{"id":3632,"date":"2020-09-13T15:01:50","date_gmt":"2020-09-13T07:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/2020\/09\/13\/jian_dan_yu_20200913\/"},"modified":"2020-09-13T15:01:50","modified_gmt":"2020-09-13T07:01:50","slug":"jian_dan_yu_20200913","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/2020\/09\/13\/jian_dan_yu_20200913\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rich\u00adness and Pro\u00adfun\u00addi\u00adty Hid\u00adden in Sim\u00adplic\u00adi\u00adty and Ordi\u00adnar\u00adi\u00adness (Post\u00adscript to the Trans\u00adla\u00adtion of Goff\u00adstein\u2019s Works)"},"content":{"rendered":"

     <\/span>
\nMB<\/span>Goff\u00adstein1940\u20132017<\/span>) is a pro\u00adfound\u00adly skilled yet qui\u00adet\u00adly excep\u00adtion\u00adal Amer\u00adi\u00adcan pic\u00adture book artist. She choos\u00ades to employ a rad\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly sim\u00adple approach to sto\u00adry\u00adtelling and illus\u00adtra\u00adtion, main\u00adtain\u00ading her sig\u00adna\u00adture style for over fifty years. While some read\u00aders strug\u00adgle to grasp and embrace her work, many oth\u00aders deeply love it and return to it again and again. A New York Times book review\u00ader once com\u00adment\u00aded, \u201cIt\u2019s won\u00adder\u00adful to have a Goff\u00adstein! She dis\u00adcov\u00aders the true mean\u00ading of sim\u00adplic\u00adi\u00adty.\u201d<\/span>
\n     <\/span><\/span>
\nWrit\u00adten in Goff\u00adstein30<\/span>Among the many chil\u00addren\u2019s books, most of which are pic\u00adture books, the one that received the high\u00adest hon\u00ador was \u201cFish for Din\u00adner\u201d, which won1977<\/span>The Calde\u00adcott Medal in 2006. How\u00adev\u00ader, even on the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan read\u00ading web\u00adsitegoodreads.com<\/span>Some read\u00aders were extreme\u00adly con\u00adfused by this, even giv\u00ading it only one star. Some read\u00aders thought that this sto\u00adry about an old lady going fish\u00ading every day seemed too sim\u00adple, and the text and pic\u00adtures looked like they were cooked up by a child, with the pic\u00adtures still look\u00ading like black and white stick fig\u00adures. How could such a work win the Calde\u00adcott Medal?<\/span>
\n     <\/span><\/span>
\nGofstein\u2019s paint\u00ading style is indeed some\u00adwhat \u201cdecep\u00adtive\u201d. She has a cer\u00adtain ten\u00adden\u00adcy towards min\u00adi\u00admal\u00adism, delib\u00ader\u00adate\u00adly sim\u00adpli\u00adfy\u00ading things, remov\u00ading what she con\u00adsid\u00aders to be unnec\u00ades\u00adsary details, and select\u00ading only the most nec\u00ades\u00adsary visu\u00adal ele\u00adments for clear expres\u00adsion, pre\u00adsent\u00ading them in a rather child\u00adish, sim\u00adple and direct man\u00adner. Ini\u00adtial\u00adly, she was more immersed in pure artis\u00adtic cre\u00adation. In her twen\u00adties, she held solo exhi\u00adbi\u00adtions in her home\u00adtown (St. Paul, Min\u00adneso\u00adta) and New York City. By chance, her exhib\u00adit\u00aded works impressed a spe\u00adcial vis\u00adi\u00adtor \u2014 Mau\u00adrice Sendak! At that time, Sendak had already won the Calde\u00adcott Gold Medal and was at the peak of his career in the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan pic\u00adture book indus\u00adtry. Sendak urged Gof\u00adstein to cre\u00adate a pic\u00adture book and intro\u00adduced his edi\u00adtor friend Michael Di Capua to work with her, which led to Gofstein\u2019s debut work.
