VOA慢速英语2011--An Art Show in Washington That’s Out o

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - An Art Show in Washington That’s Out of This World

DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.
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I'm Doug Johnson. On our program this week, we read some of your comments about our recent shows…
And we listen to music from two southern bands…
But first, a report on an art show that is out of this world…
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NASA Art
DOUG JOHNSON: An art exhibit opened last week at the National Air and Space Museum building in Washington. The show documents fifty years of space exploration through painting, sculpture, and other media. Artists include Annie Leibovitz, Norman Rockwell, Nam June Paik and many others. Christopher Cruise takes us to the exhibition.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: In nineteen sixty-two, the head of America’s space agency, NASA, had an unusual idea for documenting space exploration. Why not ask artists to capture the excitement of space exploration through paintings, drawings and sculpture? From that question, the National Aeronautics² and Space Agency Arts Program was born. For almost fifty years, the space agency has requested and paid artists for their works.
The artists are given freedom of movement throughout many NASA facilities. For example, one of the early artists in the Arts Program, Franklin McMahon, spent hours in a NASA medical exam room. He studied the equipment and instruments doctors used to examine astronauts just after a flight. The exam room was on a ship that picked up the astronauts after they returned to Earth.
McMahon’s drawing “Tilt” shows doctors inspecting Gemini astronaut Ed White on June seventh, nineteen sixty-five. The picture is extremely detailed³. It provides as much information as a photograph.
Some art works are far less serious. Artist Clayton Pond provided a brightly colored silkscreen called “Strange Encounters for the First Time.” The picture shows the space shuttle Enterprise and the U.S.S. Enterprise, the spacecraft from the television show “Star Trek⁴.” They are meeting in space. The image is funny. And there is debate at NASA about whether the shuttle was named because of the imaginary spacecraft.
Another surprising image came from pop artist Andy Warhol. He produced “Moonwalk 1” in nineteen eighty-seven. The silkscreen on paper shows astronaut Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. However, the artist added a lot of bright color to the image. Neil Armstrong’s white spacesuit is now hot pink. Part of his head cover is a sunny yellow. And the moon is blue.
Some of the art can produce strong emotions. A triptych toward the end of the show memorializes the space shuttle Colombia and its crew. In two thousand three, Columbia came apart as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere at the end of a flight. All seven crew members were killed.
Zigi Ben Haim created the triptych of mixed media. It contains images representing the crew, the flight and NASA. For example, flowers recall astronaut Laurel Clarke who was called Flora⁵. There also is an image of a New York City street sign named for astronaut Kalpana Chawla. And there is the NASA symbol and an American flag.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Art Program is responsible for about three thousand works in all. Artists are given a small payment for each piece. When the program began artists received eight hundred fifty dollars. Now they get about twenty-five hundred. NASA now asks about one artist a year to add to its collection.
Some visitors to the National Air and Space Museum do not expect to find an art show there. Like Lori Hopkin of Vancouver, Canada.
LORI HOPKINS: “I was surprised that there was, like, paintings. I thought there’d be more photography. I was surprised.”
Does she have a deeper understanding of the space program?
LORI HOPKINS: “Yeah, it was a different view on the whole thing. They did a good job.”
Mike Stanfill of Adamsville, Tennessee said the art exhibit surprised him, too.
MIKE STANFILL: “I was just expecting a lot of old planes and spaceships.”
He found some of the artwork extremely unusual, like the Andy Warhol piece.
MIKE STANFILL: “It was out of space, so to speak…I guess a sixties term, ‘way out.’
Becky Goins was visiting from Virginia Beach, Virginia. She thought art at the Air and Space Museum made perfect sense.
BECKY GOINS: “Every little boy draws spaceships and astronauts and men on the moon. So it’s only one step further to think that they’d come up with some really good art that they would put out in a museum.”
The show “NASA/Art: Fifty Years of Exploration” will continue at the Air and Space Museum through October Ninth.
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Listener Comments
