【英语听和读】特纳奖

 William: Hello and welcome to Entertainment, I’m William Kremer.

Now, if I said the name ‘Turner’, would it mean anything to you? Well, you
may have heard of JMW Turner, a famous English painter from the 19th
Century. But if you read a British newspaper, you’re more likely to read about
The Turner Prize, which is an art prize named after the painter. Every year a
British-based artist under the age of fifty wins The Turner Prize, which this
year is £25,000.
Well, despite the fact that the prize is named after JMW Turner, there are no
painters on this year’s shortlist.
We're going to hear a clip of Rachel Campbell-Johnston, the Chief Art critic at
The Times newspaper. She’s describing the work of one of the short-listed
artists, Zarina Bhimji. Don’t worry if you can’t understand the clip, because
it’s fast and there are a lot of hard words in there. I just want you to try to hear
what kind of objects Zarina Bhimji has made.
Rachel
CampbellJohnston
 
(RCJ):
Very lyrical, very evocative photographs of lost things, of memories, ordinary
things drenched 1 in light which suddenly take on overtones of loss and
displacement 2 and presences that have vanished.
 
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William: Listen again and remember, Zarina Bhimji is not a painter, so what is it that
she’s created?
RCJ: Very lyrical, very evocative photographs of lost things, of memories, ordinary
things drenched in light which suddenly take on overtones of loss and
displacement and presences that have vanished.
William: Well there was a lot of description in that clip, but Zarina Bhimji has made
photographs, ‘Very lyrical, very evocative photographs of lost things’.
‘Evocative’ is an adjective describing something that makes you remember
other things. For example, you might be in a restaurant and suddenly hear very
evocative music, which reminds you of an old friend. There’s a verb form too -
we can say, ‘the music evokes 4 memories’.
Rachel Campbell-Johnston used another adjective: ‘lyrical’. This word is used
to describe works of art which express emotion very beautifully.
These very lyrical, very evocative photographs, Rachel Campbell-Johnston
says, are of ‘ordinary things’ which take on overtones of loss and displacement.
An overtone is a meaning that is not openly stated, but suggested or hinted at.
So the photographs are of things that hint at loss and displacement, that evoke 3
memories of loss and displacement.
RCJ: Very lyrical, very evocative photographs of lost things, of memories, ordinary
things drenched in light which suddenly take on overtones of loss and
displacement and presences that have vanished.
STING 
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William: Now let’s listen to Rachel Campbell-Johnston’s description of the work of
another short-listed artist, Nathan Coley. Do you know the word ‘camouflage 5’?
Camouflage is a way of hiding soldiers or equipment by making them look like
the things around them. So forest camouflage is very green and has leafy
patterns. But what’s ‘dazzle camouflage?’ Listen carefully.
RCJ: He’s done a series of pieces which he uses the dazzle camouflage that the ships
used during the war to disguise themselves against the ocean so huge bulks
could be disguised…
William: She said that ships used dazzle camouflage during the war to disguise
themselves against the ocean. When British people say ‘the war’ they often
mean the Second World War – and I think that’s what Rachel CampbellJohnston
is talking about here.
So – dazzle camouflage is a special kind of camouflage for ships. Next, see if
you can hear what the artist, Nathan Coley, has done with dazzle camouflage:
RCJ: He’s done a series of pieces which he uses the dazzle camouflage that the ships
used during the war to disguise themselves against the ocean so huge bulks
could be disguised, he’s dazzle camouflaged 6 synagogues and mosques 7, with a
fairly obvious metaphorical 8 meaning, this is a spiritual or religious present
which is half camouflaged but the dazzle camouflage actually makes it more
obvious.
William: She says Nathan Coley has dazzle camouflaged synagogues and mosques. Why
has he done this? Well, Rachel Campbell-Johnston thinks that the meaning is
that we live in a religious time, but this fact is half-hidden. Ironically, the
camouflage looks so strange on religious buildings that it becomes more
obvious. Listen again: 
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RCJ: He’s dazzle camouflaged synagogues and mosques, with a fairly obvious
metaphorical meaning, this is a spiritual or religious present which is half
camouflaged but the dazzle camouflage actually makes it more obvious.
William: Now if this sounds unbelievable, you can see a picture of a camouflaged
model of a church by Nathan Coley by following a link on the
Entertainment website on BBC Learning English dot com. Just ask yourself:
What would JMW Turner think of that?