互動英語教室(9) - Let's go to an atelier (2)

After the interview, Sun and Chrissy shared the joy of painting with Lily and Louise as a way to relax and express what they had in themselves. Lily and Louise closely observed (觀察) the uses of colour and learned the basic principles. Lily had great fun while sketching (素描) though she ended up in using the eraser (橡皮擦) a lot. They both agreed that they could rapidly (迅速地) polish (磨鍊) their talent (天資) and skills (技巧) with a teacher’s guidance.

Louise was impressed by the drawing on a wall in the garden. Sun told them that drawing on walls had always been enjoyed greatly by his students. He encouraged (鼓勵) his students to draw whatever they could think of in their mind. This free-form (自由) style reminded Lily of graffiti (塗鴉)…

Chrissy: Did you enjoy yourselves?

Louise: Sure! I like the drawing on the wall.

Sun Ho: My students love to draw on walls.

Lily: I heard that drawing on walls is very common in the States. It’s “gra”, “gra” , “gra” …(Lily couldn’t recall the term)

Chrissy: Do you mean “graffiti”?

Lily: Oh! Yeah!

Chrissy: Graffiti means "to write". Now it refers to writing, drawing, or symbols (符號) applied to any surface without the permission (允許) of the property (物業) owner. Graffiti is often related to hip hop culture and can occur anywhere such as on railroad (鐵路) boxcars (貨車) and subways (隧道). People use a variety of materials such as automotive car paint (車油), spray paint (噴漆), crayons (炭筆) and permanent ink (不脫色墨水). Never draw any graffiti without permission from property owners. But now, you can create graffiti legally (合法) here!

Sun gave Lily and Louise a small paint brush and taught them how to paint on walls. He also showed them some common graffiti fonts and encouraged them to use more colours and be creative most importantly.

Chrissy mentioned that what made street graffiti so different from other forms of visual (視覺) culture was that the production of the image was unauthorised (未被授權的). Lily suddenly thought of Tsang Tsou-choi (曾灶財), also known as "The King of Kowloon". She told Chrissy that Tsang was a local poor man who scrawled (亂塗) on lamp-posts (燈柱), walls and phone boxes. Basically, his script could be found throughout Hong Kong. He was also known for the Chinese calligraphy (書法) he invented. He later became famous around the world after some of his works were displayed (展出) at the Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition (威尼斯國際藝術雙年展) in 2003. Lily and Louise both thought that his unique art had become a part of the city's collective memory (集體回憶) after his death.

Lily and Louise discussed with their chef editor (總編輯) and decided to write an article about “painting and creativity” for the coming issue.

Questions:
1) What are the benefits to learn painting with a teacher’s guidance?
2) Are graffiti legal?
3) Where can you find graffiti usually?
4) What kinds of materials are used to draw graffiti?

Answers:
1) We can rapidly polish our talent and skills with a teacher’s guidance.
2) No.
3) Walls, railroad boxcars and subways.
4) Automotive car paint, spray paint, crayons and permanent ink.

Actress: Chrissy, Louise, Lily, Sun Ho
Director: C.P.
Article: Lily