There's an old saying, "Just because you can't see something, doesn't mean it's not there." My work is -- it's a reflection of myself. What I wanted to do is to show the world that the little things can be the biggest things. We all seem to think that, you know, if we look down on the ground, there's nothing there. And we use the word "nothing." Nothing doesn't exist, because there is always something. My mother told me that, when I was a child, that I should always respect the little things.
Hovorí sa, že ak niečo nevidíte, ešte to neznamená, že to tam nie je. Moja práca je obrazom mňa samého. Chcel som ukázať svetu, že malé veci môžu byť tými najväčšími. Zdá sa, že všetci si myslíme, napríklad keď sa pozrieme na zem, že tam nič nie je. A používame slovo "nič". Ale nič neexistuje. Pretože všade je niečo. Keď som bola malý, moja mama ma naučila, že si vždy mám vážiť malé veci.
What made me do this work? I shall go into my story. This all started when I was age five. What made me do it? At school, I will admit this: academically, I couldn't express myself. So I was, more or less, classed as "nothing." My world was seen as less. So I decided I didn't really want to be a part of that world. I thought, I need to retreat into something else. So when my mother used to take me to school, she thought I was at school, and I used to do a U-turn, when her back was turned, and run off and hide in the shed at the back of the garden.
Prečo som sa na to dal? Poviem vám môj príbeh. Všetko začalo, keď som mal päť rokov. V škole, to pripúšťam, som sa akademicky nevedel vyjadriť. Takže som bol viacmenej považovaný za "nič." Môj svet bol považovaný za menejcenný. Preto som sa rozhodol, že nechcem byť súčasťou takého sveta. Povedal som si, že by som sa mal venovať niečomu inému. A tak, keď ma moja mama odviedla do školy a myslela si, že som tam, hneď, ako sme sa rozlúčili, ja som sa otočil a utekal som sa skryť do šopy na záhrade.
Now, the one time I was in the shed, and my mother suspected something, thinking I was at school. My mother was like the woman in Tom and Jerry. So you'd just see her feet. (Laughter) So I was hiding in the shed, like that. And all of a sudden ... And then I saw her legs. And then she said -- grabbed me like that, because my mother was quite big -- and she lifted me up and she says, "How come you're not at school?" I told her I couldn't face it because the way the teacher was treating me, ridiculing me, and using me as an example of failure. So I told her. At that age, obviously, I couldn't express it that way, but I told her I didn't feel right. And then she just said, "You're going back to school tomorrow." And walked off. And I didn't expect that, because I expected one of these ... But I didn't get it.
Raz som bol v šope, a moja mama niečo tušila a myslela si, že som v škole. Moja mama bola ako žena z Toma a Jerryho, z ktorej je vždy vidieť iba nohy. (Smiech) Skrýval som sa teda v šope a zrazu... uvidel som jej nohy. Takto ma schmatla, pretože bola dosť veľká, zdvihla ma a hovorí: "Ako to, že nie si v škole?" Povedal som jej, že som to už nemohol vydržať, kvôli učiteľovi, ktorý ma zhadzoval a dával ma ostatným za odstrašujúci príklad. To som jej povedal. Samozrejme, v tom veku som to takto nevedel vyjadriť, ale povedal som jej, že mi nebolo dobre. A ona na to: "Zajtra ideš do školy." A odišla. A to som nečakal. Pretože som očakával jednu z tých... Ale nedostal som.
So I'm sitting there thinking. And as I looked down on the ground, I noticed there was some ants running around. And I went into this little fantasy world. And I thought, "These ants, are they looking for the queen ant? Or do they need somewhere to live?" So I thought "Perhaps, if I made these ants some apartments, they'll move in." (Laughter) So I did. And how I set about that, I got some splinters of wood. And I sliced the little splinters of wood with a broken shard of glass, constructed this little apartment. Well it looked like a little shanty shed when I'd finished. But I thought, perhaps the ant won't know, it'll probably move in. And so they did. That was a bit crude, at the time. And I made all these little apartments and little merry-go-rounds, seesaws and swings, little ladders. And then I encouraged the ants to come 'round by putting sugar and things like that. And then I sat down and all the ants came along. And all I could hear was "Is this for us?"