\nThe Gats!<\/span> At1966<\/span>The col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion between Capua and Goff\u00adstein last\u00aded for more than fifty years.<\/span>
\n     <\/span><\/span>
\nWith\u00adout men\u00adtion\u00ading how Goff\u00adstein\u2019s paint\u00ading style impressed Sendak, let\u2019s look back at the unique sim\u00adplic\u00adi\u00adty of \u201cFish for Din\u00adner\u201d. This sto\u00adry tells the com\u00adplete life of this fish\u00ading grand\u00admoth\u00ader, from five o\u2019clock in the morn\u00ading to five o\u2019clock in the morn\u00ading of the next day. We can imag\u00adine that any\u00adone can move freely.24<\/span>While child\u00adhood undoubt\u00aded\u00adly involved a wealth of details, and the pro\u00adtag\u00ado\u00adnist, \u201cGrand\u00adma,\u201d undoubt\u00aded\u00adly had fam\u00adi\u00adly, neigh\u00adbors, and friends, Goff\u00adstein\u2019s sto\u00adry is com\u00adplete\u00adly sim\u00adpli\u00adfied to just her: wake up, break\u00adfast, clean up, go fish\u00ading, return home, cook fish for din\u00adner, clean up, go to bed\u2026 a rou\u00adtine as sim\u00adple and con\u00adcise as clock\u00adwork, repeat\u00ading itself over and over again. How\u00adev\u00ader, she does\u00adn\u2019t com\u00adplete\u00adly omit every detail; there are obvi\u00adous choic\u00ades. For exam\u00adple, while fish\u00ading on the lake could have been briefly men\u00adtioned, she instead describes the shim\u00admer\u00ading waters and Grand\u00adma gaz\u00ading out at her small boat dock, the win\u00addows of which resem\u00adble a pair of eyes, as if glar\u00ading back at her. We can under\u00adstand this as a spe\u00adcial feel\u00ading Grand\u00adma expe\u00adri\u00adences while fish\u00ading, as if she were inter\u00adact\u00ading with her home on the lake, as if the lake itself were an exten\u00adsion of her. The author\u2019s selec\u00adtion of this pas\u00adsage, while still sim\u00adple, brings a unique inter\u00adest, rem\u00adi\u00adnis\u00adcent of Tao Yuan\u00adming\u2019s poem, \u201cPick\u00ading chrysan\u00adthe\u00admums under the east\u00adern fence, leisure\u00adly gaz\u00ading at the south\u00adern moun\u00adtains,\u201d per\u00adhaps leav\u00ading the read\u00ader fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00aded by the leisure\u00adly state of fish\u00ading.<\/span>
\n     <\/span><\/span>
\nThe illus\u00adtra\u00adtions that com\u00adple\u00adment the sto\u00adry are also decep\u00adtive\u00adly sim\u00adple. The kitchen depicts noth\u00ading more than a grand\u00admoth\u00ader\u2019s open refrig\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtor. Break\u00adfast is depict\u00aded with a table and a few essen\u00adtial items on the coun\u00adter\u00adtop. Clean\u00ading up after\u00adward reveals only a faucet and a sink near\u00adby. It\u2019s like a schemat\u00adic dia\u00adgram, its sim\u00adplic\u00adi\u00adty tru\u00adly imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtive, like some\u00adthing a pri\u00adma\u00adry school stu\u00addent could have drawn. Per\u00adhaps the sim\u00adplest is the afore\u00admen\u00adtioned boathouse, which appears to be star\u00ading at Grand\u00adma with \u201ca pair of black eyes.\u201d With\u00adin the frame, a sin\u00adgle line rep\u00adre\u00adsents the water, and in the cen\u00adter is the sil\u00adhou\u00adette of a small house. Yet, sur\u00adpris\u00ading\u00adly, such a sim\u00adple image can cre\u00adate a tru\u00adly mag\u00adi\u00adcal effect, so much so that the read\u00ader might even feel as if the small house on the water is watch\u00ading them! How\u00adev\u00ader, if we are will\u00ading to look back more care\u00adful\u00adly, we will find that the illus\u00adtra\u00adtor did not sim\u00adply keep it sim\u00adple for the sake of sim\u00adplic\u00adi\u00adty. The sto\u00adry