Hi. So today, I'd like to share some works in progress. Since we are still realizing these works, we are largely working within the realm of intuition and mystery, still. So I'm going to try and describe some of the experiences that we're looking for through each of the works.
Zdravo. Dakle, htjela bih podijeliti s vama neke radove u nastajanju. Budući da su ovi radovi još u nastajanju, uglavnom radimo u domeni intuicije i zagonetki, još uvijek. Pokušat ću opisati neka od iskustava koja tražimo kroz svaki od radova.
So the first work is called the Imperial Monochromes. A viewer sort of unsuspectingly walks into the room, and catches a glimpse of these panels in a messy composition on the wall. Within seconds, as if the panels have noticed the presence of the viewer, they appear to panic and sort of get into a strict symmetry. (Laughter) So this is the sketch of the two states. One is total chaos. The other is absolute order. And we were interested in seeing how little change it takes to move from one state to the other state. This also reminded us of two very different pictorial traditions. One is the altar tablets of the 15th century, and the other is about 100 years ago, Malevich's abstract compositions. So I'm just going to take you to a video. To give you a sense of scale, the largest panel is about two meters high. That's about this much. And the smallest one is an A4. So a viewer enters the space, and they snap to attention. And after a while, if the viewer continues to remain in the space, the panels will sort of become immune to the presence of the viewer and become lax and autonomous again, until they sort of sense a presence in the room or a movement, when they will again snap to attention. (Laughter) So here it appears as if it's the viewer that's sort of instigating the sense of order among the panels, but it could also be the other way around, that the panels are so stuck within their preconditioned behaviors that they sort of thrust the viewer with the role of a tyrant.
Prvi rad je Carski Monokromi. Neki promatrač bezazleno ulazi u sobu, i baci pogled na ove ploče u neurednoj kompoziciji na zidu. Tijekom nekoliko sekundi, kao da su ploče primjetile prisutnost promatrača, čini se da se uspaniče i nekako prijeđu u strogu simetriju. (Smijeh) Tako da je ovo skica dva stanja. Jedno je potpuni kaos. Drugo je apsolutni red. I zanimalo nas je koliko je malo promjene potrebno za prelazak iz jednog stanja u drugo. Ovo nas je također podsjetilo na dvije vrlo različite slikovne tradicije. Jedna su oltarne ploče iz 15. stoljeća, a druga je prije otprilike 100 godina, Maljevičeve apstraktne kompozicije. Sad ću vam samo pokazati video. Da vam dočaram veličinu, najveća ploča je visoka oko dva metra. To je otprilike ovoliko. A najmanja je A4. Tako da promatrač ulazi u prostor, i one se prebacuju na pozornost. I nakon nekog vremena, ako promatrač nastavlja biti u prostoru, ploče će nekako postati otporne na prisutnost promatrača i ponovno će postati labave i samostalne, sve dok ne osjete prisutnost u prostoriji ili neki pokret kada će opet se prebaciti na pozornost. (Smijeh) Tako se ovdje čini kao da je promatrač taj koji potiče smisao za red među pločama, ali bi također moglo biti obrnuto, da su ploče toliko ugođene u u svoja pretpostavljena ponašanja da nekako guraju promatrača u ulogu tiranina.
So this brings me to a quieter, small work called Handheld. The viewer sees a piece of paper that's mounted on the far end of the wall, but when you go closer, you see that it's a blank A4, or a letter-sized piece of paper, that's held on either side by two small hands that appear to be carved with a great deal of attention and care from a small block of wood. The viewer also sees that this entire sculpture is sort of moving very slightly, as if these two hands are trying to hold the paper very still for a long period of time, and somehow are not managing to. So this instability in the movement very closely resembles the unsteady nature of images seen through a handheld camera. So here I'm going to show you two tandem clips. One is through a still camera and the other is through a handheld camera. And you immediately see how the unsteady nature of the video suggests the presence of an observer and a subjective point of view. So we've just removed the camera and transferred that movement onto the panel. So here's a video. You have to imagine the other hand. It's not there yet. But to us, we're sort of trying to evoke a self-effacing gesture, as if there's a little person with outstretched arms behind this enormous piece of paper. That sort of likens it to the amount of strain to be at the service of the observer and present this piece of paper very delicately to the viewer in front of them.
