Liu Bolin: The invisible man

[@joeleeney]

I've translated for people before, and I can tell you that this type of situation is a nightmare scenario for a translator. I felt sooo bad for the guy as well.

[@2nd3rd1st]

What strikes me is that Lui Bolin get's the attention and praise. But his team of painters actually do the work that makes the art. He just stands there.

[@Turandot29]

I've seen this artist's work at many art shows over the years. In fact, just today I saw about 8 of his canvasses at Art Miami 2013. Always fascinating.

[@uBerard]

Honestly I can't understand the language he's speaking, but I understand his feelings and reasoning perfectly. This is one of the better TED talks, because it requires you to think instead of getting spoon-fed a great idea that lingers for only a few hours. Use your heads, guys.

[@exploitativity]

1:30 I like how he put himself over 我-meaning I/me. A nice message here.

[@bertomartin]

Welp, that just climbed into my list of favorite TED talks ever.

[@gladsheep]

This is amazing work! Some of the images and the symbolism really speak to me.

[@lrpolo]

Ha ha! I guess the translator was a little overwhelmed, but was also a little glad I didn't have to go through his words being translated twice - in subtitles plus the interpreter!

[@gadgetwhore2]

To the right of the ABOUT, SHARE, and ADD TO buttons is a box with a black line across it. If you click on that, you will see a full, perfectly translated TRANSCRIPT below the image. Better than captions, you can read ahead or go back without pausing the video.

[@laojace]

THE TRANSLATOR IS COOOOOOOOL

[@mistral789]

very interesting, liked this talk

[@TnEEn]

I know this guy! I love his work :D Thanks TED

[@floundericiousWA]

Great post, thanks for the reminder!

[@aaronfawcett9911]

Try putting the subtitles on... (the box on the menu between settings and annotations)

[@filipeaffonsov]

Go to TED's website, search for him, and watch with captions.

[@oakland311]

Good Point. I did study Mandarin in college and loved it. I wish I had kept up with my studies. Valuable language.

[@Ultra4]

great translation, the most useless 1% of the huge speech got translated spot on, good work

[@rprasannakumar]

This video has subtitles click on the sign next to the settings symbol...

[@yudy92]

There are captions. take your time to understand the settings on a video.. there are many

[@maninw]

A bit more to add, at 5:58, it says that "there is no Photoshop involved" is not that correct for both translation, he is meaning: "there is not any computer graph involved", in other words, "hand made!"

[@w4yn6]

Once in a while, it's good to be a Chinese. His talk was awesome!

[@aaronfawcett9911]

Just a heads up, youtube videos generally have subtitles (including this one). Click the button that is rectangular on the menu (between annotations and settings)

[@L1NGY13]

The translator has probably planned and practised the talk with the speaker. A lot of what the speaker said wasn't translated. I'm glad I understand Chinese and didn't need subtitles :P

[@Jotto999]

Since many of you don't know how to use KZbin, click on the little cc button beside the change quality gear. This turns on subtitles.

[@twiho]

Dude, someone should have made a notation on the video that there are captions. I was waiting for the translator to translate. Oh man.

[@daddyleon]

lol!!!! 2 minutes of constant talking... then the translation (3:02) "This is the joint effort between me and French artist JR". Damn.. never thought English was so much more efficient!

[@chenrikl]

Yes, but the E is not frequently featured in this manner. I have never seen this kind of content on TED before so I was quite surprised. I was furthermore expecting him to make a point in that talk that never really came, or it was in chinese.

[@2feetofclay]

beautiful.

[@TnEEn]

thanks bro! he started rambling and going thrugh the pix and i was like WFT dude!!! o.O

[@Zormac]

Well, I can't say a lot about Mandarin or Cantonese because I've just recently started studying Mandarin. However, about the translator seeming so relaxed, that is because translating is more than just simultaneously saying the words in a different language. Instead, we try to wait for the complete idea in order to say the same thing in the most natural way possible. It has to sound like something that a native speaker would say rather than a direct translation.

[@mmtalb]

That's all, thank you, thank you.

[@galica5501]

He's got a studio full of apprentices and assistants now, he doesn't have to. The art world is funny like that.

[@riddler251]

I swear he talked for ever and all we got from the translator was like 4 words at one point.

[@jimpikles]

it would be good if there were subtitles

[@_Eamon]

Thanks. You're a much better translator than the guy in the video. :)

[@l0vablelinda]

Ted, please re-upload the video so that the entire speech is translated for us who prefer English. Thank you.

[@ALLENGOLD12]

This is amazing

[@mattwandcow]

Ah! Maybe I should turn captions on. That might make the experience better!

[@P14N0L0V3R]

i like this intro soooo much better than the other ones

[@oakland311]

I wish the translation was more frequent; I got lost in waiting for the translator to speak again. Clearly I need to work on my Chinese!

[@rendelll1390]

I feel sorry for the translator...

[@liuzhuzhao]

me tooo

[@YR2050]

Translator was malfunctioning, you guys have to go to TED website and pick subtitles.

[@JasonSP1988]

Amazing!

[@kolomo]

it is not a joke.. go to TED website and watch the video. There is an option for you to choose the subtitles.

[@maninw]

I have be seeing his art piece on the internet... I thought that was only for fun... lol However, this talk give me a better impression... that's true art!

[@RnDisMyThing]

fixation on tranlator!(?) i would believe its edited for time since there are captions anyways. nice work and great message.