DOUG JOHNSON: This week, we read some of your comments from recent American Mosaic programs.
Our report about the Scholastic⁶ Art and Writing Awards brought much praise for young artist David Vo.
Dan W. of China called David Vo, “a very good model.” And Shirley in the United States said David was an inspiration to all young people. She also praised him for creativity.
And, from Vietnam, Linh asks if the high school student is Vietnamese. Here is what the artist told us:
DAVID VO: “Both of my parents are from Vietnam. It just so happens that my mother is half-English, half-Vietnamese.”
REPORTER: “You’re first generation.”
DAVID VO: “I’m first generation.”
Noma of the Philippines agreed with the executive director of the awards program that art education was as important as math and science. Noma wrote, “It fosters one’s mind to be creative and innovative⁷.”
Last week, we also told about the green card lottery⁸. Mikhail of Russia wondered why some countries are barred from that Visa process. The State Department says the United States already has many immigrants from the countries that are not included. The Immigrant Diversity Program seeks a more balanced mix of immigrants.
Many writers expressed concern about the difficulties of legal emigration to the United States.
Lots of people wrote to us about our story “America Recycled.” Adam Duong said he first thought it was strange that brothers would bicycle around America looking for community. But he changed his mind. He wrote, “I found that their work was so meaningful, sometimes we should think about it. There are some things lost in busy life in a city.”
Finally, our story about a New York exhibition of the work of detained Chinese artist Ai Weiwei brought conflicting comments. Most were from China. Some called the artist brave and hardworking. Another hoped that he would be released as soon as possible and reunited with his family. But others said the report was unfair. “America likes to judge other countries but ignore its own problems,” wrote one listener. Another said Ai Weiwei should be thankful to China, which made him famous.
We welcome all your comments so keep them coming. Maybe you will hear your own words on a future program.
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Two Bands
DOUG JOHNSON: Today we play music from a band new to us and we re-visit an old favorite. Both My Morning Jacket and White Denim⁹ released new albums this week. Faith Lapidus has more.
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FAITH LAPIDUS: That is the title song from My Morning Jacket’s new album “Circuital.”
My Morning Jacket recorded the songs in their hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. In Rolling Stone magazine, band leader Jim James called the process “old and dirty.”
White Denim is a four member band from Texas. The group’s sound is a mix of psychedelic rock, punk, jazz and blues¹⁰. Past White Denim albums were made at a band member’s home. But, the new one, “D,” is a studio recording¹¹.
Here White Denim performs “Keys.”
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My Morning Jacket captures a sweet and sad experience in the song “Moving Away.” The song talks of the promise of a new life without forgetting the one left behind.
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We leave you with the fun, fast beat of “River to Consider” from White Denim’s new album “D.”
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DOUG JOHNSON: I’m Doug Johnson. Our program was written and produced by Caty Weaver¹².
Join us again next week for music and more on AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

1 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

2 aeronautics   

n.航空术，航空学

参考例句：

• National Aeronautics and Space undertakings have made great progress.国家的航空航天事业有了很大的发展。
• He devoted every spare moment to aeronautics.他把他所有多余的时间用在航空学上。

3 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

4 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

5 flora   

n.(某一地区的)植物群

参考例句：

• The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora.这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
• All flora need water and light.一切草木都需要水和阳光。

6 scholastic   

adj.学校的，学院的，学术上的

参考例句：

• There was a careful avoidance of the sensitive topic in the scholastic circles.学术界小心地避开那个敏感的话题。
• This would do harm to students' scholastic performance in the long run.这将对学生未来的学习成绩有害。

7 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

8 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

9 denim   

n.斜纹棉布；斜纹棉布裤，牛仔裤

参考例句：

• She wore pale blue denim shorts and a white denim work shirt.她穿着一条淡蓝色的斜纹粗棉布短裤，一件白粗布工作服上衣。
• Dennis was dressed in denim jeans.丹尼斯穿了一条牛仔裤。

10 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

11 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

12 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。