YUAN LIN

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  • About
  • Home
  • Residencies
    • La Gomera, Canary Islands
    • Korpo, Finland
    • East Haddam, USA
    • Skopje, North Macedonia
    • Marnay-sur-Seine, France
    • Zhujiajiao, China
    • Toffia, Italy
    • Pedvale, Latvia
    • Porto, Portugal
    • Torreles de Foix, Spain
    • Gorna Lipnitsa, Bulgaria
  • Projects
    • Outsider's Tour
    • A Forgettable Tour
    • Not Lost in Bremen
    • Bremer Romance
    • How to Campaign in Bremen
    • Translation Project
    • A Body of Work
    • Mockumentaries
    • The Overseers' Tour
    • Dual Life
    • Chart of Happiness
    • I see nothing but trees
    • Googly Eyes Project
    • WePod
    • Mensa Food Review
    • Lucky Vision Bro
    • Giving and Receiving
    • Manifesto
    • Conceptual Attempts
    • Ramp Address
    • Home for Home
    • A Study of Watercolor
  • Photography
    • Bremer Romance
    • How to Campaign in Bremen
    • 2022 Film Roll 34 - 41
    • 2021 Film Roll 26 - 33
    • 2020 Film Roll 5 - 25
    • 2019 Film Roll 1 - 4
  • Sound & Video
  • Fine Art
    • Sculpture
    • Printmaking
    • Drawing
    • Ceramics
  • Theatre
    • Scenic Painting
    • Design
    • Doodles
  • Graphic Design
  • About
The Translation Project
2017
In this collaboration project with poet Arlyce Menzies, we took one English poem that Arlyce wrote and asked 29 of our friends and family members to translate it into different languages by handwriting and voice recording. And then we asked the translators to ask their friends and family members to "retranslate" the poems back into English.
Picture
For the presentation of the project on March 29, 2017, I made 50 envelopes, each with two smaller envelopes in it, and gave them to the audience.
The outermost envelope is an epigraph composed of names of our translators, as well as the names of people to whom the translators wanted to dedicate those poems.
The second envelope includes two charts comparing the different translations: one is about the recurrence of the words in the retranslations, the other is about the sound recording of the poems.
The innermost envelope is the only one among the three that is sealed with wax. I copied the handwritten translations with a wooden stick, leaving no ink marks so that people can only "feel" the words, instead of reading the words. I want the blankness to convey the idea that there are things that cannot get translated through language.
​

This envelope was not meant to be opened, although a lot of our audience members did break the wax seal. However, when they opened the envelope and found that there was nothing in there, the idea still worked that words are sometimes unable to convey certain feelings.
The audience is also presented with a sound composition made of recordings in which our translators read their poems. I stacked 24 recordings into the following audio piece:
The voices each have a unique vibe, yet they coexist together, which is, in my opinion, how different lives exist in this world.
The original poem by Arlyce is as follows:

​
​Love Poem
                        to Brian and to you
 
Because love has been for me
a full kettle hot, risen loaf
room closed from wind
 
a dry cot, bloodshed stopped
weapons laid quiet
wounds cleaned and dressed
 
a line held, a limit lifted
looking past, pointing out
joy more complete
 
Because love is for me
new each morning, as we choose, choose
I will reshape love for you.


Arlyce also did a variation poem which she called "translation collage poem":

​Love Poem of Love Song
for You
 
Because love has been for me
            love for me has become
                                                with you
            all this was love to me
a full kettle hot, risen loaf
            steaming kettle, leavened bread
            loafed, rising, puffed up bread
room closed, sealed, sheltered, shielded
from wind
 
a dry cot, bloodshed stopped
            a spilling of blood stilled
            bleed stemmed, clots
                                                carnage ends
weapons laid quiet, silently buried in earth
            stowed, abandoned, at rest
wounds cleaned and dressed
 
a line held in the sand, withdrawn
            a campaign, steady, protected
a limit lifted, border creased, hoisted
            erased, a frontier taken down
looking past, pointing out
            hints, revealing
joy more complete, perfect, total
                                                sheer joy
 
Because love is for me
                                                each night
new every morning
as we choose, I choose, we choose,
                                                choose
I will reshape love for you
            I will renew my love for you
            change my, rebuild my
            I will give new form to
            my love for you.


Appendix 1:  Handwritten translations

Appendix 2: Translations back into English
Original poem
 
Because love has been for me
a full kettle hot, risen loaf
room closed from wind
 
a dry cot, bloodshed stopped
weapons laid quiet
wounds cleaned and dressed
 
a line held, a limit lifted
looking past, pointing out
joy more complete
 
Because love is for me
new each morning, as we choose, choose
I will reshape love for you.
Arabic to English
 
Because love in my opinion was like a hot kettle, bread,
​and a room without the entrance of wind.
 
