VOA文化艺术2024--Croatian Artist Makes Life-size Sculptures with Matchsticks

Croatian Artist Makes Life-size Sculptures with Matchsticks

　　Croatian artist Tomislav Horvat is not the first person to make models out of matchsticks, but he might be creating the largest projects.

　　A matchstick is the short, thin piece of wood that is used to make matches for lighting¹ fire.

　　Horvat thinks nothing of using 210,000 matchsticks to create a life-size statue, or sculpture, of a musician playing on a large piano. The instrument even comes complete with matchstick strings².

　　But that was not enough for the 34-year-old from the northern village of Domasinec. He is just a year and a half away from completing his version³ of Michelangelo's sculpture of David.

　　Michelangelo was a famous Italian artist who lived about 500 years ago. He created a famous marble sculpture of The Bible's King David that is in the city of Florence.

　　"I need another 30,000 matchsticks to finish it. That is, it'll need about 430,000 in total," he said. "I've been working on it for six years."

　　Horvat began making small models, but in 2013 he took on a larger project. He decided⁴ to create a life-size version of American actor Al Pacino as his celebrated⁵ character Don Corleone from Francis Ford⁶ Coppola's 1972 film The Godfather.

　　Sculptures that size would collapse⁷ without a supporting structure. He creates this additional⁸ structure from a material called papier-mâché or wood.

　　The Pianist is his second work that is of a large size. His third is Desperate Man, which is made of 54,000 matches and took a year and a half to make.

　　Horvat has shown his works⁹ in galleries in Croatia, including the capital Zagreb. But they are not, for now, available to buy.

　　Words in This Story

　　piano – n. a large musical instrument with a keyboard that you play by pressing black and white keys and that produces sound when small hammers inside the piano hit steel wires

　　string – n. a long, thin piece of twisted thread that you use to attach things, tie things together, or hang things

　　character – n. a person who appears in a story, book, play, movie, or television show

　　gallery – n. a room or building in which people look at paintings or sculptures

1 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

2 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

3 version   

n.版本；型号；叙述，说法

参考例句：

• His version of the events is pure supposition.他对这件事的说法纯属猜测。
• What is your version of this matter?你对这件事情的看法 怎么样？

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

6 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

7 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

8 additional   

adj.添加的，额外的，另外的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to set down these additional rules.有必要制定这些补充规则。
• I think we can fit in an additional room.我想我们可以再加建一间房子。

9 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。