,好吧,"女人不确定地说。她一直看着我,等我再说下去。
I felt overwhelmed by an impulse to get away from the conversation. “Well it’s nice to meet you,” I said, waving and wandering off, every atom of awkwardness clinging to my skin. I could feel how poorly that had gone.
我有一种想摆脱谈话的冲动,感到不知所措。"很高兴认识你,"我说着,挥了挥手,走开了,每一丝尴尬都紧紧地贴在我的皮肤上。我能感觉到刚才的对话有多糟糕。
Across the room I saw a famous woman who I’ve met a few times before. I walked over and said hello. She greeted me warmly, which made me feel less anxious. She responded to my questions about what she’s been up to, then asked me the same.
在房间的对面,我看到了一位我见过几次的著名女士。我走过去和她打招呼。她热情地和我打招呼,这让我感觉不那么焦虑了。她回答了我关于她最近在做什么的问题,然后又问了我同样的问题。
“What about you?” she said. “What are you doing these days?”
"你呢?"她说"你最近在做什么?"
“I’m working on a project called Metalabel. It’s a new space for releasing and collecting creative work.”
"我正在开发一个名为 Metalabel 的项目。这是一个发布和收集创意作品的新空间"。
Her eyes lifted in interest. I felt encouraged to continue.
她饶有兴趣地抬起了眼睛。我感到很受鼓舞,继续说下去。
“It’s a curated space where you can release work on your own or with other people. So far people are using it to sell zines, art, music — I even released an essay as a limited edition zip file. On every release you can automatically split the earnings between collaborators too.”
"这是一个精心策划的空间,在这里你可以发布自己的作品,也可以和其他人一起发布作品。到目前为止,人们用它来销售杂志、艺术品和音乐--我甚至还发布了一篇散文的限量版压缩文件。在每次发布作品时,您还可以自动在合作者之间分配收益。
She responded that this sounded cool and like something she would use. We agreed to talk again.
她回答说,这听起来很酷,是她会用的东西。我们同意再聊。
Two conversations two minutes apart with night and day different outcomes. Largely based on context. The context of feeling more at-ease in one conversation versus the other, and the difference in context I provided when answering their questions.
两次对话相隔两分钟,结果却截然不同。这主要是基于背景。在一次对话中,我感觉自己比另一次更自在,而在回答他们的问题时,我所提供的语境也有所不同。
In the first conversation I blurted out basic information without suggesting why it should matter. I provided facts but no feelings or bigger picture. The second conversation went differently because I shared context for why she should care.
在第一次谈话中,我只说了一些基本信息,却没有说明为什么这些信息很重要。我提供了事实,但没有感情或大局观。第二次谈话的情况就不同了,因为我告诉了她为什么要关心这个问题的来龙去脉。
I realized later that I provided this context in a structure that’s repeatable too. Let’s rewind the tape:
后来我意识到,我提供的这种背景结构也是可以重复的。让我们倒带:
“Metalabel is a new space for releasing and collective creative work.”
"金属标签 "是一个释放和集体创作的新空间。
First I offered an establishing statement. This first statement creates a frame of reference — ”new space,” “releasing,” “creative work” all place us in a certain zone. Like an establishing shot in a movie that sets the scene.
首先,我提出了一个确立声明。这第一句话创造了一个参照框架--"新空间"、"释放"、"创造性工作 "都将我们置于某个区域。就像电影中的开场镜头,为场景做了铺垫。
“We’ve made a curated space where you can release work on your own or with other people. So far people are using it to sell zines, art, and music.”
"我们建立了一个策划空间,你可以在这里发布自己或与他人合作的作品。到目前为止,人们用它来销售杂志、艺术品和音乐。
Next I shared specific details that gave a more practical shape to the first statement. The picture becomes more clear.
接下来,我与大家分享了一些具体的细节,这些细节使第一句话更加切实可行。画面变得更加清晰。
“I even released an essay as a limited edition zip file. On every release you can automatically split earnings between collaborators too.”
"我甚至以限量版压缩文件的形式发布了一篇文章。在每次发布时,您还可以在合作者之间自动分配收益"。
This closed with me sharing what’s new or unusual about it. I left a final impression of how this project is different or new from what they might know or expect.
最后,我分享了项目的新颖之处。我给他们留下的最后印象是,这个项目与他们可能了解或期待的项目有什么不同或新颖之处。
When you bring these pieces together, you offer the right amount of context. The right amount of context is important. Too little and people won’t pay attention. Too much and people tune us out and walk away.
当你把这些片段整合在一起时,你就提供了适量的语境。适量的语境非常重要。太少,人们不会注意。过多,人们就会把我们拒之门外。
Establishing Statement + Specific Details + What’s Novel = Your Context
立论+具体细节+新颖之处=你的语境
Here’s a few examples of how this model might work for someone wanting to introduce themselves at a party:
下面举几个例子,说明这种模式如何适用于想在聚会上介绍自己的人:
"I’m a documentary filmmaker. I tell people’s stories using footage I find and a visual storytelling style I developed. My most recent movie played at the Toronto Film Festival.”
"我是一名纪录片导演。我用我找到的素材和我开发的视觉叙事风格讲述人们的故事。我最近的一部电影曾在多伦多电影节上放映。“I’m a painter. I make abstract oils on enormous canvases. The last painting I made was 30 feet across.”
