美国国家公共电台 NPR Sweater Selfies: Man Knits His Way Around The World

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST: 

Sam Barsky of Pikesville, Md., has turned sweaters into a statement. For the past 17 years, he's knit sweaters that show places that he's seen around the world, including the Golden Gate Bridge, Stonehenge and Jerusalem's Wailing¹ Wall or a field of electrical pylons². But what's made Mr. Barsky an internet phenomenon with well over a million hits on various websites are photos of the knitter, the artist himself, posed in front of a scene wearing the sweater that he's knitted. Sam Barsky joins us now from member station WYPR in Baltimore. Thanks so much for being with us.

SAM BARSKY: Hi.

SIMON: Why do you do this?

BARSKY: This is what I enjoy doing. I like creating. I like replicating³ what I see in life and what I anticipate seeing.

SIMON: I'm told you've done a 103 sweaters.

BARSKY: Yes. That's correct.

SIMON: That's a lot of wool, a lot of stitches, isn't it?

BARSKY: Yes, probably millions by now.

SIMON: Do you know what you're going to knit next?

BARSKY: Yes because Groundhog Day is coming up in early February, I'm thinking of making a sweater with a groundhog on it.

SIMON: Oh, that sounds adorable. You must get requests at this point. You've become pretty famous.

BARSKY: Yes. I'm flooded with requests, so many I can't even see all of them.

SIMON: Yeah. Do you ever fulfill⁴ any?

BARSKY: I've thought about it before, but I've realized early on a long time ago that it's not practical for me to be a human sweater mill.

SIMON: (Laughter) Yeah. All right. I understand that. Well, what are some of your favorite sweaters, sweater scenes?

BARSKY: I can't say which one is my number one favorite, but some of the ones that are getting attention a lot are, like, Times Square. The Tower Bridge of London is very popular. I've done Venice, I've done Niagara Falls, just to name a few. I did one with tigers on it, and I wore it while holding a real live tiger in Thailand one time.

SIMON: Oh, my gosh. A lot of people must ask you about the electrical pylons sweater.

BARSKY: Yes. And as a matter of fact, it's the one I'm wearing right now.

SIMON: All right. Well, maybe we can get a picture of it and we can post it on our website if that's all right with you.

BARSKY: Yeah. That's fine.

SIMON: What was your artistic⁵ inspiration for that? A lot of people would see a field of electrical pylons and think we ought to put a sweater over that.

BARSKY: Yes. I see them all the time in all my routine travels around the local area. They're everywhere. So pretty much anything that crosses my eyes is a potential sweater, and the pylons are no exception.

SIMON: Yeah. Is there a sweater of your dreams you'd like to do you just haven't gotten to yet?

BARSKY: Pretty much any kind of iconic landmark⁶ or natural scene. It's like anything possibly - could be in my dreams. The only limitation I have is that it takes a month to make one.

SIMON: Do you ever put people's faces on a sweater, of friends maybe?

BARSKY: Doing a face of a specific person is not something I've ever attempted to do before. It's one of the things I'm working hard on figuring out how to do now as I'm working on a Martin Luther King Day sweater. I'm having a picture of the I Have A Dream speech with a picture of Dr. King standing⁷ in front of the crowd.

SIMON: Well, that sounds like a very ambitious piece of art, Mr. Barsky. It really does.

BARSKY: Yeah.

SIMON: Well, Mr. Barsky, you've given a lot of people pleasure. Thank you very much for your art work and letting people see it.

BARSKY: Yes, it's my pleasure. It's my goal to share it with the world.

SIMON: Sam Barsky talking about his sweaters.

1 wailing   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱

参考例句：

• A police car raced past with its siren wailing. 一辆警车鸣着警报器飞驰而过。
• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。

2 pylons   

n.（架高压输电线的）电缆塔( pylon的名词复数 )；挂架

参考例句：

• A-form pylons are designed to withstand earthquake forces. A型框架式塔架设计中考虑塔架能够经受地震力的作用。 来自辞典例句
• Who designed the arch bridge with granite-faced pylons at either end? 谁设计在拱桥两端镶有花岗岩的塔门？ 来自互联网

3 replicating   

复制( replicate的现在分词 )； 重复； 再造； 再生

参考例句：

• Applications create these partitions for storing and replicating data. 应用程序创建这些分区用来储存和复制数据。
• The closest real things to these creatures were bits of self-replicating RNA. 最贴近这些造物的实物是能做一点微不足道的自复制的核糖核酸。

4 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

5 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

6 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。