To me dovodi do tišeg, manjeg djela zvanog Na Dlanu. Promatrač vidi komad papira koji je pričvršćen na drugom kraju na zid, ali kad se približite, vidite da je to prazan A4, ili papir veličine pisma, kojeg sa svake strane drže dvije male ruke koje su naizgled izrezbarene s velikom pozornošću i brigom iz malog komada drveta. Promatrač također vidi da ova cijela skulptura se nekako pomalo pomiče, kao da te dvije ruke pokušavaju jako mirno držati papir duži vremenski period, ali nekako ne uspijevaju. Ta nestabilnost u pokretu je vrlo slična nestabilnoj prirodi slika koje se vide kroz kompaktnu kameru. Pokazat ću vam ovdje dva uzastopna video isječka. Jedan je kroz stabilnu kameru, a drugi je kroz kameru držanu u ruci. Odmah vidite kako nestabilna priroda video isječka nagoviještava prisutnost promatrača i subjektivnu perspektivu. Tako da smo samo maknuli kameru i prenijeli taj pokret na ploču. Evo video isječka. Morate zamislitu drugu ruku. Još nije ovdje. Ali za nas, mi nekako pokušavamo izazvati skromnu gestu, kao da je mala osoba s ispruženim rukama iza ovog ogromnog komada papira. To nekako pričinjava njezinu količinu napora da bude na usluzi promatraču i prikaže vrlo pažljivo ovaj komad papira promatraču ispred nje.
The next work is Decoy. This is a cardboard model, so the object is about as tall as I am. It has a rounded body, two arms, and a very tall, head-like antenna, and its sole purpose is to attract attention towards itself. So when a viewer passes by, it sort of tilts from side to side, and moves its arms more and more frantically as the person gets closer. So here is the first test scenario. You see the two movements integrated, and the object seems to be employing its entire being in this expression of desperation. But the idea is that once it's got the person's attention, it's no longer interested, and it looks for the next person whose attention to get. (Laughter) So this is the final fabricated body of the Decoy. It appears to be mass-manufactured like it came out of a factory like vacuum cleaners and washing machines. Because we are always working from a very personal space, we like how this consumer aesthetic sort of depersonalizes the object and gives us a bit of distance in its appearance, at least. And so to us this is a kind of sinister being which is trying to distract you from the things that actually need your attention, but it could also be a figure that needs a lot of help. The next work is an object, that's also a kind of sound instrument. In the shape of an amphitheater that's scaled to the size of an audience as perceived from somebody from the stage. So from where I'm standing, each of you appears to be this big, and the audience sort of takes the entire field of my vision. Seated in this audience are 996 small figures. They're mechanically enabled to clap of their own free will. This means that each of them can decide if and when they want to clap, how hard, for how long, how they want to be influenced by those around them or influence others, and if they want to contribute to innovation. So when the viewer steps in front of the audience, there will be a response. It could be a few claps or a strong applause, and then nothing happens until the viewer leaves the stage, and again the audience will respond. It could be anything from a few feeble claps from members in the audience, or it could be a very loud ovation. So to us, I think we're really looking at an audience as its own object or its own organism that's also got a sort of musical-like quality to it, an instrument. So the viewer can play it by eliciting quite complex and varied, nuanced musical or sound patterns, but cannot really provoke the audience into any particular kind of response. So there's a sense of judgment and capriciousness and uneasiness involved. It also has an alluring and trap-like quality to it. So here if you see we're quite excited about the image of the head splitting to form the two hands. So here's a small visual animation, as if the two sides of the brain are sort of clashing against each other to kind of make sense of the duality and the tension. And here is a prototype. So we can't wait to be engulfed by 996 of them.
Sljedeći rad je Mamac. Ovo je kartonski model, pa je objekt visok otpriliko koliko i ja. Ima okruglo tijelo, dvije ruke, i vrlo visoku antenu nalik na glavu, a jedina mu je svrha privlačenje pozornosti. Tako da kad promatrač prolazi, nekako se naginje s jedne strane na drugu, i sve žustrije pomiče ruke dok se osoba približava. Ovdje je prva testna situacija. Vidite objedinjena ta dva pokreta, i čini se da je objekt angažirao cijelog sebe u ovom izražaju očaja. Ali ideja je da jednom kad zadobije pozornost osobe, nije više zainteresiran, i traži iduću osobu čiju će pozornost zadobiti. (Smijeh) Ovo je konačno proizvedeno tijelo Mamca. Čini se kao da je rezultat masovne proizvodnje, kao da je izašlo iz tvornice poput usisivača i perilica za rublje. Budući da uvijek radimo u jako osobno prostoru, sviđa nam se kako ova potrošačka estetika nekako depersonalizira predmet i daje nam malo distance barem u svom izgledu. I tako da je to za nas neko nastrano biće koje vas pokušava odvratiti od stvari koje zapravo trebaju vašu pozornost, ali također može biti i figura koja treba mnogo pomoći. Sljedeće dijelo je predmet, koji je također vrsta zvučnog instrumenta. U obliku amfiteatra koji je veličine publike viđene iz perspektive nekoga sa pozornice. Sa mjesta gdje stojim, svatko od vas se čini toliko velik, i publika zapravo zauzima cijelo moje vizualno polje. U ovoj publici sjedi 996 malih figurica. Mehinički im je omogućeno da plješću svojom slobodnom voljom. To znači da svatko od njih može odlučiti ako žele i kada žele pljeskati, koliko jako, koliko dugo, kako žele da na njih utječu drugi ili da utječu na druge, i žele li doprinijeti ovaciji. Tako da kad promatrač stane ispred publike, bit će odgovora. To može biti malo pljeskanja ili veliki pljesak, i potom se ništa ne događa dok promatrač ne ode sa pozornice, i tada će publika opet reagirati. To može biti bilo što od malo slabog pljeskanja od strane članova publike, ili može biti vrlo glasna ovacija. Tako da za nas, mislim da zapravo gledamo na publiku kao zaseban predmet zaseban organizam koji također ima neke glazbene karakteristike, jedan instrument. Tako da ga promatrač može svirati izazivanjem vrlo složenih i različitih, nijansiranih glazbenih ili zvukovnih obrazaca, ali ne može zapravo isprivocirati publiku na bilo kakav specifičan odgovor. Tu je uključeno osjećanje presude i hirovitosti te nelagode. Također ima primamljivu karakteristiku nalik na zamku. Tako da smo ovdje, ako vidite, jako uzbuđeni zbog slike glave koja se cijepa i formira dvije ruke. Ovdje je mala vizualna animacija, kao da se dvije strane mozga nekako sukobavljaju jedna protiv druge kako bi dali smisao dvojnosti i napetosti. I evo prototipa. Tako da jedva čekamo da nas zahvati 996 njih.
