Two weeks ago I was in my studio in Paris, and the phone rang and I heard, "Hey, JR, you won the TED Prize 2011. You have to make a wish to save the world." I was lost. I mean, I can't save the world. Nobody can. The world is fucked up. Come on, you have dictators ruling the world, population is growing by millions, there's no more fish in the sea, the North Pole is melting and as the last TED Prize winner said, we're all becoming fat. (Laughter) Except maybe French people. Whatever. So I called back and I told her, "Look, Amy, tell the TED guys I just won't show up. I can't do anything to save the world." She said, "Hey, JR, your wish is not to save the world, but to change the world." "Oh, all right." (Laughter) "That's cool." I mean, technology, politics, business do change the world -- not always in a good way, but they do. What about art? Could art change the world?
Pre dve nedelje bio sam u svom studiju u Parizu, telefon je zazvonio i čuo sam, "Hej, JR, osvojio si nagradu TED Prize 2011. Moraš da poželiš želju da bi spasao svet." Pogubio sam se. Ne mogu da spasem svet; niko ne može. Svet je sjeban. Hajde, diktatori vladaju svetom, populacija raste u milionima, nema više ribe u moru, Severni pol se topi i kako je rekao poslednji dobitnik TED Prize, svi postajemo debeli. (smeh) Osim možda Francuza. Kako god. Pozvao sam je i rekao, "Vidi, Ejmi, reci ljudima u TED-u da se neću pojaviti. Ne mogu nikako da spasem svet." A ona je rekla, "Hej, JR, tvoja želja nije da spaseš svet, nego da ga promeniš". "Aaa, u redu." (smeh) "To je kul." Mislim, tehnologija, polika, biznis, oni menjaju svet - ne uvek na dobar način, ali menjaju. Šta je sa umetnošću? Može li umetnost da promeni svet?
I started when I was 15 years old. And at that time, I was not thinking about changing the world. I was doing graffiti -- writing my name everywhere, using the city as a canvas. I was going in the tunnels of Paris, on the rooftops with my friends. Each trip was an excursion, was an adventure. It was like leaving our mark on society, to say, "I was here," on the top of a building.
Počeo sam kada sam imao 15 godina. U to vreme nisam mislio o menjanju sveta; pisao sam grafite - potpisivao se svuda, koristeći grad kao platno. Išao sam u tunele Pariza, na krovove sa prijateljima. Svako putovanje bilo je ekskurzija, bilo je avantura. Kao da smo ostavljali svoj trag na društvo, da kažemo "Bio sam ovde" na vrhu zgrade.
So when I found a cheap camera on the subway, I started documenting those adventures with my friends and gave them back as photocopies -- really small photos just that size. That's how, at 17 years old, I started pasting them. And I did my first "expo de rue," which means sidewalk gallery. And I framed it with color so you would not confuse it with advertising. I mean, the city's the best gallery I could imagine. I would never have to make a book and then present it to a gallery and let them decide if my work was nice enough to show it to people. I would control it directly with the public in the streets.
Kada sam pronašao jevtin foto aparat u metrou, počeo sam da beležim te avanture sa prijateljima i davao sam im fotokopije - male fotografije, ove veličine. Tako sam, sa 17 godina, počeo da ih postavljam. Imao sam prvu izložbu "de rue" što znači galerija na ulici. Uokvirio sam slike bojom kako ih ne biste pobrkali sa reklamama. Mislim, grad je najbolja galerija koju mogu da zamislim. Ne moram nikad da napravim portfolio i predstavim ga u galeriji i ostavim ih da odlučuju da li je moj rad dovoljno dobar da se pokaže ljudima. Direktno sam mogao da ga kontrolišem sa ljudima na ulici.
So that's Paris. I would change -- depending on the places I would go -- the title of the exhibition. That's on the Champs-Elysees. I was quite proud of that one. Because I was just 18 and I was just up there on the top of the Champs-Elysees. Then when the photo left, the frame was still there.
To je Pariz. U zavisnosti od mesta na koja bih išao, menjao sam naziv izložbe. Ova je na Šanzelizeu. Na nju sam prilično ponosan. Imao sam samo 18 godina i bio sam na vrhu Šanzelizea. Onda kada je fotka nestala, ram je i dalje stajao.