Tak tam sedím a rozmýšlam. A ako tak pozerám na zem, všimol som si mravce, ako pobehujú. A v mojom malom fantazijnom svete som si pomyslel: "Hľadajú tieto mravce svojú kráľovnú? Alebo nemajú kde bývať?" Napadlo mi, "Ak by som im spravil nejaké bývanie, možno by sa nasťahovali." (Smiech) Tak som to urobil. Zohnal som nejaké triesky a tie som narezal kúskom skla. A postavil som im malý príbytok. Keď bol hotový, vyzeral ako chatrč. Ale ja som si pomyslel, možno si to mravce nevšimnú a nasťahujú sa. A oni sa nasťahovali. Vtedy to bolo dosť neotesané. Robil som malé príbytky, malé kolotoče, šmykľavky a hojdačky a rebríky. Mravcom som dal cukor, aby som ich posmelil. Potom som si sadol a mravce prišli. Hovorili si: "To je pre nás?"
(Laughter)
(Smiech)
And I say, "Yes, they're all for you." And they moved in, and decided not to pay me any rent. (Laughter) And from there I was watching this little world. It became part of me.
Povedal som: "Áno, to je pre vás." Nasťahovali sa a rozhodli sa, že nebudú platiť nájomné. (Smiech) A tak som sledoval môj malý svet. Stal sa mojou súčasťou.
When I discovered that I had this gift, I wanted to experiment with this world that we can't see. So I realized that there was more to life than just everything that we see around us that's huge. So I started to educate myself on this molecular level. And as I got older, I continued. I showed my mother. My mother told me to take it smaller.
Keď som zistil, že mám tento dar, chcel som experimentovať so svetom, ktorý nie je vidieť. Uvedomil som si, že život je viac, než len veľké veci, ktoré okolo seba vidíme, Začal som sa vzdelávať na molekulárnej úrovni. Pokračoval som aj keď som bol starší. Ukázal som to aj mojej mame. Povedala mi, aby som to ešte zmenšil.
Now I shall show you something here. And I'll explain. As you can see, that's a pinhead.
A teraz by som vám chcel niečo ukázať. A vysvetliť. Ako vidíte, toto je špendlíková hlavička.
(Laughter)
(Smiech)
(Applause)
(Potlesk)
Now that is called the Huf Haus. The gentleman who commissioned me to do this was a gentleman called Peter Huf. And he says to me "Willard, can you put my house on a pinhead?"
Toto je Huf Haus. Pán, ktorý ma poveril, aby som ho vytvoril sa volá Peter Huf. Povedal mi, "Willard, vedel by si dať môj dom na špendlíkovú hlavičku?"
(Laughter)
(Smiech)
So I say, "How are you going to fit in there?"
Povedal som, "Ako sa tam potom zmestíš?"
(Laughter)
(Smiech)
And then he said to me, "I don't believe you can do it. Can you really do it?"
On nato "Neverím, že to dokážeš. Naozaj by si to zvládol?"
And I says, "Well, try me." And then he said, "But I don't believe that you can do this." So I said, "OK."
Ja nato, "Vyskúšaj ma." On povedal, "Ale ja neverím, že to dokážeš." Povedal som: "OK."
So, to cut a long story short, I went home, went underneath the microscope, and I crushed up a piece of glass, crushed it up. And underneath the microscope there were splinters of glass. Some of them were quite jagged. So I was crushing up these pieces of glass, which, as you can see, that's the actual frame of the house. And the actual roof is made up of a fiber, which I found in my sister's old teddy bear. (Laughter) So I got the teddy bear and I said, "Do you mind if I pull out one of your fibers?" So I did. And I looked at it beneath the microscope. And some of it was flat. So I decided to slice these up with the tool that I make by -- I sharpen the end of a needle into a blade. And then I actually slow down my whole nervous system. And then I work between my heartbeat, I have one-and-a-half seconds to actually move. And at the same time I have to watch I don't inhale my own work, at the same time. (Laughter) (Applause) Because that has happened to me.
