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Topic: Collins Dictionary picks ‘NFT’ as word of the year

Collins Dictionary has chosen the term NFT as its word of the year after surging interest in the digital tokens that can sell for millions of dollars brought it into the mainstream.

《柯林斯詞典》於近日選出「NFT」為年度詞彙！該數位貨幣交易動輒高達數百萬美元，各界對它的興趣大增，並成功打入主流市場。

NFT is short for non-fungible token. Collins defines it as “a unique digital certificate, registered in a blockchain, that is used to record ownership of an asset such as an artwork or a collectible.”

NFT是「非同質代幣」的縮寫，《柯林斯詞典》將NFT定義為「一種基於區塊鏈的獨特數位認證，用於記錄藝術品或收藏品等資產的所有權。」

Most people didn’t know what an NFT was until this year, when sales boomed, sparked in large part by artist Beeple’s March auction of a digital collage NFT for nearly US$70 million (approximately NT$2 billion). Experts at Collins said they chose NFT because of its “meteoric rise in usage,” up 11,000 percent this year.

人們原本對NFT很陌生，但自從數位藝術家畢波今年三月以近七千萬美元（近二十億台幣）的天價，售出一件數位拼貼作品後，NFT熱潮隨即興起，人們紛紛將目光投向NFT市場。柯林斯的專家表示，NFT一詞的使用量「迅速竄升」，今年已增長一百一十倍。

“NFTs seem to be everywhere, from the arts sections to the financial pages and in galleries and auction houses and across social media platforms,” said Alex Beecroft, managing director of Collins Learning. But whether NFT will have a lasting influence is yet to be determined, he added.

「柯林斯學習」的總經理比克羅夫特表示︰「NFT似乎無所不在，從藝術領域到金融版面，並且在畫廊、拍賣會還有社交平台都有它的蹤影。」他補充︰「但NFT是否會產生持久的影響，仍有待觀察。」Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2021/12/06/2003769067

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Topic: Art Museums Are Struggling to Weed Out the Vandals From the Visitors

For Hans-Peter Wipplinger, the director of Vienna’s Leopold Museum, the past few weeks have been challenging. As climate protesters across Europe stepped up their attacks against art, Wipplinger took measures to protect his storied collection, which includes famous paintings by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele. Bags were banned; coats, too. The museum hired extra guards to patrol its five floors.

對維也納立奧波德博物館館長維普林格來說，過去幾周充滿挑戰。隨著歐洲各地氣候抗議者加大對藝術品的攻擊力道，維普林格採取措施保護他的著名收藏，包括克林姆和席勒的名畫。禁止包包，外套也是。博物館雇用額外警衛巡視五個樓層。

It didn’t work. Last week, members of a group called Last Generation walked into the museum and threw black liquid at one of Klimt’s major works, “Death and Life.” A protester had sneaked the liquid into the museum in a hot water bottle strapped to his chest, Wipplinger said.

但沒有成功，上周一個名為「最後一代」團體的成員走進博物館，向克林姆主要作品之一《死亡與生命》潑灑黑色液體。維普林格說，一名抗議者將這種液體裝在一個熱水瓶內偷偷帶進博物館。

The Klimt, protected by glass, was unharmed. But Wipplinger said his security team could only have stopped the attack by subjecting visitors to invasive body searches, “like at the airport.” He didn’t want to even consider that prospect, he added.

受玻璃保護的克林姆作品雖毫髮無損，但維普林格說，他的保安團隊恐怕只能對訪客進行侵入式搜身

來阻止攻擊，「就像在機場一樣」。他還表示，他甚至不想考慮這一可能性。

With the attacks showing no sign of abating, museum directors across Europe are settling into a nervous new equilibrium, fearful for the works in their care but unwilling to compromise on making visitors feel welcome. So far, nothing has been permanently damaged. But many fear that an accident or an escalation in the protesters’ tactics could result in a masterpiece being destroyed.

由於攻擊沒有減弱跡象，歐洲各地博物館館長正陷入一種緊張的新平衡狀態，擔心自己照顧的作品受到損害，但又不願在讓訪客感覺賓至如歸的問題上妥協。到目前為止，還沒有任何永久性的損壞，但許多人擔心，若發生意外或抗議者升級策略，恐導致名作被毀。

The actions, which began in Britain in June, are already increasing in frequency and daring. At first, protesters glued themselves to the frames of famous paintings, but since footage of activists splattering Vincent Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” with tomato soup spread rapidly on social media in October, masterpieces have been doused in pea soup, mashed potatoes and flour.

