Cultural English 426 - Ask an American

Complete Transcript

`You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 426.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café episode 426. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

On this Café, we’re going to have another one of our Ask an American segments, where we listen to other native speakers talking at a normal rate of speech, a normal speed. We’ll listen and then explain what they’re talking about. Today, we’re going to listen to a gentleman talk about art conservation – the practice of protecting and preserving art. And, as always, we’ll answer a few of your questions. Let’s get started.

Our topic on this Café’s Ask an American segment is art conservation. “Conservation” (conservation) is the practice of protecting and preserving art. Conservation tries to protect the art so that it doesn’t get damaged any more than it may already be. Conservation tries to also “preserve” the art – to keep it so that it will look that way for many years to come.

We’re going to listen to a man who works in this field, or area, of art conservation. His name is David Olin. David’s going to talk about his work as an art conservator – someone who tries to protect art. We’ll listen first and then go back and explain what he said. This quote is a little long. Do the best you can, and we’ll explain it all to you in a minute. Let’s listen.

[recording]

“My name is David Olin and I’m one of four conservators from Olin Conservation, working on the murals here at the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building. Behind me is Seymour Fogel’s mural, “The Wealth of the Nation.” Down the corridor is Ben Shahn’s “Meaning of Social Security” – murals that really represent the legacy of the artists. What we’re doing now is repairing subsequent earthquake damage and damage due to continued building settling.”

[end of recording]

David begins by introducing himself: “My name is David Olin.” He then says that he is “one of four conservators from Olin Conservation.” A “conservator” (conservator) is a person who works in the area of conservation – in this case, art conservation – who tries to protect the art. There are different kinds of conservation. Some people work trying to conserve or protect buildings. But here we’re talking about art conservation. The art conservator tries to protect and “preserve,” or keep things so that they are not destroyed or so they do not deteriorate.

“To deteriorate” (deteriorate) means to become worse over time or to fall apart over time. We could talk about the condition of someone’s health deteriorating – getting worse as the person gets older. Art can also deteriorate over many years. Many things can damage artwork, even exposure to light – even if you put sunlight on it. Sometimes artwork will be damaged, which is why a lot of older art, especially paintings, can be found inside of an art building, not outside in the middle of a courtyard where the sun and the rain can damage it.

Mr. Olin says that he is “working on the murals” at a federal building called the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building. I’m not sure exactly where that building is. I do know what a mural is, however. A “mural” (mural) is a large painting that is painted directly onto a wall. Normally, we think of paintings on something called “canvas” (canvas), which is a special type of thick cloth. That’s what you see in a museum, typically; you see paintings on canvases.

Here, we’re talking about paintings, large paintings, on the wall of a building or perhaps even a wall inside of a room. More typically, we use the world “mural” to refer to walls on the outside of the building where everyone can see it. Here in Los Angeles, we have lots of murals by different kinds of artists. Mr. Olin is speaking to us from a federal building that has murals.

It was very popular, especially in the 1930s and perhaps early 1940s, to build new public buildings in order to give people jobs. This was a time which we call the “Great Depression,” when the American economy – indeed, the world economy – was not doing very well. In order to give people work, the government built a lot of buildings, and they also gave work to artists to decorate those buildings. One of the things that you will find on public buildings, especially older ones built in this time, is a mural.

This mural that Mr. Olin is talking to us about was painted by someone named Seymour Fogel. The mural is called “The Wealth of the Nation.” “Wealth” (wealth) refers to how much money – or how many “resources,” we would call them – a nation or a country has. He’s speaking to a reporter – in this case, a reporter from Voice of America – and he says that “behind me is Seymour Fogel’s mural, ‘The Wealth of Nations.’” So, he’s standing in front of the mural, obviously.

Then he says, “Down the corridor is Ben Shahn’s ‘Meaning of Social Security.’” A “corridor” (corridor) is another word for a hallway, or simply a hall. A hallway is a passageway that takes you from one room in a building to another. When we say something is “down” the corridor, we mean it is farther along in distance in the corridor. If you tell someone to go “down the hallway” or “down the hall” or “down the corridor,” you’re telling them to walk usually away from where they are now, towards another point farther away from the place where they are standing now.

So, down the corridor we find another mural by another artist. This mural is called “Meaning of Social Security.” “Social Security” refers to a government program that was set up back in the 1930s to help people live after they have finished working. It’s sort of like a retirement program. My friend David – well, he’s not actually my friend; I think of him as my friend. My friend David says that these murals “really represent the legacy of the artists.”

