VOA标准英语2011--Korean Artist Explores Infinity at Gugge

Korean Artist Explores Infinity¹ at Guggenheim

One of America's most prestigious² museums of modern and contemporary art is showcasing the work of Korean artist Lee Ufan.
Born in Korea, the 75-year-old has lived and taught in Japan, where he enjoys the respect of several post-war generations of intellectuals for his role in leading philosophical³ and artistic⁴ movements countering westernization.
New York’s Guggenheim Museum provides a unique backdrop for Ufan, because the museum’s continuous spiral ramp⁵ underlines infinity; a pivotal notion in his work.
“Marking Infinity,” Lee Ufan’s first retrospective in an American museum, gathers 70 paintings, sculptures and drawings. They fill the Guggenheim’s Rotunda⁶ floor and its six ramps⁷ - the late-period gem⁸ of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
Ufan installed the retrospective himself during a three-week residency, uniting examples of five decades of his art into one continuous statement.
“For Lee Ufan, collaborating⁹ with the Rotunda space at the Guggenheim Museum has been an enormous leap forward for his own understanding of his own work," says Alexandra Munroe, the museum’s senior curator of Asian Art. "And he realizes that in essence, what the Guggenheim Museum is all about, which is the awareness¹⁰ of the body in space, is about many of the same ideas."
Ufan grew up through several wars and experienced the assault of modern culture, which interrupted ancient philosophical systems.
“What is at the essence of his art is uncertainty¹¹ and things that are not fixed¹² and things that are open and scattered¹³, and open to our interpretation¹⁴ and open to our experience and infinite," Munroe says. "The title of this exhibition is ‘Marking Infinity.’ Infinity is the opposite of finite, is the opposite of what is fixed. He is asking us to imagine a world where there is a coexistence between man and what he calls the other, man and nature, now and the past.”
In his installations, opposites coexist, as in sculptures where heavy rocks and steel are held impossibly in the air by clouds of cotton.
“And there is another very important idea that you see both in his sculpture and his paintings, which I call the ‘ethic of restraint,’" says Munroe. "He’s interested in the relationship between making and non-making - what he calls non-making."
Ufan tries to separate us from our backgrounds, histories, mythologies¹⁵ and psychological concerns. Devoid¹⁶ of narrative¹⁷, his art belongs to the school of here and now.

1 infinity   

n.无限，无穷，大量

参考例句：

• It is impossible to count up to infinity.不可能数到无穷大。
• Theoretically,a line can extend into infinity.从理论上来说直线可以无限地延伸。

2 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

3 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

4 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

5 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

6 rotunda   

n.圆形建筑物；圆厅

参考例句：

• The Capitol at Washington has a large rotunda.华盛顿的国会大厦有一圆形大厅。
• The rotunda was almost deserted today,dotted with just a few tourists.圆形大厅今天几乎没有多少人，只零星散布着几个游客。

7 ramps   

resources allocation and multiproject scheduling 资源分配和多项目的行程安排

参考例句：

• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。
• He has the upper floor and ramps are fitted everywhere for his convenience. 他住在上面一层，为了他的方便着想，到处设有坡道。

8 gem   

n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel

参考例句：

• The gem is beyond my pocket.这颗宝石我可买不起。
• The little gem is worth two thousand dollars.这块小宝石价值两千美元。

9 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

10 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

11 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

12 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

13 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

14 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

15 mythologies   

神话学( mythology的名词复数 )； 神话（总称）； 虚构的事实； 错误的观点

参考例句：

• a study of the religions and mythologies of ancient Rome 关于古罗马的宗教和神话的研究
• This realization is enshrined in "Mythologies." 这一看法见诸于他的《神话集》一书。

16 devoid   

adj.全无的，缺乏的

参考例句：

• He is completely devoid of humour.他十分缺乏幽默。
• The house is totally devoid of furniture.这所房子里什么家具都没有。

17 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。