(Laughter)
(smeh)
November 2005: the streets are burning. A large wave of riots had broken into the first projects of Paris. Everyone was glued to the TV, watching disturbing, frightening images taken from the edge of the neighborhood. I mean, these kids, without control, throwing Molotov cocktails, attacking the cops and the firemen, looting everything they could in the shops. These were criminals, thugs, dangerous, destroying their own environment.
Novembar 2005: ulice su u plamenu. Snažan talas nemira zahvatio je delove Pariza. Svi su bili prilepljeni za TV, gledali uznemirujuće, zastrašujuće slike zabeležene na ivici tog dela grada. Mislim, ti klinci su bili van kontrole, bacali Molotovljeve koktele, napadali policajce i vatrogasce, pljačkali sve što su našli u prodavnicama. To su bili kriminalci, varalice, opasni su i napadali su sopstvenu okolinu.
And then I saw it -- could it be possible? -- my photo on a wall revealed by a burning car -- a pasting I'd done a year earlier -- an illegal one -- still there. I mean, these were the faces of my friends. I know those guys. All of them are not angels, but they're not monsters either. So it was kind of weird to see those images and those eyes stare back at me through a television.
A onda sam video - da li je moguće? - na zidu je moja fotka, iza upaljenog automobila - jedna koju sam zalepio prethodne godine - ilegalno - još uvek stoji. Mislim, to su lica mojih prijatelja. Poznajem te momke. Nisu baš svi anđeli, ali nisu ni čudovišta. Bilo je malo čudno videti te slike i te oči kako me gledaju kroz televizor.
So I went back there with a 28 mm lens. It was the only one I had at that time. But with that lens, you have to be as close as 10 inches from the person. So you can do it only with their trust. So I took full portraits of people from Le Bosquet. They were making scary faces to play the caricature of themselves. And then I pasted huge posters everywhere in the bourgeois area of Paris with the name, age, even building number of these guys. A year later, the exhibition was displayed in front of the city hall of Paris. And we go from thug images, who've been stolen and distorted by the media, who's now proudly taking over his own image. That's where I realized the power of paper and glue. So could art change the world?
Tako da sam se vratio tamo sa objektivom od 28mm. Samo taj sam imao u to vreme. Ali sa tim objektivom morate biti udaljeni samo 20cm od osobe. Možete je slikati samo uz puno poverenje. Napravio sam četiri portreta ljudi iz Le Bosketa. Pravili su strašne grimase kako bi napravili karikature od sebe. Potom sam zalepio ogromne postere svuda u bogatom kraju Pariza, sa imenima, godištem, čak i brojem zgrade ovih momaka. Godinu dana kasnije, izložba je postavljena ispred Gradske kuće u Parizu. I mi polazimo od preuzetih slika, koje su ukradene i iskrivljene od strane medija, i koje sada ponosno preuzimaju svoj sopstveni lik . Tada sam shvatio kolika je moć papira i lepka. Dakle, može li umetnost promeniti svet?
A year later, I was listening to all the noise about the Middle East conflict. I mean, at that time, trust me, they were only referring to the Israeli and Palestinian conflict. So with my friend Marco, we decided to go there and see who are the real Palestinians and who are the real Israelis. Are they so different? When we got there, we just went in the street, started talking with people everywhere, and we realized that things were a bit different from the rhetoric we heard in the media. So we decided to take portraits of Palestinians and Israelis doing the same jobs -- taxi-driver, lawyer, cooks. Asked them to make a face as a sign of commitment. Not a smile -- that really doesn't tell about who you are and what you feel. They all accepted to be pasted next to the other. I decided to paste in eight Israeli and Palestinian cities and on both sides of the wall. We launched the biggest illegal art exhibition ever. We called the project Face 2 Face.