The “legacy” (legacy) of someone is what someone is remembered for, what someone leaves behind after they die. Usually we talk about this in reference to a famous artist or a famous writer or even a famous politician. Some people will talk about their own legacies: “What will people remember about me?” I hope someday, many years after I’m dead, ESL Podcast will still be around to help people. Especially the episodes where I sing. That is my greatest legacy, I think.

Other people want people to remember other things, and that would be what we would refer to as their “legacies.” An “artist” is a general term, really, for anyone who produces things that are creative, who expresses himself or herself through music, painting, sculpture, drama, or some other type of “creative expression,” we would call it. Mr. Olin thinks that these murals represent the legacy of the artist. They represent the best that we would want to remember them by.

Then Olin tells us a little bit about what he’s doing as a conservator. In this particular case, he says that he and his colleagues – the people working with him – are repairing earthquake damage. He actually says they’re “repairing subsequent (subsequent) earthquake damage and damage due to continued building settling.” The word “subsequent” here means after – in this case, after the murals were painted.

“Earthquake damage” refers to the damage a building can suffer if there is a movement of the ground suddenly – that is what an earthquake is. We have earthquakes here in California all of the time. Well, not all of the time, but very frequently. I think the last earthquake I felt was maybe a couple of months ago. Most earthquakes are very small. Most, in fact, are not even felt by people living in the area. But a large earthquake certainly can cause a lot of damage. “Damage” here means physical harm.

The other thing that Mr. Olin is trying to protect these murals against is the damage due to, or caused by, “continued building settling.” “Continued” means ongoing – it hasn’t stopped. “Settling” (settling) is the process of a building slowly sinking, slowly going lower into the ground over time. If there is a lot of settling, it can cause cracks or long lines in walls and ceilings. And no doubt, this is one of the problems they’re trying to correct, or fix, with these murals, especially if the building is an old building as, as I mentioned earlier, many of them are.

Now let’s listen to David Olin tell us all this once more.

[recording]

[end of recording]

Next, my very good friend David – I call him “Dave” or “Davy” because we’re such good friends – David is going to talk about what he says is the greatest challenge or difficulty in his work. Let’s listen. Again, we’ll come back and explain it in a minute.

[recording]

“The challenge really is manifesting the skill and applying these materials in a way that doesn’t alter, but competently recreates the artists’ intention. We’re not here to make the works of art look better. We’re not here to add our own interpretations. We’re here to deal directly and, as again, in an objective manner.”

[end of recording]

Old Dave begins by saying that the “challenge,” or difficult part of his job, “is manifesting the skill and applying these materials in a way that doesn’t alter, but competently recreates the artist’s intention.” There’s a lot happening in this sentence. Let’s begin with the verb “to manifest” (manifest). Olin refers to “manifesting the skill.” “To manifest” means to show, to display, or to demonstrate something. For example, a student’s hard work could be “manifested” in better grades. That’s how you know the student has been working hard – because they get better grades.

“To manifest someone’s skill” would be to show their expertise, how good they are at what they do – in this case, how good they are at painting. “To apply these materials” means to use the things that they are using to conserve, or to repair, the murals in a certain way. The way they want to apply the materials is one in which they do not “alter” (alter) the artist’s intention. “To alter” means to change.

Instead, the conservators are trying to “competently” recreate the artist’s intention. “To be competent” (competent) is to be able – to be able to do something, to have the skill to do something. The word is used here as an adverb – “competently” – to mean with great skill, with a certain expertise. “To recreate” something is to create something again. The prefix “re-” means again.

The artists have already “created” their paintings; they’ve already manifested their intentions through the paintings. The conservator’s job is to try to “recreate” that intention that the artist had. “Intention” (intention) is what you want to do – it’s sort of like your plan. The original artists had some very specific intentions in creating their murals, and the conservators have to be careful not to change, or alter, those intentions when repairing the murals.

Olin says, “We’re not here to make the works of art look better.” They’re not there to improve the way the art looks; they’re not there to make it look better than it used to. They are also not here, David says, “to add our own interpretations.” An “interpretation” of something is how you understand that thing – how you think about it, and then how you express it to others. It’s your perspective. A conservator’s job is not to use his idea of what the art should look like.

That’s why Olin says the conservators are not there to add their own interpretations. He says, “We’re here to deal directly and, as again, in an objective manner.” The word “objective” (objective), when used as an adjective, means that you’re not biased – you don’t have an opinion for or against something. An “objective observer,” for example, would be someone who looks at or sees something without trying to interpret it or put his own perspective into the description of what is being observed.

In our quote, we’re talking about an “objective manner.” A “manner” is a way you do something – it’s your approach to something. The art conservators are trying to take care of the paintings, the murals, not by interpreting them in a different way or a special way, but simply to fix them in a way that still reflects, still manifests, the artist’s intentions.