And also it was like a dry bed, the stop of bloodshed, weapons placed on the ground, wound being cleaned and wrapped.
​
And also it was like a preserved line, a broken boundary, and when when we review it, we feel happy.
 
And because love in my opinion is always new every morning when we choose and choose, we will reshape it with a new appearance for you.
Armenian to English
 
Because love for me has been
an overfull warm pot, rising bread,
room sheltered from the wind
 
dry bed, bleed stemmed
guns silenced
wounds mended clean
 
a hidden line, erased borders
a new outlook, leading to
a more complete joy
 
because love for me
is new every morning, when we choose, we choose
I’ll give new form to my love for you
Azeri Turkish to English
 
Because love is mine
Full hot kettle, piece of loaf
Room far away wind
 
Stopped blood
Threw out gun
Close and clean wound
 
Banned line, limited altitude
Abt happiness
 
 
Because love is mine
Every new morning, every choice that I have
Again my love is for you!
​Belarusian to English
 
Because to me love is
like a hot overflowing teapot,
and fresh loaf of bread just out of the oven,
a room shielding from the wind,
 
a cabin, dry after the bloodshed,
like arms stowed after battle,
like dressing wounds in peace,
 
the line is held, frontiers are taken down,
like a flashback
revealing my sheer joy,
 
because to me love
changes every morning,
as we keep on making choices,
I will change love for you too.
Chinese to English
 
Because love for me
Is the warm bread that just come out of the oven
Placed in a room that no wind breezes

Is the dry camp bed, and all killings end
All weapons are put down
All wounds are wrapped and cleaned
 
Is the string that connects to the infinite
Looking into the past
And pointing to the joy of wholeness
 
Because love for me
Is renewed everyday through choices
For you
I reshape my love
​French 3 to English
 
Because all this was love to me
A steaming kettle, leavened bread
A bedroom to keep out the breeze
 
Dry cots for when the carnage ends
Weapons abandoned, at-ease
All wounds cleaned then dressed
 
A line withdrawn, borders creased
So that looking past there’s the sight
Of joy, total and complete
 
Because love for me each night
Is the morning that we choose
I will shape my love to you.
German to English
 
Love was for me 
like a full kettle hot, a loafed loaf, 
a room sheltered from the wind, 
 
a dry lounger, blood sealed, weapons shut down, 
sore wounded and connected, 
 
campaign lines held, a border,
prepositions, hints, 
joy 
​
Because the love for me 
is new every morning, I choose, 
Choose to make the love for you new.
Italian 2 to English
 
Because love was for me
A full kettle, hot, a rising loaf
A room closed to wind
 
A dry cot, the shedding of
blood is ceased, the arms calmed,
the wounds cleaned and bandaged.
 
A line held, an absolute border
Looking beyond, pointing out
The most complete joy.
 
Because love is for me
Every morning is new, how we
Choose, choose
I will remodel love for you.
​Italian 3 to English
 
Because love was always for me
A full coffee-pot, a round leavened loaf
A room without draughts
 
A dry cradle, a stopped massacre
Of weapons at rest
Of wounds cleaned and dressed
 
A steady line, a hoisted limit
To look beyond, to observe
Perfect joy
 
Because love for me is
New every morning, as we choose it, I choose
To reshape love for you
​Japanese to English
 
To me, this thing called love is
A teakettle filled with hot water, puffed up bread
A room where the wind doesn’t reach
 
Flowing blood stopped by clots
Weapons quietly laid down
A clean and healed wound
 
A protected battlefront, a boundary surpassed
Look through and beyond, point your finger
Full joy
 
To me, this thing called love is
Something new each morning, something you can choose,
I will rebuild my love for you.
​Korean to English
 
Love was like this for me
warm kettle, puffy bread, 
room that blocks the wind
 
dry bed, dry blood,
silently laid weapon
disinfected wound
 
string held tight, extended limitation,
looking back to the past, pointing out,
and more complete joy
 
Because love was like this for me,
every morning feels new, it feels right
as if we chose this,
and I make a new love for you.
​Russian 1 to English
 
Since love for me has become with you
A kettle boiling on the stove, rising bread
A room closed off from the winds
 
A dry bunk, war stopped
Weapons silenced
Wounds washed and bandaged
 
A line held, bans lifted
Digging deep, pointing out
A joy full of strength
 
Since love for me is
new every morning, I choose, choose
to make a new love for you.
Spanish to English
 
To me, love has been  
a teapot full and hot, a risen bread
a room sealed from the wind.
 
A dry cot, a spilling of blood stilled,
weapons silently buried in the earth, 
wounds cleaned and dressed.
 
A line in the sand, a boundary drawn,
Looking beyond, pointing, to a perfect joy.
 
