VOA慢速英语2021 Ivory Coast Man Turns Old Flip-Flops into Artwork

A man from Ivory¹ Coast has found a creative way to repurpose footwear that washes up on the beach -- he turns it into artwork.

Aristide Kouame is a 26-year-old artist. But he says no one would know this when they see him going around beach areas picking up flip-flops and other kinds of footwear. They probably think he is gathering² the old objects to sell on the street.

But Kouame has recognized the real value of such waste. He has created works³ of art from the material that can sell for up to $1,000. He cuts the rubber and plastic bottoms from the footwear into pieces and uses them to create large collages⁵.

"This is the rubbish people have thrown into the sea and the sea brings it back to us because it doesn't want it," Kouame told Reuters news agency⁶. He was collecting material from a beach in Abidjan, Ivory Coast's economic capital.

"I make art from used shoes...It's a way to give life to the objects that litter the beaches," the artist explained.

Sitting on the floor of a narrow street, Kouame creates shapes, letters and faces with the rubber pieces he picked up on the beach. He even makes his own paint by crushing⁷ the material into pieces to create a colored pigment⁸.

His method is not costly⁹ and does not harm the environment.

Plastic and other waste -- including large amounts of lost flip-flops -- litter most city beaches in West Africa. The waste is thrown away in cities and carried out to sea. But a lot of it ends up on the beach later.

In just a few years, Kouame's methods have caught the attention of Ivory Coast's art establishment¹⁰ and his works have hung in galleries in Ivory Coast and in other countries.

His work has included large portraits of civil rights and political leaders such as Nelson Mandela. Other pieces were created to draw attention to world problems, including climate change, COVID-19 and economic inequality.

On a recent afternoon in a neighborhood in southern Abidjan, several of Kouame's works were shown in a gallery often visited by foreign art collectors.

The gallery's director joyfully¹¹ led visitors to three large collages. Each contained about 140 small portraits that Kouame created from flip-flop waste.

The United Nations estimates¹² that about 13 million tons of plastic waste is put into the world's oceans each year. Two of Africa's biggest waste producers, Ghana and Nigeria, share the same Atlantic coastal¹³ areas as the beach where Kouame searches for supplies.

For his part, Kouame says he plans to keep collecting and creating. "My goal is to get people to question the issue of their environment, in order to create a better life."

Words in This Story

beach –n. an area covered with sand and small rocks that is next to the ocean or a lake

flip-flop – n. a kind of open-toed shoe that is usually made of rubber

collage⁴ – n. a picture made by sticking small pieces of paper or other materials onto a surface

rubbish – n. things that are thrown because they are not useful anymore

litter – n. pieces of paper and other waste that are left in public places

pigment – n. a substance that give something color

gallery – n. a room or building that is used for showing paintings and other pieces of art to the public

portrait – n. a painting, drawing or photograph of a person

1 ivory   

n.象牙，乳白色；adj.象牙制的，乳白色的

参考例句：

• My grandmother has some jewelry made of ivory.我祖母有一些象牙首饰。
• It is carved from ivory.它是用象牙雕成的。

2 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。

3 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

4 collage   

n.拼贴画；v.拼贴；把……创作成拼贴画

参考例句：

• A collage of coloured paper covers a table top.一副彩纸拼贴画盖在桌面上。
• He has used a mixture of mosaic,collage and felt-tip pen.他混合使用了马赛克、拼贴画和毡头笔。

5 collages   

n.拼贴画( collage的名词复数 )；杂烩

参考例句：

• My work includes mixed media, paintings and digital collages. 我的工作包括混合媒介，绘画和数码拼贴。 来自互联网
• I love making photo collages. 我喜欢做照片拼贴。 来自互联网

6 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。

7 crushing   

adj. 打破得支离破碎的, 使不能在站起来, 压倒的 v. 动词crush的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• a crushing defeat in the election 在选举中的惨败
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity. 偷袭珍珠港（对美军来说）是一场毁灭性的灾难。

8 pigment   

n.天然色素，干粉颜料

参考例句：

• The Romans used natural pigments on their fabrics and walls.古罗马人在织物和墙壁上使用天然颜料。
• Who thought he might know what the skin pigment phenomenon meant.他自认为可能知道皮肤色素出现这种现象到底是怎么回事。

9 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• 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。

10 establishment   

n.建立，确立，确定；企业，机构；当权人物

参考例句：

• With the establishment of major new markets, the economy is thriving.随着重大新市场的建立，经济越来越兴旺。
• The establishment of the business took several years.创办这个公司花了好几年时间。

11 joyfully   

adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地

参考例句：

• She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着，脚底下轻飘飘的。
• During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里，她干得很高兴。

12 estimates   

估计

参考例句：

• Unofficial estimates put the figure at over two million. 非官方的估计数字为200万以上。
• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。