[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.49,0:00:03.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Two years ago, I have to say there was no problem.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:03.46,0:00:07.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Two years ago, I knew exactly \Nwhat an icon looked like.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.52,0:00:09.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It looks like this.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:09.87,0:00:12.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Everybody's icon, but also the default position
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.70,0:00:16.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of a curator of Italian Renaissance \Npaintings, which I was then.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.52,0:00:20.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in a way, this is also another default selection.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.22,0:00:24.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Leonardo da Vinci's exquisitely soulful image
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.76,0:00:26.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the "Lady with an Ermine."
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.06,0:00:28.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I use that word, soulful, deliberately.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.60,0:00:30.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or then there's this, or rather these:
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.99,0:00:33.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the two versions of Leonardo's "Virgin of the Rocks"
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.64,0:00:37.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that were about to come together \Nin London for the very first time.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.92,0:00:42.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the exhibition that I was then in \Nthe absolute throes of organizing.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.10,0:00:45.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was literally up to my eyes in Leonardo,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.54,0:00:47.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I had been for three years.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.36,0:00:51.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, he was occupying every part of my brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.78,0:00:54.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Leonardo had taught me, during that three years,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.62,0:00:56.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about what a picture can do.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.47,0:01:01.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,About taking you from your own \Nmaterial world into a spiritual world.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.79,0:01:04.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He said, actually, that he believed \Nthe job of the painter
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.68,0:01:09.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was to paint everything that was visible \Nand invisible in the universe.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.13,0:01:13.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's a huge task. And yet, \Nsomehow he achieves it.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.12,0:01:15.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He shows us, I think, the human soul.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.90,0:01:20.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He shows us the capacity of ourselves
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.34,0:01:23.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to move into a spiritual realm.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.77,0:01:28.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To see a vision of the universe that's \Nmore perfect than our own.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.30,0:01:31.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To see God's own plan, in some sense.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.87,0:01:35.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So this, in a sense, was really \Nwhat I believed an icon was.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.94,0:01:39.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At about that time, I started talking to Tom Campbell,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.80,0:01:42.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,director here of the Metropolitan Museum,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.35,0:01:45.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about what my next move might be.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.68,0:01:48.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The move, in fact, back to an earlier life,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.45,0:01:50.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one I'd begun at the British Museum,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.41,0:01:52.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,back to the world of three dimensions --
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.93,0:01:55.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of sculpture and of decorative arts --
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.16,0:01:59.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to take over the department of European sculpture \Nand decorative arts, here at the Met.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.38,0:02:00.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But it was an incredibly busy time.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.82,0:02:04.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All the conversations were done \Nat very peculiar times of the day --
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.22,0:02:07.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over the phone.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.14,0:02:09.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the end, I accepted the job
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.20,0:02:10.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without actually having been here.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.57,0:02:13.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Again, I'd been there a couple of years before,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.12,0:02:15.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but on that particular visit.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.64,0:02:19.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, it was just before the time that \Nthe Leonardo show was due to open
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.73,0:02:23.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when I finally made it back to the Met, to New York,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.75,0:02:25.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to see my new domain.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.21,0:02:29.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To see what European sculpture \Nand decorative arts looked like,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.15,0:02:33.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,beyond those Renaissance collections \Nwith which I was so already familiar.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.94,0:02:36.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I thought, on that very first day, \NI better tour the galleries.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.94,0:02:38.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Fifty-seven of these galleries --
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.39,0:02:43.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like 57 varieties of baked beans, I believe.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.25,0:02:49.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I walked through and I started in my comfort zone\Nin the Italian Renaissance.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.37,0:02:51.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then I moved gradually around,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.29,0:02:54.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,feeling a little lost sometimes.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.39,0:02:57.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My head, also still full of the Leonardo exhibition
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.44,0:03:01.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that was about to open, and I came across this.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.46,0:03:09.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I thought to myself: What the hell have I done?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.40,0:03:12.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There was absolutely no connection in my mind
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.75,0:03:15.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at all and, in fact, if there was any emotion going on,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.85,0:03:18.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was a kind of repulsion.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.22,0:03:21.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This object felt utterly and completely alien.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.45,0:03:26.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Silly at a level that I hadn't yet \Nunderstood silliness to be.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.92,0:03:29.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then it was made worse --
