The Blank Canvas1

For a city so steeped in artistic expression and built upon a dignified history that manifests in the monuments that dot the streets， it seems bizarre to portray Paris as a blank canvas.2 Before starting my study abroad here， I had sculpted an image of Paris as a city plucked out of the stream of time.3 From the 19th century facades that adorn the buildings to the stereotypical （but also true） bunches of people savouring life upon the lip of a coffee cup，4 Paris seems to never change. But after living and breathing here for two months， Ive discovered that the inhabitants have built upon their citys perfection just by changing their perspectives on life.5 From street art that deserves their own exhibits in museums to the electric cars that whir along the grand boulevards， each contribution to the blank canvas of Paris shares the common thread of rejecting “no， its impossible” and embracing “yes， go for it” as you pursue your dreams.6

I opened my eyes to the “blank canvas” of Paris during my first week in the city. Following memories from my school trip to the city eight years ago， I found myself standing in the square outside of the Sacre-Coeur Cathedral7 at Montmartre. Every few steps were artists and their canvases， sketching caricatures of tourists or painting vibrant streetscapes of Paris.8 As I made my rounds， my dancer spirit dragged my eye to a woman who displayed her artwork that depicted ballerina feet in pointed shoes.9 As I approached to get a closer look at the shoes painted in icy blue or matador cape red， I noted that the paper she used were yellowed squares of sheet music.10 To someone who practiced dance regularly， this combination encapsulated the essence of how each step flowed into another as they followed the bars of music.11 I could not resist asking the artist about her inspiration. With a wry smile， she told me that although she had never learned to dance， she simply channelled her aspirations through creating art on the music that helps ballerinas express their own art.12 In other words， when she said “yes I can” to her dreams， opportunities emerged13 where she never expected， such as from a simple piece of sheet music. I had already fished out14 my wallet before she had finished talking. Walking away with two paintings， I had begun my journey to seeing just how Parisians were reinventing their city.15

The next step on this journey simply required me to turn my head slightly from side to side while walking along the Parisian streets. No， Im not talking about stealing glances at the women （though they are exquisite），16 I mean the street art. If you take the extra few seconds to pay attention， there is enough street art to make the city itself into a living museum， from murals that cover an entire apartment building to mosaics hiding on the corner of a wall.17 Although Banksy， Space Invaders， and other famed street artists have left their mark on this city， I was particularly entranced by a mural of an African girl hugging a panda.18 The cuteness of the painting aside， I was most moved by the depiction of the girls afro haircut.19 The artist had created a halo composed of yellow， orange， violet， pink and magenta specks of paint， as if the dreams of childhood were swirling around her head as she snuggled the panda.20 Perhaps the artist played a double entendre by affirming how each Parisian wall is a literal blank canvas， while also reminding passers-by of the beauty waiting to emerge just from a simple “yes you can” to a child as she starts pursuing her dreams.21

This spirit of reinvention has even permeated22 into how Parisians move about in their city. Every few blocks or so， I would come across a row of charging stations jutting out of the sidewalk， each wired to a smart car.23 Intrigued by how these charging stations lent a steam-punk vibe to such a classical city like Paris，24 I started doing further research. I found that this was part of an electric car sharing service called “Autolib”25， which was founded in 2011. When the company rolled out its first fleet of cars， the initial response was overwhelming.26 More than 150，000 people have signed up27， and the number is steadily growing. As these cars hum along the roads， their quiet engines and convenient hop-in/hop-off service truly let riders live out the companys motto： “Free like air.”28 But more importantly， the car-sharing model is crucial for exposing more people to the advantages of electric vehicles， not only in terms of driving experience， but also regarding the added bonus29 of friendliness to the environment. As climate change begins to grip the world， even a city as timeless as Paris is showing that the space to reinvent itself only reveals itself when people say “yes， we can，”30 especially to dreams of a cleaner， greener and more sustainable future.

On February 17th， Paris launched its bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games， and tapped into the latent vivacity of the city as its selling point.31 Overnight， and I am not exaggerating here， the city blossomed with banners overlaid with the motto “La Force dun Rêve”—“The Drive of a Dream.”32 Each banner shone a spotlight on the young and the diverse inheritors of the future， from a multicultural group of kids laughing together on a soccer pitch to a child in a cardboard astronaut helmet envisioning all the possibilities open to him.33 I believe that no motto is more fitting for this city. From its ground-breaking inventors to its anonymous artists， Paris is overflowing with dreams that drive the city to discover all the blank canvases hidden underneath its surface.34

1. canvas： 畫布。

2. 巴黎是一座充滿藝術(shù)氣息、擁有深厚歷史文化底蘊(yùn)的城市，歷史遺跡遍布街頭。把這樣一座城市比作一塊空白畫布好像有點(diǎn)奇怪。be steeped in： 富有……特點(diǎn)；artistic： 藝術(shù)的；dignified： 莊嚴(yán)的；manifest： 表明，顯現(xiàn)；monument： 歷史遺跡；dot： v. 布滿，點(diǎn)綴；bizarre： 奇怪的；portray： 描繪。

3. 來(lái)這里學(xué)習(xí)之前，我腦中所描繪的巴黎是一座跳出了時(shí)間洪流的城市。sculpt： 雕刻；pluck： 摘，拔。

4. facade：（尤指宏偉建筑物的）正面；adorn： 裝扮；stereotypical： 典型的；bunches of： 大量的；savour： 品味，體會(huì)。