Godinu dana kasnije, slušao sam svu buku oko konflikta na Bliskom Istoku. Mislim, verujte mi, u to vreme se mislilo samo na konflikt između Izraelaca i Palestinaca. Odlučio sam da odem tamo sa prijateljem Markom, da vidimo ko su pravi Palestinci, a ko pravi Izraelci. Da li su toliko različiti? Kada smo stigli tamo samo smo izašli na ulicu, počeli da razgovaramo sa ljudima naokolo i shvatili smo da su stvari malo drugačije od onoga što smo čuli u medijima. Onda smo odlučili da napravimo portrete Palestinaca i Izraelaca koji se bave istim poslovima - vozači taksija, advokati, kuvari. Zamolili smo ih da naprave grimasu. Ne osmeh - koji ustvari ne govori ništa o tome ko ste i kako se osećate. Svi su prihvatili da budu zalepljeni jedni pored drugih. Odlučio sam da lepim u osam izraelskih i palestinskih gradova i na obe strane zida. Započeli smo najveću ilegalnu izložbu u istoriji. Projekat smo nazvali "Licem u lice".
The experts said, "No way. The people will not accept. The army will shoot you, and Hamas will kidnap you." We said, "Okay, let's try and push as far as we can." I love the way that people will ask me, "How big will my photo be?" "It will be as big as your house." When we did the wall, we did the Palestinian side. So we arrived with just our ladders and we realized that they were not high enough. And so Palestinians guys say, "Calm down. No wait. I'm going to find you a solution." So he went to the Church of Nativity and brought back an old ladder that was so old that it could have seen Jesus being born. (Laughter) We did Face 2 Face with only six friends, two ladders, two brushes, a rented car, a camera and 20,000 square feet of paper. We had all sorts of help from all walks of life.
Stručnjaci su rekli, "Nema šanse. Ljudi neće to prihvatiti. Vojska će vas ubiti, Hamas će vas kidnapovati." Rekli smo, "Okej, pokušaćemo da vidimo dokle možemo da idemo." Volim kako su me ljudi pitali, "Kolika će biti moja fotografija?" "Biće velika kao tvoja kuća." Kada smo lepili na ovaj zid, bili smo na palestinskoj strani. Stigli smo samo sa merdevinama i shvatili da nisu dovoljno visoke. Palestinski momak je rekao, "Opustite se. Čekajte, pronaći ću vam rešenje." Otišao je do crkve Hristovog rođenja i doneo stare merdevine, toliko stare da sam mogao da vidim kako se Isus rađa. (smeh) "Licem u lice" smo uradili samo nas šestoro, sa dvoje merdevina, dve četke, iznajmljenim automobilom, foto aparatom i 6,5 kvadratnih kilometara papira. Pomogli su nam razni ljudi iz svih sfera života.
Okay, for example, that's Palestine. We're in Ramallah right now. We're pasting portraits -- so both portraits in the streets in a crowded market. People come around us and start asking, "What are you doing here?" "Oh, we're actually doing an art project and we are pasting an Israeli and a Palestinian doing the same job. And those ones are actually two taxi-drivers." And then there was always a silence. "You mean you're pasting an Israeli face -- doing a face -- right here?" "Well, yeah, yeah, that's part of the project." And I would always leave that moment, and we would ask them, "So can you tell me who is who?" And most of them couldn't say.
Okej, na primer ovo je u Palestini. Trenutno smo u Ramali. Lepimo portrete - oba portreta na ulicama na prepunoj pijaci. Ljudi nam prilaze i počinju da pitaju, "Šta radite ovde?" "O, pa radimo jedan umetnički projekat i lepimo lica Izraelaca i Palestinaca koji rade isti posao. Ovo ovde su dva vozača taksija." Onda bi uvek usledila tišina. "Misliš, lepite lice Izraelca - njegovo lice ovde?" "Pa, da, da, to je deo projekta." Uvek bih napravio pauzu, a onda bismo ih upitali, "Pa, možete li mi reći ko je ko?" Većina nije znala da kaže.
(Applause)
(aplauz)
We even pasted on Israeli military towers, and nothing happened. When you paste an image, it's just paper and glue. People can tear it, tag on it, or even pee on it -- some are a bit high for that, I agree -- but the people in the street, they are the curator. The rain and the wind will take them off anyway. They are not meant to stay. But exactly four years after, the photos, most of them are still there. Face 2 Face demonstrated that what we thought impossible was possible -- and, you know what, even easy. We didn't push the limit; we just showed that they were further than anyone thought.
