Ten years ago, I had my first exhibition here. I had no idea if it would work or was at all possible, but with a few small steps and a very steep learning curve, I made my first sculpture, called "The Lost Correspondent." Teaming up with a marine biologist and a local dive center, I submerged the work off the coast of Grenada, in an area decimated by Hurricane Ivan. And then this incredible thing happened. It transformed. One sculpture became two. Two quickly became 26. And before I knew it, we had the world's first underwater sculpture park.
Pre deset godina sam ovde imao prvu izložbu. Pojma nisam imao da li će da funkcioniše ili da li je to uopšte moguće, ali uz nekoliko sitnih koraka i učeći veoma brzo, napravio sam svoju prvu skulpturu, nazvanu "Izgubljeni korespondent". Udružujući se s morskim biologom i lokalnim ronilačkim centrom, potopio sam delo blizu obala Grenade, u oblast koju je desetkovao uragan Ivan. A onda se desilo nešto neverovatno. Došlo je do preobražaja. Od jedne skulpture su nastale dve. Dve su brzo postale 26. I očas posla, imali smo prvi podvodni park skulptura na svetu.
In 2009, I moved to Mexico and started by casting local fisherman. This grew to a small community, to almost an entire movement of people in defense of the sea. And then finally, to an underwater museum, with over 500 living sculptures. Gardening, it seems, is not just for greenhouses. We've since scaled up the designs: "Ocean Atlas," in the Bahamas, rising 16 feet up to the surface and weighing over 40 tons, to now currently in Lanzarote, where I'm making an underwater botanical garden, the first of its kind in the Atlantic Ocean.
Godine 2009. sam se preselio u Meksiko i počeo sam da izlivam lokalne ribare. Ovo je naraslo do male zajednice, do skoro čitavog pokreta ljudi koji brane more. I, naposletku, do podvodnog muzeja, sa preko 500 živih skulptura. Baštovanstvo, kako se čini, nije samo za plastenike. Otada smo uvećali dizajne: Od "Okeanskog Atlasa" na Bahamima, koji se uspravlja 4,8 metara do površine i težak je preko 40 tona, do Lansarotea trenutno gde pravim podvodnu botaničku baštu, prvu te vrste u Atlantskom okeanu.
Each project, we use materials and designs that help encourage life; a long-lasting pH-neutral cement provides a stable and permanent platform. It is textured to allow coral polyps to attach. We position them down current from natural reefs so that after spawning, there's areas for them to settle. The formations are all configured so that they aggregate fish on a really large scale. Even this VW Beetle has an internal living habitat to encourage crustaceans such as lobsters and sea urchins.
Za svaki projekat koristimo materijale i dizajne koji potpomažu razvoj života; dugoročni pH neutralni cement pruža čvrstu i trajnu platformu. Njegova tekstura omogućuje koralnim polipima da se zakače. Smeštamo ih u smeru struja od prirodnih grebena, kako bi nakon mrešćenja imali prostora da se smeste. Formacije su sve oblikovane tako da privlače ribu u zaista velikom obimu. Čak i ova volksvagenova buba ima unutrašnje živo stanište kako bi podstakla ljuskare, poput jastoga i morskih ježeva.
So why exhibit my work in the ocean? Because honestly, it's really not easy. When you're in the middle of the sea under a hundred-foot crane, trying to lower eight tons down to the sea floor, you start to wonder whether I shouldn't have taken up watercolor painting instead.
Dakle, zašto izlažem svoja dela u okeanu? Jer, iskreno, to zaista nije lako. Kada ste u sred mora ispod krana od 30 metara, pokušavate da spustite osam tona dole na morsko tlo, počnete da se pitate da ne bi bilo bolje da ste se bavili slikarstvom.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
But in the end, the results always blow my mind.
Međutim na kraju me rezultati uvek raspamete.
(Music)
(Muzika)
The ocean is the most incredible exhibition space an artist could ever wish for. You have amazing lighting effects changing by the hour, explosions of sand covering the sculptures in a cloud of mystery, a unique timeless quality and the procession of inquisitive visitors, each lending their own special touch to the site.
