So I'm here to explain why I'm wearing these ninja pajamas. And to do that, I'd like to talk first about environmental toxins in our bodies. So some of you may know about the chemical Bisphenol A, BPA. It's a material hardener and synthetic estrogen that's found in the lining of canned foods and some plastics. So BPA mimics the body's own hormones and causes neurological and reproductive problems. And it's everywhere. A recent study found BPA in 93 percent of people six and older. But it's just one chemical. The Center for Disease Control in the U.S. says we have 219 toxic pollutants in our bodies, and this includes preservatives, pesticides and heavy metals like lead and mercury.
Ovdje sam kako bih objasnila zašto nosim ovu nindža pidžamu. A kako bih to napravila, voljela bih prvo govoriti o ekološkim toksinima u našim tijelima. Neki od vas možda znaju za kemikaliju Bisfenol A, BPA. To je očvrščivač materijala i sintetski estrogen koji se nalazi u oblaganju konzervirane hrane i nekih plastika. BPA imitira vlastite tjelesne hormone i uzrokuje neurološke i reproduktivne probleme. I posvuda je. Nedavna studija pronašla je BPA u 93 posto ljudi u dobi od šest pa nadalje. Ali to je samo jedna kemikalija. Centar za kontrolu bolesti u SAD-u kaže kako imamo 219 toksičnih onečišćujućih tvari u tijelima, a to uključuje prezervative, pesticide i teške metale poput olova i žive.
To me, this says three things. First, don't become a cannibal. Second, we are both responsible for and the victims of our own pollution. And third, our bodies are filters and storehouses for environmental toxins. So what happens to all these toxins when we die? The short answer is: They return to the environment in one way or another, continuing the cycle of toxicity. But our current funeral practices make the situation much worse. If you're cremated, all those toxins I mentioned are released into the atmosphere. And this includes 5,000 pounds of mercury from our dental fillings alone every year.
Meni ovo govori tri stvari. Prvo, nemojte postati kanibali. Drugo, odgovorni smo za vlastito onečišćenje i njegove smo žrtve. I treće, naša tijela su filteri i skladišta ekoloških toksina. Pa što se onda događa sa svim tim toksinima kad umremo? Kratki odgovor glasi: Vrate se u okoliš na ovaj ili onaj način, nastavljajuću otrovni krug. Ali naša trenutačna praksa pokapanja još više pogoršava situaciju. Ako se date kremirati, svi se ti toksini koje sam spomenula oslobađaju u atmosferu. A to uključuje otprilike 2.723 kilograma žive samo iz naših zubnih punjenja svake godine.
And in a traditional American funeral, a dead body is covered with fillers and cosmetics to make it look alive. It's then pumped with toxic formaldehyde to slow decomposition -- a practice which causes respiratory problems and cancer in funeral personnel. So by trying to preserve our dead bodies, we deny death, poison the living and further harm the environment. Green or natural burials, which don't use embalming, are a step in the right direction, but they don't address the existing toxins in our bodies. I think there's a better solution.
U tradicionalnom američkom pokopu, mrtvo tijelo se pokriva umetcima i kozmetikom da bi izgledalo živo. Onda se popuni toksičnim formaldehidom kako bi se usporilo raspadanje -- praksa koja izaziva probleme s disanjem i rak kod osoblja za sprovod. Tako da, pokušavajući očuvati naša mrtva tijela negiramo smrt, trujemo žive i nadalje štetimo okolišu. Zeleni ili prirodni pokopi, koji ne koriste balzamiranje, korak su u pravom smjeru, ali oni ne utječu na već postojeće toksine u našim tijelima. Mislim da postoji bolje rješenje.
I'm an artist, so I'd like to offer a modest proposal at the intersection of art, science and culture. The Infinity Burial Project, an alternative burial system that uses mushrooms to decompose and clean toxins in bodies. The Infinity Burial Project began a few years ago with a fantasy to create the Infinity Mushroom -- a new hybrid mushroom that would decompose bodies, clean the toxins and deliver nutrients to plant roots, leaving clean compost. But I learned it's nearly impossible to create a new hybrid mushroom. I also learned that some of our tastiest mushrooms can clean environmental toxins in soil. So I thought maybe I could train an army of toxin-cleaning edible mushrooms to eat my body.