5. inhabitant： 居民；perspective： 視角，觀點(diǎn)。

6. whir： 呼呼地飛快移動(dòng)；boulevard： 林陰大道；common thread： 相同思路；embrace： 接受，接納；pursue： 追求。

7. Sacre-Coeur Cathedral： 圣心大教堂，位于巴黎北部的蒙馬特高地（Montmartre），具有羅馬式與拜占庭式相結(jié)合的別致風(fēng)格。

8. sketch： 畫素描；caricature： （人物）漫畫； vibrant： 生機(jī)勃勃的；streetscape： 街道景觀。

9. make ones rounds： 兜圈，走遍；depict： 描畫；ballerina： 芭蕾舞女演員；pointed shoe： 尖頭鞋。

10. icy blue： 冰藍(lán)色；matador： 斗牛士；cape： 斗篷；sheet music： 樂(lè)譜。

11. 對(duì)于經(jīng)常練習(xí)舞蹈的人來(lái)說(shuō)，這種結(jié)合巧妙地體現(xiàn)了舞者是如何跟隨樂(lè)譜跳出每一個(gè)舞步的。encapsulate： 壓縮，概括；essence： 實(shí)質(zhì)，精髓；bar： （樂(lè)譜的）小節(jié)。

12. wry smile： 苦笑；channel： 引導(dǎo)，傳輸； aspiration： 渴望，志向。

13. emerge： 出現(xiàn)。

14. fish out： 掏出。

15. parisian： 巴黎人；reinvent： 改造。

16. steal a glance at： 偷瞄； exquisite： 精致的，優(yōu)雅的。

17. 如果你稍花一點(diǎn)兒時(shí)間留心觀察，就會(huì)注意到這里的街頭藝術(shù)之多，大如覆蓋整座公寓樓的壁畫，小如墻角的馬賽克涂鴉，使這座城市成為了一個(gè)活生生的美術(shù)館。mural： 壁畫；mosaic： 鑲嵌圖案，馬賽克。

18. Banksy： 班克西（1974— ），倫敦涂鴉藝術(shù)家，被譽(yù)為當(dāng)今世界上最有才氣的街頭藝術(shù)家之一；Space Invader： 一位法國(guó)街頭藝術(shù)家的化名，以創(chuàng)作受經(jīng)典電子游戲“太空侵略者”啟發(fā)的“像素化馬賽克”作品而聞名國(guó)際；entrance： v. 使入迷。

19. aside： 撇開，除去不談；afro： 美國(guó)黑人的，圓蓬式的。

20. halo： 光環(huán)；be composed of： 由……組成；violet： 紫羅蘭色；magenta： 品紅色；speck： 小點(diǎn)，斑點(diǎn)； swirl： 旋轉(zhuǎn)；snuggle： 緊貼，偎依。

21. 也許創(chuàng)作者在這里用了一個(gè)雙關(guān)，既證明了巴黎的每一面墻都是真正意義上的空白畫布，同時(shí)又提醒路過(guò)的行人，當(dāng)孩子開始追逐自己的夢(mèng)想時(shí)，送給她簡(jiǎn)單一句“是的，你可以做到”就可以喚出美麗的事物。double entendre： 雙關(guān)；affirm： 證實(shí)。

22. permeate： 滲透，彌漫。

23. block： 街區(qū)；come across： 偶遇；charging station： 充電站；jut out： 向外突出；sidewalk： 人行道；wire： 將……連接到。

24. intrigue： 激起……的興趣；lend to： 給……增添……； steam-punk： 蒸汽朋克，其作品特點(diǎn)是落后與先進(jìn)共存，魔法與科學(xué)共存；vibe： 氛圍。

25. Autolib： 巴黎推出的電動(dòng)車自助租車服務(wù)，取名為 “Autolib”計(jì)劃，是全球首個(gè)大規(guī)?！岸际泄搽妱?dòng)車租賃系統(tǒng)”。

26. roll out： 推出；fleet： 車隊(duì)；overwhelming： 勢(shì)不可擋的。

27. sign up： 注冊(cè)，報(bào)名。

28. hum： 發(fā)出連續(xù)低沉的聲音；hop-in： 上車；hop-off： 下車； live out： 實(shí)現(xiàn)。

29. bonus： 意外的好處。

30. grip： 強(qiáng)烈地影響；timeless： 不受時(shí)間影響的，永不過(guò)時(shí)的；reveal： 顯示，顯露。

31. bid： 投標(biāo)；host： 主辦；tap into： 利用；latent： 潛在的； vivacity： 活力；selling point： 賣點(diǎn)。

32. overnight： 一夜之間；exaggerate： 夸大；blossom： 發(fā)展，繁盛；banner： 橫幅；overlay： 覆蓋；motto： 口號(hào)。

33. 每條橫幅都聚焦于年輕人和眾多未來(lái)的繼承者們，他們或許是在足球場(chǎng)上歡笑嬉戲著的、有著不同文化背景的孩子們，又或許是戴著紙板做的宇航員帽子、展望未來(lái)所有可能的孩子。shine a spotlight on： 使突出，使引起關(guān)注；inheritor： 后繼者；multicultural： 多元文化的；soccer pitch： 足球場(chǎng)；cardboard： 硬紙板；astronaut： 宇航員； helmet： 頭盔；envision： 想象，展望。

34. ground-breaking： 全新的，開創(chuàng)性的；anonymous： 匿名的；overflow with： 充滿著。