Okean je najneverovatniji izložbeni prostor koji bi svaki umetnik poželeo. Imate divne svetlosne efekte koji se manjaju iz sata u sat, eksplozije peska koje prekrivaju skulpture oblakom tajanstvenosti, jedinstven vanvremenski kvalitet i povorku radoznalih posetilaca, gde svaki dodaje sopstveni poseban dodir tom mestu.
(Music)
(Muzika)
But over the years, I've realized that the greatest thing about what we do, the really humbling thing about the work, is that as soon as we submerge the sculptures, they're not ours anymore, because as soon as we sink them, the sculptures, they belong to the sea. As new reefs form, a new world literally starts to evolve, a world that continuously amazes me. It's a bit of a cliché, but nothing man-made can ever match the imagination of nature.
No tokom godina, shvatio sam da je najvažnije kod našeg posla, zaista smerna stvar kod ovog posla je da čim zaronimo ove skulpture, one nam više ne pripadaju jer čim ih potopimo, more ih prisvoji. Kako novi grebeni nastaju, novi svet bukvalno počinje da se razvija, svet koji ne prestaje da me oduševljava. Pomalo zvuči kao kliše, ali ništa što čovek napravi ne može da se meri s maštom prirode.
Sponges look like veins across the faces. Staghorn coral morphs the form. Fireworms scrawl white lines as they feed. Tunicates explode from the faces. Sea urchins crawl across the bodies feeding at night. Coralline algae applies a kind of purple paint. The deepest red I've ever seen in my life lives underwater. Gorgonian fans oscillate with the waves. Purple sponges breathe water like air. And grey angelfish glide silently overhead.
Sunđeri liče na vene po licu. Acropora cervicornis koral izobličava građu. Mnogočekinjasti crv škraba bele linije dok se hrani. Plaštaši eksplodiraju na licima. Morski ježevi puze po telima dok se hrane po noći. Koralne alge dodaju nekakvu ljubičastu boju. Najintenzivnija crvena boja, koju sam u životu video, živi pod vodom. Gorgonari osciliraju s talasima. Ljubičasti sunđeri udišu vodu kao vazduh. A sive anđeoske ribe tiho klize preko glava.
And the amazing response we've had to these works tells me that we've managed to plug into something really primal, because it seems that these images translate across the world, and that's made me focus on my responsibility as an artist and about what I'm trying to achieve. I'm standing here today on this boat in the middle of the ocean, and this couldn't be a better place to talk about the really, really important effect of my work. Because as we all know, our reefs are dying, and our oceans are in trouble.
A iznenađujući odgovor na naša dela mi govori da smo uspeli da se povežemo s nečim zaista iskonskim jer mi se čini da su ovi prizori lako razumljivi širom sveta, a to me je navelo da se usredsredim na odgovornost koju imam kao umetnik i na to šta pokušavam da postignem. Stojim ovde danas, na ovom brodu, u sred okeana i nema boljeg mesta da govorim o zaista, zaista važnim posledicama mog stvaralaštva. Jer, kao što svi znamo, naši grebeni umiru i naši okeani su u nevolji.
So here's the thing: the most used, searched and shared image of all my work thus far is this. And I think this is for a reason, or at least I hope it is. What I really hope is that people are beginning to understand that when we think of the environment and the destruction of nature, that we need to start thinking about our oceans, too.
Evo o čemu se radi: najkorišćeniji, najtraženiji i prizor koji je najviše deljen od svih mojih dosadašjih dela, je ovaj. I mislim da postoji razlog za to ili se bar nadam da postoji. Zaista se nadam da su ljudi počeli da shvataju da kada razmišljamo o okolini i uništenju prirode, da moramo takođe početi razmišljati o našim okeanima.
Since building these sites, we've seen some phenomenal and unexpected results. Besides creating over 800 square meters of new habitats and living reef, visitors to the marine park in Cancun now divide half their time between the museum and the natural reefs, providing significant rest for natural, overstressed areas. Visitors to "Ocean Atlas" in the Bahamas highlighted a leak from a nearby oil refinery. The subsequent international media forced the local government to pledge 10 million dollars in coastal cleanups. The sculpture park in Grenada was instrumental in the government designating a spot -- a marine-protected area. Entrance fees to the park now help fund park rangers to manage tourism and fishing quotas. The site was actually listed as a "Wonder of the World" by National Geographic.
