Art iH 9.1 WHAT IS ART?

GRAMMAR • gradable and ungradable adjectives • position of adverbs VOCABULARY • art and artists • adverb-adjective collocations • order of adjectives SCENARIO • clicussing implications, offering counter-arguments • deciding on an action plan STUDY SKILLS • expanding your vocabulary WRITING SKILLS • an online review

/ paint objects as I think them, not as I see them. Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973, Spanish artist

SPEAKING AND READING 4 How would you describe the views of each person? Select from the following adjectives and find reasons 1 Work in small groups and discuss the questions. in the article to support your answers. Can you add 1 Did you study Art at school? Did you enjoy it? any other adjectives? Why?A/Vhy not? 2 How often do you visit museums and art galleries? conservative critical dismissive intellectual 3 Do you think art is important in people's lives? passionate radical respectful undecided Why?AA/hy not? 2 Read the debate on the webpage and match the 5 Justifying opinions Work in small groups. Which people to the opinions below. of the following do you consider to be art? Explain 1 Art is about someone's feelings. your reasons. 2 Art is to show the craftsmanship of the artist. some graffiti on a wall 3 Art is a waste of time. a tattoo on someone's body 4 The purpose of art is to represent the natural a holiday photograph environment. a pile of bricks in an exhibition 5 The purpose of art is to make viewers think about a screensaver on a mobile phone their own ideas. a comic book 6 The purpose of art is for financial gain. a painting of a bowl of fruit an advert for a product 3 Which people do you agree/disagree with? Who a firework display makes the best point, in your opinion? WHAT IS ART? ESH

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Taco ART OPINION HAVE A SAY It's just a business really, isn't it? Some of these so-called Following the provocative and hard-hitting article by Louise masterpieces - they can fetch millions. It seems criminal when Trench Do you believe in Art}, we thought you should have people are starving in the world. Museums make too much money, your say. So this week's question is ... particularly from these big retrospectives of famous artists. They've usually all been dead for years, so what's the point of looking at WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF ART? their work? I don't go to art galleries or museums for that reason. Dan Anyway, I don't think they want people like me there who don't For me, it is all about the skill of the artists. I can't draw or paint, so I like understand art. to see how they can recreate reality just by using shapes and colour. It's a Rina real skill. I tried at school, but I just had no talent for it. It's amazing what The purpose of art, for me, is to represent the world - to show they can do. I just like naturalistic art, I suppose. I think it's called realism. things around us. Paintings can show the natural beauty of the Karen world. Even those really early cave paintings show the world of I feel art should be thought-provoking and get people to question the people who painted them. I love landscape painting. I'm not things, you know, the world around them, and their views on it. It interested in groundbreaking modern and contemporary art, or all can also be used for political purposes - to criticise governments or that abstract art which people like. I'm not interested in what critics challenge authority - just as Banksy does today with his murals. Art and collectors say. I don't want to think about what it means. I just should be controversial and get people talking, you know, stimulate want it to look nice and to make me feel good. debate. It may also be shocking. Maybe I'm idealistic, but I believe art MattF can help change the world. There's no point to art at all. It's ridiculous. I mean, it's a stupid question. The fact that you need to ask means that it doesn't have Kylie a point. You don't need to ask what the purpose of engineering I'm really not sure. I mean, I've read books about art, but at the end or science is, do you? Art is rubbish - there's nothing useful about of the day, I think it's about your emotional reaction to a piece of art. it at all. And being an artist isn't a real job anyway. I think a lot of Some art you respond to and like - other art you don't. Some people so-called art is a con. You know when 'artists' put a pile of leaves in like more traditional art, like portrait painting, or sculpture. Other a corner of an art gallery and claim it's a work of art? Well, it's not. people prefer more modern and contemporary art, which can be very Any fool can do that. unusual. Some people feel this is not art and theyjust can't stand it.