Aby som to skrátil, šiel som domov, pod mikroskopom som rozbil kúsok skla na menšie kúsky. Pod mikroskopom som mal črepiny. Niektoré z nich mali dosť ostré hrany. Tie som ešte viac rozdrvil a z nich je, ako vidíte, konštrukcia domu. Strecha je z vláken, ktoré pochádzajú z plyšového medvedíka mojej sestry. (Smiech) Zobral som medvedíka a vravím mu, "Bude ti vadiť, ak ti vytrhnem pár chlpov?" A tak som ich vytrhol. Pozrel som si ich cez mikroskop. Niektoré boli hladké. Rozhodol som sa, že ich narežem nástrojom, ktorý som si vyrobil tak, že som zbrúsil koniec ihly do čepele. Potom som spomalil môj nervový systém a pracoval som pomedzi údery srdca. Na každý pohyb som mal jeden a pol sekundy. Zároveň som si musel dávať pozor, aby som moje dielo nevdýchol. (Smiech) (Potlesk) Pretože aj to sa mi stalo.
(Laughter)
(Smiech)
So what I did, like I said, come back to the glass. I found these little bits of glass. And I had to make them square. So I'm thinking "How can I do this?" So what I did, I got an oilstone. Broke the edge of an oilstone off. And what I did, I took pieces of glass. And I started to rub them. I used a little tweezer which I made from a hair clip. And I built rubber around the end of the tweezer so it wouldn't crush the glass. And then I started rubbing, very very gently, till some of the edges were quite square. And then I constructed it. And how I constructed it, is by making grooves in the top of the pinhead. And then pushing the glass in with its own friction. And as I was doing it, what happened? The instrument that I used turned into a catapult. And it went like this ... And then that was it.
Vrátim sa späť ku sklu. Našiel som kúsky skla, ktoré som potreboval upraviť do štvorca. Rozmýšlal som ako to urobiť. Vzal som brúsny kameň a odlomil z neho kúsok. Zobral som kúsky skla a začal som ich šúchať. Použil som malú pinzetu vyrobenú zo sponky. Po krajoch pinzety som dal gumu, aby sa sklo nepolámalo. Veľmi, veľmi jemne som šúchal, až kým okraje neboli dosť rovné. Potom som ich zložil. Staval som ich tak, že som na vrch špendlíkovej hlavičky urobil drážky a potom som do nich zatlačil sklo. Ako som to robil, čo sa nestalo? Moje náradie sa premenilo na katapult a urobilo.... A bolo.
(Laughter)
(Smiech)
Gone. So I'm thinking, "Mr. Huf isn't going to be very happy when I told him his house has gone to another, into the atmosphere somewhere." So to cut the story short, I decided that I had to go back and do it. So I found some more. And I decided to, sort of, construct it very, very slowly, holding my breath, working between my heartbeat, and making sure everything is leveled. Because it's such a small sculpture, nothing can go wrong. And I decided to build it up. Then I used fibers out of my jumper, which I held and stretched. And made the beams going around the house. And the actual windows and the balcony had to be sort of constructed. I used a money spider's web to actually attach certain things, which sent me insane. But I managed to do it. And when I finished it, I came back the next day. I noticed that the house was occupied. Have we ever heard of a dust mite? Darren dust mite and his family moved in.
Preč. Tak si hovorím: "Pán Huf nebude veľmi rád, keď mu poviem, že jeho dom sa odporúčal niekam do atmosféry. Aby som to skrátil, rozhodol som sa, že začnem odznova. Našiel som ďalšie sklo. Rozhodol som sa postupovať veľmi pomaly, so zadržaným dychom, pomedzi údery srdca, všetko vyrovnané. Pretože pri takej malej sochy nesmiete spraviť žiadnu chybu. Rozhodol som sa, že dom ešte vylepším. So svetra som si vytiahol pár vláken, tie som natiahol a sú z nich trámy okolo domu. Okná a balkón som tiež musel vyrobiť. Niektoré časti som pripevnil pomocou pavúčej siete. Bolo to na zbláznenie. Ale podarilo sa a dokončil som to. Na druhý deň som si všimol, že dom je obývaný. Počuli ste už o roztočoch? Roztoč Darren s rodinou sa nasťahovali do domu.
