Inside America's dead shopping malls | Dan Bell

Translator: Glòria Coll Reviewer: Claudia Herreros

In the last couple of years,

Els últims anys

I have produced what I call "The Dead Mall Series,"

he produït la "Sèrie dels centres comercials morts",

32 short films and counting about dead malls.

32 curtmetratges fins ara de centres comercials morts.

Now, for those of you who are not familiar with what a dead mall is,

Per aquells que no sabeu què és un centre comercial mort,

it's basically a shopping mall

bàsicament és un centre comercial

that has fallen into hard times.

que està passant temps difícils.

So it either has few shops and fewer shoppers,

Així que o bé té poques botigues i encara menys botiguers

or it's abandoned and crumbling into ruin.

o bé està abandonat i caient en la ruïna.

No sale at Penny's.

Sense ofertes a Penny's

(Laughter)

(Riures)

I started producing this series

Vaig començar a produir aquesta sèrie

in early 2015

a principis del 2015

after going through kind of a dark period in my life

després de passar una mena de període fosc

where I just didn't want to create films anymore.

en el qual simplement ja no volia crear pel·lícules.

I put my camera away

Vaig guardar la càmera

and I just stopped.

i simplement vaig parar.

So in 2015, I decided to make a short film about the Owings Mills Mall.

El 2015 vaig decidir fer un curtmetratge sobre el centre comercial Owings Mills.

Owings Mills Mall opened in 1986.

Owings Mills va obrir el 1986.

I should know because I was there on opening day.

Ho hauria de saber perquè era allà el dia de la inauguració.

I was there with my family,

Era amb la meva família,

along with every other family in Baltimore,

i amb gairebé totes les famílies de Baltimore

and you had to drive around

i havies de donar voltes

for 45 minutes

durant 45 minuts

just to find a parking spot.

per trobar un espai per aparcar.

So if you can imagine,

Us podeu imaginar,

that's not happening at the malls today.

això no passa als centres comercials ara.

My first mall job that I had as a teenager

La primera feina a un centre comercial que vaig tenir d'adolescent

was at a sporting goods store called Herman's World of Sports.

era en una botiga d'esports anomenada Herman's World of Sports.

Maybe you remember.

Potser la recordeu.

(Singing) Herman's World of Sports.

(Cantant) Herman's World of Sports.

You guys remember that?

Us en recordeu?

(Laughter)

Yeah, so I worked in a lady's shoe store.

(Riure)

Sí, vaig treballar en una botiga de sabates per dones.

I worked in a leather goods store,

En una botiga d'articles de pell,

and I also worked in a video store,

i també vaig treballar en una botiga de vídeos

and not being one who was very fond of the retail arts --

i no sent gaire amic de les arts de la venda al públic...

(Laughter)

(Riures)

I got fired from every single job.

Em van acomiadar de totes les feines.

(Laughter)

(Riures)

In between these low-paying retail jobs,

Entre aquestes feines poc remunerades,

I did what any normal teenager did

feia el que tot adolescent normal feia

in the 1990s.

als anys noranta.

I shoplifted.

Robava a les botigues.

I'm just kidding.

Estic de broma.

I hung out with my friends at the mall.

Passava l'estona amb els amics al centre comercial.

(Laughter)

(Riures)

Everyone's like, "Oh my God, what kind of talk is this?"

Tothom fa: "Oh, Déu meu, quin tipus de conferència és aquesta?"

(Laughter)

(Riure)

Hanging out at the mall could be fun, but it could be really lame, too,

Passar l'estona al centre comercial podia ser divertit, però també penós,

like sharing a cigarette with a 40-year-old unemployed mall rat

com compartir un cigarret amb una rata de 40 anys desempleada

who has put on black lipstick for the night

que s'ha posat pintallavis negre per la nit

while you're on your break from your crappy minimum wage job.

durant el descans de la teva feina mal pagada de merda.

As I stand here today,

Mentre estic aquí avui,

Owings Mills has been gutted

Owings Mills ha estat destruït

and it's ready for the wrecking ball.

i està a punt de demolició.