VOCABULARY 10a Listen again and complete the expressions. ART AND ARTISTS 1 I'm really of thing. 6 Find nouns or adjectives in the article which mean 2 It was so impressive - of the following. 3 It really took . 4 It really my expectations. 1 causing people to think 5 It was and the cost. 2 art which is done on a wall 6 This was a - - - opportunity. 3 causing a lot of disagreement 4 a very good piece of art 10b Choose three of the expressions from Exercise 10a 5 involving new methods or ideas and write sentences which are true for you. 6 a show of the past work of an artist

7 List all the types of art and artworks mentioned in SPEAKING the article. 11 Describe a well-known painting or piece of painting, naturalistic art, ... art you have seen or know about. Talk about the following topics. LISTENING • what it looks like • what is interesting about it 8 BflW Listen to three people talking about art. Make • why it is well-known notes on each person's attitude. • if you like or dislike it, and why 9 Match the three speakers to the types of art they like from the box below. landscape portraits sculpture ceramics video art performance art abstract art classical art contemporary art modern art •H PHOTOGRAPHY

1 Do you take photos? When? Why? Do you prefer 3 Identifying arguments Find arguments in the article colour or black and white photos? that support the idea that photography is an art form.

2 Read the article and choose the best title. 4 Work with a partner and discuss the questions. 1 What makes a good photo? 1 What does the article say about the difference 2 The best photo in the world. between photography and paintings? 3 Is photography an art form? 2 What reasons are given in the article for photography not being an art form? 3 Do you think photography is an art form? r: However, those who see photography as an art form sav that the critics are completely wrong. They argue that the camera cannot decide between an ordinary, functional, regular photo and a really excellent, cleverly composed photo, consciously constructed. Rather, it is the photographer who has the skill to pick out the essential qualities of the subject at a particular moment and brings creativity to the process. Not all photographers are primarily interested in producing photos that are art - some take photos to record the world for scientific purposes or to capture a news story. But occasionally, these types of photos can become iconic works of art because they are so stunning. Examples of this are the very unusual aintings arc almost always considered an art form, photographs taken by explorers in the Antarctic for but what about photography? The Frenchman Henri P geographical purposes, which often reveal the wonders of Cartier-Bresson, possibly the most famous photographer nature by show ing contrasts between ice and water. Thev of the 20th century, emphasised the difference between can also become iconic because they come to represent an painting as art and photography as art. In 1957, he told important moment in time. A classic instance of this is the The Washington Post that 'There is a creative fraction of picture taken by Robert Capa during the Spanish Civil War a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must of a soldier at the moment of being shot, falling backwards. see a composition or an expression that life itself offers This photograph is both deeply moving and historically you, and you must know with intuition when to click extremely important. A more recent example of a photo the camera. That is the moment the photographer is representing an important moment in time is the Pulitzer creative.' He is, of course, referring to the immediacy of prize-winning photo taken by Kevin Carter of a vulture photography the absolutely unique moment, never to waiting for a child to die during the 1994 Sudan famine. be repeated, when the exposure is taken. A further characteristic of photography, unlike painting, is that more can be captured in a photograph than was intended by the photographer. Fine details, entirely unexpected and often invisible to the naked eye, can be revealed. The photograph 'does not lie' because it has not passed through the brain of the photographer. This is completely different from the brain processes of the painter, who decides what he is going to paint, how he will make the subject interesting and how he is going to paint it. Some critics of photography claim that modern cameras reduce photo-taking to an automatic process.They say, 'Just point and shoot. The camera does the rest. You will get a good photo."

88 PHOTOGRAPHY

VOCABULARY 9a Find the adjectives from Exercise 7a in the article and note the words before them. Then choose the ADVERB-ADJECTIVE COLLOCATIONS correct option in the statements below. 5 Find the following adjectives in the article. Note the 1 Cradable/Ungradable adjectives can be made adverbs that go with them. stronger or weaker with words like very, a bit, different moving unexpected wrong extremely, , and . 2 We often use absolutely, and with 6 Complete each sentence below using an adverb- gradable/'ungradable adjectives. adjective collocation from the boxes. 9b Now complete the statements above with the heavily highly painfully totally words in the box.

little completely pretty slightly totally criticised praised qualified shy unbelievable unjustified

