(Applause)
(Pljesak)
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
I am a papercutter. (Laughter) I cut stories. So my process is very straightforward. I take a piece of paper, I visualize my story, sometimes I sketch, sometimes I don't. And as my image is already inside the paper, I just have to remove what's not from that story. So I didn't come to papercutting in a straight line. In fact, I see it more as a spiral.
Ja sam Izrezivačica Papira. (Smijeh) Izrezujem priče. Moj je proces zapravo vrlo izravan i razumljiv. Uzmem list papira, predočim si svoju priču, ponekad skiciram, ponekad ne. No kako je moja priča već skrivena u papiru, sve što ja moram napraviti jest ukloniti one dijeliće koji ne pripadaju toj priči. No, nisam došla do rezuckanja papira pravocrtno. Zapravo, vidim to kao spiralu.
I was not born with a blade in my hand. And I don't remember papercutting as a child. As a teenager, I was sketching, drawing, and I wanted to be an artist. But I was also a rebel. And I left everything and went for a long series of odd jobs. So among them, I have been a shepherdess, a truck driver, a factory worker, a cleaning lady. I worked in tourism for one year in Mexico, one year in Egypt. I moved for two years in Taiwan. And then I settled in New York where I became a tour guide. And I still worked as a tour leader, traveled back and forth in China, Tibet and Central Asia.
Nisam rođena s oštricom u svojoj ruci. I ne sjećam se da sam kao dijete rezuckala papir. Kao tinejdžerka, skicirala sam, crtala, i priželjkivala postati umjetnicom. Ali to je jednako tako bila i pobuna. Ostavila sam se svega, i prošla kroz niz neobičnih poslova. Među ostalim, bila sam pastirica, vozačica kamiona, tvornička radnica, čistačica. Radila sam u turizmu jednu godinu, u Meksiku, jednu godinu u Egiptu. Na dvije sam se godine preselila u Taiwan. Da bih se potom skrasila u New Yorku gdje sam postala vodička. I još sam uvijek radila kao vođa grupe, putovala amo i tamo, kroz Kinu, Tibet i središnju Aziju.
So of course, it took time, and I was nearly 40, and I decided it's time to start as an artist. (Applause) I chose papercutting because paper is cheap, it's light, and you can use it in a lot of different ways. And I chose the language of silhouette because graphically it's very efficient. And it's also just getting to the essential of things. So the word "silhouette" comes from a minister of finance, Etienne de Silhouette. And he slashed so many budgets that people said they couldn't afford paintings anymore, and they needed to have their portrait "a la silhouette." (Laughter) So I made series of images, cuttings, and I assembled them in portfolios. And people told me -- like these 36 views of the Empire State building -- they told me, "You're making artist books."
To je, dakako, uzelo nešto vremena, i navršila sam gotovo 40, kada sam odlučila da je vrijeme da napokon započnem biti umjetnica. (Pljesak) Odabrala sam izrezivanje papira, jer papir je jefin, lagan, i može se koristiti na mnoge različite načine. Odabrala sam jezik silueta, jer je u grafičkom smislu vrlo efikasan. I isto tako, vodi u samu bit stvari. Riječ ''silueta'' dolazi zapravo od ministra financija, koji se zvao Etienne de Silhouette. On je skresao toliko budžeta da bi ljudi govorili kako si više ne mogu priuštiti kupovinu slika te da im treba njihov portret "a la silhouette." (Smijeh) Tako sam izradila niz slika, izrezaka, i od njih sastavila mape. Ljudi bi mi govorili -- poput ovih 36 pogleda na zgradu Empire State -- govorili bi mi, ''Radiš umjetničke knjige.''
So artist books have a lot of definitions. They come in a lot of different shapes. But to me, they are fascinating objects to visually narrate a story. They can be with words or without words. And I have a passion for images and for words. I love pun and the relation to the unconscious. I love oddities of languages. And everywhere I lived, I learned the languages, but never mastered them. So I'm always looking for the false cognates or identical words in different languages.
Umjetničke knjige mogu se definirati na brojne načine. Dolaze u brojnim i različitim oblicima. No za mene, oni su facsinantni predmeti koji mogu vizualno ispričati priču. Mogu sadržavati riječi ili biti bez teksta. A ja imam strast za slike i riječi. Volim doskočice i poveznice s podsvijesnim. Volim neobičnosti jezika. I gdje god da sam živjela, naučila bih jezike, no nikada nisam njima u potpunosti ovladala. Tako da neprestano tražim lažne srodnike ili identične riječi u različitim jezicima.
