时间:2018-12-16 作者:英语课 分类:2014年VOA慢速英语(八)月


英语课

 


Artist Turns Plastic Bags Into Art 艺术家将塑料袋变成艺术品


Welcome to American Mosaic 1 from VOA Learning English.  I’m Caty Weaver 2.


Making art with found materials is not a new idea.  Recycled paper, cloth and metal goods can become important pictures and sculptures.  An artist near Washington, D.C. just had her recycled art on exhibit at the Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center in Maryland.  She uses a material found in every American home.


June Simms reports.


Plastic bags are not costly 3 to produce. They are also strong and easy to carry.  This is why they are a popular container in much of the world.  


But they are also a major source of pollution. It can take hundreds of years for plastic bags to break down. As they do, tiny pieces can poison soil, lakes, rivers, and oceans. So, environmental experts urge people to reuse and recycle plastic bags.


Maryland artist Allita Irby does just that.  It starts with the morning newspaper.


Ms. Irby will read it later in the day. What is more important is getting that plastic bag the paper comes in.


The mixed media artist recognized its rich possibilities about three years ago.


“As I was taking the newspaper out.  I felt the texture 4 of these bags, they were soft. I just looked down and realized it takes three to make a braid. I'll just put a few staples 5 in here just to keep it from unraveling. "


Since then, Irby has been using plastic bags to create abstract lines in her art works.


Before incorporating plastic bags in her pieces, Irby used natural materials like feathers, leather and dried plants.


All those elements represent her Native American ancestry 6 and identity, like her piece called “Navaho Bundles.”


“I was replicating 7 a hair style, a Navaho hair style when the hair is heavy and it’s looped back on itself. I took the piece and looped it back onto itself and secured it with a tie.”


Ms. Irby’s neighbors praise her ability to turn trash into treasure. Some, like Charlotte Hogan, asked the artist to teach them how to create art from used plastic bags.


“I think it’s fascinating, it's wonderful. I do plan to share with my seniors at my church.”


Neighbor Aleta Meyer expressed surprise.


“I’ve never given any more thought to what to do with a plastic bag. This is definitely different.”


Shirley Watts 8 also lives in the neighborhood.  She plans to show others her art.


“I want to make a masterpiece that I can put in a frame and put it up on my wall and then I know that I did it.”


Allita Irby says anyone can do it.


“I think we’re all artists really, and there is beauty all around us."


The artist says all you have to do is open your eyes and bring the outside in.



1 mosaic
n./adj.镶嵌细工的,镶嵌工艺品的,嵌花式的
  • The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
  • The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。
2 weaver
n.织布工;编织者
  • She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快,而且布的质量很好。
  • The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。
3 costly
adj.昂贵的,价值高的,豪华的
  • It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
  • This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用,左不过贵了些。
4 texture
n.(织物)质地;(材料)构造;结构;肌理
  • We could feel the smooth texture of silk.我们能感觉出丝绸的光滑质地。
  • Her skin has a fine texture.她的皮肤细腻。
5 staples
n.(某国的)主要产品( staple的名词复数 );钉书钉;U 形钉;主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )
  • The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
  • I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句
6 ancestry
n.祖先,家世
  • Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
  • He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。
7 replicating
复制( replicate的现在分词 ); 重复; 再造; 再生
  • Applications create these partitions for storing and replicating data. 应用程序创建这些分区用来储存和复制数据。
  • The closest real things to these creatures were bits of self-replicating RNA. 最贴近这些造物的实物是能做一点微不足道的自复制的核糖核酸。
8 watts
(电力计量单位)瓦,瓦特( watt的名词复数 )
  • My lamp uses 60 watts; my toaster uses 600 watts. 我的灯用60瓦,我的烤面包器用600瓦。
  • My lamp uses 40 watts. 我的灯40瓦。
标签: VOA慢速英语
学英语单词
abbreviated piece of nothing
ADSS
Altfraunhofen
aluminium chromium
amplosome
aqua mirabilis
at signs
big businessmen
Bol'shaya, Gora
bughalt
bullet connection
cessors
Cottstein's fibers
coverage density
crab-sidle
D2O upgrading system
Dendrobium moniliforme
Ebstein's diet
enstamp
equivalent antenna
escape grid
exclusive of loading and unloading
export promotion
family Ruscaceae
flavour of the month
freezing in reaction
glasnost
granular fracture
hanged
hexammine
history of world war ii
hydrogen fuel
implied trusts
Inhuma
isobutyl urea
isothermal enclosure
J,j
jelly funguss
jerk around
jotted down
kappa group
Karagayskiy Rayon
Khorram Darreh
laevus
laser ophthalmoscope
left azygos vein
lobellianin
make sth a reality
manned
marcots
mechanically fired boiler
mechanism of fatigue
Muli San
multiple effect refrigerator
namjil
Nervus terminalis
net mark-up
nitrobarite
nonparous
nuclear separation plant
oblique girdle
oil level controller
one-day-at-a-time
open base
pack journalist
padelion
palsa
parts reclamation
pelmatogram
Per-Abrodil
petrographic investigation
photographic emulsion technique
place upright
placental mammals
polysurgical
pool boiling heat transfer
puryears
rating of chronometer
rear intercept valve
reduced instruction set computer
roam through
San Juan Bautista
sccm
semisimple mapping
shear fracture
silver tetraiodomercurate(II)
simulation timing
Symplocos chunii
tank yard
ten-gallon
tetrapla
topology of spacetime
track window
Ténado
unincorporate
voice digitization
waltron
warrigal greens
weathertight test
Wei dynasty
witness plate
x-ray diffraction powder camera