GRAMMAR TIP 1 Cartier-Bresson was for his excellent coverage of Gandhi's funeral in India in 1948. We can use really with both gradable and ungradable 2 Mario Testino was in many fields before he adjectives: moved to London to train as a photographer. The film was really interesting. 3 The plot of the film was and the war scenes The exhibition was really fascinating. were fake. Really, awfully and terribly are more common in 4 One Hour Photo is a film starring Robin Williams informal spoken English. about a quiet and photo technician. 5 A top university was for spending £1.4m on Language reference and extra practice, pages 126-149 art works when its main building needed repair. 10 Correct the adverbs if they are wrong. 6 The banning of photographers from the area was as there was no obvious danger to people. 1 I thought it was a very excellent photograph. 2 We were a bit tired after our visit to the Louvre. GRAMMAR 3 I was very devastated when they said the exhibition was closed. GRADABLE AND UNGRADABLE ADJECTIVES 4 The photographs were extremely terrible. 7a Look at these adjectives from the article. Put them 5 When we had finished going round the photo into pairs with similar meanings. exhibition, we were absolutely exhausted. essential excellent good important 11 Identify the adverb-adjective combinations in the unique unusual text below. Are there any combinations that don't go together? Why?

7b Now put the following adjectives into pairs with The National Gallery of Ireland has a very excellent similar meanings. collection of European fine arts. It opened in 1854 angry bad big cold devastated and now has over 2,500 paintings. Admission is very enormous exhausted fascinating freezing cheap. It has a wonderful Irish collection, including furious hungry interesting small works by Jack B. Yeats, and the Flemish and starving terrible tiny tired upset Dutch collection is very enormous. There is even a Vermeer. There are also works by Caravaggio, Picasso and Monet. We were absolutely hungry at Adjectives can be gradable or ungradable. For example, cold the end of our visit, and luckily the cafe has great is gradable (there are degrees of 'coldness'), but freezing is food. The shop is located in the new wing, which is ungradable - it is at the end of the scale of 'coldness'. itself an extremely fascinating piece of architecture. Some ungradable adjectives express extreme qualities For such a small country, this collection is (e.g. terrified, furious, starving) and others express absolute absolutely interesting and most visitors have a really qualities (e.g. alive, correct, dead, male, human). wonderful day.

8 Which of the adjectives in Exercise 7 are gradable and which are ungradable? SPEAKING Gradable Ungradable 1 2 Work in small groups. Find a favourite photo on angry furious your phone or think of one you have taken that you like. Describe the photo and say why it is one of your favourites.

89 10.3 Listen to Part 2 and complete the notes. LISTENING Use no more than three words for each gap. Look at the photos. Which one do you think is better and why? Think of three reasons. THE FIVE RULES 1 Position yourself so that the light is coming

2 Divide the screen into and place the subject at one of the

3 Make sure the background is

U You should be to the subject. 5 Adjust your _ so that the lens and the subject's eyes are at

S H-i 10.2 Listen to Part 1 of a talk about how to take a good photo and circle the best alternative. 1 The main problem with the light is that... a) it's behind the photographer. b) it's shining into the lens. c) it's too direct and creates a flat effect. 2 The fact that the subject is in the centre ... a) is good because it's in sharp focus. b) is bad because it leaves space at either side of her. c) is bad because it cuts off her legs. 3 The problem with the background is that... a) it's not interesting. b) it's not completely in focus. c) it's a missed opportunity. A The person taking the picture ... a) zoomed in too close. b) is standing too far away. c) didn't look at the woman's face carefully. 5 The last problem the speaker mentions ... a) is that the woman is looking at the camera. b) is that the photographer is too tall. c) doesn't apply to this photograph. b I Five sentences have been removed from the article. Complete the article using sentences a)-f). There is one sentence you do not need to use. Read the article about unauthorised use of photos. a) 'The value of my work drops every time someone Which of the following are mentioned as using uses it without paying,' he said. 'I can't describe the photographs without permission? anger I feel.' a professional photographer b) Who in the UK would ever find out that their image an electronics shop appears in a billboard advert somewhere In New a social networking website Zealand? a telephone company c) 'We think that amateur photographers should be a newspaper happy for their work to gain so much exposure,' said a city transport company a company representative. a travel agency d) Or furniture. Or electronic appliances. Or cars ... e) 'In fact it didn't really bother us,' he added. 'But I can imagine someone else being very upset.' f) There are cases where the courts have not looked favourably upon the photographer's claim.

advertisement is going to appear in a small geographical area, the chances of getting caught are almost zero.