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.12,0:03:30.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there were two of them.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.96,0:03:34.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.10,0:03:37.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, I started thinking about why it was, in fact,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.07,0:03:39.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I disliked this object so much.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.52,0:03:43.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What was the anatomy of my distaste?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.33,0:03:46.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, so much gold, so vulgar.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.80,0:03:50.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, so nouveau riche, frankly.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.65,0:03:53.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Leonardo himself had preached \Nagainst the use of gold,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.56,0:03:56.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so it was absolutely anathema at that moment.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.100,0:04:02.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then there's little pretty sprigs \Nof flowers everywhere. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.43,0:04:05.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And finally, that pink. That damned pink.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.95,0:04:08.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's such an extraordinarily artificial color.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.84,0:04:12.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, it's a color that I can't think of \Nanything that you actually see in nature,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.37,0:04:15.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that looks that shade.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.46,0:04:19.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The object even has its own tutu. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.20,0:04:21.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This little flouncy, spangly, bottomy bit
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.56,0:04:23.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that sits at the bottom of the vase.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:23.59,0:04:25.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It reminded me, in an odd kind of way,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.97,0:04:28.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of my niece's fifth birthday party.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.06,0:04:32.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Where all the little girls would come \Neither as a princess or a fairy.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:32.59,0:04:34.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There was one who would come as a fairy princess.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:34.47,0:04:36.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You should have seen the looks.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.89,0:04:38.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.58,0:04:41.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I realize that this object was in my mind,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.92,0:04:44.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,born from the same mind, from the same womb,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.86,0:04:50.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,practically, as Barbie Ballerina. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.09,0:04:53.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then there's the elephants. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.61,0:04:55.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Those extraordinary elephants
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.76,0:04:58.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with their little, sort of strange, sinister expressions
Dialogue: 0,0:04:58.48,0:05:03.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Greta Garbo eyelashes, with \Nthese golden tusks and so on.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:03.78,0:05:05.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I realized this was an elephant that had
Dialogue: 0,0:05:05.55,0:05:11.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,absolutely nothing to do with a majestic \Nmarch across the Serengeti.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:11.29,0:05:16.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was a Dumbo nightmare. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:05:16.78,0:05:19.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But something more profound \Nwas happening as well.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:19.63,0:05:21.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These objects, it seemed to me,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:21.06,0:05:25.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were quintessentially the kind that I \Nand my liberal left friends in London
Dialogue: 0,0:05:25.37,0:05:27.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had always seen as summing up
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.90,0:05:30.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,something deplorable about the French aristocracy
Dialogue: 0,0:05:30.74,0:05:32.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the 18th century.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:32.91,0:05:35.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The label had told me that these pieces were made
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.70,0:05:38.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by the Sèvres Manufactory,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.41,0:05:41.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,made of porcelain in the late 1750s,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:41.64,0:05:44.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and designed by a designer called \NJean-Claude Duplessis,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:44.77,0:05:46.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,actually somebody of extraordinary distinction
Dialogue: 0,0:05:46.96,0:05:49.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as I later learned.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:49.44,0:05:54.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But for me, they summed up a kind of,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:54.25,0:05:57.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that sort of sheer uselessness of the aristocracy
Dialogue: 0,0:05:57.66,0:06:01.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the 18th century.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.14,0:06:03.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I and my colleagues had always thought
Dialogue: 0,0:06:03.60,0:06:06.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that these objects, in way, summed up the idea of,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:06.56,0:06:08.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know -- no wonder there was a revolution.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:08.92,0:06:13.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or, indeed, thank God there was a revolution.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:13.46,0:06:15.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There was a sort of idea really, that,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:15.22,0:06:17.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if you owned a vase like this,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:17.90,0:06:21.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then there was really only one fate possible.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:21.62,0:06:25.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:06:25.68,0:06:30.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, there I was -- in a sort of paroxysm of horror.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.35,0:06:34.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I took the job and I went \Non looking at these vases.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:34.31,0:06:37.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I sort of had to because they're \Non a through route in the Met.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:37.84,0:06:40.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, almost anywhere I went, there they were.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:40.47,0:06:43.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They had this kind of odd sort of fascination,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:43.24,0:06:46.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like a car accident.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:46.26,0:06:48.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Where I couldn't stop looking.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:48.98,0:06:51.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And as I did so, I started thinking:
Dialogue: 0,0:06:51.20,0:06:55.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, what are we actually looking at here?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:55.73,0:06:59.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And what I started with was understanding this
Dialogue: 0,0:06:59.06,0:07:02.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as really a supreme piece of design.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:02.62,0:07:03.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It took me a little time.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:03.71,0:07:05.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But, that tutu for example --
Dialogue: 0,0:07:05.15,0:07:08.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,actually, this is a piece that \Ndoes dance in its own way.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:08.27,0:07:09.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It has an extraordinary lightness
Dialogue: 0,0:07:09.92,0:07:12.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and yet, it is also amazing balanced.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:12.43,0:07:15.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It has these kinds of sculptural ingredients.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.90,0:07:17.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then the play between --
Dialogue: 0,0:07:17.54,0:07:22.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,actually really quite carefully disposed \Ncolor and gilding, and the sculptural surface,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:22.16,0:07:24.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is really rather remarkable.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:24.43,0:07:27.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then I realized that this piece went into the kiln
Dialogue: 0,0:07:27.26,0:07:30.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,four times, at least four times \Nin order to arrive at this.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:30.65,0:07:33.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How many moments for accident can you think of
Dialogue: 0,0:07:33.70,0:07:35.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that could have happened to this piece?
