Public art project 'Tender' explores the vulnerability of our economy and bodies

Public art project 'Tender' explores the vulnerability of our economy and bodies

Transcript¹

As part of the project, 120,000 pennies modified by an artist have been released through delis and bodegas. The project connects the fragility of the economy with the losses of COVID.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

If you're someone who still uses cash, maybe you've noticed a penny or two that are a little different. They're inscribed² along the edge. The pennies are part of a public art project called "Tender" by New York artist Jill Magid. The idea is to explore the vulnerability of both our economy and our bodies over the past two years. NPR's Jennifer Vanasco explains.

JENNIFER VANASCO, BYLINE³: Brooklyn's Dime⁴ Savings⁵ Bank was once a cathedral of capitalism⁶. Now it's empty, ravaged⁷, but for a short time, it hosted Jill Magid's silent film. Eight musicians played the score. The film is a provocative⁸ set of images juxtaposing the refrigerated trucks that, during the pandemic, were filled with bodies with Brink's trucks filled with pennies. Magid inscribed her pennies with the phrase, the body was already so fragile. She took it from an article using the body as a metaphor⁹ to explain how sick the economy was in 2020.

JILL MAGID: And in that way, I was thinking of the human body but also the government body, financial bodies and our own fragility.

VANASCO: Eventually, Magid distributed 120,000 pennies in 2020. Those pennies circulate through our economy like the virus circulates - through contact. The film focuses closely on people's hands as they pass pennies from clerk to customer. It's both frightening and intimate - highlighting both how we're vulnerable to each other, but also how much we need each other. The idea behind having a physical experience, a gathering¹⁰, was to allow people to reflect on the past two years.

MAGID: You feel the music. You see the musicians. You feel the subwoofer is, like, resonating in your body. And all of us together create a whole other kind of moment that you can't really put into words, nor could you get online or any other way.

VANASCO: The coins themselves have wound up across the country. Justine Ludwig is the executive director of Creative Time, the arts organization which supported the project. She received one from a coffee shop.

JUSTINE LUDWIG: Pennies signify something very specific in society. For many people, they're good luck. If you see a penny on the ground, it's something that you usually pick up and you carry with you in your pocket. It becomes this talisman¹¹ for so many.

VANASCO: This is art that, if you're lucky, you can hold in your own hands before passing along to someone else - a loved one or a stranger at a bodega. Jennifer Vanasco, NPR News, New York.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 inscribed   

v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接

参考例句：

• His name was inscribed on the trophy. 他的名字刻在奖杯上。
• The names of the dead were inscribed on the wall. 死者的名字被刻在墙上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 dime   

n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角

参考例句：

• A dime is a tenth of a dollar.一角银币是十分之一美元。
• The liberty torch is on the back of the dime.自由火炬在一角硬币的反面。

5 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

6 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

7 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

8 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

9 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

10 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

11 talisman   

n.避邪物，护身符

参考例句：

• It was like a talisman worn in bosom.它就象佩在胸前的护身符一样。
• Dress was the one unfailling talisman and charm used for keeping all things in their places.冠是当作保持品位和秩序的一种万应灵符。