To me, love is 
new every morning, when we choose, we choose,
I will renew my love for you, for us.
​Telugu to English
 
Because love for me is like
Full kettle hot, risen bread,
Room closed due to wind,
 
Dry bed, stopped bloodshed,
Weapons laid down quiet,
Wounds cleaned,
 
Line held,
And regulations lifted
All points to a complete joy.
 
Each morning Love is new to me,
Because I reshape the Love for you!
​Turkish to English
 

A room blocked off the wind
For me what love is
A hot, full teapot, a bread risen
 
A dry bed, blood flow ceased
Weapons laid down quietly
Wounds cleaned an bounded
 
A line held, a boundary removed
To gaze at the past, point at it
Fulfilling and joyful
 
Every morning, when we choose it
For me what love is
What I can reshape for you

Appendix 3: Individual recordings of the translations
1. Amharic

2. Arabic

3. Armenian

4. Belarusian

5. Chinese

6. English

7. French 1
There are three versions of French translations. Therefore, the audio clips are titled "French 1", "French 2", and "French 3".

8. French 2

9. French 3

10. German

11. Haitian Creole

12. Hungarian

13. Italian 1
There are three versions of Italian translations. Therefore, the audio clips are titled "Italian 1", "Italian 2", and "Italian 3".

14. Italian 2

15. Italian 3

16. Japanese

17. Portuguese

18. Russian 1
There are three versions of Russian translations and two of them have recordings. Therefore, the audio clips are titled "Russian 1" and "Russian 2".

19. Russian 2

20. Spanish

21. Telugu

22. Turkish

23. Ukrainian 1
There are three versions of Ukrainian translations. Therefore, the audio clips are titled "Ukrainian 1" and "Ukrainian 2".

24. Ukrainian 2
 I opened these recordings in Adobe Audition, and here are what they look like. The green portion indicates the changes in volume, while the red portion indicates changes in pitch. Each of the pictures below are captioned with the name of the language.

Appendix 4: Typed translations
Amharic

​​የፍቅር ግጥም
ለየኔ ቆንጆ

ከዚ በፊት ፍቅር ለኔ
እንደ ፈላ ውሃ ያንገበግበኛ ነበረ
እንደ ተዘጋ ቤት ብርድ እንዳይገባ
እከላከለው ነበረ ።

አሁን ግን ፍቅር
በየጥዋቱ እንደ አዲስ አሳድስዋለሁ

ለአንት ብዬ ፍቅር መልክ እንዲነረው አረጎሎህ።
Catalan
 
Perqué l’amor ha sigut per a mi,
Una bullidora plena i calenta, la sala on creix el pá tarcada al vent
 
Un llit sec, un vessament de sang que finalitza, armes que reposen tranquil·les
Ferides netejades i cobertes
 
Una linia sostinguda, un limit enlairat toto mirant al passat, assenyalant la joia més completa
 
Perqué llamor és per a mi cada nou matí, tal i com l’escollim, tria’l,
El faré nou l’amor per a tu.
Chinese
 
因为爱之于我
是一整箱烤好的热面包
放在紧闭的房间,拒绝风的光顾

也是干燥的行军床,杀戮停歇
武器安静地躺着
伤口也已被清洗包扎好

是一根线悬着极限
望向过去
并指向更完整的欢乐
​
正因为爱之于我
在不断选择中每日更新
为你 我重塑我的爱


​French 2
 
Parce que l'amour a été pour moi
Une chaude bouilloire complete, pain levé
La chambre fermée du vent
Et tout ensoleillé
 
Trêve aux plaintes, assez de sanglots
Mais sang arrêté et guns ont calmé
Les blessures nettoyées et habillé
 
La ligne a eu lieu, la limite est annulée
Et ces heures fortunées
Au fond de mon âme ont laissé
 
Parce que l'amour pour moi
Le bonheur que j'avais rêvé
Et  je vais vous recommander.
​French 3
 
Parce que l’amour a été pour moi
une pleine bouilloire fumante, pain levé
chambre à l’abri du vent
 
un lit sec, fini le carnage
armes au repos
plaies propres et pansées
 
toujours en ligne, limite repoussée
regarder au-delà, faire voir
joie plus entière
 
Parce que l’amour est pour moi
nouveau chaque matin, notre choix toujours et encore
je refaçonnerai l’amour pour toi.
Hungarian
 
Mert a szerelem számomra olyan mint
Egy teljes fazék, forró vekni
Egy szél elől elzárt szoba
 
Egy száraz kiságy, megállított vérontás
Elcsendesült fegyver
Megtisztított seb
 
Egy megtartott vonal, egy megemelt limit
Múltba nézés, rámutatás
Egy teljesebb élvezet
 
Mert a szerelem szamomra
új minden reggel, ahogy választunk,
Válassz!
És megváltoztatom a szerelmed.

