This story is about taking imagination seriously. Fourteen years ago, I first encountered this ordinary material, fishnet, used the same way for centuries. Today, I'm using it to create permanent, billowing, voluptuous forms the scale of hard-edged buildings in cities around the world. I was an unlikely person to be doing this. I never studied sculpture, engineering or architecture. In fact, after college I applied to seven art schools and was rejected by all seven.
Ova priča je o shvaćanju mašte ozbiljno. Prije 14 godina, prvi put sam se upoznala s tim običnim materijalom, mrežom za ribu, koja je korištena na isti način stoljećima. Danas, koristim je kako bih stvorila trajne, valovite, pohotljive oblike veličine zgrada s oštrim rubovima u gradovima diljem svijeta. Nije se činilo kao da sam baš ja osoba koja će to raditi. Nikada nisam studirala kiparstvo, inžinjerstvo ili arhitekturu. Zapravo, nakon fakulteta prijavila sam se na sedam umjetničkih škola i odbili su me na svih sedam.
I went off on my own to become an artist, and I painted for 10 years, when I was offered a Fulbright to India. Promising to give exhibitions of paintings, I shipped my paints and arrived in Mahabalipuram. The deadline for the show arrived -- my paints didn't. I had to do something. This fishing village was famous for sculpture. So I tried bronze casting. But to make large forms was too heavy and expensive. I went for a walk on the beach, watching the fishermen bundle their nets into mounds on the sand. I'd seen it every day, but this time I saw it differently -- a new approach to sculpture, a way to make volumetric form without heavy solid materials.
Otišla sam i sama postala umjetnica, i slikala sam 10 godina, kada mi je ponuđena Fullbright stipendija za Indiju. Obećala sam kako ću izložiti svoje slike, i dostavila sam svoje slike i stigla sam u Mahabalipuram. Datum izložbe je stigao -- moje slike nisu. Morala sam nešto učiniti. To ribarsko selo je bilo poznato po kiparstvu. Stoga sam probala s lijevanjem bronce. Ali za izradu velikih oblika ona je bila preteška i skupa. Otišla sam u šetnju po plaži, promatrajući ribare kako vežu svoje mreže na pješćane nasipe. Vidjela bih to svaki dan, ali ovaj put vidjela sam to drugačije -- novi pristup kiparstvu, način kako napraviti volumetrijske oblike bez teških čvrstih materijala.
My first satisfying sculpture was made in collaboration with these fishermen. It's a self-portrait titled "Wide Hips." (Laughter) We hoisted them on poles to photograph. I discovered their soft surfaces revealed every ripple of wind in constantly changing patterns. I was mesmerized. I continued studying craft traditions and collaborating with artisans, next in Lithuania with lace makers. I liked the fine detail it gave my work, but I wanted to make them larger -- to shift from being an object you look at to something you could get lost in.
Moja prva zadovoljvajuća skulptura je napravljena u suradnji s tim ribarima. To je autoportret nazvan "Široki kukovi." (Pljesak) Istaknuli smo ih na stupovima kako bi ih fotografirali. Primjetila sam kako je njihovu nježnu površinu otkrio svaki val vjetra u stalno drugačijim uzorcima. Bila sam očarana. Nastavila sam proučavati tradicije zanata i surađivati s artizanima, zatim u Litvi s izrađivačima vezica. Voljela sam fini detalj koji je moj rad pružao, ali željela sam ih izrađivati veće -- napraviti promjenu od objekta koji promatrate do nečega u čemu se možete izgubiti.
Returning to India to work with those fishermen, we made a net of a million and a half hand-tied knots -- installed briefly in Madrid. Thousands of people saw it, and one of them was the urbanist Manual Sola-Morales who was redesigning the waterfront in Porto, Portugal. He asked if I could build this as a permanent piece for the city. I didn't know if I could do that and preserve my art. Durable, engineered, permanent -- those are in opposition to idiosyncratic, delicate and ephemeral.
Vraćajući se u Indiju kako bi radila s tim ribarima, napravili smo mrežu od milijun i pol ručno vezanih čvorova -- koja je nakratko bila postavljena u Madridu. Tisuće ljudi je to vidjelo, a jedan od njih je bio i urbanist Manual Sola-Morales koji je redizajnirao rivu u Portu, Portugalu. On me pitao bih li mogla izraditi to kao trajni dio za grad. Nisam znala bih li mogla to učiniti i sačuvati svoju umjetnost. Izdržljiv, projektiran, trajan -- oni su u suprotnosti s idiosinkrazijskim, krhkim i kratkotrajnim.
