【推荐2】Today, I’d like to speak to you about the ink wash animated film Feeling from Mountain and Water. Let’s start by talking about the background of ink wash animation, an animation style that is unique to China. This style combines Chinese traditional art with modern animation techniques.

In the late 1950s, inspired by the ink wash painter Qi Baishi, the Shanghai Animation Studio began to explore ways to turn Chinese traditional paintings into cartoon form. The first ink wash animation film, Tadpoles Searching for Mother, was produced in 1960, and it received the golden prize at an international film festival. Finally, in 1988, the ink wash animation masterpiece, Feeling from Mountain and Water was created.

Let’s turn now to the film itself. The film tells the simple story of an old musician and a young boy. In the film, an old musician falls ill while travelling and is helped by a young boy. To thank the boy, the musician teaches him how to play the guqin. With the change of the seasons, it is time for the musician to leave. As the musician says goodbye, he gives the boy his guqin, and then disappears into the mist. Then, when the boy sits down to play the guqin, all of nature joins him in a visual symphony.

The film has no dialogue. And, unlike typical cartoons, the film has no bright colors. In short, it is like a fine ink wash painting which has been brought to life—a painting with movement. The animation and the music make the film not only appealing to the eyes and ears but also rich in emotion. Therefore, this 18- minute film is regarded by many as a masterpiece of Chinese ink wash animation.

After the late 1980s, the high cost of producing ink was animation caused film studios to stop making them. The techniques used to produce such films simply required too much work, as each frame of the film had to be hand painted. However, in 2016, new artists have begun to make ink wash animated films using computers. It is hoped that these new techniques will breathe new life into this art form.

【推荐3】Throughout history, many of the world’s greatest artists never achieved tremendous fame until after their death. That’s the case of Vivian Maier, who’s now considered to be one of the most important American street photographers of the last century, alongside famous names like Diane Arbus and Henri Cartier-Bresson. But she remained unknown for much of her life, and it was only a chance encounter with a box of negatives that put her in the spotlight.

Details of her life are unclear, but she was born in New York City in the 1920s to European parents. Maier grew up in France before returning to the U. S., where she spent several decades working as a nanny in Chicago to wealthy families. During her days off Maier is thought to have taken more than 100, 000 photographs of people and city scenes in Chicago, yet she kept the photos to herself-many of them never developed.

Skip ahead to 2007, a Chicago historian and collector, John Maloof, came across Maier’s work by accident after purchasing a box of tens of thousands of undeveloped negatives for $380 Sat an auction (拍卖) . As he developed them, Maloof realized they were more than just photos. He was looking at evocative (唤起) art illustrating a Chicago of the mid-20-century that nobody had never seen. Maloof worked to uncover who the photographer was, acquiring more and more of her work. But before he could locate her, Maier had already passed away in 2009, having slipped on ice and never recovering from her head injury.

While Maloof researched Maier’s work, more details emerged. She kept to herself, her employers said, and she would spend her free days taking photos on the streets of Chicago with a Rolleiflex camera. According to Maloof, the children Maier took care of knew she was constantly taking photos, yet she never showed her photos to anyone. Maier also traveled around the world, as indicated by some of her photos.

Other collectors began to acquire Maier’s photos, but Maloof owns much of her work. He released a book, Vivian Maier: Street Photographer, in 2011, and his documentary, Finding Vivian Maier, came out in 2013.

【推荐1】Westerners usually don’t think of China as having a rich tradition of making comics, and discussions of Chinese comics focus on manhua, the Chinese comics that were inspired by Japanese manga. It’s true that most of the comics being produced now are manhua.     1     From their beginnings in the 1920s until their popularity bottomed out in the 1990s, lianhuanhua were some of the most widely read literature in the country.

Most of the lianhuanhua that can still be found in China were printed in the late 1970s and 1980s.     2     The lianhuanhua industry began in Shanghai during the 1920s and 30s. Some scholars even trace the origins to Song Dynasty scrolls(卷轴).