Čak smo lepili na izraelske vojne kule i ništa se nije desilo. Kada zalepite sliku, to je samo papir i lepak. Ljudi mogu da ga pocepaju, da se potpišu, da piške na njih - neki su previsoko, slažem se - ali ljudi na ulici su kustosi. Kiša i vetar će ih svakako skinuti. Nije im suđeno da ostanu. Ali tačno četiri godine kasnije, većina fotografija je još uvek tamo. Projekat "Licem u lice" je pokazao da je moguće ono za šta smo mislili da nije - i znate šta, čak je i lako. Nismo pomerali granice, samo smo pokazali da smo dalje nego što su ljudi mislili.
In the Middle East, I experienced my work in places without [many] museums. So the reactions in the street were kind of interesting. So I decided to go further in this direction and go in places where there were zero museums. When you go in these developing societies, women are the pillars of their community, but the men are still the ones holding the streets. So we were inspired to create a project where men will pay tribute to women by posting their photos. I called that project Women Are Heroes. When I listened to all the stories everywhere I went on the continents, I couldn't always understand the complicated circumstances of their conflict. I just observed. Sometimes there was no words, no sentence, just tears. I just took their pictures and pasted them.
Na Bliskom istoku, doživeo sam svoj rad u mestima koja nemaju mnogo muzeja. Stoga je taj pravac na ulici bio prilično zanimljiv. Odlučio sam da odem dalje u tom pravcu i odem u mesta gde uopšte nema muzeja. Kada odete u ta društva u razvoju, žene su stubovi tih zajednica, ali muškarci su i dalje ti koji vladaju ulicama. Bili smo inspirisani da uradimo projekat gde bi muškarci odali počast ženama tako što bi lepili njihove fotke. Projekat sam nazvao "Žene su heroji". Kada sam slušao sve priče na svim kontinentima na kojima sam bio, nisam uvek mogao da razumem složene okolnosti njihovog konflikta, samo sam posmatrao. Ponekad nije bilo reči, nikakvih rečenica, samo suze. Samo sam ih slikao i zalepio.
Women Are Heroes took me around the world. Most of the places I went to, I decided to go there because I've heard about it through the media. So for example, in June 2008, I was watching TV in Paris, and then I heard about this terrible thing that happened in Rio de Janeiro -- the first favela of Brazil named Providencia. Three kids -- that was three students -- were [detained] by the army because they were not carrying their papers. And the army took them, and instead of bringing them to the police station, they brought them to an enemy favela where they get chopped into pieces. I was shocked. All Brazil was shocked. I heard it was one of the most violent favelas, because the largest drug cartel controls it. So I decided to go there.
"Žene su heroji" me je poveo oko sveta. Na većinu mesta na koja sam otišao, odlučio sam da odem jer sam pre toga čuo o tome u medijima. Na primer, u junu 2008. sam gledao TV u Parizu, kada sam čuo za užasan događaj u Rio de Žaneiru. U prvoj faveli Brazila, koja se zove Providencia. Troje klinaca - bilo je to troje studenata - je privela vojska jer nisu sa sobom nosili dokumenta. Vojska ih je odvela i umesto da ih odvede u policijsku stanicu, odveli su ih u neprijateljsku favelu gde su bili isečeni u komade. Bio sam šokiran. Ceo Brazil je bio šokiran. Čuo sam da je to jedna od najnasilnijih favela jer je kontroliše najveći narko kartel. Pa sam odlučio da odem tamo.
When I arrived -- I mean, I didn't have any contact with any NGO. There was none in place -- no association, no NGOs, nothing -- no eyewitnesses. So we just walked around, and we met a woman, and I showed her my book. And she said, "You know what? We're hungry for culture. We need culture out there." So I went out and I started with the kids. I just took a few photos of the kids, and the next day I came with the posters and we pasted them. The day after, I came back and they were already scratched. But that's okay. I wanted them to feel that this art belongs to them.
Kada sam stigao - mislim, nisam imao nikakav kontakt s nekom NVO. Ne postoje NVO - nema turističkih agencija, NVO, ničega - nema očevidaca. Šetali smo naokolo i sreli smo jednu ženu kojoj sam pokazao svoj portfolio. Rekla je, "Znate šta? Mi smo gladni kulture. Ovde nam je potrebna kultura." Onda sam krenuo, počeo sam sa decom. Napravio sam nekoliko fotki dece i došao sam sledećeg dana sa posterima i zalepili smo ih. Sledećeg dana kad sam se vratio, već su bili skinuti. Ali to je u redu. Želeo sam da osete da im ova umetnost pripada.