So as you can guess, my mother tongue is French. And my daily language is English. So I did a series of work where it was identical words in French and in English. So one of these works is the "Spelling Spider." So the Spelling Spider is a cousin of the spelling bee. (Laughter) But it's much more connected to the Web. (Laughter) And this spider spins a bilingual alphabet. So you can read "architecture active" or "active architecture." So this spider goes through the whole alphabet with identical adjectives and substantives. So if you don't know one of these languages, it's instant learning.
Kako vjerojatno možete primijetiti, moj je materinji jezik francuski. A jezik kojeg dnevno koristim je engleski. Tako sam napravila niz djela u kojima sam koristila identične riječi u francuskom i engleskom jeziku. Jedno od ovih djela zove se ''Pauk Slovko''. Pauk Slovko je, znači, rođak pčelice slovkarice. (Smijeh) Ali puno je više od nje umrežen u Web. (Smijeh) I, sad, ovaj pauk plete bilingualnu abecedu. Možete pročitati ''arhitektura aktivna'' ili ''aktivna arhitektura.'' Tako ovaj pauk prolazi čitavu abecedu s identičnim pridjevima i imenicama. Pa ako ne poznajete jedan od ovih jezika, događa se instantno učenje.
And one ancient form of the book is scrolls. So scrolls are very convenient, because you can create a large image on a very small table. So the unexpected consequences of that is that you only see one part of your image, so it makes a very freestyle architecture. And I'm making all those kinds of windows. So it's to look beyond the surface. It's to have a look at different worlds. And very often I've been an outsider. So I want to see how things work and what's happening. So each window is an image and is a world that I often revisit. And I revisit this world thinking about the image or cliché about what we want to do, and what are the words, colloquialisms, that we have with the expressions.
Jedan od najstarijih oblika u kojima dolaze knjige je svitak. Svici su vrlo praktični, jer mogu stvoriti veliku sliku na vrlo malenom stolu. Neočekivana posljedica toga jest da možeš vidjeti samo jedan dio svoje slike, pa to stvara jednu arhitekturu slobodnog stila. I izrađujem puno sličnih vrsta prozora. Oni pomažu da se pogleda ispod površine. Pomažu da se pogleda različite riječi. Vrlo sam često i sama bila stranac. I željela sam vidjeti kako stvari funkcioniraju i što se događa. Stoga je svaki prozor slika i svijet kojeg često posjećujem. Često posjećujem ovaj svijet razmišljajući o slici ili klišeju vezanim uz ono što želimo napraviti, i o tome koje riječi i specifične izraze koristimo s određenim izričajima.
It's all if. So what if we were living in balloon houses? It would make a very uplifting world. And we would leave a very low footprint on the planet. It would be so light. So sometimes I view from the inside, like EgoCentriCity and the inner circles. Sometimes it's a global view, to see our common roots and how we can use them to catch dreams. And we can use them also as a safety net.
To je sve o čemu se radi. Dakle, što da živimo u kućama-balonima? To bi bio jedan vrlo poletan svijet. A mi bismo ostavljali vrlo plitak otisak na planetu. Bilo bi to tako lagano. Tako ponekad promatram iznutra, kao EgoCentroGrad, i unutrašnje krugove. Ponekad je to globalna perspektiva, koja traži zajedničke korijene i kako ih možemo iskoristiti da uhvatimo snove. I možemo ih isto tako koristiti kao sigurnosnu mrežu.
And my inspirations are very eclectic. I'm influenced by everything I read, everything I see. I have some stories that are humorous, like "Dead Beats." (Laughter) Other ones are historical. Here it's "CandyCity." It's a non-sugar-coated history of sugar. It goes from slave trade to over-consumption of sugar with some sweet moments in between. And sometimes I have an emotional response to news, such as the 2010 Haitian earthquake. Other times, it's not even my stories. People tell me their lives, their memories, their aspirations, and I create a mindscape. I channel their history [so that] they have a place to go back to look at their life and its possibilities. I call them Freudian cities.
Moje su inspiracije vrlo eklektične. Na mene utječe sve što pročitam, sve što vidim. Neke od mojih priča su smiješne, kao, na primjer, ''Protuhe.'' (Smijeh) Neke su povijesne. Ovo je ''Slatkograd.'' Priča o šećeru bez šećerne glazure. Počinje od trgovine ropstvom i ide do pretjerane konzumacije šećera, prolazeći pritom kroz neke slađe trenutke između. Ponekad, pak, doživim emocionalnu reakciju na vijesti, poput potresa na Haitiju 2010. godine. Ponekad se zapravo uopće ne radi o mojim pričama. Ljudi mi pričaju o svojim životima, svojim sjećanjima, svojim nadanjima, i ja od toga stvorim krajolik uma. Kanaliziram njihovu povijest [tako da] bi oni dobili mjesto kojemu se mogu vratiti kako bi pogledali na svoj život i mogućnosti koje pruža. Zovem ih Freudovi gradovi.