(Laughter)
(Smiech)
So basically I'd completed the house. And there you are.
Dom bol hotový. Nech sa páči.
(Applause)
(Potlesk)
(Laughter)
(Smiech)
Right. As you can see, Bart Simpson is having a little argument. I think they're arguing about the space on the pin. There's not enough room for the two of them. So I didn't think he was going to throw Bart off. I think he was just warning him actually. But this one was made out of a nylon tag out of my shirt. What I did, I plucked the tag out and put it underneath the microscope. I used the needle which has got a slight blade on the end. Can anybody see the blade on the end of that needle?
Ako vidíte. Bart Simpson sa háda. Myslím, že sa hádajú o miesto na špendlíku. Nie je tam dosť miesta pre oboch. Ale nemyslím si, že by Barta zhodil. Skôr ho chcel iba varovať. Toto som vyrobil z nylonového štítku z mojej košele. Vytrhol som štítok a dal ho pod mikroskop. Použil som ihlu s čepieľkou na konci. Vidíte tú čepeľ?
Audience: No.
Publikum: Nie.
WW: So what I did is the same process where I just kind of hold my breath and just work away very, very slowly, manipulating the plastic, cutting it, because it behaves different. Whenever you work on that level, things behave different. Because it's on this molecular level things change and they act different. And sometimes they turn into little catapults and things go up in the air. And, you know, all different things happen. But I had to make a little barrier, going around it, out of cellophane, to stop it moving. Then static electricity set in. And it went ... And I'm trying to remove it. And the static is interfering with everything. So there is sweat dripping off my head, because I have to carve Homer Simpson like that, in that position. And after I've cut out the shape, then I have to make sure that there is room for Bart's neck.
WW: Postupoval som rovnako, zadržal som dych a veľmi, veľmi pomaly som plast orezával. Pretože vždy, keď pracujete na tejto úrovni, veci sa správajú inak. Na molekulárnej úrovni majú iné vlastnosti a správajú sa inak. Niekedy sa premenia na malé katapulty a veci lietajú vzduchom. A stávajú sa aj iné veci. Dookola som musel spraviť malú bariéru z celofánu, aby sa socha nehýbala. Vtedy začala pôsobiť statická elektrina. Socha spravila... Chcel som ju odtrhnúť. A statika do všetkého zasahovala. Z čela mi kvapkal pot. Homera Simpsona som musel vyrezať v tejto polohe. Potom, čo som vyrezal tvar, musel som dať pozor, aby bolo dosť miesta na Bartov krk.
So after I've done the same thing, then I have to paint it. And after I've actually sculpted them, I have to paint them. I experimented with a -- I found a dead fly. And I plucked the hair off the fly's head. Decided to make a paintbrush. (Laughter) But I would never do it to a living fly. (Laughter) Because I've heard a fly in pain. And they go "Meow! Ow!" Even though they get on our nerves, I would never kill an insect because, "All creatures great and small" -- there is a hymn that says that. So what I decided to do is to pluck fine hair out of my face. And I looked at it underneath the microscope. That was the paintbrush. And whilst I'm painting I have to be very careful, because the paint starts to turn into little blobs. And it starts to dry very quickly. So I have to be very quick. If I'm not, it will end up looking not like what it's supposed to look like. It could end up looking like Humpty Dumpty or somebody else. So I have to be very very careful.
Spravil som to isté a potom, keď som ich vyrezal, som ich musel namaľovať. Skúšal som... Našiel som mŕtvu muchu. Z hlavy som jej vytrhol chlp. A spravil z neho štetec. (Smiech) Ale nikdy by som to neurobil živej muche. (Smiech) Pretože viem ako kričia muchy, ktoré trpia. Kričia "Auuuu! Au!" Aj keď nám idú na nervy, nikdy by som nezabil hmyz, pretože v jednom hymne sa spieva, "Všetky tvory, malé aj veľké" A tak som sa rozhodol, že si vytrhnem chlp z tváre. Pozrel som naň pod mikroskopom. To bol môj štetec. Pri maľovaní som musel byť veľmi opatrný. Pretože z farby sa robili bublinky a veľmi rýchlo schla. Musel som maľovať veľmi rýchlo. Ak nie, dopadlo by to inak, ako by malo. Vyzeralo by to ako kraslica, alebo niečo podobné. Čiže som musel byť veľmi opatrný.