這些行動於6月在英國開始，如今已日益頻繁，愈來愈大膽。最初，抗議者將自己黏在名畫畫框上，但自從10月活動人士向梵谷《向日葵》潑灑番茄湯影片在社群媒體上迅速傳播以來，名作陸續被潑上豌豆湯、馬鈴薯泥以及麵粉。

Those works were all protected by glass, and the protesters’ projectiles never touched an artist’s brushstroke. Yet, last month, protesters in Paris poured orange paint directly onto a silver Charles Ray sculpture outside the Bourse de Commerce contemporary art space. (A Bourse de Commerce spokesperson said the sculpture was cleaned within a few hours.)

這些作品都有玻璃保護，抗議者的投擲物從未接觸到藝術家的畫作。然而，巴黎的抗議者上月將橘色油漆直接倒在商業交易所當代藝術空間外查爾斯．雷的銀色雕像上。（法國商業交易所一名發言人說，這座雕像在數小時內就被清理乾淨了。）

In a statement last month signed by the leaders of more than 90 of the world’s largest art institutions, museum administrators said they were “deeply shaken” by the protesters’ “risky endangerment” of artworks.

在全球90多間最大藝術機構負責人上月簽署的一份聲明中，這些博物館管理人員表示，抗議者對藝術品的「危險危害」，令他們「深感震驚」。

Yet, few museums appear to have taken bold steps to protect their collections. Norway’s National Museum and the Barberini Museum in Potsdam, Germany, have banned visitors from taking bags or jackets into their exhibition halls. Others have made no changes.

然而，似乎很少博物館採取大膽措施保護館藏。挪威國家博物館及德國波茨坦巴貝里尼博物館禁止遊客攜包包或夾克進入展覽廳，其他博物館則未做出任何改變。Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/6828062

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Topic: Piet Mondrian artwork displayed upside down for 75 years

An artwork by the abstract Dutch painter Piet Mondrian has been hanging upside down in various galleries for 75 years, an art historian has said.

一名藝術史家說，荷蘭抽象畫家皮特‧蒙德里安的一幅作品，75年來在多個不同藝廊都被上下顛倒掛反了。

Despite the recent discovery, the work, entitled New York City I, will continue to be displayed the wrong way up to avoid it being damaged.

不過，儘管這項最近的發現，這幅名為「紐約市1號」的作品，將繼續以上下顛倒的方式展出，以避免畫作被損毀。

It has hung at the art collection of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Düsseldorf since 1980.

這幅作品1980年起一直掛在杜塞道夫的北萊茵—西伐利亞邦藝術品收藏館。

Curator Susanne Meyer-Büser noticed the longstanding error when researching the museum’s new show on the artist earlier this year, but warned it could disintegrate if it was hung the right side up now.

策展人蘇珊娜‧梅爾—布瑟今年稍早研究該館新推出的這名畫家展覽時，發現這個長期以來的錯誤，但她警告，如果現在用正確的方向掛，可能使這幅畫解體。

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Topic: Manga artist falls for fake Mark Ruffalo, loses $500,000 漫畫家被假的馬克‧魯法洛迷倒，損失50萬美元

The latest work from veteran manga artist Chikae Ide follows her common theme of romance and relationships, but “Poison Love” is quite different than her previous pieces.

（日本）資深漫畫家井出智香惠的最新力作，秉持其一貫的羅曼史與男女關係的主題，但（這部名為）「毒戀」（的漫畫）與其以往的作品大不相同。

First of all, it is based on a true story about a lovestruck woman in an international romance who gets swindled out of 75 million yen ($523,200).

首先，該作品是改編自真實故事，描述一名在跨國戀中被愛情沖昏頭的女子，被人騙走7500萬日幣（52萬3200美元）。

And secondly, the protagonists are Ide herself and a man she believed was Mark Ruffalo, the Hollywood actor who plays the Bruce Banner-Hulk character in the “Avengers” films.

其次，故事主人翁是井出本人，以及與一名她原以為是好萊塢男星馬克‧魯法洛的男子。魯法洛曾在「復仇者聯盟」系列電影中，扮演本名布鲁斯‧班纳的（漫威英雄）浩克。

Ide, 74, says she hopes her latest work, a confession of sorts, will help others avoid being scammed in online international romances.

74歲的井出說，希望她的最新力作或說告白，能協助其他人避免陷入國際網戀騙局。Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1555570 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1555996