I cannot speak for all my images, so I'll just go through a few of my worlds just with the title. "ModiCity." "ElectriCity." "MAD Growth on Columbus Circle." "ReefCity." "A Web of Time." "Chaos City." "Daily Battles." "FeliCity." "Floating Islands." And at one point, I had to do "The Whole Nine Yards." So it's actually a papercut that's nine yards long. (Laughter) So in life and in papercutting, everything is connected. One story leads to another. I was also interested in the physicality of this format, because you have to walk to see it.
Kako ne mogu govoriti u ime svih svojih priča, dotaknut ću samo kroz poneke od njih, putem njihovih naslova. ''ModoGrad'' ''ElektroGrad.'' ''SULUD Rast na Kolumbusuvom krugu.'' ''ReljefoGrad.'' ''Mreža Vremena'' ''Grad Kaosa.'' ''Dnevne Bitke.'' ''SrećoGrad.'' ''Plutajući Otoci.'' I, u jednom trenutku, morala sam izraditi i ''The Whole Nine Yards.'' (''Od glave do pete'') To je izrezutak papira dugačak punih 9 yarda. (8.22 metrra) (Smijeh.) Kako u životu, tako i kod izrezivanja papira, sve je povezano. Jedna priča vodi drugoj. Zanimala me isto tako, tjelesnost ovog izričaja, jer morate hodati kako bi ste ga ugledali.
And parallel to my cutting is my running. I started with small images, I started with a few miles. Larger images, I started to run marathons. Then I went to run 50K, then 60K. Then I ran 50 miles -- ultramarathons. And I still feel I'm running, it's just the training to become a long-distance papercutter.
S mojim izrezivanjem usporedno teče moje trčanje. Započela sam s malim slikama, započela sam s malim brojem kilometara. S većim slikama došli su i maratoni. Otrčala sam 50K pa potom 60K maraton. Potom sam počela trčati ultramaratone od preko 80 kilometara. Još uvijek se osjećam kao da trčim, kao da je to tek trening da postanem dugoprugaška izrezivačica papira.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh.)
And running gives me a lot of energy. Here is a three-week papercutting marathon at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. The result is "Hells and Heavens." It's two panels 13 ft. high. They were installed in the museum on two floors, but in fact, it's a continuous image. And I call it "Hells and Heavens" because it's daily hells and daily heavens. There is no border in between. Some people are born in hells, and against all odds, they make it to heavens. Other people make the opposite trip. That's the border. You have sweatshops in hells. You have people renting their wings in the heavens. And then you have all those individual stories where sometimes we even have the same action, and the result puts you in hells or in heavens. So the whole "Hells and Heavens" is about free will and determinism.
Trčanje mi daje mnogo energije. Evo trotjednog maratona u izrezivanju papira u Muzeju umjetnosti i dizajna u New York City-ju. Rezultat su ''Paklovi i rajevi.'' To su dva panela visoka gotovo 4 metra. Bili su postavljeni na dva kata muzeja, no zapravo se radi o slici bez prekida. Zovem ju ''Paklovi i rajevi'' jer se radi o dnevnim paklenskim i rajskim trenucima. Bez granice među njima. Neki se ljudi rađaju u paklu, i uspiju, svim izgledima usprkos, stići do raja. Drugi ljudi prijđu upravo suprotan put. To je granica. U paklu ćete naći tvornice koje iskorištavaju radnike. U raju ćete naći ljude koji iznajmljuju svoja krila. Nadalje imate sve te priče pojedinaca u kojima vidimo jednako djelovanje ali rezultat vas stavlja u pakao ili raj. Čitav se koncept ''Paklova i rajeva'' odnosi na slobodu volje i determinizam.
And in papercutting, you have the drawing as the structure itself. So you can take it off the wall. Here it's an artist book installation called "Identity Project." It's not autobiographical identities. They are more our social identities. And then you can just walk behind them and try them on. So it's like the different layers of what we are made of and what we present to the world as an identity.