This one took me approximately, I would say, six to seven weeks. My work, rough estimate, sometimes five, six to seven weeks; you can't always anticipate. (Applause) As you can see, that's Charlton Heston brought down to size. (Laughter) He says to me, "Willard" -- You can see him saying, "Why me?" I says, "I enjoyed your film. That's why." As you can see, there's an aphid fly there. That's just to show the scale and the actual size of the sculpture. I would say it probably measures ... a quarter of a millimeter. In America they say a period stop. So say if you cut a period stop in half, a full stop, that's about the size of the whole thing. It's made -- the chariot is made of gold.
Toto dielo mi trvalo približne šesť až sedem týždňov. Moja práca trvá, odhadom, niekedy päť, šesť až sedem týždňov. Nedá sa to vždy presne odhadnúť. (Potlesk) Ako vidíte, toto je zmenšenina Charltona Hestona. (Smiech) Hovorí, "Willard" - Vidíte ako hovorí, "Prečo ja?" Vravím mu, "Páčil sa mi tvoj film. Preto." Ako vidíte, máme tu vošku. To je na ilustráciu mierky a skutočnej veľkosti sochy. Povedal by som, že meria asi štvrť milimetra. Ak by ste rozdelili bodku za vetou na polovicu, dostanete asi takú veľkosť. Koč je vyrobený zo zlata.
And Charlton Heston is made of a floating fiber, which I took out of the air. When the sunlight comes through the window you see these little fibers. And what I normally do is walk 'round a room -- (Laughter) -- trying to find one. And then I put it underneath the microscope. I remember one time I was doing it, and the window was open. And there was a lady standing by the bus stop. And she saw me walking around like this. (Laughter) And then she looked at me. And then I went ... And then she went, "Hmm, OK, he's not mad." Yeah, to actually do this thing -- the actual chariot is made of gold. I had a 24-karat gold ring. And I cut off a little flake of gold. And I bent it 'round, and made it into the chariot. And the horse is made from nylon. And the spider's web is for the reins on the horse. To get the symmetrical shape of the horse was very difficult, because I had to get the horse to rear up and look as though it was in some kind of action.
Charlton Heston je z vlákna, ktoré som chytil vo vzduchu. Keď cez okno zasvieti slnko, vo vzduchu je vidno malé vlákenká. Chodím po miestnosti (Smiech) a hľadám ich. Potom ich dám pod mikroskop. Raz som to robil pri otvorenom okne a vonku na zastávke stála jedna pani. Videla ma, ako takto chodím... (Smiech) Pozrela na mňa. Ja som spravil... A ona, "Hm, OK, nie je to blázon." Čiže táto vec, tento koč je zo zlata. Mal som 24-karátový prsteň. Odrezal som z neho malú šupinku. Tú som rezal a ohýbal až z nej bol koč. Kôň je z nylonu. Na opraty som použil pavúčiu sieť. Vytvoriť symetrický tvar koňa bolo veľmi náročné, pretože som chcel koňa postavil na zadné, aby vyzeral, že je v pohybe.