For two years, I searched for a fiber that could survive ultraviolet rays, salt, air, pollution, and at the same time remain soft enough to move fluidly in the wind. We needed something to hold the net up out there in the middle of the traffic circle. So we raised this 45,000-pound steel ring. We had to engineer it to move gracefully in an average breeze and survive in hurricane winds. But there was no engineering software to model something porous and moving. I found a brilliant aeronautical engineer who designs sails for America's Cup racing yachts named Peter Heppel. He helped me tackle the twin challenges of precise shape and gentle movement.
Dvije godine sam tražila vlakno koji bi moglo preživjeti ultraljubičaste zrake, slani zrak, zagađenje, a u isto vrijeme da ostane dovoljno mekano kako bi se moglo tečno gibati na vjetru. Trebali smo nešto što će držati mrežu gore usred kružnog toka. Stoga smo podigli taj 20.500 kg težak čelični prsten. Trebali smo ga projektirati tako da se dostojanstveno pomiče na povjetarcu prosječne brzine te da preživi uraganske vjetrove. Ali nije postojao nikakav softver za projektiranje koji bi omogućio modeliranje nečeg poroznog i gipkog. Pronašla sam briljantnog aeronautičkog inžinjera koji dizajnira jedra za utrku jahti na Američkom kupu koji se zove Peter Heppel. On mi je pomogao da se uhvatim u koštac s dvojnim izazovom preciznog oblika i nježnih pokreta.
I couldn't build this the way I knew because hand-tied knots weren't going to withstand a hurricane. So I developed a relationship with an industrial fishnet factory, learned the variables of their machines, and figured out a way to make lace with them. There was no language to translate this ancient, idiosyncratic handcraft into something machine operators could produce. So we had to create one. Three years and two children later, we raised this 50,000-square-foot lace net. It was hard to believe that what I had imagined was now built, permanent and had lost nothing in translation.
Nisam to mogla izraditi na način koji sam poznavala, jer ručno vezani čvorovi ne bi izdržali uragan. Stoga sam stupila u kontakt s tvornicom industrijskih ribarskih mreža, naučila sam varijable njihovih strojeva, i pronašla način da napravim vezice s njima. Nije postojao nikakav jezik koji bi preveo taj drevni, idiosinkrazijski ručni rad u nešto što bi operatori na strojevima mogli proizvesti. Stoga smo morali stvoriti jedan. Tri godine i dvoje djece kasnije, podigli smo tu 4.650 četvornih metara veliku čipkastu mrežu. Bilo je teško vjerovati kako je ono što sam zamislila bilo sada izgrađeno, trajno i ništa nije bilo izgubljeno u prijevodu.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
This intersection had been bland and anonymous. Now it had a sense of place. I walked underneath it for the first time. As I watched the wind's choreography unfold, I felt sheltered and, at the same time, connected to limitless sky. My life was not going to be the same. I want to create these oases of sculpture in spaces of cities around the world. I'm going to share two directions that are new in my work.
To raskrižje je bilo blago i anonimno. Sada je imalo osjećaj prostora. Hodala sam ispod toga po prvi puta. Kako sam vidjela koreografiju vjetra kako se odmotava, osjećala sam se sklonjenom i, u isto vrijeme, povezanom s bezgraničnim nebom. Moj život neće biti isti. Želim izrađivati te oaze kiparstva na gradskim prostorima diljem svijeta. Podijeliti ću dva smjera koja su nova u mojem radu.
Historic Philadelphia City Hall: its plaza, I felt, needed a material for sculpture that was lighter than netting. So we experimented with tiny atomized water particles to create a dry mist that is shaped by the wind and in testing, discovered that it can be shaped by people who can interact and move through it without getting wet. I'm using this sculpture material to trace the paths of subway trains above ground in real time -- like an X-ray of the city's circulatory system unfolding.
Povijesna gradska vijećnica Philadelphia-e: to je trg, osjećala sam kako je trebao materijal za skulpturu koji je lakši od mreže. Stoga smo eksperimentirali sa sićušnim atomiziranim dijelićima vode kako bi stvorili suhu izmaglicu koju vjetar oblikuje. A u testiranju se otkrilo kako se mogu oblikovati i od ljudi koji su u interakciji i koji se kreću kroz nju bez da se smoče. Koristim taj kiparski materijal kako bih pratila puteve vlakova podzemne željeznice iznad zemlje u stvarnom vremenu -- poput rendgenskih zraka koje otkrivaju gradski sustav cirkulacije.