Then the next day, I held a meeting on the main square and some women came. They were all linked to the three kids that got killed. There was the mother, the grandmother, the best friend -- they all wanted to shout the story. After that day, everyone in the favela gave me the green light. I took more photos, and we started the project. The drug lords were kind of worried about us filming in the place, so I told them, "You know what? I'm not interested in filming the violence and the weapons. You see that enough in the media. What I want to show is the incredible life and energy. I've been seeing it around me the last few days." So that's a really symbolic pasting, because that's the first one we did that you couldn't see from the city. And that's where the three kids got arrested, and that's the grandmother of one of them. And on that stairs, that's where the traffickers always stand and there's a lot of exchange of fire. Everyone there understood the project. And then we pasted everywhere -- the whole hill.
Onda sam narednog dana održao okupljanje na glavnom trgu i neke od žena su došle. Sve su imale neke veze sa tri momka koji su ubijeni. Bile su majke, bake, najbolje prijateljice. Sve su želele da razglase priču. Posle tog dana, svi iz favele su mi dali zeleno svetlo. Napravio sam još fotki i počeli smo projekat. Narko bosovi su bili malo zabrinuti zbog toga što snimamo tamo, pa sam im rekao, "Znate šta? Ne interesuje me da snimam nasilje i oružje. Toga ima dovoljno u medijima. Ja želim da prikažem ovaj neverovatan život. Viđam ga oko sebe poslednjih nekoliko dana." To je dakle bilo veoma simbolično lepljenje, jer je to prvo koje smo uradili, a da nije moglo da se vidi iz grada. A ovde je troje momaka uhapšeno, a ovo je baka jednog od njih. A te stepenice su mesto na kom uvek stoje dileri i tu se mnogo puca. Svi su razumeli projekat. I onda smo oblepili sve - celo brdo.
(Applause)
(aplauz)
What was interesting is that the media couldn't get in. I mean, you should see that. They would have to film us from a really long distance by helicopter and then have a really long lens, and we would see ourselves, on TV, pasting. And they would put a number: "Please call this number if you know what's going on in Providencia." We just did a project and then left so the media wouldn't know. So how can we know about the project? So they had to go and find the women and get an explanation from them. So you create a bridge between the media and the anonymous women.
Interesantno je bilo da mediji nisu mogli da priđu. Mislim, trebalo je videti to. Morali su da nas snimaju sa velike udaljenosti iz helikoptera sa dugim objektivom i videli bismo se na TV-u kako lepimo. A bi objavili broj: "Molimo pozovite ovaj broj ukoliko znate šta se dešava u Providenciji." Samo smo uradili jedan projekat i otišli, da mediji ne bi znali. I kako možemo saznati nešto o projektu? Morali su da idu i traže te žene i da od njih dobiju objašnjenje. Tako smo napravili most između medija i tih anonimnih žena.
We kept traveling. We went to Africa, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kenya. In war-torn places like Monrovia, people come straight to you. I mean, they want to know what you're up to. They kept asking me, "What is the purpose of your project? Are you an NGO? Are you the media?" Art. Just doing art. Some people question, "Why is it in black and white? Don't you have color in France?" (Laughter) Or they tell you, "Are these people all dead?" Some who understood the project would explain it to others. And to a man who did not understand, I heard someone say, "You know, you've been here for a few hours trying to understand, discussing with your fellows. During that time, you haven't thought about what you're going to eat tomorrow. This is art." I think it's people's curiosity that motivates them to come into the projects. And then it becomes more. It becomes a desire, a need, an armor. On this bridge that's in Monrovia, ex-rebel soldiers helped us pasting a portrait of a woman that might have been raped during the war. Women are always the first ones targeted during conflict.