Otkad smo napravili ova mesta, videli smo neke sjajne i neočekivane rezultate. Pored toga što smo stvorili preko 800 m kvadratnih novih staništa i živih grebena, posetioci morskog parka u Kankunu sada dele svoje vreme na pola između muzeja i prirodnih grebena, pružajući značajan odmor prirodnim, preopterećenim oblastima. Posetioci "Okeanskog Atlasa" na Bahamima su obelodanili curenje iz obližnje rafinerije nafte. Zatim su međunarodni mediji primorali lokalnu vladu da uloži 10 miliona dolara u čišćenje obale. Park skulptura u Grenadi je bio povod da vlada označi tačku - morsku oblast pod zaštitom. Provizije od ulaznica za park sada pomažu u finansiranju rendžera kako bi se kontrolisale turističke i pecaroške kvote. Mesto je zapravo "Nacionalna geografija" uvrstila na listu: "Čuda sveta".
So why are we all here today in this room? What do we all have in common? I think we all share a fear that we don't protect our oceans enough. And one way of thinking about this is that we don't regard our oceans as sacred, and we should. When we see incredible places -- like the Himalayas or the La Sagrada Família, or the Mona Lisa, even -- when we see these incredible places and things, we understand their importance. We call them sacred, and we do our best to cherish them, to protect them and to keep them safe. But in order to do that, we are the ones that have to assign that value; otherwise, it will be desecrated by someone who doesn't understand that value.
Dakle, zašto smo svi danas ovde u ovoj prostoriji? Šta nam je svima zajedničko? Mislim da svi delimo strah da ne štitimo dovoljno naše okeane. A jedan način razmišljanja o ovome je da ne smatramo naše okeane svetima, a trebalo bi. Kada vidimo neverovatna mesta - poput Himalaja ili Sagrada familije ili pak Mona Lize - kada vidimo ova neverovatna mesta i stvari, mi razumemo njihov značaj. Nazivamo ih svetim i dajemo sve od sebe da ih pazimo, štitimo i održavamo bezbednim. No, da bismo to postigli, mi smo ti koji moramo da im dodelimo vrednost; u suprotnom će ih desetkovati neko ko ne razume tu vrednost.
So I want to finish up tonight by talking about sacred things. When we were naming the site in Cancun, we named it a museum for a very important and simple reason: museums are places of preservation, of conservation and of education. They're places where we keep objects of great value to us, where we simply treasure them for them being themselves. If someone was to throw an egg at the Sistine Chapel, we'd all go crazy. If someone wanted to build a seven-star hotel at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, then we would laugh them out of Arizona. Yet every day we dredge, pollute and overfish our oceans. And I think it's easier for us to do that, because when we see the ocean, we don't see the havoc we're wreaking. Because for most people, the ocean is like this. And it's really hard to think of something that's just so plain and so enormous, as fragile. It's simply too massive, too vast, too endless. And what do you see here? I think most people actually look past to the horizon. So I think there's a real danger that we never really see the sea, and if we don't really see it, if it doesn't have its own iconography, if we miss its majesty, then there's a big danger that we take it for granted.