Dialogue: 0,0:07:35.21,0:07:37.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then remember, not just one, but two.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:37.77,0:07:42.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So he's having to arrive at two exactly matched
Dialogue: 0,0:07:42.04,0:07:44.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,vases of this kind.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:44.55,0:07:45.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then this question of uselessness.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:45.95,0:07:50.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well actually, the end of the trunks \Nwere originally candle holders.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:50.91,0:07:54.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So what you would have had \Nwere candles on either side.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:54.66,0:07:57.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Imagine that effect of candlelight on that surface.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:57.22,0:07:59.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On the slightly uneven pink, on the beautiful gold.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:59.95,0:08:02.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It would have glittered in an interior,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:02.70,0:08:05.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a little like a little firework.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:05.78,0:08:09.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And at that point, actually, \Na firework went off in my brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:09.43,0:08:12.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Somebody reminded me that, that word 'fancy' --
Dialogue: 0,0:08:12.27,0:08:15.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which in a sense for me, encapsulated this object --
Dialogue: 0,0:08:15.38,0:08:19.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,actually comes from the same \Nroot as the word 'fantasy.'
Dialogue: 0,0:08:19.42,0:08:22.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that what this object was just as much in a way,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:22.04,0:08:24.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in its own way, as a Leonardo da Vinci painting,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:24.49,0:08:26.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is a portal to somewhere else.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:26.70,0:08:30.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is an object of the imagination.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:30.89,0:08:37.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you think about the mad 18th-century \Noperas of the time -- set in the Orient.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:37.72,0:08:44.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you think about divans and perhaps even \Nopium-induced visions of pink elephants,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:44.20,0:08:47.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then at that point, this object starts to make sense.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:47.50,0:08:51.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is an object which is all about escapism.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:51.56,0:08:54.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's about an escapism that happens --
Dialogue: 0,0:08:54.75,0:08:56.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the aristocracy in France sought
Dialogue: 0,0:08:56.78,0:08:58.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,very deliberately
Dialogue: 0,0:08:58.56,0:09:03.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to distinguish themselves from ordinary people.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:03.13,0:09:05.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's not an escapism that
Dialogue: 0,0:09:05.09,0:09:08.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we feel particularly happy with today, however.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:08.96,0:09:11.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And again, going on thinking about this,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:11.94,0:09:15.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I realize that in a way we're all victims
Dialogue: 0,0:09:15.12,0:09:17.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of a certain kind of tyranny
Dialogue: 0,0:09:17.13,0:09:19.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the triumph of modernism
Dialogue: 0,0:09:19.15,0:09:21.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whereby form and function in an object
Dialogue: 0,0:09:21.88,0:09:25.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have to follow one another, or are deemed to do so.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:25.28,0:09:28.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the extraneous ornament is seen as really,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:28.25,0:09:31.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,essentially, criminal.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:31.27,0:09:34.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a triumph, in a way, of bourgeois\Nvalues rather than aristocratic ones.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:34.42,0:09:36.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that seems fine.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:36.24,0:09:43.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Except for the fact that it becomes a kind of \Nsequestration of imagination.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:43.70,0:09:46.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So just as in the 20th century, so many people
Dialogue: 0,0:09:46.39,0:09:48.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had the idea that their faith
Dialogue: 0,0:09:48.38,0:09:51.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,took place on the Sabbath day,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:51.06,0:09:52.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the rest of their lives --
Dialogue: 0,0:09:52.43,0:09:56.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,their lives of washing machines and orthodontics --
Dialogue: 0,0:09:56.41,0:09:58.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,took place on another day.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:58.44,0:10:02.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Then, I think we've started doing the same.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:02.21,0:10:05.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We've allowed ourselves to
Dialogue: 0,0:10:05.54,0:10:07.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,lead our fantasy lives in front of screens.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:07.90,0:10:11.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the dark of the cinema, with the\Ntelevision in the corner of the room.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:11.88,0:10:15.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We've eliminated, in a sense, that constant
