What is art for? Alain de Botton’s animated guide – video
What is are for (video)
In this exclusive video for the Guardian, philosopher Alain de Botton gives his top five reasons why art is such a vital force for humanity. Are we wrong to like pretty pictures? Why is some art painful to look at? Can art heal your feelings of urban alienation?
Warm-up.
Group work
What is art for? Is it hard to answer the question? Why are people usually reluctant to talk about purposes of art? Come up with your ideas?
Can you define any clear purposes to art?
Pre – watching
Practise speculating and predicting.
The main purposes of art that Alain outlines are given below. Talk them over and present your opinion. Each member of your group should have their say in the discussion.
The link to each chunk is interactive flashcards with new vocab. Study them and try to use in discussion.
Art keeps us hopeful.
Think about the things that the best works of art show?
Is there any enthusiasm for prettiness?
| 1. | ask directly | спрашивать напрямую | |
| 2. | enthusiasm for prettiness | увлеченность изяществом | |
| 3. | it's too complicated | это слишком сложно | |
| 4. | it's too obvious | Это слишком очевидно | |
| 5. | misplaced worry | неуместная обеспокоенность | |
| 6. | People flock into museums | Люди ринулись в музеи | |
| 7. | problems weighs too heavily on us | проблемы слишком давят на нас | |
| 8. | slip into despair | скатиться в отчаяние | |
| 9. | striking fact |
Art makes us less lonely.
Can art really change our perception of pain?
How does art fight the false enthusiasm of consumer society?
| 1. | aggravate sadness | усиливать грусть | |
| 2. | consumer society | потребительское общество | |
| 3. | distress | горе | |
| 4. | false optimism | ложный оптимизм | |
| 5. | freakish | странный, причудливый | |
| 6. | greatest works of art | величайшие произведения искусства | |
| 7. | make the pain more publicly visible | сделать боль видимой окружающим | |
| 8. | part of human condition | часть сущности человека | |
| 9. | put on a cheerful facade | надеть веселый образ | |
| 10. | reassure of the normality of pain | убеждать в естественности боли | |
| 11. | sadness and regret | печаль и сожаление | |
| 12. | somber works of art | мрачные произведения искусства | |
| 13. | suffering | страдания | |
| 14. | with dignity | с достоинством |
Art rebalances us.
Can art compensate us for what we lack?
How can art balance us?
| 1. | be moved by a work of art | быть тронутыми произведениями искусства | |
| 2. | compensate for what we lack | компенсировать то, чего нам не достает | |
| 3. | excitable | чувствительные | |
| 4. | fall in love with smth | влюбиться | |
| 5. | rounded | уравновешенные | |
| 6. | too intellectual | слишком интеллекутальные | |
| 7. | too masculine / faminine | слишком мужественные / женственные |
Art helps us to appreciate stuff.
What is the difference between the perception of glamour by art and mass media? Do you think there is distortion in any of them?
| 1. | distorted sense of what really matters | искаженное представление о том, что важно | |
| 2. | give hints | намекать | |
| 3. | highlight what genuinely is worth appreciating | показывает, что действительно надо ценить | |
| 4. | it is worth paying attention to | На это стоит обращать внимание | |
| 5. | return to its rightful place | вернуть на свое место |
Art is propaganda for what’s really matters.
What kind of propaganda is art?
| 1. | appealing and accessible | привлекательно и доступно | |
| 2. | be far from good art | быть далеким от настоящего искусства | |
| 3. | best sides of human nature | лучшие стороны человеческой натуры | |
| 4. | constant source of support | постоянный источник поддержки | |
| 5. | distracted world | безумный мир | |
| 6. | encouragement for a betterselves | воодушевление, одобрение стать лучше | |
| 7. | more playful and tender approach to life | более шутливое и доброе отношение к жизни | |
| 8. | need to broaden one's horizons | необходимость расширить перспективы | |
| 9. | on behalf of | от лица / со стороны | |
| 10. | spontaneity | непосредственность | |
| 11. | stand up for | поддерживать / отстаивать |
Watching
The video is divided into several chunks for you to follow the ideas better and not to get drowned in new vocabulary.
Before watching each chunk look through the flashcards (OPTIONAL) with new words and expressions and try to anticipate the answers to the questions and ideas from the video.
Then watch the video again and try to answer the same questions witch are inserted into the video. You can either SKIP and continue watching or answer the question (depending on your teacher’s task).
This is a link to the video WITH INSERTED QUESTIONS, POLLS AND FLASHCARDS. All the answers are given online and will be visible for your teacher.
Video tutorial!!! https://youtu.be/yYUbmn25BhM
FOR BETTER TASKS DOWLOADING WATCH THE VIDEO ON YOUR PC OR A LAPTOP NOT IPHONES OR TABLETS!
What is art for?