Okay, this is the last work. It's called the Framerunners. It comes out of the idea of a window. This is an actual window in our studio, and as you can see, it's made up of three different thicknesses of wooden sections. So we used the same window vocabulary to construct our own frame or grid that's suspended in the room and that can be viewed from two sides. This grid is inhabited by a tribe of small figures. They're also made up of three different sizes, as if to suggest a kind of perspective or landscape on the single plain. Each of these figures can also run backward and forward in the track and hide behind two adjacent tracks. So in contrast to this very tight grid, we wanted to give these figures a very comical and slapstick-like quality, as if a puppeteer has taken them and physically animated them down the path. So we like the idea of these figures sort of skipping along like they're oblivious and carefree and happy-go-lucky and content, until they sort of sense a movement from the viewer and they will hide behind the fastest wall. So to us, this work also presents its own contradiction. These figures are sort of entrapped within this very strong grid, which is like a prison, but also a fortress, because it allows them to be oblivious and naive and carefree and quite oblivious of the external world. So all these real life qualities that I talk about are sort of translated to a very specific technical configuration, and we were very lucky to collaborate with ETH Zurich to develop the first prototype. So you see they extracted the motion cogs from our animations and created a wiggle that integrated the head-bobbing movement and the back-and-forth movement. So it's really quite small. You can see it can fit into the palm of my hand. So imagine our excitement when we saw it really working in the studio, and here it is.
Dobro, ovo je zadnji rad. Zove se Trkači u Rešetci. Proizašao je iz ideje prozora. Ovo je stvarni prozor u našem studiju, i kao što možete vidjeti, sastoji se od tri različito debelih drvenih dijelova. Tako smo koristili isti prozorski rječnik kako bismo napravili svoj vlastiti okvir ili rešetku koji visi u sobi i koji se može gledati s dvije strane. Ovu rešetku nastanjuje pleme malih figura. Također dolaze u tri različite veličine, kao da predočavaju neku perspektivu ili pejzaž u jednoj ravnini. Svaka od figura se također može ići nazad i naprijed u svojoj stazi ili se sakriti iza dviju susjednih staza. Dakle u suprotnošću s ovom ograničenom rešetkom, htjeli smo dati ovim figurama vrlo komičnu i otkačenu karakteristiku, kao da ih je lutkar uzeo i fizički ih animirao na putu. Tako da nam se sviđa ideja ovih figura koje zapravo skakuću uz put kao da su nesvjesne i bez briga i stvarno bezbrižno zadovoljne dok nekako ne osjete pokrete promatrača kada će se sakriti iza najbržeg zida. Zato za nas ovaj rad predstavlja svoju vlastitu proturječnost. Ove figure su zapravo zarobljene unutar ove vrlo snažne rešetke koja je kao zatvor, ali također i utvrda jer im dopušta da budu nesvjesni naivni i bezbrižni i vrlo nesvjesni vanjskog svijeta. Tako da sve ove karakteristike stvarnog svijeta o kojima pričam su zapravo prevedene u vrlo specifičnu tehničku konfiguraciju, i imali smo sreće da smo surađivali sa ETH iz Züricha kako bi razvili prvi prototip. Vidite, oni su razvili zupčanike za pokrete iz naših animacija i stvorili spravicu koja je spojila pokret klimanja glavom te pokret naprijed i nazad. Tako da je jako mala. Kao što vidite može stati na moj dlan. možete zamisliti naše uzbuđenje kad smo ju vidjeli kako stvarno radi u studiju, i evo je.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
Thank you.
Hvala vam.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)