clues in her paint\u00adings are still very com\u00adplete: the sto\u00adry begins on the title page, and the pro\u00adtag\u00ado\u00adnist grand\u00admoth\u00ader is ini\u00adtial\u00adly wear\u00ading a night\u00adgown and soft shoes; the small pic\u00adture on the copy\u00adright page is a chair and glass\u00ades, clothes and shoes placed there; on the ded\u00adi\u00adca\u00adtion page, the grand\u00admoth\u00ader puts on glass\u00ades, changes into going-out shoes, and is putting on her coat (the coat is still on the chair); then on the first page of the text, the chair is emp\u00adty, the grand\u00admoth\u00ader puts on her coat, and pre\u00adpares to go to break\u00adfast \u2014 and these details in the paint\u00adings are not explained at all in the text!<\/span>
\n     <\/span><\/span>
\nRead\u00aders who have been fooled by Goff\u00adstein\u2019s sim\u00adplic\u00adi\u00adty might con\u00adsid\u00ader reread\u00ading it a few times; per\u00adhaps they\u2019ll appre\u00adci\u00adate the author\u2019s inge\u00adnious choic\u00ades. This work is indeed sur\u00adpris\u00ading\u00adly sim\u00adple, yet like a sim\u00adple yet mag\u00adi\u00adcal song, it com\u00adpels you to repeat it over and over again. It\u2019s not that the author is inca\u00adpable of cre\u00adat\u00ading an effect of elab\u00ado\u00adrate detail; she sim\u00adply metic\u00adu\u00adlous\u00adly elim\u00adi\u00adnates what\u00adev\u00ader she deems unnec\u00ades\u00adsary clut\u00adter, leav\u00ading only the words she tru\u00adly wants to con\u00advey. Because of this lack of clut\u00adter, even if you don\u2019t under\u00adstand it the first time, repeat\u00aded lis\u00adten\u00ading will nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly bring under\u00adstand\u00ading.<\/span>
\n     <\/span><\/span>
\nSo, what exact\u00adly does Goff\u00adstein want to say in the sto\u00adry \u201cFish for Din\u00adner\u201d? I imag\u00adine that each read\u00ader\u2019s life expe\u00adri\u00adences and read\u00ading expe\u00adri\u00adence are dif\u00adfer\u00adent, and what they hear will inevitably be dif\u00adfer\u00adent. There is no stan\u00addard answer to under\u00adstand\u00ading a work of art. For me, I might hear the fol\u00adlow\u00ading key\u00adwords: life, work, expe\u00adri\u00adence, enjoy\u00adment, dig\u00adni\u00adty, and the peace\u00adful days\u2026 How should I put it? This sto\u00adry cer\u00adtain\u00adly tells the sto\u00adry of an elder\u00adly woman, but fish\u00ading for din\u00adner can also be seen as a form of \u201cwork\u201d\u2014she earns din\u00adner through labor. How\u00adev\u00ader, this grand\u00admoth\u00ader\u2019s \u201cwork\u201d is actu\u00adal\u00adly a fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading life expe\u00adri\u00adence. The process is not easy, but she enjoys it. Although get\u00adting up at 5 a.m. every day and the days seem rather monot\u00ado\u00adnous, she nev\u00ader tires of it. Eat\u00ading her own fish for din\u00adner brings a sense of accom\u00adplish\u00adment, and being able to sup\u00adport her\u00adself so hap\u00adpi\u00adly is a sense of dig\u00adni\u00adty in itself. These days, repeat\u00aded over and over again, are peace\u00adful and beau\u00adti\u00adful!<\/span>
\n     <\/span><\/span>
\nChil\u00addren who read this sto\u00adry do not nec\u00ades\u00adsar\u00adi\u00adly have to hear these words. They may be able to read out some oth\u00ader inter\u00adest\u00ading things, but such a sto\u00adry is like\u00adly to make a strong impres\u00adsion on them. As their life expe\u00adri\u00adence grows, they may devel\u00adop many new insights of their own.<\/span>
\n     <\/span><\/span>