[@frunchzz]

I thought that the reason why only some parts featured translation by the translator was that the editor at TED had fucked up and hadn't removed all of them (which would make sense seeing as there are subtitles already). But I guess the idea that the translator didn't translate to "keep him invisible" is pretty nice.

[@tobortine]

Speaking Chinese is not important because his work says it all. Brilliant.

[@wap2uk]

Turn subtitles on

[@Ryan-fc9lq]

Art talks usually turn me off, but I 'get' this man's art. I think it is great art.

[@chenrikl]

Nice art. But what's it doing at TED?

[@VitalCareBurmaTraining]

Thanks

[@9441282192]

the reason people value artists is for the idea they spark in peoples minds. for the philosophy behind what they are trying to do. as you must know, painters aren't the only artists. there are musicians and dancers and actors and poets and so on. his message does not need him to paint, but rather in the situation he presents. i have nil artistic understanding so il stop talking here.

[@gaterzick]

there is a translator in youtube and it worked well for this

[@CarnieKing]

KZbin has captions now...

[@windsgrace688]

So it seems like there are subtitles for this on the TED website. Why not just embed them into the KZbin video so everybody can understand what he's saying?

[@hi9580]

it's weird hearing the translation , repeating what you already heard

[@leoliu8546]

This video even made the man invisible... Actually what he said important was not translated into English. He was saying some sad story about where his work from

[@andrewlaverghetta715]

I made it through half of the video before I realized that it had Closed Captioning in English.

[@Yarxo]

Subtitles would be nice.

[@theJozyk]

lost in translation. there should be subtitles

[@cpengching4717]

Good job 刘先生

[@CheeseProdigy]

From one TED talk?

[@Cityj0hn]

This should be filed under "humour" and titled "How I became the best translator in China."

[@Rapha5019]

thanks:D

[@vivspring]

how do you know?

[@rico1648]

Lost in translation. His speech is so profound and provoking.

[@alientranslator]

Up where? I am here.

[@MrPuddnhead]

I think the art was the message he was trying to get across. No translation needed.

[@JaySee5]

Yes, I totally agree. The setup was horrible. They probably did it this way because they can't give everyone headphones. The speaker should have paused to allow the interpreter to speak in this type of setup.

[@TheXanderLex]

And... Captions turned on fixes it. Have a nice day.

[@yudy92]

Just click the "cc" button right next to the settings of the video. I dont understand why its easier to dislike this video than finding out a way to understand it.

[@orlando098]

@chad Not so easy for him to accurately paint himself, let alone take photos of himself.. he comes up with the concepts I guess. Even some artists with less of an excuse, like Damien Hirst, do the same. And this guy at least takes part in the art in that he poses in the images.

[@alexpow252]

Maybe he deliberately didn't give the translator a chance to translate everything to draw a parallel between his art and his talk. He is mostly unheard, in some sense, like he is mostly unseen in his artwork. It still would have been nice to hear everything though.

[@KnightGab]

Why wouldn't he translate more often? O.o

[@JZGreenline]

link didnt work for me

[@eevee1156]

I have never been so glad that I am Chinese.

[@PussiesUnite]

It's because he was the one who thought of the "concept" which then allowed these good painter people to bring his idea to life, duh!

[@dead99spider]

I finished the whole video before realizing that...

[@bhatman29]

Brutal Translator

[@LakshminarayananP]

Nice .very cool

[@MystikAzn4vr]

He talked from 0:34-3:05 Translation, "this is a joint effort between me and French artist JR" Haha

[@kamylko]

I am not a native speaker and I understood everything what translator said.

[@TheLivirus]

Ambitious... but haven't we seen this many times before?

[@TheRageIncarnate]

The poor translator, he really didn't get a chance to jump in. Liu Bolin was so into his speech it seems that he forgot it was a foreign audience ^^ or maybe he wanted to prove that he would be understood despite the barrier? doubtful I know ;)

[@kendoWTL]

You guys do know that this has english captions. right?

[@manes1986]

Subtitles please!!!, there is NO translation from the "translator".

[@Fishingmagicianyeeyee]

*round of applause life savior

[@PrecambrianLullaby]

didn't cross my mind actually. the presence of an interpreter threw me off... thanks for the heads-up. seems kind of obvious that there would be captions now, actually.

[@offdaheez]

Wouldn't it have been easier to just put subtitles on the same screen as the art work. The translator only said like three sentences. It was just awkward having him on stage.

[@FinallyGotATubeName]

Dude, it is purposeful the interpreter is hiding in plain sight by breaking the mold and not talking when there job is to talk. :P

[@MartinDxt]

did he make the urban mimetic suit for Sherlock Holmes 2?

[@laisaimusay]

I never thought that my Chinese could come in handy like this XD

[@weefeatures]

Yeah but why not give us subtitles or some shizzle mcnizzle.

[@65thCrazyMan]

This would be so much more interesting if the translator translated more of what he was saying :/

[@derontang2544]

invisible translator...but I think most people could understand the meaning of the speech...a picture is worth a thound words

[@HarindermintyModelTownldh]

beautiful .. hiding the physical self is invisibility...amusing

[@jackshi]

Great talk, wish the translator was better. I could have done a better job... It seems like 90% were not translated and only the unimportant parts.

[@yudy92]

That long moment of confusion when your chinese friend understands cantonese, and the lecture is in mandarine...

[@Mijonju]

Indeed!! he only translated like 10% of the entire speech?