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
acclivi-tous
Acer platanoides
additional paragraph in auditor's report
air-brake dynamometer
Ammate
anchorable
Andreyevskiy
apertura
ashtanga
astatic
auriculo-ventricular
bequeathest
bicornuta
biotransfer
Blenheim Orange
calculus of lower urinary tract
callionymus variegatus
charge-sheet
chernyy otrog
collcynth
comma movable
community-gardening
contagious polyarthritis
corocalene
counter clockwise (ccw)
counterefforts
crowflower
de-esterification
deficit covering bonds
desalin(iz)ation
dichlorbenil
ecureuils
entero-chromaffin cell
explosive pressure
financial environment
fluxgate magnetometer
Fogg Art Museum
fulguration current
Gastrocybe lateritia
generator field control
get the memo
gibelike
graphics adapter
grating of gears
gunnery practice
hematopoietic system
high-voltage switch
hylozoism
hypersonic glider
ideal imperfect-crystal
ill-natured
illegal condemnation
intergroup behavior
klier
koe-san (goesan)
komun-som (huk-to )
lathe tool bit
lending agreement
like kings
lindahl taxes
main longitudinal frame
microflake tobacco sbeet
micropegmatitic structure
ministry for industry and trade
minor orders
momchaunce
National city Bank of New York
neutron activity
normalization routine
oceanic affinity
oxyphosphate of copper cement
palm-presser
parameter plane method
pasteurized lactic beverage
peneite
phase diagram of reservoir hydrocarbon
photoactivity detector
playdoh
plug for seal
printergram
refuse incinerator
repairable material
rhizocephalous
rusticalness
science teachers
seeabler
seeing about
ship technology
siccitate
Sisymbrium officinale
snakeskin glaze
spreader-ditcher
stand point
standing-wave method
stroke ... down
stuffing gland
truncheoning
trustor
ursaenate
VREPAIR
wanderstars