Calling all London tourists — Peter Pan, Sherlock Holmes and Queen Victoria want to have a word with you.
A new interactive arts project is giving a voice to dozens of statues of historical and fictional characters in London, allowing them to tell their stories and entertain curious visitors and weary commuters as they pass by.
To get an instant “call” from one of the statues — say from one depicting Isaac Newton at the British Library — people can swipe their smartphones on a plaque to scan a digital code, or type in a Web address. They can then listen to a monologue from the character, played by actors including Patrick Stewart and Hugh Bonneville, famous from the British TV series Downton Abbey.
Photo: Reuters
照片：路透
In total, 35 statues in London and Manchester are featured. The choices are eclectic — along with Holmes, who laments the absence of Dr Watson by his side at Baker Street station, there is author Samuel Johnson’s cat Hodge and an unnamed couple on a bench. Some educate with a bit of history, but most come with a healthy dose of humor.
Queen Victoria’s starts, “Thank you for calling me on this strange machine. I have become very bored sitting here all day holding an extremely heavy scepter and orb.”
(Liberty Times)
呼叫所有倫敦的遊客：彼得潘、福爾摩斯以及維多利亞女王有話要跟你說。
一項新型的互動藝術計畫，將倫敦幾十個歷史人物與虛擬角色賦予了聲音，讓他們可以訴說自己的故事，娛樂一下行經的好奇遊客和疲憊旅人。
要接到雕像之一的即時「電話」—比如說在大英圖書館的牛頓—人們可以向解說牌揮一下智慧型手機掃描數位條碼，或輸入網址。之後，他們可以聽到人物的獨白，由英國電視劇「唐頓莊園」著名演員派屈克‧史都華或休‧伯納威飾演。
倫敦及曼徹斯特共計有三十五個雕像加入表演。選材不拘一格：在貝克街車站哀嘆華生缺席的福爾摩斯，身旁是作家山繆‧強生的貓霍奇，以及一對坐在長凳上不知名的情侶。有些能教人一些歷史，但大多數都是給人一劑健康幽默。
維多利亞女王的開場白是：「謝謝你用這台奇怪的機器打給我。我握著超級重的權杖與寶珠，在這坐一整天，已感到有夠無聊。」
（自由時報／翻譯：顧佳欣）
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