2 And if they do get caught, the legal process is too complicated, expensive, and frankly unclear for it to be worth pursuing.' As rarely as the culprits are caught, there are countless known cases of such 'borrowing'. In one case, a major mobile phone provider used photographs taken SAY 'CHEESE' NOW from an internet photo album site in one of its campaigns, and justified it by saying that it was 'promoting creative ... SUE LATER freedom'.3 Professional photographers have also been affected, The McGraw family of Dublin expected their visit to Poland and the law has not been clear in deciding if unauthorised to be full of adventure and surprises. But they never use is legal or not. A California newspaper used a expected to find themselves four metres high, beaming at copyrighted photo taken by a professional photographer the world from the wall of an underground station. without seeking his permission, and when he sued them, 'We turned a corner onto the platform, and there we the jury decided it was a case of 'fair use' - leaving the were in living colour,' said Paul McGraw. 'It was a family photographer with nothing but legal fees and frustration. photo that I'd posted on our family blog last year but in the On the other hand, a New York judge awarded a Quebec- middle of an advertisement for an electronics appliance based photographer over $60,000 in damages when he chain. No one ever asked us for permission,' added sued an online travel agency for their use of four photos McGraw. 'Someone obviously downloaded it off our blog.' he had shot in Ghana. Meanwhile, the photos had been duplicated and used on at least 200 other websites,

according to the photographer.4 The unauthorised use of photographs downloaded 'Professional photographers are in a better position from internet photo albums is not uncommon, and it to seek damages because they copyright their work/ would be impossible to count how many local advertising said Szymański. 'But for most people who simply upload agencies have avoided costly photography and copyright snapshots to share with friends, there's very little they fees by simply downloading material they find on the can do.' internet. So the next time you upload a photo of yourself with a 'It's simply too tempting for them,' said advertising big grin, don't be surprised if you find yourself advertising lawyer Lee Szymański. 'In most cases, where the toothpaste somewhere in the world.5 6 CONTEMPORARY SCULPTORS 1 READING 1 Work with a partner. Do you know of any Anish Kapoor sculptures in your country, or in the rest of the world? Anish Kapoor was 2 Read the profiles of three artists quickly, and say born in Mumbai, India, what artistic disciplines each has worked in. in 1954 and moved to England in 1972. 3 Read the profiles again and answer the questions. He studied at two famous According to the texts, which artist: art schools in London, before 1 still lives in his/her country of birth? starting out as a sculptor. Kapoor 2 did not complete his/her education? soon became well-known 3 had a husband/wife who was more famous than because of his particular style, he/she was? which, in his early works, 4 is influenced strongly by his/her country of birth? involved the clever use of 5 has received criticism of his/her talent? monochrome and brightly- 6 uses him/herself as a model? coloured pigments surrounding 7 has recently combined two artistic disciplines the sculpture. in his work? Although he is mainly resident in London, he often visits India, 4 Which of the works of art in the photos do you and Western and Eastern styles like the most? Would you like to go to the artists' influence his work. His use of exhibitions? Why?/Why not? colour is strongly influenced by the heaps of coloured spices and VOCABULARY powders found in Indian markets. ORDER OF ADJECTIVES Kapoor's later works are often 5a Look at the highlighted phrases in the profiles. List very large. In fact, his 110-ton the adjectives under some of these headings. Cloud Gate sculpture in Chicago is amongst the largest in the world. age, material, colour/pattern, opinion, nationality, size, This sculpture is forged from a shape, most other qualities series of highly-polished stainless 5b Add the adjectives from the following examples steel 'plates' that create an arched, under the headings in Exercise 5a. Try to work out the highly-reflective work with order of adjectives before a noun (i.e. opinion is first). Chicago's skyline and Millennium Check your answers in the table on page 166. Park in the background.

