Virtual idol Yeesha uses a cute voice to narrate art history stories for her viewers. PROVIDED TO TEENS
When people see the images of the iconic Peppa Pig, most of them might say, “Wow, it’s cute!” But Chinese art vlogger Yeesha has turned the beloved character into a cubist painting in one of her videos.
看到小猪佩奇的标志性图像时,大多数人可能会说:“哇,真可爱!”但是在国内艺术视频博主伊莎的一个视频中,她把这个可爱的角色解读为一幅立体主义杰作。
Since May 2021, the young vlogger, who’s in her twenties, has uploaded 88 videos to the Chinese short-video platform Douyin. The videos help the public learn more about art and the stories behind certain artworks.
自2021年5月以来,这位20多岁的年轻视频博主,已经在国内短视频平台抖音上传了88个视频(截至发稿日)。这些作品让公众更多地了解到艺术和某些艺术品背后的故事。
Talking about how she began her career, Yeesha said she studied art history for several years but still didn’t quite understand it. However, this changed when she studied art as an exchange student in New York City in 2020.
谈及如何开始自己的艺术科普之旅,伊莎说她学习过好几年艺术史,却仍然似懂非懂。然而,在2020年,她作为交换生到纽约学习艺术时,情况发生了变化。
In her art classes there, teachers didn’t use jargon to talk about styles of art and their histories. Instead, they often guided students to analyze artworks through simple and humorous language.
纽约的美术课上,老师们不会用专业术语谈论艺术风格和历史。相反,他们经常引导学生,通过简单、幽默的语言来分析艺术品。
“Beauty is what all human beings pursue. But for a long time, only the elite were able to appreciate art,” Yeesha said. “So I want to introduce fun teaching styles in my vlogs to make art history more accessible to the public.”
“美是全人类的追求。但在很长一段时间里,只有精英才能欣赏艺术,”伊莎说,“所以我想将有趣的教学风格引入自己的视频日志,让公众更容易接触到艺术史。”
To achieve her goal, Yeesha also created a virtual idol with curly black hair. Users are greeted with, “Ding! Yeesha will tell you about art”. The virtual idol has a sweet voice and narrates art stories for people.
为了实现这个目标,伊莎还创造出一个留着黑色卷发的虚拟偶像。观众会听到“叮!伊莎说艺术”,接着虚拟偶像就会用甜美的嗓音,为人们讲述艺术故事。
“Different from many other art teachers, the virtual idol is energetic and can easily relate to the young generation,” said Yeesha.
伊莎说:“与其他许多的艺术老师不同,这位虚拟偶像精力充沛,很容易与年轻人产生共鸣。”
To attract more people, Yeesha also works hard to make her video content interesting. Her videos always began with thought-provoking questions, such as “Why does the statue David cast a sidelong glance?” or “Why was the hand-in-waistcoat gesture quite popular in the portraits of 18th and 19th centuries?”
为了吸引更多观众,伊莎也在努力为自己的视频增添趣味。伊莎的作品总是以引人深思的问题开始,比如“雕塑大卫为什么是斜视眼? ”或“为什么18、19世纪的肖像画,这么爱画藏手礼?”
But the process is never easy. According to Yeesha, she usually spends more than one day making a single video. As a part-time job, it takes up almost all of her spare time. “To ensure my explanations are correct and understandable, I need to check background information about the artworks, and sometimes even seek help from other professionals,” said Yeesha.
但以视频科普艺术绝不容易。伊莎说,制作一个视频,她通常会花费超过一天的时间。艺术科普Up主这份兼职工作,几乎占据了她所有的业余时间。伊莎说:“为了确保解释正确并为观众所理解,我需要查阅艺术品的背景信息,有时甚至需要寻求其他专业人士的帮助。”
Even so, she still feels proud as the number of fans of her Douyin account increases. She now has about 500,000 followers.
即便如此辛苦,伊莎仍然为抖音账号涨粉而感到自豪。现在,她约有50万粉丝。
When asked about her future plans as a vlogger, Yeesha said that she wants to continue to help more people, young and old, learn the beauty of art. “This goal may not be achieved easily, but I will do my best.”
采访中伊莎被问及,作为一个视频博主未来有何计划,她说想继续让更多的人,无论老少,都来领悟艺术之美。“这个目标可能不容易实现,但我会尽自己最大的努力。”