Dialogue: 0,0:10:15.96,0:10:20.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the imagination that these vases \Nrepresented in people's lives.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:20.89,0:10:24.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So maybe it's time we got this back a little.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:24.92,0:10:27.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think it's beginning to happen.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:27.27,0:10:28.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In London, for example,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:28.54,0:10:30.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with these extraordinary buildings
Dialogue: 0,0:10:30.69,0:10:33.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that have been appearing over the last few years.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:33.68,0:10:36.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Redolent, in a sense, of science fiction,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:36.08,0:10:38.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,turning London into a kind of fantasy playground.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:38.20,0:10:43.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's actually amazing to look out of \Na high building nowadays there.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:43.05,0:10:44.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But even then, there's a resistance.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:44.85,0:10:49.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,London has called these buildings the \NGherkin, the Shard, the Walkie Talkie --
Dialogue: 0,0:10:49.19,0:10:52.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,bringing these soaring buildings down to Earth.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:52.49,0:10:56.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's an idea that we don't want these
Dialogue: 0,0:10:56.57,0:11:01.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,anxious-making, imaginative journeys \Nto happen in our daily lives.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:01.44,0:11:04.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I feel lucky in a way,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:04.70,0:11:07.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've encountered this object.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:07.25,0:11:09.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:11:09.69,0:11:12.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I found him on the Internet when \NI was looking up a reference.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:12.99,0:11:15.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And there he was.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:15.89,0:11:19.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And unlike the pink elephant vase,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:19.20,0:11:21.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this was a kind of love at first sight.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:21.18,0:11:24.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, reader, I married him. I bought him.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:24.03,0:11:27.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he now adorns my office.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:27.90,0:11:31.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He's a Staffordshire figure made \Nin the middle of the 19th century.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:31.44,0:11:36.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He represents the actor, Edmund Kean, \Nplaying Shakespeare's Richard III.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:36.24,0:11:38.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it's based, actually, on a more \Nelevated piece of porcelain.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:38.70,0:11:40.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I loved, on an art historical level,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:40.85,0:11:45.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I loved that layered quality that he has.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:45.51,0:11:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But more than that, I love him.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:48.00,0:11:49.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In a way that I think would have been impossible
Dialogue: 0,0:11:49.68,0:11:52.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without the pink Sèvres vase in my Leonardo days.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:52.29,0:11:55.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I love his orange and pink breeches.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:55.51,0:11:58.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I love the fact that he seems to be going off to war,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:58.26,0:12:02.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,having just finished the washing up. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:12:02.69,0:12:05.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He seems also to have forgotten his sword.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:05.17,0:12:07.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I love his pink little cheeks, his munchkin energy.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:07.79,0:12:10.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In a way, he's become my sort of alter ego.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:10.98,0:12:13.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He's, I hope, a little bit dignified,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:13.28,0:12:18.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but mostly rather vulgar. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:12:18.45,0:12:21.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And energetic, I hope, too.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:21.67,0:12:26.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I let him into my life because the Sèvres\Npink elephant vase allowed me to do so.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:26.83,0:12:28.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And before that Leonardo,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:28.39,0:12:33.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I understood that this object could become \Npart of a journey for me every day,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:33.50,0:12:36.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sitting in my office.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:36.24,0:12:39.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I really hope that others, all of you,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:39.23,0:12:40.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,visiting objects in the museum,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:40.81,0:12:43.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and taking them home and \Nfinding them for yourselves,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:43.26,0:12:47.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,will allow those objects to flourish \Nin your imaginative lives.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:47.58,0:12:49.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you very much.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:49.13,0:12:53.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)