beautiful, antique, colourful, Japanese silk paintings Kapoor has also worked on a huge, well-known, dark bronze sculpture subway design in Italy and his work is increasingly becoming a 6 Complete the sentences below, putting the mixture of art and architecture. adjectives in brackets in the correct order. In 2012, he completed 'Orbit' 1 Michael Ayrton made sculptures. for the 2012 London Olympic Games. At 115 metres tall, Orbit (bronze, fabulous, large) is the tallest sculpture in the UK. 2 Rothko's paintings often consist of a number of boxes, (coloured, large, rectangular) 3 These figures date back 2,000 years. Yoko Ono (antique, wonderful, Javanese) 4 The artist created a sculpture. Yoko Ono, who once said 'Everybody's an artist', (fantastic, stainless steel, shiny) was born in 1933 in Tokyo, 5 Lacquer is a varnish. Japan. In 1945, at the end (hard, coloured, heat-resistant) of World War II, she had to hide with 6 Wall paintings are used to brighten up some her family when Tokyo was fire- environments. bombed. Although she came from (dreary, urban, modern) a rich, aristocratic family, she had to 7 The bird was made with a piece of paper. pawn her mother's property to obtain (square, Japanese, origami) rice when Japan surrendered and everyone was poor. She moved with her family to New York when she was eighteen. She went to college, but dropped out after two years.

90 CONTEMPORY SCULPTORS 9.3

GRAMMAR Antony Gormley POSITION OF ADVERBS 7a Look at the adverbs/adverb phrases in bold in the Antony Gormley was born in 1950 in profiles. Add them to the list below. Hampstead, England, and, like Kapoor, 1 Time: then, in May, ... is famous for his large-scale sculptures. He 2 Place: there, at home, ... I studied at Cambridge from 1968 to 1971 before 3 Manner: quickly, carefully, ... travelling to India and Sri Lanka to study Buddhism 4 Frequency: sometimes, never, ... until 1974. On his return, he studied in a number of 5 Certainty: definitely, perhaps, ... colleges in London. 6 Degree: a lot, mostly, ... His work mainly focuses on the human body and he uses his own body creatively to form metal casts for 7b Look at the clauses these adverbs/adverb phrases his sculptures. One of his best-known sculptures is 'The appear in and answer the questions below. Angel of the North', an enormous metal figure, now 1 Do groups 1-3 come at the beginning, middle or completely rusted to a brown colour, with huge, fully- end of the clause? extended wings. Motorists travelling on the A1 road to 2 Where do groups 4-6 come in the clause? the North of England and Scotland see the Angel rising 3 Where do the adverbs in 4-6 go in relation to the above them dramatically as they drive closer to it. verb they modify? Another striking sculpture is 'Asian Field', installed 4 Is this the same with all verbs? (Look at mainly.) in Sydney in 2006. It has 180,000 small brown clay figurines crafted by 350 Chinese villagers in five days GRAMMAR TIP from 100 tons of red clay. The installation is reminiscent We can emphasis adverb phrases of time and place by of the terracotta warriors of Xian, China. putting them at the beginning of the clause. His spectacular public art installation 'Event Horizon' In 2012, Yoko Ono received a lifetime achievement premiered in London in 2007, before being displayed award. in a number of major world cities, including New York, Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro. Language reference and extra practice, pages 126-149

