VOA标准英语2014--Street Artists Create Huge Murals 街头艺术家的巨型壁画

 

Street Artists Create Huge Murals 街头艺术家的巨型壁画

Street art has reached new heights in Washington, DC. The sides of an empty building have become the canvas for huge murals by street artists. Their creations will last only a few months since the building will be torn down as part of an urban renewal¹ project. But, the artists don’t mind and are actually looking forward to the demolition², to show that street art rarely lasts.

Washington street artist Kelly Towles is putting the finishing touches on this mural. He created it with fellow muralist Jasper Wong from Hawaii.  Towles says they wanted to create a fantasy that would make people smile.

“It is two characters basically playing an old child’s game of cat’s cradle, which is a game with two people doing intricate things with a string around each other’s hands. The character on the left is the dinosaur³, which is from Jasper Wong, and the character on the right is just a hooded⁴, masked figure created by myself," said Towles.

Besides spray paint, they used paint rollers to create the mural. They worked on it for three weeks, with help from other artists.

On another wall, a pair of Australians, who call themselves Dabs⁵ Myla, created this bat-like creature.

Towles came up with the idea of painting street art on the building. He approached Forest City real estate company, which is tearing it down as part of urban revitalization in the area. Gary McManus, Vice⁶ President for Marketing⁷, says the company commissioned the artwork.

“We thought it was an opportunity to have a kind of fleeting⁸ art installation and it would be compelling for people to come down to see it. It didn’t have a lot of windows and it was white to begin with so it was a wonderful canvas," said McManus.

The project, known as Art Yards, began not with a mural, but with Towles pouring a cascade⁹ of colors.

“It’s an awesome¹⁰ experience when you actually propose something to someone, and be like ‘Hey, let me dump a bunch of paint down the side of their building,’ and they’re like “Yeah," he said.

Like Towles, Baltimore street artist Michael Kirby creates colorful fantasies - only his are on the ground.

“I want to inspire them, to educate them, to see the world in a different light maybe," said Kirby.

 On the Art Yard’s parking lot, which will also be destroyed, he created a fishbowl with a castle inside.

“I wanted to create something underwater and so I came up with the idea of creating some sort of fantastical fish bowl and instead of goldfish, I had sea monsters," he said.

Kirby is known for his 3D artwork.

“The whole idea is to stretch the whole image, so the horns are stretched really, really long. The face is more elongated¹¹. All the vertical¹² lines in the piece are extended, so that from this point of view it all comes together and forms one picture," he said.

Towles has asked that his mural be torn down first when the demolition begins.

“I love that it’s going to be destroyed. That’s street art and graffiti in itself. One minute it’s there and the next moment it’s not," he said.

Towles says he's looking forward to watching his mural come down with a bang.

1 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

2 demolition   

n.破坏,毁坏,毁坏之遗迹

参考例句：

• The church has been threatened with demolition for years. 这座教堂多年来一直面临拆毀的威胁。
• The project required the total demolition of the old bridge. 该项目要求将老桥完全拆毁。

3 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

4 hooded   

adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的

参考例句：

• A hooded figure waited in the doorway. 一个戴兜帽的人在门口等候。
• Black-eyed gipsy girls, hooded in showy handkerchiefs, sallied forth to tell fortunes. 黑眼睛的吉卜赛姑娘，用华丽的手巾包着头，突然地闯了进来替人算命。 来自辞典例句

5 dabs   

少许( dab的名词复数 )； 是…能手； 做某事很在行； 在某方面技术熟练

参考例句：

• Each of us had two dabs of butter. 我们每人吃了两小块黄油。
• He made a few dabs at the fence with the paint but didn't really paint it. 他用颜料轻刷栅栏，但一点也没刷上。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

8 fleeting   

adj.短暂的，飞逝的

参考例句：

• The girls caught only a fleeting glimpse of the driver.女孩们只匆匆瞥了一眼司机。
• Knowing the life fleeting,she set herself to enjoy if as best as she could.她知道这种日子转瞬即逝，于是让自已尽情地享受。

9 cascade   

n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下

参考例句：

• She watched the magnificent waterfall cascade down the mountainside.她看着壮观的瀑布从山坡上倾泻而下。
• Her hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of curls.她的卷发像瀑布一样垂在肩上。

10 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

11 elongated   

v.延长，加长( elongate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Modigliani's women have strangely elongated faces. 莫迪里阿尼画中的妇女都长着奇长无比的脸。
• A piece of rubber can be elongated by streching. 一块橡皮可以拉长。 来自《用法词典》

12 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。