TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Luke Syson: How I learned to stop worrying and love "useless" art

Unscramble the Blue Letters

It's not an escapism that we feel particularly happy with today, however. And again, going on thinking about this, I realize that in a way we're all victims of a certain kind of tyranny of the tirpmuh of modernism whereby form and function in an object have to follow one another, or are dmeeed to do so. And the extraneous ornament is seen as really, essentially, cimanirl. It's a triumph, in a way, of bourgeois values rather than aristocratic ones. And that seems fine. Except for the fact that it becomes a kind of sequestration of imagination. So just as in the 20th cuntery, so many ppeloe had the idea that their faith took place on the Sabbath day, and the rest of their lives — their lives of washing machines and orthodontics — took place on another day. Then, I think we've sartted doing the same. We've allowed ourselves to lead our fantasy leivs in front of scneres. In the dark of the cinema, with the television in the cnorer of the room. We've enimilated, in a sense, that ctosnnat of the imagination that these vases rrteeseenpd in people's lives. So maybe it's time we got this back a little. I think it's beginning to happen. In lodonn, for example, with these extraordinary bniudilgs that have been appearing over the last few years. Redolent, in a sense, of science ftociin, tnirnug London into a kind of fantasy playground. It's actually amazing to look out of a high building nowadays there. But even then, there's a resistance. London has called these buildings the gerkihn, the Shard, the Walkie Talkie — bringing these soaring buildings down to eatrh. There's an idea that we don't want these anxious-making, imaginative journeys to happen in our dliay lives. I feel lucky in a way, I've encountered this object. (Laughter) I found him on the Internet when I was looking up a reference. And there he was. And unlike the pink elephant vase, this was a kind of love at first sight. In fact, raeder, I married him. I bought him. And he now adorns my office. He's a Staffordshire figure made in the middle of the 19th century. He represents the actor, Edmund Kean, playing Shakespeare's rhiacrd III. And it's based, actually, on a more elevated piece of porcelain. So I loved, on an art historical level, I loved that layered quality that he has. But more than that, I love him. In a way that I think would have been impossible without the pink Sèvres vase in my Leonardo days. I love his orange and pink breeches. I love the fact that he seems to be going off to war, having just finished the washing up. (Laughter) He seems also to have fgrotteon his sword. I love his pink little cekhes, his mkciunhn energy. In a way, he's become my sort of alter ego. He's, I hope, a little bit dignifeid, but mostly rather vulgar. (Laughter) And engteeric, I hope, too. I let him into my life because the Sèvres pink elephant vase awoleld me to do so. And before that Leonardo, I understood that this object could become part of a journey for me every day, sitting in my office. I really hope that others, all of you, visiting objects in the museum, and taking them home and finding them for yourselves, will allow those objects to flourish in your iinvtimagae lives. Thank you very much. (Applause)

Open Cloze

It's not an escapism that we feel particularly happy with today, however. And again, going on thinking about this, I realize that in a way we're all victims of a certain kind of tyranny of the _______ of modernism whereby form and function in an object have to follow one another, or are ______ to do so. And the extraneous ornament is seen as really, essentially, ________. It's a triumph, in a way, of bourgeois values rather than aristocratic ones. And that seems fine. Except for the fact that it becomes a kind of sequestration of imagination. So just as in the 20th _______, so many ______ had the idea that their faith took place on the Sabbath day, and the rest of their lives — their lives of washing machines and orthodontics — took place on another day. Then, I think we've _______ doing the same. We've allowed ourselves to lead our fantasy _____ in front of _______. In the dark of the cinema, with the television in the ______ of the room. We've __________, in a sense, that ________ of the imagination that these vases ___________ in people's lives. So maybe it's time we got this back a little. I think it's beginning to happen. In ______, for example, with these extraordinary _________ that have been appearing over the last few years. Redolent, in a sense, of science _______, _______ London into a kind of fantasy playground. It's actually amazing to look out of a high building nowadays there. But even then, there's a resistance. London has called these buildings the _______, the Shard, the Walkie Talkie — bringing these soaring buildings down to _____. There's an idea that we don't want these anxious-making, imaginative journeys to happen in our _____ lives. I feel lucky in a way, I've encountered this object. (Laughter) I found him on the Internet when I was looking up a reference. And there he was. And unlike the pink elephant vase, this was a kind of love at first sight. In fact, ______, I married him. I bought him. And he now adorns my office. He's a Staffordshire figure made in the middle of the 19th century. He represents the actor, Edmund Kean, playing Shakespeare's _______ III. And it's based, actually, on a more elevated piece of porcelain. So I loved, on an art historical level, I loved that layered quality that he has. But more than that, I love him. In a way that I think would have been impossible without the pink Sèvres vase in my Leonardo days. I love his orange and pink breeches. I love the fact that he seems to be going off to war, having just finished the washing up. (Laughter) He seems also to have _________ his sword. I love his pink little ______, his ________ energy. In a way, he's become my sort of alter ego. He's, I hope, a little bit _________, but mostly rather vulgar. (Laughter) And _________, I hope, too. I let him into my life because the Sèvres pink elephant vase _______ me to do so. And before that Leonardo, I understood that this object could become part of a journey for me every day, sitting in my office. I really hope that others, all of you, visiting objects in the museum, and taking them home and finding them for yourselves, will allow those objects to flourish in your ___________ lives. Thank you very much. (Applause)

