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.
我今天要跟各位談的是 為何我會穿上這忍者裝睡衣 在那之前,我想先談談 我們身體裡的環境毒素 在座有些人也許知道 BPA,也就是化學雙酚A 這是一種固化劑,也是一種合成雌激素 可以從罐頭食品的內裝 和一些塑膠製品中找到 雙酚A類似我們體內的荷爾蒙 會造成造成神經系統和生殖系統的問題 這種物質無所不在 一項最近的研究發現 六歲以上的人中有93%體內都有此種物質 但這只是其中一種化學物質 美國的疾病管制中心表示 我們的體內存在了219種毒素 當中包含有防腐劑、農藥 以及像是鉛和汞的重金屬
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.
對我而言,這代表了三件事 第一、不要當食人魔 第二、我們同時是汙染者 也是汙染的受害者 第三 我們的身體是 環境毒素的濾心也是倉庫 所以這所有的毒素在我們死後會變成如何呢? 簡單來說 它們會以各種方式回到環境中 繼續毒素的循環 但我們目前處理喪禮的方式 讓整個情況更加嚴重 如果是以火化的方式進行 我剛提到所有這些毒素會被釋放到大氣中 這包括5000磅的汞 這還單只是我們每年使用的補牙填充物而已
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.
而傳統的美國式喪禮 大體會覆蓋填充物和化妝品 要讓大體看起來有生命 而且會注射有毒的甲醛 去延緩大體腐敗 這種作法會造成葬儀社人員 罹患呼吸道疾病及癌症 為了保存我們的大體 我們拒絕接受死亡,卻荼毒活著的人 甚至傷害環境 環保或自然的墓葬,則不做防腐工作 那是方向較正確的處理方式 但還是沒有解決我們身體裡存在的毒素 我認為有更好的解決之道
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.
我是一位藝術家 我想提供一個 介於藝術、科學和文化 三者交會點間的婉轉建議 一個終極的喪禮計畫 一個替代性的殮葬方式 也就是使用蘑菇 來分解和清理體內的毒素 這個終極的喪禮計畫 起因於幾年前的一個想法 想創造出一種終極蘑菇 一種新型混種的蘑菇 可以分解身體、清理毒素 然後將養分傳送到植物根部 留下乾淨的堆肥 但我發現幾乎不可能 創造出這種新型混種蘑菇 我也學到 我們一些嘗起來美味的蘑菇 能夠清理土壤裡的環境毒素 這讓我覺得也許我能培養一群 可食用的清毒素的蘑菇 來分解我的身體
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.
今天我收集了一些我掉落或脫落的 頭髮、皮屑和指甲 然後施給這些可食用的蘑菇當作養分 當這些蘑菇在成長時 我選了長得最好的蘑菇 當作終極蘑菇 這很像為後世進行印痕作用 和選擇育種的過程 所以當我過世 這些終極蘑菇會認出我的大體 然後能夠分解我的大體 好吧,對在座某些人來說 這也許真的會實現 (笑聲) 有一點吧
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.
我意識到這並非 我們對於食物的某種認知 我們吃食物,但不是被食物吃 但當我看著這些蘑菇成長 分解消化我部分的身體 我想像這終極蘑菇 是一種新的象徵 象徵思考死亡以及我的身體和環境間的關係 看看我 培育終極蘑菇 並非只是科學實驗 或是園藝工作或養寵物 這是一種接納的步驟 接受有天我會死亡和腐敗的事實 這也一種步驟 要承擔責任 為這個地球承擔我自己帶來的負擔
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.
培育蘑菇也是培育 有生物分解力的有機體的大型實驗之一 這是一種生物分解藝術 (decompiculture) 是由Timothy Myles一位昆蟲學家 發展出的概念 終極蘑菇是生物分解藝術下的分支 我把它稱為人體分解藝術和毒素清理 就是培養生物有機體來 分解和清理體內毒素
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.
現在回來談談這忍者裝睡衣 如果完成 我預計將終極蘑菇和各式的物品結合 首先,做成一件壽衣 上頭布滿了蘑菇孢子 一件蘑菇做的壽衣 (笑聲) 我現在穿的是 第二款壽衣的雛形 這是針織成的網 上頭也嵌入了蘑菇孢子 各位看到的樹突狀圖案 模仿了蘑菇菌絲生長 這和植物的根相當類似
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.
我也做出了生物分解藝術的套件 雞尾酒式的膠囊 裡頭也有終極蘑菇的孢子 還有其他元素 能夠加快生物分解和毒素清理 這些膠囊中含有一種營養豐富的果凍 像是第二層皮膚 可以溶解的很快 然後變成成長中蘑菇的嬰兒食品 我預計要在明年或後年 完成培育蘑菇和生物分解藝術的套件 然後我想開始測試它們 會先拿超市裡過期的肉品測試 然後才會人體測試 不管各位相信與否 有少數人已經答應捐贈他們的大體參與這個計劃 讓蘑菇分解他們的大體
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
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.
從談這些故事中,我學到的是 我們有共同的慾望 想了解和接受死亡 同時降低死亡對環境的影響 我想培養這個概念 就像培育蘑菇一樣 所以我建構了一個生物分解藝術的社群 一群叫做生物分解藝術人士(decompinauts) 他們積極地探索身後事的選擇性 追求接納死亡 也幫助培育生物分解有機體 例如終極蘑菇 生物分解藝術的社群分享了 一種文化變遷的概念 從我們當前拒絕接受死亡和遺體保存的文化 變成生物分解藝術 並且理性的接受死亡和遺體分解
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.
接受死亡意味著 我們是自然的 我們和環境緊密的結合 就如同做環境研究時,那些毒素的存在一樣 老話一句 我們本是塵土,仍要歸於塵土 只要我們了解我們和環境是相連的 我們的生存 仰賴地球的生存 我相信這會是 真正環境責任承擔的開端
Thank you.
謝謝各位
(Applause)
(掌聲)