VOA慢速英语2019--艺术家使中国古代艺术形式现代化

Artists Modernize¹ Ancient Chinese Art Form

A new exhibit at a California museum provides visitors with a modern version of the ancient Chinese art style, "shan shui hua." The name means “mountain water painting” in English.

The show is at the Chinese American Museum in Los Angeles. It is called Lightscapes: Re-envisioning the Shanshuihua.

The works show scenes of mountains, rivers and sometimes waterfalls. Chinese artists have been creating the brush and ink works for more than 1,000 years.

Artists Nick Dong and Chi-Tsung Wu found ways to connect the new, digital generation to this traditional kind of art. Their work captures the essence of the style in a new way.

Escape from reality

The exhibit forces the viewer to slow down and experience a different world. That was also one of the goals of shan shui hua artists from long ago.

Dong, who was born in Taiwan and now lives in Northern California, said, “Actually, it was for all these artists to create a world which they want to hide, avoid, escape from reality. So, they create a mountain (and) imagine they could live there.”

Dong and Wu are trained in both Chinese and Western art styles. They use experimental materials and light in their artworks included in the exhibit.

One work involves a slowly moving light directed at clear plastic boxes on a wall. The piece, created by Wu, is called Crystal City. Wu said, “If we see this through the light, through the different perspective, we could see there’s another world behind that.”

That other world Wu noted² are shadows that look more solid than the plastic boxes. Wu said Crystal City is representative of the modern digital age.

“We spend most of our time in our daily life, no matter to work or to our social life or our entertainment, all on this cyberspace,” he said.

That space is an escape for many people -- similar to the shan shui hua paintings.

Philosophy and the spiritual

Dong and Wu’s art also employs magnets to raise and lower objects. The movement is meant to show that there is a force between all natural elements.

One art piece in the exhibit explores the individual’s relationship with the universe. To view Dong’s representation of heaven, one has to step into a room filled with mirrors from floor to ceiling. There is a small round seat in the middle of the room.

Dong said, “We’re all searching. We’re all longing³ for growth, become better and, ultimately, good enough to go to heaven.”

He added, “...Once you’ve entered the installation, at first you’ll see a lot of your reflection. But once you sit down, you trigger the mechanism⁴ of the room. The mirror actually starts to reflect, and you yourself will disappear within the space.”

The art pieces in the exhibit are ways in which both artists hope the modern-day viewer will be able to experience what the ancient artists were trying to communicate.

Lightscapes: Re-envisioning the Shanshuihua will remain open until November.

I’m Caty Weaver⁵.

Words in This Story

essence - n. the basic nature of a thing : the quality or qualities that make a thing what it is?

perspective - n. a way of thinking about and understanding something (such as a particular issue or life in general)?

reflection - n. an image that is seen in a mirror or on a shiny surface?

trigger - n. a similar movable part by which a mechanism is made active

1 modernize   

vt.使现代化，使适应现代的需要

参考例句：

• It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化，明显失败了。
• There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

4 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

5 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• 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。