GRE作文范文 Issue-34

“The function of art is not to keep pace with science and technology but rather to provide an escape from these forces.”

嘉文博译Sample Essay

Art has long been a favorite topic for debate within a society. Questions such as “What is art?” and “Is this a work of art?” have been around for millennia. The purpose of art is to entertain, and in some cases, to educate. As a form of entertainment and escape, art does in some ways must keep up with science and technology, but in most aspects the true value of art lies in its ability to free the mind from the fast pace of a modern high-tech society.

In the first place, one needs to simply look at the most valuable art in the world to see that its main function does not lie merely in keeping up with technology. Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” and “Last Supper” were painted around five hundred years ago, but they are still cited as some of the best examples of “true” art in the world and are visited by hundreds of thousands of people every year. Michelangelo’s sculpture “David”, as well as his incredible paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, were also produced around five hundred years ago, but are still revered as some of the absolute pinnacles of artistic achievement. Although technology has changed incredibly in the last half millennium, these enduring works of art still capture the spirit and imagination of millions of people worldwide.

Of course, it follows that as technology has advanced, new art forms have been developed as the ability to express oneself has found new outlets for creativity. Michelangelo and da Vinci could never have imagined having the ability to create works of art in the mediums of television or computer imagery, for example. Modern day avant-garde artists use video, computers, lasers and other high technology to create works of art, while more traditional artists still use the traditional methods of paint, canvas and paintbrush or stone and chisel. It is not the function of art to keep up with science and technology, rather the facility of art to do so that is important. The main purpose of art is still to allow the viewer to escape from what science and technology has wrought upon us.

A further example of the escapism quality that is inherent in art can be found in the art of making a movie. Although some so-called “art purists” might object to calling most of today’s cinematic productions a form of art, there is no denying that there is an artistry involved in the making of at least some of today’s movies. With this art form more so than any other, art does the fine balancing act of keeping pace with science and technology while simultaneously fulfilling its main function - that of entertaining the masses of society. Moviegoers do not pay out relatively large sums of money just to see the state of the art technology of the latest movies; they go to the theatres expecting to be entertained. Proof of this fact can be found in the colossal box office failures of some of the most technologically advanced movies that nevertheless lack entertainment value due to the lack of a good story. If it were purely science and technology that audiences wanted to see, they would pay half the price and go to a planetarium, for example.

Finally, art, science and technology can complement each other in a multitude of different ways, such as the display of famous works of art on the Internet for all to see. But the main function of art is to allow for an escape from the drudgery of day-to-day life that has been created by the combined forces of science and technology.

(611 words)

参考译文

艺术的功能不是紧随科技的步伐，而是提供一种逃离这些力量的方式。

艺术一直是各个社会群体热衷争论的话题。诸如“什么是艺术?”以及“这是一件艺术品吗?”等问题，已经存在近千年了。艺术的目的在于娱乐，在某些情况下还进行教育。作为一种娱乐和逃避的方式，艺术的确在某种意义上必须紧随科技的步伐。然而，在多数情况下，艺术的真正价值在于把人的头脑从现代高科技社会的快速节奏中解放出来。

首先，我们只要看一下世界上最珍贵的艺术便可知道，艺术的主要功能不是与技术进步保持一致。达?芬奇《蒙娜?丽莎》和《最后的晚餐》是约500年前创作的，但在今天它们仍被认为是世界上“真正的”艺术典范，并且每年有成千上万的人前去观赏它。米开朗琪罗的雕塑《大卫》以及他在梵帝冈西斯廷教堂里不可思议的天庭画，同样是在约五百年前创作的，但今天仍被认为是艺术成就的登峰造极之作。尽管技术在过去的五百年中发生了不可思议的变化，这些具有永久魅力的艺术品仍然吸引着世界上成千上万的人们。

当然，顺理成章的是，随着科技取得了很大的进步，新的艺术形式也应运而生，因为表现自我的能力为创造力找到了新的渲泄渠道。例如米开朗琪罗和达?芬奇决不可能想像到借助电视或计算机图像为手段来创作艺术品。现代先锋派艺术家用录像、电脑、激光以其它高科技手段进行艺术创作，而较传统的艺术家仍然用油料、油画布和画笔或者用石料和凿子等传统的方法从事创作。紧跟科技的步伐并不是艺术的功能，而是艺术的工具，这一点是重要的。艺术的主要目的，仍然是帮助受众逃离科技施加于我们的枷锁。

另举一例来证明逃避是艺术的内在本质，这就是电影制作艺术。虽然一些所谓的“纯粹艺术者”会拒绝把今天的电影看作是一种艺术形式，然而，不可否认，在今天某些电影里的确包含着艺术性。这一艺术形式比其它任何艺术形式更紧密地跟随着科技的步伐，同时完成着它的主要功能，即娱乐社会大众，这样，艺术得以保持某种平衡。电影观众要想欣赏一下最近电影的艺术技巧，并不需要付出昂贵的费用。他们来到电影院，期待着被娱乐。有事实证明，技术上最先进的电影也会因为故事性差而缺乏娱乐价值以致于票房收入失败。倘若观众想观赏的只是纯粹的科技，他们会只付一半的钱去参观(比如说)天文馆了。

总而言之，艺术和科技可以以许多方式相互补充，例如在互联网上展出著名的艺术品以便让大家都能欣赏它们。但是，艺术的主要功能是为我们提供一个机会，逃避科技力量所产生的日常生活的枯燥乏味。