In a famous lab trial, a chimp put two interlocking sticks together and pulled down an elusive prize, a bunch of bananas hanging just out of arm’s reach.
Nearly a century later, eager tourists have conducted their own version of the experiment. Equipped with the camera extender known as a selfie stick, they can now reach for flattering selfies wherever they go.
在一個著名的實驗室實驗中，一隻猩猩把兩根可以連接的棍子接在一起，用來拉下一個難以得到的獎品，掛在伸長手臂也拿不到的地方的一串香蕉。
將近一個世紀後，熱切的觀光客也在進行他們自己版本的實驗。配備被稱為「自拍神器」的相機延伸器材，他們現在不論走到哪裡，都能拍下美美的自拍照。
Art museums have watched this development nervously, fearing damage to their collections or to visitors, as users swing their sticks with abandon. Now they are taking action. One by one, museums across the United States have been imposing bans on using selfie sticks inside galleries .
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington prohibited the sticks in February, and in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art decided that it, too, will forbid selfie sticks.
藝術博物館緊張兮兮地注視著此一發展，擔心使用者恣意揮舞神器，傷到他們的收藏品或是其他參觀者。現在他們開始採取行動。全美各地的博物館一間接著一間禁止在館內使用自拍神器。
位於美國華府的「赫希洪博物館和雕塑園」於今年二月宣布，館內禁止使用自拍神器；而紐約的大都會藝術博物館也已決定跟進。
“It’s one thing to take a picture at arm’s length, but when it is three times arm’s length, you are invading someone else’s personal space ,” said Sree Sreenivasan, the Met’s chief digital officer.
The personal space of other visitors is just one problem. The artwork is another. “We do not want to have to put all the art under glass,” said Deborah Ziska of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, which has been quietly enforcing a ban on selfie sticks but is in the process of adding it formally to its printed guidelines for visitors.
紐約大都會藝術博物館的數位長史瑞．史瑞尼瓦森說：「以手臂的長度拍照是一回事，但以手臂的三倍長拍照，你會侵犯其他人的個人空間。」
其他參觀者的個人空間只是問題之一。藝術品的保護也是個問題。華盛頓特區國家藝廊的黛博拉．齊斯卡說：「我們不想把所有藝術品都放在玻璃下面。」國家藝廊禁用自拍神器已在悄悄執行，把它正式加入為訪客印製的導覽指南的工作，則尚在進行之中。
There’s also the threat to the camera operator, intent on capturing the perfect shot and oblivious to the surroundings. “If people are not paying attention in the Temple of Dendur, they can end up in the water with the crocodile sculpture,” Mr. Sreenivasan said.
Generally, the taking of selfies is encouraged. Art museums long ago concluded that selfies help visitors bond to art and create free advertising for the museum.
拍照者本人也有危險，可能一心只想捕捉完美鏡頭，卻沒留意四周環境。史瑞尼瓦森說：「在丹都爾神廟（紐約大都會藝術博物館內），若沒留神，可能掉進有鱷魚雕像的水裡。」
一般來說，博物館鼓勵自拍。藝術博物館早就認定，自拍有助於參觀者與藝術品的連結，並可為博物館免費宣傳。
When Katy Perry dropped by the Art Institute of Chicago’s Magritte exhibition last summer and took a selfie in front of Grant Wood’s “American Gothic,” the museum reaped a publicity windfall after the image was posted on Pinterest.
The Whitney Museum of American Art, at its Jeff Koons retrospective last year, passed out cards proclaiming, in capital letters, “Koons Is Great for Selfies! ” and urged visitors to post their work on Instagram.
當（美國創作女歌手）凱蒂佩芮去夏光臨芝加哥美術館的馬格利特展時，在格蘭特．伍德的畫作「美國哥德式」前拍了一張自拍照，這張照片貼上（創作平台）Pinterest後，美術館在宣傳上意外大豐收。
惠特尼美國藝術博物館去年舉辦傑夫．昆斯回顧展，在發出的宣傳卡片上用大寫字母宣布：「昆斯的作品最適合自拍！」並呼籲參觀者把自拍照貼上社群網站Instagram。
So, selfies good; sticks bad. But bad in theory , since many museum officials in the United States say they have experienced few instances of selfie-stick use . Meanwhile, at the Tate Modern and the National Gallery in London, and the Louvre in Paris — two cities where Asian tourists, in particular, have made the selfie stick a highly visible part of the urban landscape — selfie sticks are still permitted.
這麼說來，自拍很好；自拍神器不好。不過，是理論上不好，因為美國許多博物館人員表示，他們幾乎沒有碰到使用自拍神器的意外事件。同時，倫敦的泰特現代美術館和國家美術館，以及巴黎的羅浮宮仍允許使用自拍神器。在這兩個城市，觀光客已讓自拍神器成為都市景觀隨處可見的一部分，特別是亞洲觀光客。
In the spirit of scientific inquiry, Mr. Sreenivasan took a selfie stick with him on recent trips to the United Arab Emirates and Europe, where he saw, with alarm, thickets of selfie sticks at tourist attractions and museums.
“If it turned out that the selfie stick served some great purpose, we would defend it,” he said. “But it does not.”
秉持著科學探究精神，史瑞尼瓦森最近去阿拉伯聯合大公國和歐洲時，都帶了自拍神器，他警覺地看到觀光景點和博物館的自拍神器如叢林密布。
他說：「如果自拍神器有什麼了不起的功能，我們會替它說話，但事實並非如此。」