Italian 1

Perché l'amore è stato per me
un caldaio pieno rovente, pano lievitato
camera chiusa dal vento

una branda asciutto, spargimento di sangue fermato
armi ridotto tranquilla
ferite puliti e vestiti

una linea rimasto saldo, un limite sollevato
guardando oltre, sottolineando
la gioia più completa
​

Perché l'amore è diverso per me
ogni mattina, come vogliamo, scegli
darò un’amore diversa per te.


Italian 3
 
Perchè l’amore è sempre stato per me
una moka piena, una pagnotta lievitata
una stanza senza spifferi
 
una culla asciutta, un massacro fermato
delle armi a riposo
delle ferite pulite e curate
 
una linea costante, un limite alzato
guardare oltre, osservare
gioia perfetta
 
Perchè l’amore è per me
nuovo ogni mattina, come noi lo scegliamo, io scelgo
di rimodellare l’amore per te.

Japanese
 
僕にとって、愛と言うのは
お湯に満ちた薬缶
膨らんだパン
風の届かない部屋
 
血餅で止んだ流血
静かに置かれた武器
清潔された癒した怪我
 
守った戦線超えた限界
見通して指差して
満ちた喜び
 
僕にとって、愛と言うのは
毎朝新しいもので、選べるもので
君への愛を作り直す

Korean
 
사랑이 내게 그러왔기 때문에 
따뜻한 주전자, 부풀어오른 빵
바람을 막아주는 방
 
마른 침대, 흐르지 않는 피
조용히 누워있는 무기
닦고 소독한 상처
 
꼭 쥔 줄, 늘어난 한계
돌아본 과거, 지적
더 완전한 즐거움
 
사랑이 내게 그렇기 때문에
아침마다 새롭고, 우리가 고른 것 처럼, 고르고
나는 너를 위해 사랑을 새로 만든다

​Portuguese
 
Porque o amor tem sido assim pra mim
Uma chaleira quente, pão crescido
Quarto fechado por causa do vento
 
Um berço seco, derramamento de sangue parado
Armas aquietadas
Feridas limpas e vestidas
 
Uma linha mantida, um limite levantado
Olhando para o passado, apontando
Alegria mais completa
 
Porque o amor é assim pra mim
Novo a cada manhã, como nós escolhemos, escolho
Vou refazer o amor por você.
​Russian 1
 
Оттого, что любовь для меня стала с тобой
чайником, кипящим на плите, поднявшимся хлебом
комнатой, укрытой от ветров
 
сухой койкой, остановленной войной
сложенным оружием
вымытыми ранами и перевязанными
 
выдержанной линией, запретом снятым
вглубь смотря, указываниями
радостью, наполненной сильней
 
Оттого, что любовь для меня
каждое утро новая, выбираем, выбираем пока
слеплю по новой любовь для тебя я.


​Russian 2
 
Когда-то любовью я называла
Страсти полный котёл,
Долгие вечера в закрытой комнате
Где мы были только вдвоем.
 
Кровопролитие  прекратилось
Оружие остепенило ход
Народ очистил свои раны
Душа покой приобретёт
 
Путь жизни каждому отмерен, -
Предел земной указан всем!
Но от страданий нет спасенья
И в мыслях полное смятенье.
 
Любовь – блаженнейшеее чудо,
Она приходит не просясь.
Мы выбираем в жизни чувства
Обиды мы должны прощать!
​Spanish
 
Como a mi el amor ha sido,
Una tetera llena y caliente, un pan aumentado,
Una habitación cerrada por el viento.
 
Un catre seco, un derramamiento de sangre parado,
Las armas se ponían en la tierra con silencio,
Las heridas se las limpiaban y vestían.
 
Una línea era establecida, un límite era levantado,
Mirando más allá, señalando, hay el gozo más completo.
 
Como a mi el amor es,
Nuevo cada mañana, cuando escogemos, escogemos,
Rehice el amor a ti, y nosotros.
​Ukrainian 1
 
Оскільки любов була для мене
Як палаючий котел,  свіжий хліб, 
Затишна кімната від сильного вітру 
 
Моя колиска... Вона зупинила кровотечу 
І я відмовилась від зброї 
Мої рани загоїлись. 
 
Я підвела межу і вийшла за неї, 
Озирнулась назад та побачила знак
Це така насолода... 
 
І зараз кохання стало для мене 
Новим вибором,  який я роблю щоранку 
І я буду обирати його для Тебе
​Ukrainian 2
 
Любов була для мене
Останньою хвилиною кипіння чайника,
першим ароматом здіймаючогося хліба
Світлою кімнатою без протягів

Сухим ліжком застеленим по-домашньому,
кровопролиття припинено, зброя мовчить
Рани зачищено і перебинтовано

Межу проведену, кордони скасовано
Радість пульсує венами
​
Тому що любов для мене
Це ранки, з шансами на життя нове
Котрі буде перемінено на нашу корить