VOA标准英语2011--Artist Uses Light to Enchant Museum Goer

Kinetic¹ artist Carlos Cruz-Diez was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, but has spent half of his 87 years in Paris. There he developed a worldwide following for works that challenge how we see color. His illusion-filled pieces are now on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas.
Entering the world of Cruz-Diez is a challenge and a delight for the eyes. In one of the small rooms built for the exhibit, one at first sees blue light but it shifts to yellow, green and other colors as one passes through.
Here's what Carlos Cruz-Diez said he intended. "This is chromo saturation². The purpose is to have color without form. One enters here into raw perception."
The colors one sees here are not really here. The artist explains that they're manufactured by the eye.
Optical illusions
"When you see just one frequency of light, it is disturbing and the eye tries to accommodate itself to the experience and in the process, different tones appear that do not exist in the place."
In another chamber³, Cruz-Diez uses light and structure to turn the viewer into part of the art. A lamp projects patterns over the surface of the room and anyone inside it.
Many other works here use simple structures made of plastic and other monochromatic⁴ materials to give the impression of shifting colors.
Cruz-Diez said he wants to challenge the notion people have of color and reveal its essence.
Essence of color
"All my work is the product of a long reflection to give another notion to the world of color."
People visiting this exhibit were fascinated by how the artist uses materials to produce the illusion of changing color, and they had their own perceptions of the works.
One visitor said, "I like walking around and looking at them from different angles and seeing how they change."
Another said, "I have seen it before and I keep coming back. There is something about the colors that is also spiritual. It changes your mood."
Varied⁵ perspectives
Another man from Mexico saw the works from a Latin American perspective. "There are a lot of very alive colors like pink, orange, red, colors that connect to some pre-Hispanic tradition."
Architects and those who work in design especially like this exhibit. Like Elaine.
"As you can see, the installation is quite clever," said Elaine. "He used different material. He used angles to block your sight to create different, I would say, illusions. Sometimes architects do that, too. So this is kind of inspiring to architecture."
Cruz-Diez is known as a kinetic artist because motion is involved in his works. But most often, the viewer's motion and its interaction with the work make the difference.
Kinetic artistry
The exhibit, called "Color in Space and Time," includes a few of the artist's early paintings, which are traditional representations of people and landscapes.
But most of the works are explorations of color.
Art critics credit Cruz-Diez with re-inventing the notion that color is more than just pigment⁶ on a surface; it involves light, the eye and the brain.
The exhibit remains⁷ at the Fine Arts Museum in Houston until July 4, 2011.

1 kinetic   

adj.运动的；动力学的

参考例句：

• There exist many sources of energy both potential and kinetic.存在着许多势能和动能的能源。
• The kinetic theory of gases is the best known example.气体动力学理论就是最有名的例子。

2 saturation   

n.饱和(状态)；浸透

参考例句：

• The company's sales are now close to saturation in many western countries.这家公司的产品销售量在许多西方国家已接近饱和。
• Road traffic has reached saturation point.公路交通已达到饱和点。

3 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

4 monochromatic   

adj.单色的，一色的

参考例句：

• The resolution of white light into its separate monochromatic components is called dispersion.这种白光分解为各单色成分的现象叫做色散。
• My sister selected a monochromatic color-scheme for her new apartment.我妹妹为自己的新居选择了单一色调的设计。

5 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

6 pigment   

n.天然色素，干粉颜料

参考例句：

• The Romans used natural pigments on their fabrics and walls.古罗马人在织物和墙壁上使用天然颜料。
• Who thought he might know what the skin pigment phenomenon meant.他自认为可能知道皮肤色素出现这种现象到底是怎么回事。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。