[00:00.00]Unit 6 Design

[00:-1.00]Lesson 21 A Matter of Taste Chinese Prints

[00:-2.00]This exhibition starts on 1 July at the Newman Galleryin Dinham

[00:-3.00]and ends on 15 September.At 6:00 p.m.on Friday 3 July

[00:-4.00]there will be a talk on Chinese painting by Dr Alison Enwright

[00:-5.00]In August there will be talks on Chinese culture.

[00:-6.00]Opening times:Mon.-Sat.from 10 a.m.to 6 p.m.

[00:-7.00]Admission:FreeXu Beihong(1895-1953) was important in modern Chinese folk art.

[00:-8.00]During his lifetime,he developed the tradition of combining poetry,

[00:-9.00]calligraphy with painting.

[00:10.00]Between 1933 and 1940,

[00:11.00]he held a number of exhibitions in Asia and Europe to promote Chinese art.

[00:12.00]Across the painting,named Racing Horse,

[00:13.00]we can see a horse galloping at high speed.

[00:14.00]On the left and right side of the painting,

[00:15.00]Xu cleverly drew in black ink to show the moving hair on the horse's mane and tail

[00:16.00]He also used different shades of grey in a creative way

[00:17.00]to show the sweat along the horse's body.

[00:18.00]The painting of dark and light colours is a favourite of many art critics.

[00:19.00]Qi Baishi (1863-1957)was one of China's greatest painters.

[00:20.00]He worked as a wood carver during his early youth.

[00:21.00]Then between 1902 and 1909, he travelled across the country

[00:22.00]and painted many landscapes.

[00:23.00]His interest changed later to simple images from everyday life,

[00:24.00]such as vegetables,flowers, birds and insects.

[00:25.00]Cabbage is a well known example of Qi's work.

[00:26.00]The tiny insect near the cabbage has some red on its back.

[00:27.00]Its shiny black eyes,which are fixed on the cabbage,

[00:28.00]show the creature's interest in the vegetable.

[00:29.00]Qi Baishi's style of painting

[00:30.00]often leaves the audience guessing and makes them use their imagination.

[00:31.00]Chen Yifei (1946- ) is a very successful artist.

[00:32.00]His soft portraits of beautiful women are very valuable.

[00:33.00]In 1997, one of his paintings sold for US$503,000.

[00:34.00]The painting, named Poppy, is a classic example of Chen's artistic style.

[00:35.00]In the painting, a young woman sits alone and is deep in thought.

[00:36.00]Her hand holding the fan is elegantly positioned above her knees.

[00:37.00]To emphasise the woman even more,

[00:38.00]Chen adds a lot of details to her dress and fan,

[00:39.00]and chooses to paint the background behind the woman black.

[00:40.00]Lesson 23 Chinese Paper Art

[00:41.00]Chen Zijiang is a paper-cutting expert whom I interviewed recently.

[00:42.00]Paper-cutting is something that he learned to do from an early age.

[00:43.00]I talked to him to find out more about paper-cut art.

[00:44.00]'Paper-cutting is a Chinese folk art with a long history,'says Mr Chen.'

[00:45.00]Paper cuts of animals have been found in tombs

[00:46.00]which dale back to the time of the Northern and Southern Dynasty (386-589).

[00:47.00]By the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279),

[00:48.00]paper-cutting had become an important part of everyday life

[00:49.00]For example,a young farmer who wanted a wife would

[00:50.00]look at a young woman's paper-cutting skills to choose his bride.

[00:51.00]According to Chen Zijiang, there are three types

[00:52.00]of paper cutswhich people like to make.

[00:53.00]One type is used for decorating windows,walls, gates and lanterns.

[00:54.00]These paper cuts are put up during holidays to bring good luck.

[00:55.00]For the same reason,the are used to decorate presents.

[00:56.00]A present for parents whose child was born recently,

[00:57.00]for example, might feature pictures of children or eggs.