Nastavili smo da putujemo. Išli smo u Afriku, Sudan, Sijera Leone, Liberiju, Keniju. U ratom razrušenim mestima poput Monrovije, ljudi vas direktno prilaze. Žele da znaju šta ste naumili. Stalno su me pitali, "Koja je svrha vašeg projekta? Jeste vi NVO? Jeste vi neki mediji?" Umetnost. Samo umetnost. Neki ljudi pitaju, "Zašto je crno-belo? Zar u Francuskoj nemate boje?" (smeh) Ili će vam reći, "Jesu svi ovi ljudi mrtvi?" Neki koji bi razumeli projekat, objašnjavali bi drugima. A čuo sam da je neko rekao jednom čoveku koji nije razumeo, "Znate, ovde ste nekoliko sati i pokušavate da razumete, diskutujete o tome sa prijateljima. Tokom tog vremena niste razmišljali o tome šta ćete sutra jesti. To je umetnost." Mislim da ljude njihova radoznalost motiviše da se pridruže projektu. A onda to postaje više od toga. Postaje želja, potreba. Na ovom mostu u Monroviji, bivši pobunjenik vojnik nam pomaže da zalepimo portret žene koja je možda silovana za vreme rata. Žene uvek prve nastradaju tokom konflikta.
This is Kibera, Kenya, one of the largest slums of Africa. You might have seen images about the post-election violence that happened there in 2008. This time we covered the roofs of the houses, but we didn't use paper, because paper doesn't prevent the rain from leaking inside the house -- vinyl does. Then art becomes useful. So the people kept it. You know what I love is, for example, when you see the biggest eye there, there are so [many] houses inside. And I went there a few months ago -- photos are still there -- and it was missing a piece of the eye. So I asked the people what happened. "Oh, that guy just moved." (Laughter) When the roofs were covered, a woman said as a joke, "Now God can see me." When you look at Kibera now, they look back.
Ovo je Kibera, u Keniji, jedan od najvećih slamova u Africi. Možda ste videli slike nasilja, koje se dešavalo posle izbora 2008. Ovog puta smo pokrili krovove kuća, ali nismo koristili papir jer on ne sprečava kišu da procuri u kuće - vinil sprečava. Onda umetnost postaje korisna. I ljudi je zadrže. Sviđa mi se što, na primer, tu gde vidite to najveće oko ima mnogo kuća ispod. I kada sam bio tamo pre nekoliko meseci - fotke su i dalje tu - ali nedostaje deo tog oka. Pitao sam ljude šta se desilo. "O, pa čovek se samo odselio." (smeh) Kada smo pokrili krovove, jedna žena se našalila, "Sad Bog može da me vidi." Sada, kada pogledate Kiberu, oni uzvraćaju pogled.
Okay, India. Before I start that, just so you know, each time we go to a place, we don't have authorization, so we set up like commandos -- we're a group of friends who arrive there, and we try to paste on the walls. But there are places where you just can't paste on a wall. In India it was just impossible to paste. I heard culturally and because of the law, they would just arrest us at the first pasting. So we decided to paste white, white on the walls. So imagine white guys pasting white papers. So people would come to us and ask us, "Hey, what are you up to?" "Oh, you know, we're just doing art." "Art?" Of course, they were confused. But you know how India has a lot of dust in the streets, and the more dust you would have going up in the air, on the white paper you can almost see, but there is this sticky part like when you reverse a sticker. So the more dust you have, the more it will reveal the photo. So we could just walk in the street during the next days and the photos would get revealed by themselves. (Applause) Thank you. So we didn't get caught this time.
Okej, Indija. Pre nego što počnem, samo da znate, kad putujemo mi nemamo turističke agente, idemo kao komandosi - grupa prijatelja koja stigne tamo i pokušavamo da lepimo na zidove. Ali postoje mesta gde ne možete da lepite na zidove. U Indiji je nemoguće lepiti. Čuo sam da bi nas, zbog kulture i zakona, samo uhapsili pri prvom lepljenju. Odlučili smo da zalepimo belo, beli papir na zidove. Zamislite belce koji lepe bele papire. Ljudi bi nam prilazili i pitali nas "Hej, šta to radite?" "O, znate, bavimo se umetnošću." "Umetnošću?" Naravno, bili su zbunjeni. Ali znate kako u Indiji ima mnogo prašine na ulicama i što je više prašine koja je u vazduhu, skoro možete videti da na belom papiru ima taj lepljivi deo, kao kada okrenete nalepnicu. Što ima više prašine, više se vidi fotka. Mogli smo samo da dođemo na ulice narednog dana a fotografije bi se same otkrile. (aplauz) Hvala. Ovog puta nas nisu uhvatili.
