首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
She’s hard to miss. First of all, she’s huge —12 ft. tall, 13 tons. She’s also naked. And eight months pregnant. Her legs are sh
She’s hard to miss. First of all, she’s huge —12 ft. tall, 13 tons. She’s also naked. And eight months pregnant. Her legs are sh
admin
2017-03-15
25
问题
She’s hard to miss. First of all, she’s huge —12 ft. tall, 13 tons. She’s also naked. And eight months pregnant. Her legs are shrunken and twisted. She doesn’t have any arms. Carved out of a single block of Italian marble, she’s so white she almost glows. But not everyone has quite got used to the pregnant, armless sculpture that has taken up residence in one of London’s most trafficked public spaces, near monuments to the likes of Lord Nelson and King George IV. Sketching the statue for a class, Nisharee Pongpaew, 20, an art student from Brighton, registers her disapproval. "Around her are all these important people," says Pongpaew. "She’s not a hero."
But maybe heroes aren’t what they used to be. Since its unveiling last month, Alison Lapper Pregnant, a likeness of the disabled 40-year-old British artist and photographer Alison Lapper, has stirred debate across London, not just over the meaning of art but also about the city’s evolving identity. To some, the sculpture’s prominent display owes more to political correctness than to aesthetic merit—"Purely empty, deeply bland and silly," says art critic Matthew Collings, author of This Is Modern Art. Others call it an uplifting tribute to womankind. But more interesting than the reactions it provokes are the ones it doesn’t. If the sculpture has met with less than universal acclaim, it has also failed to spark much outrage or spray-paint protest. In that sense, Alison Lapper Pregnant may reveal a city and a society more comfortable with itself than it has been for a long time.
Apart from a few recent temporary sculptures, the stone pedestal on the northwest corner of Trafalgar Square has stood empty since 1841. Londoners have long had their own ideas of what kind of statue should go on the plinth: Princess Diana! Margaret Thatcher! A giant pigeon! But lacking a permanent solution, a government-appointed committee last year picked two works that would each occupy the spot for up to 18 months. Marc Quinn, 41, creator of Alison Lapper Pregnant, says he wanted his work to reflect classical influences while addressing a contemporary social issue. "Disabled people are largely underrepresented in the history of art," says Quinn, "I wanted to celebrate a different kind of beauty and bodily diversity."
It was hardly guaranteed that the sculpture would be deemed worthy of a place near Britain’s greatest military heroes. But Alison Lapper Pregnant embodies the spirit of Trafalgar Square. For centuries, it has been the beating heart of the city, the place where Londoners gather to debate, celebrate and mourn. Only three months ago, people filled it to cheer the announcement that London will be host to the 2012 Olympics; eight days later, they flocked there again, to commemorate the July 7 terrorist bombings. Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery and chairman of the committee that chose the statue, says the judges wanted to honor the "demotic spirit" of the square as much as its history. Alison Lapper Pregnant fits right in: it’s a monument to the strength of a human spirit, and it’s impossible to ignore.
Londoners seem to appreciate the rebellious nature of Quinn’s sculpture. "It’s good to push minorities to the front of art," says Jon Bryan, 48, an unemployed Londoner who lost his right arm in a bicycle accident. Twenty years ago, it might have been a different story. During the late 1980s and 1990s, a group of upstart conceptualists dubbed the Young British Artists sparked outrage by pushing the boundaries of taste and convention. (Quinn froze casts of his head filled with his own blood.) But as London became increasingly cosmopolitan, the public lost its capacity to be shocked. Says Nairne: "Now London has all these different points of view, and that produces discussion. It’s part of the city’s growing confidence."
The novelty of Alison Lapper Pregnant is already wearing off. The most attention she gets these days is from the pigeons that perch on her lap. It says something about London’s acceptance of change that they will probably like the next sculpture just as much, especially since it’s called Hotel for the Birds.
What do you know about "the spirit of Trafalgar Square" from the passage?
选项
答案
It has been the beating heart of the city where Londoners gather to debate, celebrate and mourn.
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/dVSO777K
本试题收录于:
NAETI高级口译笔试题库外语翻译证书(NAETI)分类
0
NAETI高级口译笔试
外语翻译证书(NAETI)
相关试题推荐
主席先生,女士们、先生们:目前,国际形势正处于深刻变化之中。和平与发展仍然是当今时代的主题,总体和平的国际环境为世界经济发展提供了有利条件;科技进步日新月异并孕育着新的重大突破,前所未有地提高了人类认识、把握宏观和微观世界的能力,展现了新的发展
显然,一个企业若要精明地运作,首先必须有一个明确而清晰的目标。企业领导人要指出企业的方向或命运所在,才能调动并利用好众人的智慧和才能,不断前进。企业为生存而遵循的理念除非与普通员工产生共鸣,否则很难创造强劲的上升势头。一个企业的目标,包
TheUStroopsaregoingtodrawbackfromIraqwithin4months.
Mankind’sfascinationwithgoldisasoldascivilizationitself.TheancientEgyptiansesteemedgold,whichhadreligioussigni
A、Youcanbuythetelevisionsetoninstallment.B、Youcanarrangetousethetelevisionsetfortwelvemonths.C、Youmustpayc
A、Mikefoundtwodifferenttypesofapartment.B、Mikeispaying$400permonth.C、Mikehasalreadypaidtwomonths’rent.D、Mik
澳大利亚几乎可以独自成为一个大洲。地域广阔,人口相对稀少,自然资源丰富,使其成为最理想的居住地。过去十年来,澳大利亚增加了对中国的原材料出口,这同时也极大地促进了其经济。然而,由于全球金融危机,澳大利亚的经济出现了放缓的迹象。据称,过去三周里澳元对美元的汇
随机试题
A.六一散B.当归六黄汤C.消风散D.龙胆泻肝汤E.香薷散治疗湿疹的代表方剂是()
修刮工作台环形圆导轨时,应在√形导轨面两工作表面均匀刮去同等的金属。( )
属于传统汉字教学的是______。
公司
沥青路面的垫层是设置在底基层与土基之间的结构层,起()等作用。
某旅游团在临近用餐时,其中一游客坚持要求换餐,此时导游人员应()。
邓小平说:“美好的前景如果没有切实的措施和工作去实现它,就有成为空话的危险。”这说明
求
下列关于RPR技术的描述中,错误的是______。
TheBeginningofAmericanLiteratureAmericanhasalwaysbeenalandofbeginnings.【C1】______Europeans"discovered"America
最新回复
(
0
)