[00:58.00]Paper cuts which feature the Chinese character

[00:59.00]for double happiness are commonly used to celebrate weddings.

[-1:00.00]Another type of paper cuts is used for religious purposes.

[-1:-1.00]These paper cuts are often used as temple decorations

[-1:-2.00]or offerings to the dead People to whom the dead person was related

[-1:-3.00]would make these offerings on special days and during festivals.

[-1:-4.00]A third kind of paper cuts is used in the design of other crafts.

[-1:-5.00]For example, a paper cut may be used as a pattern for embroideryon clothing

[-1:-6.00]or a pattern on a jewellery box.

[-1:-7.00]For newcomers to paper-cutting,

[-1:-8.00]Mr Chen suggests practising easy designs such as snowflakes.

[-1:-9.00]I have scissors,paper and a lot of determination.Hopefully.

[-1:10.00]I'll also have a snowflake too.

[-1:11.00]Lesson 24 Dream Houses

[-1:12.00]The House on Mango Street

[-1:13.00]we didn't always live on Mango Street.

[-1:14.00]Before that we lived on Loomis on the third floor,

[-1:15.00]and before that we lived on Keeler.

[-1:16.00]Before Keeler it was Paulina,and before that I can't remember.

[-1:17.00]But what I remembered most is moving a lot.

[-1:18.00]Each time it seemed there'd be one more of us.

[-1:19.00]By the time we got to Mango Street we were six -Mama, Papa, Carlos,

[-1:20.00]Kiki, my sister Nenny and me.

[-1:21.00]The house on Mango Street is ours, and we don't have to pay rent to anybody,

[-1:22.00]or share the yard with the people downstairs,

[-1:23.00]or be careful not to make too much noise,

[-1:24.00]and there isn't a landlord banging on the ceiling with a broom.

[-1:25.00]But even so, it's not the house we thought we'd get.

[-1:26.00]We had to leave the flat on Loomis quick.

[-1:27.00]The water pipes broke

[-1:28.00]and the landlord wouldn't fix them because the house was too old.

[-1:29.00]We had to leave fast.

[-1:30.00]We were using the washroom next doorand carrying water over in empty milk gallons.

[-1:31.00]That's why Mama and Papa looked for a house,

[-1:32.00]and that's why we moved into the house on Mango Street,

[-1:33.00]far away, on the other side of town.

[-1:34.00]They always told us that one day we would move into a house,

[-1:35.00]a real house that would be ours so we wouldn't have to move each year.

[-1:36.00]And our house would have running water and pipes that worked

[-1:37.00]And inside it would have real stairs, not hallway stairs,

[-1:38.00]but stairs inside like the houses on TV

[-1:39.00]And we'd have a basementand at least three washrooms

[-1:40.00]so when we took a bathwe wouldn't have to tell everybody.

[-1:41.00]Our house would be white with trees around it,

[-1:42.00]a great big yard and grass growing without a fence.

[-1:43.00]This was the house Papa talked about when he held a lottery ticket

[-1:44.00]and this was the house Mama dreamed up in the storiesshe told us before

[-1:45.00]we went to bed.

[-1:46.00]But the house on Mango Street is not the way they told it at all.

[-1:47.00]It's small and red with tight steps in front and windows

[-1:48.00]so small you'd think they were holding their breath.

[-1:49.00]Bricks are crumbling in placesand the front door is

[-1:50.00]so swollen you have to push hard to get in.

[-1:51.00]There is no-front yard,only four little elms the city planted by the curb.

[-1:52.00]Out back is a small garage for the car we don't own yet

[-1:53.00]and a small yard that looks smaller between the two buildings on either side.

[-1:54.00]There are stairs in the house,but they're ordinary hallway stairs,

[-1:55.00]and the house has only one washroom.

[-1:56.00]Everybody has to share a bedroom -Mama and Papa,

[-1:57.00]Carlos and Kiki, me and Nenny.