Now, let’s listen to the quote one more time.

[recording]

[end of recording]

And now, some of the questions that you have sent to us.

Our first question comes from Eric (Eric) in Brazil. Eric is an officer in the Brazilian Army and wants to know the difference between “bravery” and “gallantry,” both words you might hear in the context of someone in the military.

We’ll start with “bravery” (bravery). “Bravery” means to have courage – to be able to do something even though it frightens you, even though you are afraid to do it. “Gallantry” (gallantry) often means the same thing. Gallantry is the condition of having a lot of courage. So, many times, the two words are identical or very close in meaning.

“Gallantry,” however, has an additional meaning, a non-military meaning. “Gallantry” can refer to the way a man treats a woman with respect, with politeness. That is also considered gallantry. You don’t hear the word very much anymore used in that way, perhaps because men don’t treat women the way they used to anymore. But, it is an additional meaning of the word, and you will hear it sometimes or read it in that other context.

“Gallantry” and “bravery,” however, are most often used to describe what soldiers do in times of danger, in wars – the things they do that show courage. So, we wish you the best of luck, Eric, and hope that you are one who has bravery and gallantry. I’m sure you are.

Our next question comes from Shahid (Shahid) in Saudi Arabia. Shahid wants to know the difference between “escape” and “abscond.” “To escape” (escape) means, usually, to get free of a person or a place where you are being kept against your wishes, that is, involuntarily – you don’t want to be there. If you do something wrong and are sent to jail, to prison, you might want to “escape”; you might want to get out of there before they want to let you go.

“To escape” can also mean to succeed in avoiding something dangerous or unpleasant or undesirable. “I escaped from being in an accident the other day. I almost got hit by a car.” That would be a bad thing, a dangerous thing, but I escaped from that situation; I did something that prevented me from being involved in that situation. We also use the verb “escape” in expressions such as “to escape notice” (notice) or “to escape your attention.” When someone says, “It escaped my notice,” they mean they didn’t notice it. Or if someone says, “Your name escapes me,” they mean they can’t remember what it is.

“Abscond” (abscond) means to leave a place secretly. It has some similarity with the verb to escape. Usually, however, “to abscond” means to leave in a hurry so that others don’t find out about something you did, especially when you steal something. We say, “He absconded with the funds. He absconded with the money.” That means he left with the money before anyone caught him. “Escape” is often used when someone has been caught and put in prison. “To abscond” means to leave before anyone puts you in prison – at least that’s the way we usually use it.

You almost always hear and read the verb “abscond” with the preposition “with.” After the preposition, you put what the person left with, because typically “abscond” is used in cases where someone is stealing something. “He absconded with my iPhone.” “He absconded with my shoes.” Although, I’m not sure why anyone would want to steal my shoes. I actually have a very old pair of shoes, black shoes, and my wife has been telling me that I have to get a new pair, and I’ve been very lazy about going and getting new shoes. I’m hoping my laziness will escape my wife’s attention.

Our final question is also from Brazil, from Fernando (Fernando). Fernando wants to know how to express time, specifically the numbers “5:05.” Fernando wants to know how we would say that in English, how we would express that time. There are a couple of different ways of saying that. You could say it’s “five after five,” meaning it’s five minutes after five o’clock. You could say it’s “five past (past) five.” “What time is it?” “It’s five past five” – it’s five after five. You could also say “five minutes after five” – you could use the word “minutes” – or “five minutes past five,” meaning five minutes after five o’clock.

You can also say “five oh five.” Sometimes we pronounce the number “zero” like the letter “o”: “It’s five oh five. It’s five oh nine. It’s five oh seven.” These are all ways a native speaker might express this particular time of day. It would not be correct under any circumstance to say “five and five.” Fernando’s question actually had to do with that; someone said that that was okay. Fernando says it wasn’t – meaning it wasn’t common for a native speaker to say that – and Fernando, you are correct. We would not say “five and five.” That would not be American English, at least any American English that I have ever heard.

The general rule in expressing time, in indicating out loud what time something is, is to either give the number of minutes after the hour, such as, “It’s 16 minutes after nine” or “It’s 36 minutes after ten.” Or you could say, simply, “It’s 36 after ten.” However, that isn’t the most common way. I think the most common way is simply to give the hour and then the minutes: “It’s nine thirty-six, it’s seven twenty-eight, it’s five oh five” – notice the “oh five” is really an amount – “it’s five eleven.” These are probably more common ways of giving hours and minutes.