Zato želim da završim večeras govoreći o svetim stvarima. Kad smo davali naziv mestu u Kankunu, nazvali smo ga muzejem zbog važnog i jednostavnog razloga: muzeji su mesta čuvanja, konzervacije i obrazovanja. To su mesta na kojima čuvamo objekte koji su nam veoma važni, gde ih prosto cenimo zato što su to što jesu. Ako bi neko bacio jaje na Sikstinsku kapelu, svi bismo poludeli. Ako bi neko želeo da sagradi hotel sa sedam zvezdica u podnožju Velikog kanjona, s podsmehom bismo ga isterali iz Arizone. Pa ipak, svakodnevno kopamo, zagađujemo i pecanjem iscrpljujemo okean. I smatram da nam je to olakšano time što kada vidimo okean, ne vidimo štetu koju nanosimo. Jer za većinu ljudi, okean izgleda ovako. I zaista je teško razmišljati o nečemu što je tako otvoreno i tako ogromno, kao o nečemu krhkom. Jednostavno je suviše krupno, suviše prostrano, suviše beskonačno. A šta vidite ovde? Verujem da većina ljudi gleda iznad u horizont. Zato mislim da postoji prava opasnost da mi zapravo nikad ne vidimo more, a, ako ga ne vidimo, ako nema sopstvenu ikonografiju, ako nam izmiče njegova veličanstvenost, onda postoji velika opasnost da ga uzimamo zdravo za gotovo.
Cancun is famous for spring break, tequila and foam parties. And its waters are where frat boys can ride around on Jet Skis and banana boats. But because of our work there, there's now a little corner of Cancun that is simply precious for being itself. And we don't want to stop in Grenada, in Cancun or the Bahamas. Just last month, I installed these Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the Thames River, in central London, right in front of the Houses of Parliament, putting a stark message about climate change in front of the people that have the power to help change things.
Kankun je poznat zbog proletnjih raspusta, tekile i žurki pod penom. A na njegovim vodama brucoši voze vodene skije i banana čamce. Međutim, zahvaljujući našem delovanju, sada postoji maleni ćošak Kankuna koji je dragocen samo zbog sebe. I ne želimo da se zaustavimo na Grenadi, Kankunu ili Bahamima. Baš sam prošlog meseca postavio ova Četiri jahača apokalipse u Temzu, u centru Londona, tačno ispred Vestminsterske palate, ostavljajući ozbiljnu poruku o klimatskim promenama pred ljudima koji imaju moć da pomognu da se stvari promene.
Because for me, this is just the beginning of the mission. We want to team up with other inventors, creators, philanthropists, educators, biologists, to see better futures for our oceans. And we want to see beyond sculpture, beyond art, even.
Jer je za mene ovo tek početak misije. Želimo da se udružimo s drugim pronalazačima, stvaraocima, filantropima, nastavnicima, biolozima, kako bismo osmislili bolju budućnost za naše okeane. I želimo da gledamo mimo skulptura, čak i mimo umetnosti.
Say you're a 14-year-old kid from the city, and you've never seen the ocean. And instead of getting taken to the natural history museum or an aquarium, you get taken out to the ocean, to an underwater Noah's Ark, which you can access through a dry-glass viewing tunnel, where you can see all the wildlife of the land be colonized by the wildlife of the ocean. Clearly, it would blow your mind.
Recimo da ste 14-ogodišnje gradsko dete i nikada niste videli okean. I umesto da vas povedu u prirodnjačko-istorijski muzej ili u akvarijum, povedu vas do okeana, u podvodnu Nojevu barku, kojoj imate pristup preko ustakljenog tunela, gde biste mogli da vidite sav divlji svet s kopna kolonizovan od strane okeanske divljine. Jasno da bi vas oduševilo.
So let's think big and let's think deep. Who knows where our imagination and willpower can lead us? I hope that by bringing our art into the ocean, that not only do we take advantage of amazing creativity and visual impact of the setting, but that we are also giving something back, and by encouraging new environments to thrive, and in some way opening up a new -- or maybe it's a really old way of seeing the seas: as delicate, precious places, worthy of our protection.
Zato, razmišljajmo neskromno i razmišljajmo duboko. Ko zna gde nas naša mašta i snaga volje mogu odvesti? Nadam se da dovođenjem naše umetnosti u okean, ne samo da ćemo da iskoristimo neverovatnu kreativnost i vizuelni uticaj prostora, već da ćemo i da pružimo nešto za uzvrat i da ćemo da podstaknemo bujanje novih životnih sredina i da ćemo, na neki način, pokrenuti novi - ili je to možda zapravo stari način gledanja na mora: kao na osetljiva, dragocena mesta, koja zavređuju našu zaštitu.
Our oceans are sacred.
Naši okeani su sveti.
Thank you.
Hvala vam.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)