\nFor Goff\u00adstein, the inspi\u00adra\u00adtion for this kind of sto\u00adry\u00adtelling like\u00adly stems from her child\u00adhood and fam\u00adi\u00adly con\u00adnec\u00adtions; the book is ded\u00adi\u00adcat\u00aded to the Goff\u00adstein fam\u00adi\u00adly. Born in St. Paul, Min\u00adneso\u00adta, in the cen\u00adtral Unit\u00aded States, into a Jew\u00adish fam\u00adi\u00adly, her father a dili\u00adgent elec\u00adtri\u00adcal engi\u00adneer. She lat\u00ader recalled that her par\u00adents\u2019 exam\u00adple instilled in her the strong belief that \u201cwork is the only true dig\u00adni\u00adty, the only true hap\u00adpi\u00adness. If peo\u00adple don\u2019t ded\u00adi\u00adcate their lives to it, they are noth\u00ading.\u201d Her cho\u00adsen pro\u00adfes\u00adsion is art. The \u201cwork\u201d Goff\u00adstein refers to can be inter\u00adpret\u00aded broad\u00adly, encom\u00adpass\u00ading her grand\u00admoth\u00ader\u2019s dai\u00adly fish\u00ading spree and her own fas\u00adci\u00adna\u00adtion with art.<\/span>
\n     <\/span><\/span>
\nEnjoy\u00ading one\u2019s work is a lux\u00adu\u00adry, yet for a true artist, it seems essen\u00adtial. \u201cGordie the Doll\u00admak\u00ader\u201d cap\u00adtures this state of mind, and per\u00adhaps, to a large extent, it reflects a state Goff\u00adstein her\u00adself often expe\u00adri\u00adences. This pic\u00adture book is one of her ear\u00adly works. While also illus\u00adtrat\u00aded in black and white, the images are rich\u00ader in detail, the sto\u00adry more com\u00adplex, and, in terms of length, resem\u00adbles a short sto\u00adry. It reads like a Jew\u00adish folk tale, and upon care\u00adful reflec\u00adtion, it is filled with wis\u00addom.<\/span>
\n     <\/span><\/span>
\nGot\u00adti inher\u00adit\u00aded her par\u00adents\u2019 crafts\u00adman\u00adship as a wood\u00aden doll\u00admak\u00ader, a trade she relied on entire\u00adly after their death. She works dili\u00adgent\u00adly and with ded\u00adi\u00adca\u00adtion, and her doll busi\u00adness is far more suc\u00adcess\u00adful than her par\u00adents\u2019. How\u00adev\u00ader, she\u2019s more con\u00adcerned with mak\u00ading her dolls tru\u00adly come alive, com\u00adplete with her sig\u00adna\u00adture \u201cfriend\u00adliest, sweet\u00adest smile.\u201d Per\u00adhaps Got\u00adti her\u00adself does\u00adn\u2019t ful\u00adly real\u00adize that her intense sense of respon\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty, ded\u00adi\u00adca\u00adtion, and obses\u00adsion with her work have made her a true artist.<\/span>
\n     <\/span><\/span>
\n\u201cGordie the Doll\u00admak\u00ader\u201d vivid\u00adly and metic\u00adu\u00adlous\u00adly depicts the artist\u2019s work, life, and rich spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal world. Gordie\u2019s atti\u00adtude toward her dolls bears a strik\u00ading resem\u00adblance to Goff\u00adstein\u2019s approach to the text and images in her own work. Her agent and friend explained that she often worked through the night to per\u00adfect a sin\u00adgle detail. This state of immer\u00adsion in cre\u00adative work is essen\u00adtial and, in the eyes of oth\u00aders, high\u00adly envi\u00adable. There\u00adfore, any read\u00ader who has ever attempt\u00aded this kind of cre\u00adative endeav\u00ador will like\u00adly be deeply moved by this sto\u00adry. For exam\u00adple, while trans\u00adlat\u00ading this book, I repeat\u00aded\u00adly paused to mar\u00advel at the painstak\u00ading process of refin\u00ading and relent\u00adless\u00adly striv\u00ading for per\u00adfec\u00adtion, yet the ulti\u00admate reward often brings the great\u00adest sat\u00adis\u00adfac\u00adtion. While most read\u00aders and view\u00aders may ulti\u00admate\u00adly fail to appre\u00adci\u00adate the sub\u00adtle nuances of this pol\u00adish, the deep joy and peace that the cre\u00adator expe\u00adri\u00adences from know\u00ading they\u2019ve \u201cgot it right\u201d is per\u00adhaps the most valu\u00adable reward.<\/span>
\n     <\/span><\/span>