A u izrezivanju papira nalazite crtež kao strukturu za sebe. Tako ga možete skinuti sa zida. Ovdje je umjetnička knjiga kao instalacija nazvana ''Projekt: Identitet.'' Ne radi se o autobiografskim identitetima. Već prije o našim društvenim identitetima. Oni vam dopuštaju da odšetate iza njih i isprobate ih. Radi se, znači, o različitim slojevima onoga od čega smo napravljeni i onoga što predstavljamo svijetu kao svoj identitet.
That's another artist book project. In fact, in the picture, you have two of them. It's one I'm wearing and one that's on exhibition at the Center for Books Arts in New York City. Why do I call it a book? It's called "Fashion Statement," and there are quotes about fashion, so you can read it, and also, because the definition of artist book is very generous. So artist books, you take them off the wall. You take them for a walk. You can also install them as public art. Here it's in Scottsdale, Arizona, and it's called "Floating Memories." So it's regional memories, and they are just randomly moved by the wind.
To je još jedan projekt umjetničke knjige. Zapravo na ovoj slici ih imate dva. Jedan kojeg nosim ja i jedan koji se nalazi na izložbi u Centru za umjetnost knjige u New York City-ju. Zašto to nazivam knjigom? Zove se ''Iskaz mode'' i sadrži citate o modi, tako da ih možete pročitati, ali, isto tako, radi toga što je definicija umjetničke knjige vrlo širokogrudna. Tako umjetničke knjige možete skinuti sa zida. Možete ih izvesti u šetnju. A isto ih tako možete postaviti kao umjetničko djelo. Ovdje se nalazi u Scottsdale-u, u Arizoni, i zove se ''Plutajuća sjećanja''. Radi se o regionalnim sjećanjima koje nasumično pokreće vjetar.
I love public art. And I entered competitions for a long time. After eight years of rejection, I was thrilled to get my first commission with the Percent for Art in New York City. It was for a merger station for emergency workers and firemen. I made an artist book that's in stainless steel instead of paper. I called it "Working in the Same Direction." But I added weathervanes on both sides to show that they cover all directions. With public art, I could also make cut glass. Here it's faceted glass in the Bronx. And each time I make public art, I want something that's really relevant to the place it's installed. So for the subway in New York, I saw a correspondence between riding the subway and reading. It is travel in time, travel on time. And Bronx literature, it's all about Bronx writers and their stories.
Volim javnu umjetnost. Dugo sam se vremena javljala na različite natječaje. Nakon što su me osam godina odbijali bila sam oduševljena svojom prvom narudžbom s Postotkom za Umjetnost iz New York City-ja. Radilo se o povezanoj postaji za hitnu službu i vatrogasce. Izradila sam umjetničku knjigu od nehrđajućeg čelika umjesto od papira. Nazvala sam je ''Raditi u istom pravcu.'' No dodala sam vjetrokaze s obje strane kako bih pokazala da pokriva sve smjerove. S javnom umjetnošću isto sam tako mogla izrađivati izrezano staklo. Ovdje vidite rezbareno staklo u Bronxu. Svakoga puta kada stvaram javnu umjetnost, želim staviti nešto uistinu relevantno na mjesto na kojemu je postavljena. Za podzemnu željeznicu u New Yorku, vidjela sam poveznicu između vožnje podzemnom željeznicom i čitanja. Radi se o putovanju kroz vrijeme, putovanju na vrijeme. A u književnosti Bronxa, radi se uglavnom o piscima iz Bronxa i njihovim pričama.
Another glass project is in a public library in San Jose, California. So I made a vegetable point of view of the growth of San Jose. So I started in the center with the acorn for the Ohlone Indian civilization. Then I have the fruit from Europe for the ranchers. And then the fruit of the world for Silicon Valley today. And it's still growing. So the technique, it's cut, sandblasted, etched and printed glass into architectural glass. And outside the library, I wanted to make a place to cultivate your mind. I took library material that had fruit in their title and I used them to make an orchard walk with these fruits of knowledge. I also planted the bibliotree. So it's a tree, and in its trunk you have the roots of languages. And it's all about international writing systems. And on the branches you have library material growing. You can also have function and form with public art. So in Aurora, Colorado it's a bench. But you have a bonus with this bench. Because if you sit a long time in summer in shorts, you will walk away with temporary branding of the story element on your thighs.
