美国国家公共电台 NPR Guggenheim Pulls Animal Art From Upcoming Chinese Exhibition

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Late last night, the Guggenheim Museum in New York announced it was pulling three works from an upcoming show of contemporary art from China. One is a large screen-covered box with live lizards¹ and insects inside. The other two are videos of animals. The museum's decision came after pressure from animal rights activists². Rick Karr has more.

RICK KARR, BYLINE³: Curators had selected around 150 pieces for the Guggenheim's upcoming show "Art And China After 1989: Theater Of The World." One of them was a video of a performance the artists Sun Yuan and Peng Yu staged at a Beijing museum in 2003 titled "Dogs That Cannot Touch Each Other."

(SOUNDBITE OF DOGS BARKING)

KARR: Online footage of the performance shows pairs of dogs facing each other harnessed to stationary⁴ treadmills⁵ and encouraged to run at each other. Ben Williamson of the group People for the Ethical⁶ Treatment of Animals, which demanded the piece be pulled from the show, says neither it nor the other two works deserve to be called art.

BEN WILLIAMSON: They are essentially⁷ acts of cruelty to animals masked as creativity. PETA objects to the use of all animals in art. This should by now be a no-brainer.

KARR: An online petition calling for the removal of the three works drew more than half a million signatures. The Guggenheim announced it was pulling the pieces from the show because it had received, quote, "explicit⁸ and repeated threats of violence." A Guggenheim spokesperson says the museum made the NYPD aware of the threats. But PETA's Ben Williamson is unsympathetic.

WILLIAMSON: If anyone has said something harsh or threatening to the museum, it's really an indictment⁹ of the museum that they didn't change due to rational discourse¹⁰ and peaceful public appeals in the first place.

KARR: But Suzanne Nossel of the human rights group PEN America says the circumstances surrounding the withdrawal¹¹ of the pieces should give animal rights activists and everyone else pause.

SUZANNE NOSSEL: Next time, people who object to art feel, OK, we're not going to be satisfied until this work gets pulled. And I think that is a worrisome development because you can imagine all kinds of controversy¹² sparking that kind of intense protest.

KARR: The remaining pieces in "Art In China After 1989: Theater Of The World" will go on display next week. For NPR News, I'm Rick Karr in New York.

(SOUNDBITE OF BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB SONG, "EL CUARTO DE TULA")

1 lizards   

n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nothing lives in Pompeii except crickets and beetles and lizards. 在庞培城里除了蟋蟀、甲壳虫和蜥蜴外，没有别的生物。 来自辞典例句
• Can lizards reproduce their tails? 蜥蜴的尾巴断了以后能再生吗？ 来自辞典例句

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 stationary   

adj.固定的，静止不动的

参考例句：

• A stationary object is easy to be aimed at.一个静止不动的物体是容易瞄准的。
• Wait until the bus is stationary before you get off.你要等公共汽车停稳了再下车。

5 treadmills   

n.枯燥无味的工作[生活方式]( treadmill的名词复数 )；（尤指旧时由人或牲畜踩动踏板使之转动的）踏车；（锻炼身体的）跑步机，走步机

参考例句：

• But soon, you may think microwave ovens and treadmills too. 但是不久的将来，您可能还会想到微波炉或健身踏车什么的。 来自互联网
• The Gym has several treadmills an X-trainer machine, bicycles, weights and mats for floor work. 体育馆里配备了：跑步机、教练机、自行车、哑铃和专为做地板运动准备的垫子。 来自互联网

6 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

9 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

10 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

11 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

12 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。