8 Put the adverbs in brackets in the correct place in the sentences. 1 Rahmi Pehlivanli, the famous Turkish painter, painted portraits, (often) 2 Many artists have been influenced by Picasso, (strongly) 3 Leonardo da Vinci sketched technical designs, (very skilfully) 4 The French post-impressionist Paul Gauguin died alone, (in Tahiti) 5 Katushika Hokusai is the most famous Japanese artist ever, (probably) 6 The batik effect is produced by machines rather than She is primarily known for her sculpture and being hand made, (nowadays) installation art, but she has also worked in film, poetry and music. She is probably most famous for her marriage to John Lennon of The Beatles. Lennon once SPEAKING described her as 'the world's most famous unknown 9a Developing arguments Work with a partner and artist: everybody knows her name, but think of three arguments that support the following nobody knows what she does.' statement and three arguments against it. Her artistic work has frequently Public works of art are a waste of money. been criticised. Indeed, Brian Sewell, a traditional art critic, said, 'She's shaped 9b Work with a new partner and discuss the nothing, she's contributed nothing, she's statement using the arguments you have developed. simply been a reflection of the times ...'. There is certainly disagreement with Sewell's views in the art world. In 2009, O MEET THE EXPERT she received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Watch an interview with Yulia Podolska, a Achievement from the Venice Biennale, sculptor, about her work and influences. and in 2013 the largest retrospective of her Turn to page 153 for video activities. work opened in Frankfurt, coinciding with her 80th birthday. 91 3a Work with a partner. Can you 2 You are going to watch an interview with Yulia Podolska, a remember Richard's answers to these sculptor. Before you watch, match the words in the box with their questions? Make notes. meanings 1-6 below. 1 What different things can working in a carve clay maquette marble plasticine sketch global business environment mean to different companies? 2 What big differences are there between 1 a hard, white rock which becomes smooth when it is polished working in a global environment and 2 a simple, quickly-made drawing which does not show much detail 'business as usual'? 3 a small scale model, or rough draft of a sculpture 3 What different ways of communicating 4 a type of heavy, sticky earth that can be used for making pots and bricks do the two cultures he refers to have? 5 a soft substance that comes in many colours and is used by children 4 What do native English speakers do for making models when they communicate? 6 make an object or pattern by cutting a piece of wood or stone 5 How does he suggest adapting the phrase 3a *JiM Work in pairs. Put the stages of the sculpting process in When in Rome, do as the Romans do? order, then watch the interview and check your answers. 3b Watch the interview again and check a She makes a bigger sculpture out of clay. your answers. b She has an idea in her head. c She uses that to make a cast out of plaster. 4a Work with a partner. You are going d She makes a maquette. to give a short presentation on advice for e She carves the sculpture in marble. people coming to work in your country. f She plays with plasticine or does a pencil sketch. Make notes on these things, and think about how you are going to present your 3b Watch the interview again and choose the correct option (a, b or c). ideas. 1 What inspired Yulia to become a sculptor? • communication styles a her work as a doctor • what people value most b a visit to a museum • how to get the best out of people c her university professor in Kiev 2 Why is marble her favourite material? 4b Give your presentation to the class. a you can make detailed sculptures with it Discuss which you liked the best. b you can transform it into something very different c it's easy to use ART 3 Which of these is not a material she has used in her work? B a plastic toys 1 Work with a partner and discuss the b rubber questions. c ice 4 Why does she refer to Renaissance and contemporary collections in movies adverts sculpture pottery Italy and France? theatre street performance jingles a she wants to create better pieces modern art graffiti photography b she wants to create something different c she wants to create her own place within this world 1 Which of these things do you consider 5 Where does she get most of her ideas from? to be art? What are the other things? a her emotions and political situations 2 Which of them do you like most/least? b her relationships c the TV 6 What does she say about the stone she used for The Cardinal? a it was difficult to find b she knew what it would be as soon as she saw it c it was a difficult piece to carve

4 Work in groups and discuss the questions. 1 Yulia gives lots of examples of things that have inspired her. Can you think of an example of something which has inspired you to do something? 2 If you were going to create a piece of art (e.g. painting, sculpture, etc.), where do you think you'd get your ideas from? 3 Do you think people are born with artistic talent, or is it something that can be learnt?

153 SCENARIO THE RUSSELL DRAKE GALLERY

SITUATION I've visited the gallery several times. Usually disappointed. The Russell Drake Gallery sells contemporary art in The range of art is too great. I'm not interested in Chelsea, New York. Chelsea, with its 300 galleries, is photography, sculpture and video art, and I can't get the centre of modern art in the city and there is strong excited about modern African art (last week's exhibition). competition to try and satisfy existing customers as You need to focus more on what you're offering. I didn't enjoy my visit. The artists were boring. Most of the well as attract new ones. Location is not enough. ru Galleries need to stand out from the crowd and offer o paintings were landscapes and portraits. Middle-of-the-road CD something different to collectors and the general stuff that you can see in plenty of galleries. There was nothing ru public. The Russell Drake Gallery represents about to talk about. thirty-five artists, whose works are priced from CD I liked the artists on show, and the naturalistic art was $5,000-200,000. The gallery's aim is to sell between v> really impressive. The exhibition 'Realism in the arts' was eight and ten pieces each month. 3 the highlight of my visit. But I got really tired after a while Recently, the gallery has not been meeting its sales and wanted to sit down. Unfortunately, there weren't enough seats. What about having a cafe to relax in at the targets. As a result, its owners, Russell and Vanessa end of a visit? Drake, realise that they must make changes to increase sales and attract more customers to their gallery. They Your prices are far too high for what you're offering. have a meeting planned with Dennis Paul, an art Only collectors can afford that sort of money. By the way, consultant, about how to increase their profits. parking's really difficult in your area. I had to walk miles to get to you. It's not easy to find your gallery, either. You're right on the edge of the district, I found out. 1 Read the situation and answer the questions. Your staff were friendly, but there weren't enough signs to 1 What is the Chelsea area of New York famous for? show what was going on in some of the rooms. I wanted 2 What do galleries need to do in order to be to see more works by New York artists, I'm not really successful? interested in Asian art. 3 How many works of art would the Russell Drake You need to be more innovative in your choice of artists. Gallery like to sell each month? I like naturalistic art, not abstract art and splash paintings. 4 What problem is the gallery currently facing? I'd love to buy some paintings by young, emerging artists. 2a Work with a partner. Read the reviews from the I like the high ceilings in the gallery, but there isn't enough gallery's website and decide which are the three most light, so I didn't enjoy my visit. It's about time you serious criticisms. repainted the walls, isn't it? That'd make the rooms lighter.

