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.
我来解释一下 为什么我穿着这样一套忍者睡衣 我想首先谈谈我们体内含有的 对环境有害的毒素 你们可能有人知道 一种叫双酚A或BPA的化学物质 这是一种存在于罐装食品保护膜 和某些塑料制品中的 材料硬化剂和合成雌性激素 BPA模仿人体内激素 造成神经和生育方面的问题 到处都是这种物质 近期一项研究表明 在6岁和6岁以上的人群有93%体内都含有BPA 这还只是一种化学物质 美国疾病控制中心公布 人们体内存在219种有毒物质 其中包括防腐剂 杀虫剂 以及铅和汞等重金属
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.
在我看来 这说明了三点 第一 千万别吃人肉 第二 我们既是污染制造者 又是污染的受害者 第三 我们的身体成为了环境毒素的 过滤器和储藏室 那么我们死后 这些毒素怎么办呢 简单地说 这些毒素会通过各种途径回到环境 持续循环 然而 我们所进行的丧礼仪式 却加剧了形势的恶化 如果你被火化 我所提到的所有有毒物质都会被释放到大气中 其中包括每年用于补牙的 5000磅的汞
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.
传统的美国葬礼上 人们往往会给遗体化妆打蜡 让遗体看起来有栩栩如生 接着遗体被浸泡在有毒的福尔马林中 以防止腐败 这一做法会使殡仪人员的呼吸系统出现问题 并导致癌症 我们为保存遗体做了重重工作 结果只是粉饰死亡 毒害生灵 进而破坏了环境 无遗体防腐处理的绿色自然埋葬 方向是对的 但是这种方法并不能解决我们体内毒素的问题 我想到了一个更好的方法
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.
我是一个艺术家 我把艺术 科学 文化结合在一起 提出一个 谦卑的建议 无极入葬计划 这是一种采用蘑菇 来分解并清除 遗体内有毒物质的入葬方法 无限入葬计划 始于几年前 创造无极蘑菇的设想 这是一种新型杂交蘑菇 它能够分解尸体 清除毒素 并将养分输送给植物的根系 只留下无害的降解物 可惜 我后来知道 创造这样的蘑菇几乎是不可能的 我还得知 一些最可口的蘑菇 能够清洁土壤中的毒素 于是我想 或许我能够训练 一支清除毒素的食用蘑菇军团 来吃掉我的遗体
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.
现在 我把身上褪掉的物质收集起来 比如我的毛发 皮 指甲 喂给我这些食用蘑菇 等它们长大了 我会挑出最能吃的蘑菇 来做我的无极蘑菇 这是一种为来生所做的 胚教和选择性培育过程 我死后 无极蘑菇能够识别我的身体 并把它吃掉 对于大家有些人 这可能非常骇人听闻 (众人笑) 有一点吧
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.
我意识到 我们一般不会热衷于 与我们的食物建立这样的关系 我们吃食物 而不是被食物吃掉 然而 但我看着这些蘑菇长大 分解我的身体 我把这无极蘑菇 想像成看待死亡的一种新方式 以及我的身体与环境的关系 对于我而言 培育无极蘑菇 并不仅仅只是科学试验 或是养植物养宠物 而是直面现实 承认我总有一天会死去并腐烂 这也是 我为地球 承担起自己应尽的一部分义务
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.
种植蘑菇也是 以培育拥有分解能力的有机体 即“分解种植术” 的手段之一 这一概念是由昆虫学家 Timothy Myles提出的 无极蘑菇是分解种植的一个子集 人体分解种植和毒素清除法 就是培育能够分解并清除 遗体中毒素的有机生物
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.
现在我们看看这些忍者睡衣 一旦完成这些睡衣 我打算用无极蘑菇达到许多目的 首先 一套 布满蘑菇孢子的寿衣 即“蘑菇寿衣” (众人笑) 我所穿的 是这种寿衣 第二阶段的雏形 衣服上覆盖着钩制的网 蘑菇孢子就嵌在这些网丝中 这树状图形 仿照菌丝的形态 相当于植物的根部
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.
我还在制作一个 分解种植服 将装有蘑菇孢子 和加速分解化毒元素的胶囊 嵌在一起 这些胶囊被嵌在一层富有养料的凝胶物中 相当于第二层皮肤 它会很快被分解 成为蘑菇生长的养料 我计划在一到两年内完成蘑菇的种植 以及分解种植服 接着我会进行测试 首先用过期的肉来试验 然后再用人体部分 信不信由你 已经有不少人志愿为这个项目 把遗体捐出来让蘑菇吃掉
(Laughter)
(众人笑)
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.
在与这些人交谈的过程中 我得知我们都渴望 了解并接受死亡 最大程度降低我们的死给环境带来的影响 我希望能够像培植蘑菇一样 培植这种理念 所以我建立了分解种植术社团 这个组织的成员被称为“分解先锋” 他们大胆进行后现代行动 力求接受死亡 种植有分解能力的有机物 比如无极蘑菇 分解种植社团 改变了现有的态度 摒弃对死亡的否认或对人体进行防腐处理 赞同分解种植术 理智地接受死亡和遗体分解
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.
接受死亡意味着 承认我们的身体是有物质组成的 与环境密切相关 环境毒素研究证实了这一点 有句话说得好 我们来于尘土 归于尘土 一旦明白了我们与环境紧密相关 我们就能明白人类的存亡 取决于地球的存亡 我相信这是 对环境切实负责的第一步
Thank you.
感谢大家
(Applause)
(众人鼓掌)