Each project -- that's a film from Women Are Heroes. (Music) Okay. For each project we do a film. And most of what you see -- that's a trailer from "Women Are Heroes" -- its images, photography, taken one after the other. And the photos kept traveling even without us. (Laughter) (Applause) Hopefully, you'll see the film, and you'll understand the scope of the project and what the people felt when they saw those photos. Because that's a big part of it. There's layers behind each photo. Behind each image is a story.
Svaki projekat, to je snimak iz "Žene su heroji". (muzika) Okej. Za svaki projekat snimamo film. I većinom vidite, to je trejler za "Žene su heroji" - slike, fotografije, slikane jedna za drugom. A fotke nastavljaju da putuju i bez nas. (smeh) (aplauz) Nadam se da ćete videti film i razumećete veličinu projekta i šta su ljudi osetili kad su videli te fotke. Jer je to veliki deo toga. Iza svake slike postoje slojevi. Iza svake slike postoji priča.
Women Are Heroes created a new dynamic in each of the communities, and the women kept that dynamic after we left. For example, we did books -- not for sale -- that all the community would get. But to get it, they would have to [get] it signed by one of the women. We did that in most of the places. We go back regularly. And so in Providencia, for example, in the favela, we have a cultural center running there. In Kibera, each year we cover more roofs. Because of course, when we left, the people who were just at the edge of the project said, "Hey, what about my roof?" So we decided to come the year after and keep doing the project.
"Žene su heroji" je stvorio novu dinamiku u svakoj od zajednica i žene su zadržale tu dinamiku posle našeg odlaska. Na primer, štampali smo knjige - ne za prodaju - koje bi sve zajednice dobile. Ali da biste dobili knjigu, jedna od žena je morala da je potpiše. U većini mesta smo to uradili. Redovno se vraćamo. U Providenciji, na primer, u faveli, imamo kontrolni centar koji tamo radi. U Kiberi svake godine pokrijemo još krovova. Jer naravno, kad smo otišli, ljudi koji su bili na ivici projekta pitali su, "A šta je s mojim krovom?" Pa smo odlučili da se vratimo sledeće godine i nastavimo sa projektom.
A really important point for me is that I don't use any brand or corporate sponsors. So I have no responsibility to anyone but myself and the subjects. (Applause) And that is for me one of the more important things in the work. I think, today, as important as the result is the way you do things. And that has always been a central part of the work. And what's interesting is that fine line that I have with images and advertising. We just did some pasting in Los Angeles on another project in the last weeks. And I was even invited to cover the MOCA museum. But yesterday the city called them and said, "Look, you're going to have to tear it down. Because this can be taken for advertising, and because of the law, it has to be taken down." But tell me, advertising for what?
Za mene je veoma važno to što ne koristim nikakve brendove ili korporacije za sponzore. Odgovoran sam samo prema sebi i svojim subjektima. (aplauz) To je za mene jedna od važnijih stvari u radu. Mislim da je danas pored rezultata, važno i kako radite stvari. To je oduvek bilo deo rada. Zanimljiva mi je ta tanka linija između slika i reklamiranja. Nedavno smo lepili u Los Anđelesu, na jednom drugom projektu poslednjih nedelja. Pozvali su me čak da pokrijem i MOCA muzej. Ali juče ih je grad pozvao i rekao, "Vidite, moraćemo to da skinemo. Jer može da se shvati kao reklama i zbog zakona, mora da se skine." Ali recite mi, reklama za šta?
The people I photograph were proud to participate in the project and to have their photo in the community. But they asked me for a promise basically. They asked me, "Please, make our story travel with you." So I did. That's Paris. That's Rio. In each place, we built exhibitions with a story, and the story traveled. You understand the full scope of the project. That's London. New York. And today, they are with you in Long Beach.
Ljudi koje fotografišem su bili ponosni da učestvuju u projektu i da se njihova sliki vidi u zajednici. Ali su me, zapravo, zamolili za obećanje. Rekli su, "Molimo te da naša priča putuje sa tobom". I putovala je. Ovo je Pariz. To je Rio. U svakom mestu pravimo izložbe sa pričom, priča putuje. Shvatate pravu veličinu projekta. To je London, Njujork. A danas, oni su sa vama u Long Biču.