Next challenge, the Biennial of the Americas in Denver asked, could I represent the 35 nations of the Western hemisphere and their interconnectedness in a sculpture? (Laughter) I didn't know where to begin, but I said yes. I read about the recent earthquake in Chile and the tsunami that rippled across the entire Pacific Ocean. It shifted the Earth's tectonic plates, sped up the planet's rotation and literally shortened the length of the day. So I contacted NOAA, and I asked if they'd share their data on the tsunami, and translated it into this. Its title: "1.26" refers to the number of microseconds that the Earth's day was shortened.
Idući izazov, Bijenale Amerika u Denveru mogu li predstaviti 35 država zapadne hemisfere i njihovu međupovezanost u skulpturi. (Smijeh) Ne znam gdje da počnem, ali rekla sam da. Čitala sam o nedavnom potresu u Čileu i o tsunamiju koji je protutnjao preko cijelog Pacifičkog oceana. Pomaknuo je Zemljine tektonske ploče, ubrzao rotaciju planeta i doslovno skratio trajanje dana. Stoga sam kontaktirala NOAA, i pitala da li bi oni podijelili svoje podatke o tsunamiju, i preveli ih u ovo. Naslov: "1.26" se odnosi na broj mikrosekundi za koji je dan na Zemlji skraćen.
I couldn't build this with a steel ring, the way I knew. Its shape was too complex now. So I replaced the metal armature with a soft, fine mesh of a fiber 15 times stronger than steel. The sculpture could now be entirely soft, which made it so light it could tie in to existing buildings -- literally becoming part of the fabric of the city. There was no software that could extrude these complex net forms and model them with gravity. So we had to create it.
Nisam to mogla izraditi sa čeličnim prstenom, na način koji sam znala. Njegov oblik je sada bio prekompleksan. Stoga sam zamijenila metalnu armaturu s glatkom, finom mrežom vlakana 15 puta snažnijih od čelika. Skulptura je sada mogla biti potpuno mekana, što ju je učinilo toliko laganom da se mogla vezati na postojeće zgrade -- doslovno postajući dio tkanine grada. Nije postojao softver koji bi istisnuo te kompleksne mrežne oblike i modelirao ih s gravitacijom. Stoga smo ga morali proizvesti.
Then I got a call from New York City asking if I could adapt these concepts to Times Square or the High Line. This new soft structural method enables me to model these and build these sculptures at the scale of skyscrapers. They don't have funding yet, but I dream now of bringing these to cities around the world where they're most needed.
Zatim sam dobila poziv iz New York City-a pitajući me bih li mogla adaptirati te koncepte na Times Square-u ili na Highline-u. Ta nova mekana strukturalna metoda mi omogućuje da ih modeliram i izradim te skulpture veličine nebodera. Još uvijek nisu dobili financijsku podršku, ali sada sanjam da ih dovedem u gradove diljem svijeta gdje su najviše potrebni.
Fourteen years ago, I searched for beauty in the traditional things, in craft forms. Now I combine them with hi-tech materials and engineering to create voluptuous, billowing forms the scale of buildings. My artistic horizons continue to grow.
Prije 14 godina, tražila sam ljepotu u tradicionalnim stvarima, u izrađivačkim oblicima. Sada ih kombiniram s materijalima visoke tehnologije i projektiranjem kako bih stvorila pohotljive, valovite oblike veličine zgrada. Moji umjetnički horizonti se neprestano povećavaju.
I'll leave you with this story. I got a call from a friend in Phoenix. An attorney in the office who'd never been interested in art, never visited the local art museum, dragged everyone she could from the building and got them outside to lie down underneath the sculpture. There they were in their business suits, laying in the grass, noticing the changing patterns of wind beside people they didn't know, sharing the rediscovery of wonder.
Ostavit ću vas s ovom pričom. Dobila sam poziv od prijateljice iz Phoenix-a. Odvjetnica u uredu koju nikada nije zanimala umjetnost, koja nikada nije posjetila lokalni muzej umjetnosti, dovukla je sve koje je mogla iz te zgrade i navela ih da legnu vani ispod skulpture. Tamo su oni bili, u svojim poslovnim odjelima, ležeći na travi, primjećujući mjenjajuće uzorke vjetra pokraj ljudi koje nisu poznavali, dijeleći s njima ponovno otkrivenje čuda.
Thank you.
Hvala vam.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Hvala vam. Hvala vam. Hvala vam. Hvala vam. Hvala vam.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)