\n\u201cGordie the Doll\u00admak\u00ader\u201d also del\u00adi\u00adcate\u00adly depicts anoth\u00ader side of the artist\u2019s spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal world: lone\u00adli\u00adness, which can some\u00adtimes man\u00adi\u00adfest as bound\u00adless soli\u00adtude. While Got\u00addie finds joy and con\u00adtent\u00adment in her cre\u00adative process, she nonethe\u00adless nav\u00adi\u00adgates the world of dai\u00adly life, shop\u00adping for gro\u00adceries and gath\u00ader\u00ading mate\u00adri\u00adals for her dolls. Of course, she also longs for inter\u00adac\u00adtion, such as with Ohms, the car\u00adpen\u00adter who crafts the crates for her dolls. As a fel\u00adlow crafts\u00adman, Got\u00addie hoped the hand\u00adsome and enthu\u00adsi\u00adas\u00adtic Ohms would become a kin\u00addred spir\u00adit, but he failed to under\u00adstand art and its val\u00adue. Upon see\u00ading Got\u00addie spend a for\u00adtune on a beau\u00adti\u00adful but imprac\u00adti\u00adcal Chi\u00adnese lamp, Ohms could\u00adn\u2019t help but tease her, call\u00ading her a \u201creal artist\u201d who was sim\u00adply insane!<\/span>
\n     <\/span><\/span>
\nWhen bound\u00adless lone\u00adli\u00adness near\u00adly over\u00adwhelmed Got\u00adti, the Chi\u00adnese lantern proved miraculous\u2014in a dream, she encoun\u00adtered the lam\u00adp\u2019s mak\u00ader, a dis\u00adtant artist she had nev\u00ader met. No longer feel\u00ading lone\u00adly, Got\u00adti grasped the true mean\u00ading of artis\u00adtic cre\u00adation: cre\u00adation is indeed for com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adca\u00adtion, but it\u2019s not for just any\u00adone; it\u2019s for friends. These friends can be those close by, those far away and unknown, or even friends who tran\u00adscend time and space, for the future. Such friends are what we often call \u201csoul\u00admates.\u201d Art exists for soul\u00admates.<\/span>
\n     <\/span><\/span>
\n\u201cGordie the Doll\u00admak\u00ader\u201d is such a heart\u00adwarm\u00ading, intel\u00adli\u00adgent, and engag\u00ading sto\u00adry. Goff\u00adstein tells his own expe\u00adri\u00adence and under\u00adstand\u00ading of art through the sto\u00adry of the doll artist Got\u00adti, which is par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly intrigu\u00ading to read.<\/span>
\n     <\/span><\/span>
\nIn fact, the 1960s and 1970s, when Goff\u00adstein began cre\u00adat\u00ading pic\u00adture books, were a very bustling era in the Unit\u00aded States. In such times, works that seemed loud and eas\u00adi\u00adly con\u00adsumed would have a bet\u00adter chance of gain\u00ading a foothold in the mar\u00adket. How\u00adev\u00ader, Goff\u00adstein chose a very min\u00adi\u00admal\u00adist approach, telling sto\u00adries so qui\u00adet\u00adly that read\u00aders could eas\u00adi\u00adly miss her books. How\u00adev\u00ader, as a review\u00ader in Kirkus Reviews not\u00aded, \u201cThe more you get to know Goff\u00adstein, the more you appre\u00adci\u00adate her.\u201d The more you get to know Goff\u00adstein, the more you appre\u00adci\u00adate her.<\/span>
\n     <\/span><\/span>
\nThe lit\u00adtle pieces of wood that Got\u00adti painstak\u00ading\u00adly carved were more than just dolls. The pic\u00adture books that Goff\u00adstein painstak\u00ading\u00adly pol\u00adished are also more than sim\u00adple gad\u00adgets. Their rich\u00adness lies in their sim\u00adplic\u00adi\u00adty, their depth in their ordi\u00adnar\u00adi\u00adness. Of course, they also look for\u00adward to read\u00aders who can be called \u201csoul\u00admates.\u201d<\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

Ajia \u2026
\nWrit\u00adten on2019<\/span>Year8<\/span>moon30<\/span>day<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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