2b Compare your opinions with other pairs. THE RUSSELL DRAKE GALLERY

3 Look at the visitor ratings below. What do they TASK show, in your opinion? Do they indicate that customer DECIDING ON AN ACTION PLAN satisfaction of the gallery is: a) high, b) fairly high, 6 Work in small groups. You are members of a team c) acceptable, d) too low or e) totally unacceptable? of art consultants headed by Dennis Paul. Do the following tasks together. Number of reviews (previous three months) Total: 106 1 Consider the implications of each of Dennis Paul's ideas below. Then choose the best five ideas for Visitor rating further study. Make notes of your reasons for not Excellent 5 choosing the other ideas. Very good 22 2 Discuss the cost of the ideas you've chosen. Which Average 71 ones will be: Poor 8 M a inexpensive b quite expensive Awful 0 c very expensive d easy to implement e more suitable as a long-term project? 3 Think of any other ideas that could make money for KEY LANGUAGE the gallery. Make notes. DISCUSSING IMPLICATIONS, OFFERING COUNTER• 4 Work out an action plan for the next year. ARGUMENTS Bflj Russell and Vanessa Drake and Dennis Paul 4 MEETING AGENDA are discussing the commission that the gallery charges artists to exhibit their work. Listen and choose the Ideas arguments that Dennis Paul uses to oppose lowering the commission rate. 1 Change the gallery's strategy. Focus on exhibiting exclusively young emerging artists 1 The artists do not object to the present commission based in New York. system. 2 Sponsor a young, promising artist, perhaps 2 Other galleries might start lowering their commission. someone already exhibiting on the internet. 3 Russell Drake's commission is already fairly low. 4 The artists do not like changes in commission rates. 3 Sponsor a competition of modern art in New 5 The best customers would be unhappy about variable York's major art colleges. rates. 4 Exhibit at one major art fair in New York rather 6 A lower commission rate will have an impact on the than at several smaller fairs, as the gallery does gallery's profitability. at the moment. 5 Hire an expert to improve the gallery's 5a Listen again and number the phrases below in the website. Aim to attract more foreign visitors by order you hear them. advertising in specialist art magazines. a But think of the consequences. (Dennis) 6 Redecorate the gallery and enlarge the b I think there's a strong argument for doing it. windows. (Vanessa) c But it wouldn't if we charged variable commission 7 Move to a new location where the rents are rates. (Russell) much cheaper. d You need to take into account the reactions of the 8 Vary the commission rate, charging 50 percent other gallery owners. (D) to established artists and a lower commission e There are plenty of things you could do ... (D) rate for young artists. f Maybe, but consider the implications. (D) 9 Set up a cafe in the gallery offering high-quality g We do need to have more young artists on our books. (V) snacks and lunches. h If you lower your commission, other galleries might 10 Invite famous modern artists to give lectures start doing the same thing. (D) on their work at the gallery. i That may be true, but our situation's getting pretty desperate. (V) j We've got to do something if we want to survive. (V) k the problem with that is that it could really upset your best customers ... (D) 7 Compare your action plan with the plans of other I It'll affect your profits if you lower your commission groups. Explain your reasons for not choosing some of rate. (D) Dennis Paul's ideas. 8 As one group, take a vote to decide which is the 5b Decide whether each phrase is 'discussing best action plan. implications' (I) or 'offering a counter-argument' (C). 93