All right, recently I started a public art project where I don't use my artwork anymore. I use Man Ray, Helen Levitt, Giacomelli, other people's artwork. It doesn't matter today if it's your photo or not. The importance is what you do with the images, the statement it makes where it's pasted. So for example, I pasted the photo of the minaret in Switzerland a few weeks after they voted the law forbidding minarets in the country. (Applause) This image of three men wearing gas masks was taken in Chernobyl originally, and I pasted it in Southern Italy, where the mafia sometimes bury the garbage under the ground.
Nedavno sam započeo projekat javne umetnosti gde više ne koristim svoj rad. Koristim Men Reja, Helenu Levit, Đakomelija, radove drugih. Danas nije bitno da li je fotka vaša ili ne. Važno je ono što radite sa tim slikama poruka koju ostavljate kad lepite. Na primer, zalepio sam fotku minareta u Švajcarskoj, nekoliko nedelja pošto je izglasana zabrana minareta u zemlji. (aplauz) Ova slika tri muškarca sa gas maskama je zapravo slikana u Černobilu, a zalepio sam je u Južnoj Italiji, gde mafija ponekad zatrpava smeće pod zemljom.
In some ways, art can change the world. Art is not supposed to change the world, to change practical things, but to change perceptions. Art can change the way we see the world. Art can create an analogy. Actually the fact that art cannot change things makes it a neutral place for exchanges and discussions, and then enables you to change the world. When I do my work, I have two kinds of reactions. People say, "Oh, why don't you go in Iraq or Afghanistan. They would be really useful." Or, "How can we help?" I presume that you belong to the second category, and that's good, because for that project, I'm going to ask you to take the photos and paste them.
Na neke načine, umetnost može da promeni svet. Ona ne treba da ga menja, da menja praktične stvari, nego da menja percepciju. Umetnost može da promeni način na koji vidimo svet. Može da stvori analogiju. Zapravo, činjenica da ne može da promeni stvari čini je neutralnim mestom za razmene i diskusije i onda vam daje mogućnost da promenite svet. Kada radim ovo, dobijam dve vrste reakcija. Ljudi kažu, "O, zašto ne odeš u Irak ili Avganistan. Tamo bi to bilo korisno." Ili, "Kako možemo da pomognemo?" Pretpostavljam da vi pripadate drugoj kategoriji i to je dobro, jer ću za taj projekat da vas zamolim da fotografišete i zalepite fotke.
So now my wish is: (mock drum roll) (Laughter) I wish for you to stand up for what you care about by participating in a global art project, and together we'll turn the world inside out. And this starts right now. Yes, everyone in the room. Everyone watching. I wanted that wish to actually start now. So a subject you're passionate about, a person who you want to tell their story or even your own photos -- tell me what you stand for. Take the photos, the portraits, upload it -- I'll give you all the details -- and I'll send you back your poster. Join by groups and reveal things to the world. The full data is on the website -- insideoutproject.net -- that is launching today.
Dakle, moja želja je sledeća: (imitira zvuk bubnja) (smeh) želim da se zauzmete za ono do čega vam je stalo, tako što ćete učestvovati u globalnom umetničkom projektu i zajedno ćemo suštinski promeniti svet. A to počinje odmah. Da, svi u prostoriji. Svi koji gledate. Želeo sam da želja počne odmah da se ostvaruje. Dakle, nešto oko čega ste strastveni, osoba čiju priču želite da ispričate, ili čak i vaše fotke - recite mi za šta se zalažete. Napravite fotke, portrete, aplodujte - objasniću vam - i poslaću vam poster. Udružite se u grupe, otkrijte svetu stvari. Svi podaci su na sajtu: insideoutproject.net koji počinje sa radom danas.
What we see changes who we are. When we act together, the whole thing is much more than the sum of the parts. So I hope that, together, we'll create something that the world will remember. And this starts right now and depends on you.
Ono što vidimo menja nas kao osobe. Kada delamo zajedno, cela stvar je mnogo veća od sume svojih delova. Nadam se da ćemo zajedno stvoriti nešto što će ceo svet pamtiti. I to počinje odmah i zavisi od vas.
Thank you.
Hvala vam.
(Applause)
(aplauz)
Thank you.
Hvala vam.
(Applause)
(aplauz)