"我是一名画家。我在巨大的画布上画抽象油画。我最后一幅画有 30 英尺宽。"“I’m a designer. I make websites that are kind of like art, but also have early internet vibes. I just finished a project where I collaborated with thirty other people to build something.”
"我是一名设计师。我做的网站有点像艺术品,但也有早期互联网的气息。我刚刚完成了一个项目,和其他三十多个人合作做了一个东西。
Behind each of these hypothetical people is a bigger, richer story waiting to be discovered in conversation. Simple but intriguing introductions like these can create the space to find them.
在这些假想人物的背后,都有一个更大、更丰富的故事,等待着我们在交谈中去发现。像这样简单但耐人寻味的介绍,可以为发现这些故事创造空间。
If you try using this model to describe a current or previous project, how does it feel? Does it roll more easily off the tongue? We’re down to be your sounding board. Respond to this message with your project expressed in this format. We’d love to hear more about it.
如果您尝试用这种模式来描述当前或以前的项目,感觉如何?是否更容易脱口而出?我们愿意成为您的传声筒。请将您的项目以这种格式回复给我们。我们很乐意听到更多关于它的信息。
Featured Release 精选发布
Croquis
Rui Nakamura
Art book
20 Editions
CroquisRui Nakamura艺术书20版
Rui Nakamura is an artist and illustrator in Nagano, Japan. He makes charming and simple line drawings of everyday objects and strange characters in a unique and unforgettable style. CROQUIS is a new, limited-run art-book that collects Rui’s drawings into a cozy package.
Rui Nakamura 是日本长野县的一名艺术家和插画家。他用简单迷人的线条描绘日常物品和奇怪的人物,风格独特,令人难忘。CROQUIS 是一本全新的限量版艺术书籍,将 Rui 的绘画作品集结成一个舒适的包装。
“I like simple and pure drawings, such as those on a postcard or on the edge of a letter,” Rui says. “The drawings in this book are casual, fun drawings with no particular meaning. Sometimes I draw what I see in front of me, and sometimes I draw a scene from a movie.”
"我喜欢简单纯粹的图画,比如明信片上的图画或信的边缘,"芮说。"这本书里的画都是随意、有趣的画,没有特别的含义。有时我画眼前所见,有时我画电影中的场景。
“As someone who often gives meaning and thought to many things, it is important for me to spend my painting time in a purely enjoyable way. I hope you will feel free to enjoy this book.”
"作为一个经常为许多事情赋予意义和思考的人,以一种纯粹享受的方式度过绘画时光对我来说非常重要。我希望你能自由地享受这本书"。
Collect one of just 20 editions. ($25)
收集仅有的 20 个版本之一。($25)
Links we like 我们喜欢的链接
A few tools and invitations to explore this summer week:
在这个夏日之周,我们将探索一些工具和邀请:
As a side hobby we collect well-designed index pages. This one from our friends at Pioneer Works is great (and has so much great stuff).
我们的业余爱好是收集设计精美的索引页。我们在 Pioneer Works 的朋友设计的这个索引页就很不错(里面有很多好东西)。A well-done Distribution Playbook for indie films from the team at Seed & Spark
Seed & Spark 团队为独立电影精心制作的发行手册We love The Tiny Awards and the weird, small internet they celebrate (also proud to be a guest judge this year)
我们热爱 "微小奖 "和他们所表彰的奇特、微小的互联网(我们也很荣幸成为今年的客座评委)。Our own Promotional Principles for Creative People by Creative People (work in progress)
我们自己的《创意人宣传原则》,由创意人编写(正在编写中)We’re hosting a Promotional Principles for Creative People workshop in collaboration with Creative Mornings on August 1st
8 月 1 日,我们将与 "创意早晨"(Creative Mornings)合作举办 "创意人士的推广原则 "研讨会。Join our squad as a Senior Front-End Developer, a full-time Community Relations expert, or as a part-time Creator Liaison
加入我们的团队,成为高级前端开发员、全职社区关系专家或兼职创作者联络员
Have a great one, y’all,
祝你们玩得开心
<3 <3
Metalabel 金属标签
man, I've had so many moments like those! It's taken me quite some time to have the courage to lead with "documentary photographer/writer", when someone asks what I do. I don't make a full time living from it, so it feels disingenuous, but it shouldn't? Sometimes I'll refer to my day job in tech as my "side hustle" which gets some laughs. Anyway, I like the formula there and def something I'll be using. Thanks for sharing!
天啊,我有过太多这样的时刻!当有人问我是做什么的时候,我花了很长时间才鼓起勇气以 "纪实摄影师/作家 "作为开场白。我并不以此为生,所以感觉很虚伪,但这不应该吗?有时,我会把我白天的技术工作称为 "副业",这也会引起一些笑声。总之,我喜欢这个公式,而且我也会用它。谢谢你的分享!
There’s also the matter of connecting on a level that the person can relate to and understand in *their* context.
还有一个问题是,在*他们*的背景下,要在一个能让他们产生共鸣和理解的层面上进行沟通。
I present myself in the way the person I’m meeting might better understand me and won’t alienate them, but hopefully deepen the conversation.
我以对方可能更好地理解我的方式来展示自己,这样不会疏远对方,反而希望能加深对话。
I love the idea that there’s a formula for it, I’m just not sure there is - it’s an intuition thing.
我喜欢这种有公式可循的想法,但我不确定是否存在,这是一种直觉。
1 个回答者 Metalabel