But you will still hear a lot of people say, “It’s five after five.” There’s nothing wrong with that; it’s still very common. I think it’s a little more common for most people to say, “It’s nine fifteen.” Of course, if it’s 15 minutes after the hour, you would say, “It’s a quarter after five.” Or you could say, “It’s a quarter after five” – that’s the same as “five fifteen” or “15 minutes after five.” If it’s 15 minutes before the hour, you could say, for example, “It’s five forty-five,” or you could say, “It’s a quarter to six.” It’s a quarter to six – that would be the same time.

Notice that we don’t say, at least in American English, “It’s half five.” That’s something you’ll hear in British English, but not very often in American English. We would say simply, “It’s five thirty.”

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Come back and listen to us again right here on the English Café.

Glossary

conservator – a person whose job is to try to protect and preserve things so that they are not destroyed or so that they do not deteriorate (worsen; fall apart) over time

* Conservators struggle to protect important historical documents while still allowing researchers to analyze them.

mural – a large painting that is painted directly onto a wall

* Do you think having colorful murals can help dangerous neighborhoods become safer?

legacy – what someone is remembered for, or what someone leaves behind after death

* Bill Gates will leave behind a legacy in the business and computer world.

artist – a person who makes art; a person who expresses himself or herself through music, painting, sculpture, drama, or some similar type of creative work

* Lucas enjoys drawing, but he never considered himself a true artist because he mostly just copies other people’s work.

earthquake damage – physical harm to buildings or objects that results from an earthquake (a short period of time when the ground is moving)

* Hundreds of people died in the earthquake, and the earthquake damage to property is estimated to be hundreds of millions of dollars.

subsequent – following; happening later; coming after something else

* As a child, Jeremiah believed his father was perfect, but in subsequent years, he began to see his father’s weaknesses.

to manifest – show, display, or demonstrate something

* Grieving after someone dies can manifest itself in many different ways.

intention – what one really wants to do; one’s plan

* I’m sorry. It was never my intention to hurt your feelings by telling that bad joke.

competently – doing something very well, with a lot of skill or ability

* I wish you’d asked for help as soon as you realized you couldn’t calculate the numbers competently.

to recreate – to create something again; to do what was done before

* Each year, hundreds of volunteers go to the field to recreate the Civil War battle.

interpretation – one’s perspective on something; how one understands something; how one thinks about something and then expresses it to others

* It’s fascinating to see how two filmmakers had such different interpretations of the same book.

objective – not biased; without an opinion for or against something; simply observing something without judging it

* It’s impossible for the inspector to provide an objective opinion on the company’s financial statements if she’s married to the company’s chief financial officer.

bravery – having courage; having the ability to do something even though it frightens one

* It took a lot of bravery for Hannah to admit that her mistake caused the company to lose its best client.

gallantry – courageous behavior, especially in battle, usually showing a noble character (having or showing good personal qualities and high moral standards); polite attention showing respect given by men to women

* The women were amazed by Harold’s gallantry when he held the door open for them and gently kissed the back of their hand.

to escape – to get free from a person or place when one is being kept there against one’s wishes; to succeed in avoiding something dangerous, unpleasant, or undesirable; to fail to notice or be remembered by someone

* Sheila loves hearing fairy tales about how beautiful princesses escape from the evil villains.

to abscond – to leave a place secretly and in a hurry, usually so that others will not find out about an unlawful act, such as theft

* After collecting charitable donations for weeks, they suddenly absconded with all the money.

What Insiders Know

Public Works of Art Project

President Franklin D. Roosevelt created many economic programs known “collectively” (as a group; when considered together) as the “New Deal” to try to improve the quality of life for poor and “unemployed” (not able to find a job) Americans, increase economic development, and prevent another “depression” (a period of little or no economic growth). Some of these programs “subsidized” (gave money to support someone or something) artists, and one of those was the “short-lived” (not lasting very long) Public Works of Art Project, which lasted from December 1933 to June 1934.

The “goal” (purpose; intent) of the Public Works of Art Project was to “employ” (give jobs to) artists by “commissioning” (requesting and paying for the creation of) “public works of art” (art placed where everyone can see it). The biggest project was the murals in the Coit Tower in San Francisco, California. Some of those murals were “controversial” (associated with strong opinions for and against something) because they were considered “revolutionary” (causing people to want to drastically change the government or society in an important way).

The Public Works of Art Project also “funded” (paid for) the large “sculpture” (a three-dimensional artistic object) that is a “tribute” (honor) to six important “astronomers” (scientists who study outer space). Six artists each “sculpted” (one astronomer, and the pieces were put together in a single large sculpture.

The Public Works of Art Project was followed by the more successful Federal Art Project, which created more than 5,000 jobs for artists, who made more than 225,000 public works on art. Today, conservators are working to protect those works of art for the enjoyment of “future generations” (people who have not yet been born).