Using newly imported printing techniques, publishers began releasing periodicals (期刊) that contained stories and illustrations.     3     There were various regional names, such as “book of little people”. Some of these stories were text accompanied by images while others used speech bubbles or text inserted into the image. The most popular series from the magazines were reprinted in palm-size paperbacks, and before long rental shops sprang up in alleyways throughout the city.     4    

Many of these early comics were multi-volume(多卷的) adaptations of martial arts epics or folk tales such as the classical Chinese novel, Journey to the West.     5     Adaptations of foreign works from Europe and the United States were also produced. In the 1980s, new publications came to have a wider range of goals that included intellectual development and education in science and culture for young people.

【推荐2】“Never Again” sits at the intersection of art and craft. The object is both a basket, made from sweetgrass and palmetto (棕榈), and an abstract sculpture. Much wider than it is tall, from a distance “Never Again” seems to be of one hue, but on closer inspection you can see that its brown, cream and green fibers change into purposeful patterns of color. Such details encourage viewers to study the work slowly, the way you might examine one of Jackson Pollock’s paintings carefully.

The piece was made by Mary Jackson, an African-American artist, in 2007. In 2008 Mrs Jackson received $500,000 to support the creation of work that both preserved “the centuries-old craft of sweetgrass basketry” and moved “the tradition in amazing new directions”.

Born in 1945, Mrs Jackson grew up in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. She is Gullah, a member of an ethnic group who preserve the African roots of their distinct language and culture. Mrs Jackson was introduced to traditional weaving (编织) techniques by her mother and grandmother at the age of four.

In the 1960s, after finishing school, Mrs Jackson moved to New York to find work. There, she visited the city’s museums and discovered Minimalism and Pop Art, which had a deep effect on her. When she returned to South Carolina in 1972, she picked up basketmaking again, but with a new feeling.

Her works show clear shapes and innovative dimensions. Early works, such as “Cobra with Handle”, are complex, but still usable baskets. Mid-career pieces, including “Two Lips”, reveal a delicate turn away from utility towards aestheticism (唯美主义). It is a delicate work that is ill-suited to holding rice or produce.

“I wanted to do something that was very different from what my ancestors made,” she says. “Never Again” is perhaps the best representation of her work; Mrs Jackson says she named the piece to reflect her belief that she would not be able to create another object as striking. (It took her three years to complete.) “I don’t think I’ll continue to make these baskets like how I used to, she says. Instead, approaching her 80s, she is “working on new things”.

【推荐3】Often, there is a false idea that one must be “in-the-know” to truly appreciate artworks. However, fine art opens the door to everyone. Learning how to look at and understand artworks requires us to take the time to view, identify and think.

Look at the Art

As the first step, it’s necessary to take a moment to identify the artwork’s general features:

● Is it a painting, sculpture or craftwork?

● Does it appear chaotic (混乱的) or organized?

● Are the colors bright or soft?

Identify the Art and Artist

Knowing when or how the artwork was made and learning something about the artist can reveal more context. We all know the famous painting Guernica is a masterpiece created by Picasso in 1937. However, if we can find out Picasso composed the painting to reflect a bombing during the Spanish Civil War, we’ll know more about its anti-war meaning.

Even if the historical context of an artwork is not obvious, knowing the year of its creation offers more context.

Think About the Meaning

Use what you observed in the first two steps to think about meanings the artwork could have.

Consider what the title, the subjects, or the symbols meant to the artist when he or she created the artwork. What do the colors say about the artist, and how do they apply to the subjects in the art? For example, the owls in Lebo’s works represent wisdom, but why are they so brightly colored?

In addition, ask how the art makes you feel. Many artists have specific meanings behind their art, but also encourage viewers to come up with their own explanations. Still, every explanation is not automatically correct, which is why the techniques described above are helpful in finding clues.

The next time you’re admiring a work of art, keep these techniques in mind, and its meaning may unfold before your eyes.