10. Outsider Art
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Reading (45 seconds)
Outsider Art
Outsider Art is a term used to describe art that is made by people who choose to live and work outside society. The artists who produce this kind of art-Outsider Artists-work in isolation from other artists and have little or no formal artistic training. Because they do not learn conventional artistic techniques from teachers or other artists. Outsider Artists must invent their own ways of doing things. As a result of the unconventional methods that Outsider Artists often use, their work can look strange and not at all like traditional art to the observer.
Listening
Preparation time: 30 seconds
speaking time: 1 minute
Texts
All right, so let’s consider the work of the Outsider Artist Henry Darger.
Darger lived by himself in a tiny apartment in Chicago in the 1900s. He had no friends and spent all his spare time there alone creating hundreds of paintings and drawings. He had never formally studied art and kept his work completely private, so no one ever saw it or responded to it during his lifetime.
And so when you see Darger’s work, you notice how unique it is. It doesn’t remind you of anything you’ve ever seen before. It’s very much his own. For example, one piece, it’s a watercolor painting. In this piece, it illustrates a story, about the adventures of seven children.
But see, Darger had a really hard time drawing human figures. Yet he managed to come up with his own rather unique solution for the problem. He simply cut out pictures of children from newspapers and magazines, and pasted them into his own painted illustration of trees, flowers and grass. The results look…uh…a little strange.
Darger’s picture looks more cluttered, more crowded with details than the pictures of other artists because its entire surface is painted and then there are no spaces left empty. It’s also a lot longer than the pictures of most other artists, about nine feet long.
Explanation
Reading part summary
The title of the reading passage: Outsider Art
The definition of outsider art: Outsider Art is a term used to describe art that is made by people who choose to live and work outside of society.
Listening part summary
Outsider artist Henry Darger lived by himself with no friends in a tiny apartment in Chicago in the 1900s.
He had never formally studied art.
Since he kept his work completely private, no one ever saw it.
His work is so unique that his art style had never been seen before.
One of his works, for example, portrayed a story about the adventures of seven children.
But Darger had a problem drawing human figures.
So he simply cut out pictures of children from newspapers and magazines and pasted them into his paintings.
The end results were a little strange because Darger’s work was crowded with details and there were no spaces left empty.
(Sample answer)
The reading passage introduces the concept of outsider art, which refers to artwork created by individuals who live and work outside mainstream society.
In the lecture, the professor provides an example to illustrate this concept through the life and work of outsider artist Henry Darger. Living in a solitary existence in a small Chicago apartment during the 1900s, Darger had no formal art training and kept his artistic endeavors entirely private, unknown to the outside world.
One of Darger’s notable works centered around the adventures of seven children. However, Darger struggled with drawing human figures, leading him to incorporate images of children cut from newspapers and magazines into his paintings. As a result, his artwork took on a unique and somewhat unconventional appearance, characterized by densely crowded compositions filled with intricate details and minimal empty spaces.
This example showcases the distinctive nature of outsider art, often characterized by its unconventional methods, untrained creators, and departure from traditional artistic norms.
Outsider Art
Outsider Art is a term used to describe art that is made by people who choose to live and work outside society. The artists who produce this kind of art-Outsider Artists-work in isolation from other artists and have little or no formal artistic training. Because they do not learn conventional artistic techniques from teachers or other artists. Outsider Artists must invent their own ways of doing things. As a result of the unconventional methods that Outsider Artists often use, their work can look strange and not at all like traditional art to the observer.
Listening
Preparation time: 30 seconds
speaking time: 1 minute
Texts
All right, so let’s consider the work of the Outsider Artist Henry Darger.
Darger lived by himself in a tiny apartment in Chicago in the 1900s. He had no friends and spent all his spare time there alone creating hundreds of paintings and drawings. He had never formally studied art and kept his work completely private, so no one ever saw it or responded to it during his lifetime.
And so when you see Darger’s work, you notice how unique it is. It doesn’t remind you of anything you’ve ever seen before. It’s very much his own. For example, one piece, it’s a watercolor painting. In this piece, it illustrates a story, about the adventures of seven children.
But see, Darger had a really hard time drawing human figures. Yet he managed to come up with his own rather unique solution for the problem. He simply cut out pictures of children from newspapers and magazines, and pasted them into his own painted illustration of trees, flowers and grass. The results look…uh…a little strange.
Darger’s picture looks more cluttered, more crowded with details than the pictures of other artists because its entire surface is painted and then there are no spaces left empty. It’s also a lot longer than the pictures of most other artists, about nine feet long.
Explanation
Reading part summary
The title of the reading passage: Outsider Art
The definition of outsider art: Outsider Art is a term used to describe art that is made by people who choose to live and work outside of society.
Listening part summary
Outsider artist Henry Darger lived by himself with no friends in a tiny apartment in Chicago in the 1900s.
He had never formally studied art.
Since he kept his work completely private, no one ever saw it.
His work is so unique that his art style had never been seen before.
One of his works, for example, portrayed a story about the adventures of seven children.
But Darger had a problem drawing human figures.
So he simply cut out pictures of children from newspapers and magazines and pasted them into his paintings.
The end results were a little strange because Darger’s work was crowded with details and there were no spaces left empty.
(Sample answer)
The reading passage introduces the concept of outsider art, which refers to artwork created by individuals who live and work outside mainstream society.
In the lecture, the professor provides an example to illustrate this concept through the life and work of outsider artist Henry Darger. Living in a solitary existence in a small Chicago apartment during the 1900s, Darger had no formal art training and kept his artistic endeavors entirely private, unknown to the outside world.
One of Darger’s notable works centered around the adventures of seven children. However, Darger struggled with drawing human figures, leading him to incorporate images of children cut from newspapers and magazines into his paintings. As a result, his artwork took on a unique and somewhat unconventional appearance, characterized by densely crowded compositions filled with intricate details and minimal empty spaces.
This example showcases the distinctive nature of outsider art, often characterized by its unconventional methods, untrained creators, and departure from traditional artistic norms.