Još jedan od staklenih projekata postavljen je u javnoj knjižnici u San Jose-u, u Kaliforniji. Izradila sam pogled na rast San Jose-a iz perspektive biljaka. Započela sam u središtu s kukuruzom posvećenim indijanskoj civilizaciji Ohlone. Zatim imam voćku iz Europe za rančere. I zatim voćku svijeta za Silikonsku dolinu danas. I još uvijek raste. Tehnika je, dakle, izrezivanje, pjeskarenje, usjecanje, i otiskivanje stakla u arhitektonsko staklo. A izvan knjižnice želja mi je bila stvoriti mjesto za kultiviranje uma. Uzela sam knjižničnu građu koja je u naslovu imala voće i iskoristila je u izradi voćnjaka i šetnice s tim plodovima znanja. Isto tako, posadila sam bibliodrvo. To je drvo čije deblo sadrži korijene jezika. Radi se o međunarodnim sustavima pisanja. Na granama vidite knjižničnu građu kako raste. Isto tako možete imati funkciju i oblik u javnoj umjetnosti. U Aurori, Colorado, to je klupa. Ali klupa koja vam donosi bonus. Ako dugo vremena sjedite na klupi u kratkim hlačama, odšetat ćete s privremenim žigom elementa priče na svojim bedrima.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
Another functional work, it's in the south side of Chicago for a subway station. And it's called "Seeds of the Future are Planted Today." It's a story about transformation and connections. So it acts as a screen to protect the rail and the commuter, and not to have objects falling on the rails. To be able to change fences and window guards into flowers, it's fantastic. And here I've been working for the last three years with a South Bronx developer to bring art to life to low-income buildings and affordable housing. So each building has its own personality. And sometimes it's about a legacy of the neighborhood, like in Morrisania, about the jazz history. And for other projects, like in Paris, it's about the name of the street. It's called Rue des Prairies -- Prairie Street. So I brought back the rabbit, the dragonfly, to stay in that street.
Jedan drugi funkcionalni uradak nalazi se s južne strane Chicaga na stanici podzemne željeznice. Zove se ''Sjemenke budućnosti siju se Danas.'' Priča je to o transformaciji i poveznicama. Djeluje kao zastor koji štiti tračnice i putnika, od toga da različite stvari padaju na prugu. Moći pretvoriti ograde i štitnike za prozore u cvijeće, to je fantastično. Radila sam kroz posljednje tri godine s razvojnim radnikom iz Južnog Bronxa, na oživljavanju zgrada koje koriste ljudi sa slabijim primanjima kao i poticajne stanogradnje. Tako svaka zgrada dobije svoju osobnost. Ponekad se pak radi o nasljeđu jednog susjedstva, kao u Morrisaniji, o povijesti jazz-a. A kod drugih projekata, poput onog u Parizu, radi se o nazivu ulice. Zove se Rue des Prairies -- Prerijska ulica. Zato sam vratila zeca, vilinskog konjica, i postavila ih u tu ulicu.
And in 2009, I was asked to make a poster to be placed in the subway cars in New York City for a year. So that was a very captive audience. And I wanted to give them an escape. I created "All Around Town." It is a papercutting, and then after, I added color on the computer. So I can call it techno-crafted.
2009. godine zatražili su me da napravim plakat koji bi bio postavljen u podzemnu garažu u new York City-ju tijekom godine dana. To je bila prilično zasužnjena publika. I željela sam im otvoriti prostor za bijeg. Stvorila sam ''Po čitavom gradu.'' To je bio izrezak papira, i potom sam dodala boju putem kompjutora. Tako da mogu reći da je bio tehnološki obojen.
And along the way, I'm kind of making papercuttings and adding other techniques. But the result is always to have stories. So the stories, they have a lot of possibilities. They have a lot of scenarios. I don't know the stories. I take images from our global imagination, from cliché, from things we are thinking about, from history. And everybody's a narrator, because everybody has a story to tell. But more important is everybody has to make a story to make sense of the world. And in all these universes, it's like imagination is the vehicle to be transported with, but the destination is our minds and how we can reconnect with the essential and with the magic. And it's what story cutting is all about.
Usput na neki način izrađujem izreske od papira i dodajem druge tehnike. No rezultat je uvijek isti .- dobiti priče. Priče, dakle, imaju puno različitih mogućnosti. Imaju mnogo različitih scenarija. Ne znam priče. Uzimam slike iz globalne mašte, iz klišeja, iz stvari o kojima razmišljamo, iz povijesti. Na taj način svatko je narator, jer svatko ima priču koju želi ispričati. No, što je važnije jest, da svatko mora složiti priču kako bi svijet imao smisla. I u svim ovim svemirima mašta kao da se nalazi na biciklu kojim se vozika okolo, no odredište je u našem umu i u načinu na koji se ponovno povezujemo s onim suštinskim, onim magičnim. Upravo je to u srcu smisla izrezivanja papira.
(Applause)
(Pljesak.)