Ja sam umjetnica, tako da bih željela ponuditi skromno rješenje na križanju umjetnosti, znanosti i kulture. The Infinity Burial Project, alternativni sistem pokopa koji koristi gljive koje razlažu i čiste toksine u tijelima. The Infinity Burial Project počeo je s radom nekoliko godina ranije s fantazijom o stvaranju vječne gljive -- nove hibridne gljive koja bi razlagala tijela, čistila toksine i dostavljala hranjive tvari korijenju biljaka, ostavljajući čisti kompost. Ali shvatila sam da je gotovo nemoguće stvoriti novu hibridnu gljivu. Također sam naučila da neke od naših najukusnijih gljiva mogu čistiti ekološke toksine u tlu. Tako sam pomislila da bih možda mogla istrenirati vojsku jestivih gljiva koje čiste toksine da pojedu moje tijelo.
So today, I'm collecting what I shed or slough off -- my hair, skin and nails -- and I'm feeding these to edible mushrooms. As the mushrooms grow, I pick the best feeders to become Infinity Mushrooms. It's a kind of imprinting and selective breeding process for the afterlife. So when I die, the Infinity Mushrooms will recognize my body and be able to eat it. All right, so for some of you, this may be really, really out there. (Laughter) Just a little.
Tako danas, skupljam ono što sam odbacila -- svoju kosu, kožu i nokte -- i time hranim te jestive gljive. Kako gljive rastu, izaberem najbolje hranioce koji postaju vječne gljive. To je vrsta otiskivanja i selektivnog uzgojnog procesa za zagrobni život. Tako da, kad umrem, vječne gljive će prepoznati moje tijelo i moći će ga pojesti. U redu, nekima od vas ovo se možda čini stvarno, stvarno ludo. (Smijeh) Samo malo.
I realize this is not the kind of relationship that we usually aspire to have with our food. We want to eat, not be eaten by, our food. But as I watch the mushrooms grow and digest my body, I imagine the Infinity Mushroom as a symbol of a new way of thinking about death and the relationship between my body and the environment. See for me, cultivating the Infinity Mushroom is more than just scientific experimentation or gardening or raising a pet, it's a step towards accepting the fact that someday I will die and decay. It's also a step towards taking responsibility for my own burden on the planet.
Shvaćam da ovo nije tip odnosa koji obično težimo imati s našom hranom. Želimo jesti našu hranu, a ne da ona jede nas. Ali kako gledam kako gljive rastu i probavljaju moje tijelo, zamišljam vječne gljive kao simbol novog načina razmišljanja o smrti i o odnosu mog tijela i okoliša. Vidite, za mene je kultiviranje vječnih gljiva više od pukog znanstvenog eksperimenta ili vrtlarenja ili brige o ljubimcu, to je iskorak prema prihvaćanju činjenice da ću jednog dana umrijeti i raspasti se. To je također iskorak prema prihvaćanju odgovornosti za moj vlastiti teret na planetu.
Growing a mushroom is also part of a larger practice of cultivating decomposing organisms called decompiculture, a concept that was developed by an entomologist, Timothy Myles. The Infinity Mushroom is a subset of decompiculture I'm calling body decompiculture and toxin remediation -- the cultivation of organisms that decompose and clean toxins in bodies.
Uzgoj gljive je također dio veće prakse kultiviranja raspadajućih organizama zvanih 'dekompikultura', pojam do kojeg je došao entomolog, Timothy Myles. Vječna gljiva je podskup 'dekompikulture' koji zovem tjelesnom 'dekompikulturom' i sanacijom toksina -- uzgoj organizama koji razlažu i čiste toksine u tijelima.