Solution

constant
fiction
people
corner
dignified
richard
criminal
reader
lives
energetic
century
screens
cheeks
london
earth
munchkin
gherkin
represented
buildings
triumph
eliminated
started
deemed
imaginative
forgotten
turning
daily
allowed

Original Text

It's not an escapism that we feel particularly happy with today, however. And again, going on thinking about this, I realize that in a way we're all victims of a certain kind of tyranny of the triumph of modernism whereby form and function in an object have to follow one another, or are deemed to do so. And the extraneous ornament is seen as really, essentially, criminal. It's a triumph, in a way, of bourgeois values rather than aristocratic ones. And that seems fine. Except for the fact that it becomes a kind of sequestration of imagination. So just as in the 20th century, so many people had the idea that their faith took place on the Sabbath day, and the rest of their lives — their lives of washing machines and orthodontics — took place on another day. Then, I think we've started doing the same. We've allowed ourselves to lead our fantasy lives in front of screens. In the dark of the cinema, with the television in the corner of the room. We've eliminated, in a sense, that constant of the imagination that these vases represented in people's lives. So maybe it's time we got this back a little. I think it's beginning to happen. In London, for example, with these extraordinary buildings that have been appearing over the last few years. Redolent, in a sense, of science fiction, turning London into a kind of fantasy playground. It's actually amazing to look out of a high building nowadays there. But even then, there's a resistance. London has called these buildings the Gherkin, the Shard, the Walkie Talkie — bringing these soaring buildings down to Earth. There's an idea that we don't want these anxious-making, imaginative journeys to happen in our daily lives. I feel lucky in a way, I've encountered this object. (Laughter) I found him on the Internet when I was looking up a reference. And there he was. And unlike the pink elephant vase, this was a kind of love at first sight. In fact, reader, I married him. I bought him. And he now adorns my office. He's a Staffordshire figure made in the middle of the 19th century. He represents the actor, Edmund Kean, playing Shakespeare's Richard III. And it's based, actually, on a more elevated piece of porcelain. So I loved, on an art historical level, I loved that layered quality that he has. But more than that, I love him. In a way that I think would have been impossible without the pink Sèvres vase in my Leonardo days. I love his orange and pink breeches. I love the fact that he seems to be going off to war, having just finished the washing up. (Laughter) He seems also to have forgotten his sword. I love his pink little cheeks, his munchkin energy. In a way, he's become my sort of alter ego. He's, I hope, a little bit dignified, but mostly rather vulgar. (Laughter) And energetic, I hope, too. I let him into my life because the Sèvres pink elephant vase allowed me to do so. And before that Leonardo, I understood that this object could become part of a journey for me every day, sitting in my office. I really hope that others, all of you, visiting objects in the museum, and taking them home and finding them for yourselves, will allow those objects to flourish in your imaginative lives. Thank you very much. (Applause)

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
italian renaissance	2
leonardo da	2
decorative arts	2
european sculpture	2
pink elephant	2

Important Words

actor
adorns
allowed
alter
amazing
appearing
applause
aristocratic
art
based
beginning
bit
bought
bourgeois
breeches
bringing
building
buildings
called
century
cheeks
cinema
constant
corner
criminal
daily
dark
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days
deemed
dignified
earth
edmund
ego
elephant
elevated
eliminated
encountered
energetic
energy
escapism
essentially
extraneous
extraordinary
fact
faith
fantasy
feel
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figure
finding
fine
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flourish
follow
forgotten
form
front
function
gherkin
happen
happy
high
historical
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hope
idea
iii
imagination
imaginative
impossible
internet
journey
journeys
kean
kind
laughter
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leonardo
level
life
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love
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lucky
machines
married
middle
modernism
munchkin
museum
nowadays
object
objects
office
orange
ornament
orthodontics
part
people
piece
pink
place
playground
playing
porcelain
quality
reader
realize
redolent
reference
represented
represents
resistance
rest
richard
room
sabbath
science
screens
sense
sequestration
shard
sight
sitting
soaring
sort
staffordshire
started
sword
sèvres
talkie
television
thinking
time
today
triumph
turning
tyranny
understood
values
vase
vases
victims
visiting
vulgar
walkie
war
washing
years