VOA标准英语2008年-One Man's Unique Art Draws Roadside Attention

By Joseph Mok
Mullinville, Kansas
10 January 2008
 

Driving by Highway US-400, west of the small town of Mullinville, Kansas, visitors are greeted with hundreds of metal sculptures, flapping and twirling against the blue sky on the prairie.  For producer Joseph Mok, Elaine Lu has more on 76-year-old grassroots artist M.T. Liggett.

Myron Thomas Liggett, who prefers to be called M. T. Liggett, creates art from junk like abandoned farm machines, car parts, and scrap¹ iron.  "If you are doing stone carving², if you make a mistake you're gonna start over," says Liggett. "But with metal, if you make a mistake you just patch it up and go on, and make it look better."

Liggett's most controversial pieces are his "totems."  They are political cartoons carved in metal. Displayed alongside his windmills, they form a unique roadside gallery along the fence line of Highway 400.  

Egyptian gods, Greek mythological³ figures, Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush, and many local celebrities⁴ - because he is opinionated, the figures are not always depicted⁵ in a flattering light. 

Exaggerated portrayals⁶ of dozens of women in his life are an ongoing⁷ theme in his art. Liggett relishes⁸ in telling his "Tokyo Rose" story.  "I had a girlfriend that I met in Tokyo. She was lost and down in Ginza," he recalls. "I took her out to the airport on the monorail and I put her on a plane. 

"And she, you know the Japanese, they always have flowers on the table. Always! And so, when I got ready to leave, she picked a rose up and she handed it to me. She said I'll see you again. I was 40 years old and she was 19. Well! I come back to the States, and she come and found me," he said.

Fellow grassroots artists and friends, like Tess, Erika Nelson, and Larry Fixit, speak about him with admiration⁹. "He is a very special guy. He loves women. He loves pretty things, simple things. He is a man of very high stature¹⁰. Big stature," Tess said.

"I am a little more timid than MT. I am still trying to make a living as an artist," said Nelson. "There is some luxury in being able to say, 'I own my own property. I am retired¹¹. I have a good income. I can say whatever the hell I want. And I am going to. I aspire¹² to be like MT later on.' I just know that right now I can't."

"I think his art is great," said Fixit. "Many people in town don't, because they are jealous of him. They cannot do it. They did not like the idea of me associate with him, I guess."

To those who do not like or appreciate his art, M.T. Liggett beams a dismissive smile. "If you get bitter, you lose sight, if you get mad about it. You can't do that. Cause I believe only you can make you mad," Liggett said.

1 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

2 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。

3 mythological   

adj.神话的

参考例句：

• He is remembered for his historical and mythological works. 他以其带有历史感和神话色彩的作品而著称。
• But even so, the cumulative process had for most Americans a deep, almost mythological significance. 不过即使如此，移民渐增的过程，对于大部分美国人，还是意味深长的，几乎有不可思议的影响。

4 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

5 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

6 portrayals   

n.画像( portrayal的名词复数 )；描述；描写；描摹

参考例句：

• And painters alluded to her eroticism in their bare breasted portrayals of the dying queen. 画家们把她描绘为裸胸垂死的贪欲的女王。 来自互联网

7 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

8 relishes   

n.滋味( relish的名词复数 )；乐趣；（大量的）享受；快乐v.欣赏( relish的第三人称单数 )；从…获得乐趣；渴望

参考例句：

• The meat relishes of pork. 这肉有猪肉味。 来自辞典例句
• The biography relishes too much of romance. 这篇传记中传奇色彩太浓。 来自辞典例句

9 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

10 stature   

n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材

参考例句：

• He is five feet five inches in stature.他身高5英尺5英寸。
• The dress models are tall of stature.时装模特儿的身材都较高。

11 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

12 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。