And now about these ninja pajamas. Once it's completed, I plan to integrate the Infinity Mushrooms into a number of objects. First, a burial suit infused with mushroom spores, the Mushroom Death Suit. (Laughter) I'm wearing the second prototype of this burial suit. It's covered with a crocheted netting that is embedded with mushroom spores. The dendritic pattern you see mimics the growth of mushroom mycelia, which are the equivalent of plant roots.
A sada o ovoj nindža pidžami. Kad bude gotova, planiram integrirati Vječne gljive u neke objekte. Prvo, odijelo za pokop u koje su unesene spore gljiva, Odijelo smrti od gljiva. (Smijeh) Nosim drugi prototip tog odijela. Pokriveno je kukičanom mrežom u koju su ugrađene spore gljiva. Dendritski uzorak koji vidite oponaša rast gljivnih micelija, koji su parnjak korijenju biljaka.
I'm also making a decompiculture kit, a cocktail of capsules that contain Infinity Mushroom spores and other elements that speed decomposition and toxin remediation. These capsules are embedded in a nutrient-rich jelly, a kind of second skin, which dissolves quickly and becomes baby food for the growing mushrooms. So I plan to finish the mushroom and decompiculture kit in the next year or two, and then I'd like to begin testing them, first with expired meat from the market and then with human subjects. And believe it or not, a few people have offered to donate their bodies to the project to be eaten by mushrooms.
Također pravim pribor za 'dekompikulturu', koktel kapsula koje sadrže spore Vječne gljive i druge elemente koji ubrzavaju raspad i sanaciju toksina. Te kapsule su ugrađene u žele bogat hranjivim tvarima, vrstu druge kože koja se raspada brzo i postaje hrana za bebe za rastuće gljive. Tako planiram završiti pribor za gljive i 'dekompikulturu' u sljedećih godinu ili dvije i tada bih htjela početi testirati ih, prvo mesom kojemu je izašao rok trajanja iz trgovine i onda ljudskim subjektima. I vjerovali ili ne, nekoliko ljudi se ponudilo donirati njihova tijela projektu da ih pojedu gljive.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
What I've learned from talking to these folks is that we share a common desire to understand and accept death and to minimize the impact of our death on the environment. I wanted to cultivate this perspective just like the mushrooms, so I formed the Decompiculture Society, a group of people called decompinauts who actively explore their postmortem options, seek death acceptance and cultivate decomposing organisms like the Infinity Mushroom. The Decompiculture Society shares a vision of a cultural shift, from our current culture of death denial and body preservation to one of decompiculture, a radical acceptance of death and decomposition.
Što sam ja naučila razgovarajući s ovim ljudima je to da dijelimo zajedničku želju da razumijemo i prihvatimo smrt i minimaliziramo učinak naše smrti na okoliš. Htjela sam uzgojiti ovu perspektivu jednako kao i gljive pa sam stvorila 'dekompikulturno društvo', grupu ljudi zvanih 'dekompinauti' koji aktivno istražuju svoje opcije poslije smrti, traže prihvaćanje smrti i uzgajaju razlagajuće organizme poput Vječne gljive. Dekompikulturno društvo dijeli viziju kulturne promjene, od naše trenutne kulture negiranja smrti i očuvanja tijela do one dekompikulturne, radikalno prihvaćanje smrti i raspadanja.
Accepting death means accepting that we are physical beings who are intimately connected to the environment, as the research on environmental toxins confirms. And the saying goes, we came from dust and will return to dust. And once we understand that we're connected to the environment, we see that the survival of our species depends on the survival of the planet. I believe this is the beginning of true environmental responsibility.
Prihvaćanje smrti znači prihvaćanje da smo mi fizička bića koja su prisno vezana uz okoliš, kao što istraživanje o ekološkim toksinima pokazuje. A izreka kaže da smo postali iz praha i da ćemo se u prah vratiti. A jednom kada shvatimo da smo vezani uz okoliš, vidjet ćemo da opstanak naših vrsta ovisi o opstanku planeta. Vjerujem da je ovo početak stvarne ekološke odgovornosti.
Thank you.
Hvala vam.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)