hsk 5 上 lesson 18 with pinyin and English translation

Lesson 18   抽象艺术美不美     
Abstract Art: Beautiful or Not?

Chōuxiàng yìshù měi bù měi
抽象艺术美不美     
Abstract Art: Beautiful or Not?

Duì yǒuxiē rén lái shuō, 

对有些人来说,

For some people, 

chōuxiàng yìshù méiyǒu gǔdiǎn yìshù nàme róngyì xīnshǎng, 

抽象艺术没有古典艺术那么容易欣赏,

abstract art is not as easy to appreciate as classical art. 

huàbù shàng nàxiē bù guīzé de sè kuài, xiàntiáo, shízài kàn bù chū yǒu shénme yìyì.

画布上那些不规则的色块、线条, 实在看不出有什么意义。

the irregular color blocks and lines on the canvas are really meaningless.

Chōuxiàng pài huàjiā de zuòpǐn zhōng 

抽象派画家的作品中

In the works of abstract painters, 

jīngcháng jiàn dào hǎoxiàng suíbiàn jiǔ shàng yánliào ér xíngchéng de huàzuò, 

经常见到好像随便酒上颜料而形成的画作,

we often see paintings that seem to be formed by adding paint to wine. 

zài yǒu lái jíqí shénmì shènzhì chǒulòu, 

在有来极其神秘甚至丑陋,

Sometimes they are extremely mysterious and even ugly, 

yǒurén què cóngzhōng gǎnshòu dào duì zìyóu, duì shēngmìng de zànměi.

有人却从中感受到对自由、对生命的赞美。

but some people feel the praise of freedom and life.

Yánjiū zhě shèjìle yīgè yǒuqù de shíyàn.

研究者设计了一个有趣的实验。

The researcher designed an interesting experiment.

Zhìyuàn zhě de rènwù hěn jiǎndān, 

志愿者的任务很简单,

The volunteer's task was very simple,

měi gèrén huì kàn dào liǎng liǎng yī zǔ chūxiàn de yīxiē túhuà, 

每个人会看到两两一组出现的一些图画,

everyone will see some pictures that appear in groups of two, 

měi zǔ zhōng yī fú chūzì zhùmíng chōuxiàng yìshùjiā zhī shǒu, 

每组中一幅出自著名抽象艺术家之手,

one in each group is by a famous abstract artist, 

lìng yī fú shì yèyú àihào zhě, yīng'ér, hēixīngxīng huòzhě dà xiàng de túyā.

另一幅是业余爱好者、婴儿、黑猩猩或者大象的涂鸦。

and the other is a graffiti of an amateur, a baby, a chimpanzee or an elephant.

Zhìyuàn zhě bìxū pànduàn měi yī zǔ huàzuò zhōng zìjǐ gèng xǐhuan nǎ yī fú.

志愿者必须判断每一组画作中自己更喜欢哪一幅。

Volunteers must decide which one they prefer in each group of paintings.

Qí zhòng sān fēn zhī yī de huàzuò zuòzhě méiyǒu qiānmíng, 

其中三分之一的画作作者没有签名,

One-third of the paintings were not signed by the author, 

ér qíyú de zé biāomíngle shēnfèn.

而其余的则标明了身份。

while the rest were identified.

Lìng rén tóuténg de shì, 

令人头疼的是,

The trouble was that 

yīxiē qiānmíng bèi gùyì nòng cuòle, 

一些签名被故意弄错了,

some of the signatures were deliberately mistaken, 

zhìyuàn zhě wúfǎ quèrèn zuòzhě dàodǐ shì shéi, 

志愿者无法确认作者到底是谁,

and the volunteers could not confirm who the author was. 

suǒyǐ yǒu kěnéng 

所以有可能

Therefore, it was possible that 

zhìyuàn zhě rènwéi zìjǐ kàn dào de shì hēixīngxīng de suíshǒu túyā, 

志愿者认为自己看到的是黑猩猩的随手涂鸦,

the volunteers thought they saw the graffiti of chimpanzees, 

shíjì zé shì zhùmíng chōuxiàng yìshùjiā de dàzuò.

实际则是著名抽象艺术家的大作。

but they were actually masterpieces by famous abstract artists.

Yěxǔ yǒurén rènwéi, 

也许有人认为,

Some people may think that 

zài zhè zhǒng qíngkuàng xià gēnběn bù kěnéng fēnbiàn chūlái.

在这种情况下根本不可能分辨出来。

it is impossible to distinguish in this case.

Rán'ér zài měi yīcì cèshì zhōng, 

然而在每一次测试中,

However, in each test, 

zhìyuàn zhě pǔbiàn gèng xǐhuan de zuòpǐn dōu shì yóu rénlèi yìshùjiā huī bǐ wánchéng de.

志愿者普遍更喜欢的作品都是由人类艺术家挥笔完成的。

the works that volunteers generally prefer were made by human artists.