When I did this one, a gentleman seen it and said to me, "There's no way you can do this, you must have used some kind of machine. There's no way a man can do that. It must be a machine." So I says, "OK then, if you say it's a machine ..." (Laughter) (Applause) That one took me approximately six weeks. (Applause)
Keď som túto sochu spravil, videl ju jeden pán a povedal mi, "To ste nemohli spraviť vy, museli ste použiť nejaký stroj. Nie je možné, aby človek spravil niečo také. To musí byť robené na stroji." Tak mu hovorím, "OK, ak si to myslíte, že to robil stroj..." (Smiech) (Potlesk) Toto mi trvalo asi šesť týždňov. (Potlesk)
The most famous statue in the world. This one, I would say, was a serious challenge. (Laughter) Because I had to put the torch on the top. That one is, more or less, the same type of process. The bottom of it is carved from a grain of sand, because I wanted to get a bit of the stone effect. I used a microscopic shard of diamond to actually carve the actual base. Well, I can look at this one and I can be very proud of this, because that statue has always sort of kept an image in my head of, you know, the beginning of people coming to America. So it's sort of Ellis Island, and seeing America for the first time. And that's the first thing they saw. So I wanted to have that little image. And this is it. (Laughter)
Najslávnejšia socha na svete. Toto bola skutočná výzva. (Smiech) Navrch som musel dať pochodeň. V podstate ide o ten istý proces. Spodok je vytesaný zo zrnka piesku, pretože som chcel dosiahnuť kamenný efekt. Na vytvorenie základne som použil mikroskopický črep z diamantu. Keď hľadím na túto sochu, som veľmi hrdý. Pretože pre mňa vždy bola obrazom začiatku pre ľudí, ktorí prichádzajú do Ameriky. Ellis Island a prvý pohľad na Ameriku. Prvá vec, ktorú vidia. Chcel som mať tento obraz. A tu je. (Smiech)
And we all know that is the Hulk. I wanted to create movement in the eye of a needle. Because we know we see needles, but people aren't familiar with the eye of a needle apart from putting a thread through it. So I broke the needle. And made a needle look like the Hulk's broken it. It's -- I had to make little holes in the base of the needle, to shove his feet in. So most of my work, I don't use glue. They go in with their own friction. And that's how I managed to do it. As you can see, he's looking at the moment. He's got a little grimace on his face. And his mouth must be probably about three microns. So the eyes are probably about one micron or something.
Všetci poznáme Hulka. Chcel som vytvoriť pohyb v oku ihly. Ihlu totiž vidíme, ale ľudia nepoznajú oko ihly, inak ako na navliekanie nite. Zlomil som ihlu a naaranžoval ju tak, akoby ju zlomil Hulk. Do ihly som musel urobiť malé dierky, do ktorých som zastrčil jeho nohy. Pri väčšine prác nepoužívam lepidlo. Diely držia vlastným trením. Takto som to urobil. Ako vidíte, pozerá sa a na tvári má grimasu. Ústa merajú asi tri mikróny. Oči majú približne jeden mikrón.
That ship there, that's made from 24-karat gold. And I normally rig it with the web of a money spider. But I had to rig it with strands of glue. Because the web of the spider, it was sending me insane, because I couldn't get the web to move off. And that's 24-karat gold. And it's constructed. I built it. Constructed each plank of gold. And the whole thing is sort of symmetrical. The flag had to be made out of little strands of gold. It's almost like doing a surgical operation to get this thing right. (Applause)
Táto loď je z 24-karátového zlata. Normálne by som lanovie urobil z pavúčej siete, ale tu som použil pramienky lepidla. Pretože z pavučiny som sa mohol zblázniť. Nevedel som ju odtrhnúť. Toto je 24-karátové zlato. Poskladal som, postavil, zložil som každú jednu zlatú doštičku. Celá vec je symetrická. Vlajky si vyrobené zo zlatých vlákien. Je to takmer ako chirurgická operácia. (Potlesk)
As you can see, dressage. (Laughter) It's something I wanted to do just to show how I could get the symmetrical shape. The actual rigging on the reins on the horse are made from the same sort of thing. And that was done with a particle from my shirt. And the pinhead I've made green around there by scraping the particles off a green shirt and then pressed onto the needle. It's very painstaking work, but the best things come in small packages.
Ako vidíte, drezúra koní. (Smiech) Toto som vytvoril, len aby som ukázal, že viem spraviť symetrické tvary. Uzda na koni je spravená z toho istého materiálu. A toto som spravil z čiastočiek z mojej košele. Hlavičku som zafarbil na zeleno tak, že som zo zelenej košele oškrabal čiastočky a tie som pritlačil na ihlu. Je to piplavá robota, ale dobrého veľa nebýva.
(Laughter)
(Smiech)
Bruno Giussani: Willard Wigan!
Bruno Giussani: Willard Wigan!
(Applause)
(Potlesk)