Yóu cǐ kějiàn, 

由此可见,

This shows that 

zhìyuàn zhě nénggòu cóng huàzuò zhōng gǎnzhī yìshùjiā de yòngxīn, 

志愿者能够从画作中感知艺术家的用心,

the volunteers can perceive the artist's intentions from the paintings, 

nǎpà tāmen bù nénggòu jiěshì yuányīn.

哪怕他们不能够解释原因。

even if they cannot explain the reasons.

Lìng yīgè shíyàn shì zhèyàng, 

另一个实验是这样,

Another experiment was like this,

zhìyuàn zhě tóngshí xīnshǎng yuánzuò hé huàmiàn yuánsù bèi tiáozhěng hòu de huàzuò, 

志愿者同时欣赏原作和画面元素被调整后的画作,

volunteers admired both the original and the adjusted paintings, 

bāokuò jìngwù huà hé chōuxiàng huà.

包括静物画和抽象画。

including still life paintings and abstract paintings.

Jiéguǒ, jīhū měi gèrén dōu gèng xǐhuan yuánzuò.

结果, 几乎每个人都更喜欢原作。

As a result, almost everyone preferred the original.

Yánjiū zhě fāxiàn, 

研究者发现,

Researchers found that 

dāng kàn dào huà shàng wùtǐ wèizhì biànhuà hòu, 

当看到画上物体位置变化后, 

when the position of the objects on the painting changes, 

dànǎo zhōng yǒuguān hányì hé jiěshì de qūyù huóyuè xìng xiàjiàngle.

大脑中有关含意和解释的区域活跃性下降了。

the activity of the brain areas related to meaning and interpretation decreases.

Zhè biǎomíng, 

这表明,

This shows that 

wǒmen de dànǎo nǎo zhùyì dàole yuánzuò de bùjú, 

我们的大脑恼注意到了原作的布局,

our brain is annoyed to notice the layout of the original work, 

bìngqiě kěyǐ gǎnzhī qí bèihòu de yòngyì, 

并且可以感知其背后的用意,

and can perceive the intention behind it, 

jíshǐ wǒmen hái méiyǒu qīngchǔ de gǎnshòu dào zhège shìshí.

即使我们还没有清楚地感受到这个事实。

even if we have not clearly felt this fact.

Zhìshǎo mùqián kěyǐ zhème shuō, 

至少目前可以这么说,

At least for now, 

méiyǒu zhèngjù biǎomíng hēixīngxīng huò értóng kěyǐ zhèyàng zuò.

没有证据表明黑猩猩或儿童可以这样做。

there is no evidence that chimpanzees or children can do this.

Wǒmen de dànǎo jiùjìng rúhé gǎnzhī chōuxiàng yìshù, shì yīgè yǒuqù de huàtí.

我们的大脑究竟如何感知抽象艺术, 是一个有趣的话题。

How our brain perceives abstract art is an interesting topic.

Měi gèrén duì chōuxiàng yìshù kěyǐ yǒu bùtóng de jiědú, 

每个人对抽象艺术可以有不同的解读,

Everyone can have a different interpretation of abstract art, 

zhè jìshì tiǎozhàn, yěshì zìyóu.

这既是挑战, 也是自由。

which is both a challenge and a freedom.

Gǎibiān zì “kēxué huàbào”, zuòzhě: Zhōujìngyān

改编自《科学画报》,作者:周静嫣

Adapted from "Science Pictorial", author: Zhou Jingyan

Full Translation:     

Abstract Art: Beautiful or Not?

For some people, abstract art is not as easy to appreciate as classical art. The irregular color blocks and lines on the canvas are really meaningless.

In the works of abstract painters, we often see paintings that seem to be formed by adding paint to wine. Sometimes they are extremely mysterious and even ugly, but some people feel the praise of freedom and life.

The researcher designed an interesting experiment. The volunteer's task was very simple, everyone will see some pictures that appear in groups of two, one in each group is by a famous abstract artist, and the other is a graffiti of an amateur, a baby, a chimpanzee or an elephant.

Volunteers must decide which one they prefer in each group of paintings. One-third of the paintings were not signed by the author, while the rest were identified. The trouble was that some of the signatures were deliberately mistaken, and the volunteers could not confirm who the author was.

Therefore, it was possible that the volunteers thought they saw the graffiti of chimpanzees, but they were actually masterpieces by famous abstract artists. Some people may think that it is impossible to distinguish in this case. However, in each test, the works that volunteers generally prefer were made by human artists.

This shows that the volunteers can perceive the artist's intentions from the paintings, even if they cannot explain the reasons. Another experiment was like this, volunteers admired both the original and the adjusted paintings, including still life paintings and abstract paintings. As a result, almost everyone preferred the original.

Researchers found that when the position of the objects on the painting changes, the activity of the brain areas related to meaning and interpretation decreases. This shows that our brain is annoyed to notice the layout of the original work, and can perceive the intention behind it, even if we have not clearly felt this fact.

At least for now, there is no evidence that chimpanzees or children can do this. How our brain perceives abstract art is an interesting topic. Everyone can have a different interpretation of abstract art, which is both a challenge and a freedom.

hsk 5 上 lesson 18 audio with pinyin and English translation 👇

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