The last time I was there, it was in the evening,

L'última vegada que hi vaig ser, era al vespre,

and it was about three days before they closed the mall for good.

i era uns tres dies abans que tanquessin permanentment.

And you kind of felt --

I senties...

they never announced the mall was closing,

mai van anunciar que tancava

but you had this sort of feeling, this ominous feeling,

però tenies un pressentiment, un sentiment inquietant,

that something big was going to happen,

que alguna cosa grossa estava a punt de passar,

like it was the end of the road.

com si fos el final del camí.

It was a very creepy walk through the mall.

Era esgarrifós caminar pel centre comercial.

Let me show you.

Deixeu que us ho ensenyi.

(Music)

(Música)

So when I started producing "The Dead Mall Series,"

Quan vaig començar a produir la "Sèrie dels centres comercials morts,"

I put the videos up onto YouTube,

vaig posar els vídeos a YouTube,

and while I thought they were interesting,

i tot i creure que eren interessants,

frankly I didn't think others would share the enthusiasm

francament, no pensava que els altres compartirien l'entusiasme

for such a drab and depressing topic.

per un tema tan depriment i avorrit.

But apparently I was wrong,

Però aparentment m'equivocava,

because a lot of people started to comment.

perquè molta gent va començar a comentar.

And at first the comments were like --

I al començament els comentaris eren...

basically like, "Oh my God, that's the mall from my childhood.

com "Déu meu, és el centre comercial de la meva infantesa.

What happened?"

Què ha passat?"

And then I would get comments from people who were like,

I després rebia comentaris de gent que deien:

"There's a dead mall in my town. You should come and film it."

"N'hi ha un al meu poble. Hauries de venir a filmar-lo."

So I started to travel around the mid-Atlantic region

Així que vaig començar a viatjar per la regió de l'Atlàntic Mitjà

filming these dead malls.

filmant aquests centres comercials morts.

Some were open.

Alguns estaven oberts.

Some were abandoned.

D'altres, abandonats.

It was kind of always hard to get into the ones that were abandoned,

Sempre era difícil entrar als que estaven abandonats,

but I somehow always found a way in.

però d'alguna manera sempre trobava forma d'entrar.

(Laughter)

(Riures)

The malls that are still open,

Els que encara estan oberts,

they always do this weird thing -- like the dead malls.

sempre fan aquesta cosa estranya... com els morts.

They'll have three stores left,

Hi queden només tres botigues,

but they try to spruce it up

però intenten rentar-li la cara

to make it appear like things are on the up-and-up.

perquè sembli que estan en auge.

For example,

Per exemple,

you'll have an empty store

hi ha una botiga buida

and they bring the gate down.

i baixen la persiana.

So at Owings Mills, for example, they put this tarp over the gate.

A Owings Mills, per exemple, van posar una lona sobre la persiana.

Right?

Oi?

And it's got a stock photo

I té una foto d'arxiu

of a woman who is so happy

d'una dona que està molt feliç

and she's holding a blouse,

i que aguanta una brusa,

and she's like --

i està així...

(Laughter)

(Riures)

And then there's a guy standing next to her, with, like,

I hi ha un noi al seu costat, amb

an espresso cup, and he's like --

una tassa d'espresso, i està així...

(Laughter)

(Riures)

And it says, "What brings you today?"

I diu: "Què et porta avui?"

(Laughter)

(Riures)

I wanted to be scared and depressed.

Volia estar espantat i deprimit.

Thank you.

Gràcies.

So the comments just kept pouring in

Els comentaris continuaven arribant

on the videos,

als vídeos,

from all over the country, and then all over the world.

de tot el país, i després de tot el món.

And I started to think, this could really be something,

I vaig començar a pensar, això podria ser alguna cosa bona,

but I had to get creative, because I'm like,

però havia de posar-me creatiu, perquè pensava,

how long are people going to sit and watch me waddling through an empty mall?

quant de temps estarà la gent mirant-me passejant per un centre comercial buit?

(Laughter)

(Riure)

So the original episodes I filmed with an iPhone.

Els episodis originals els vaig filmar amb un iPhone.

So I'd walk through the mall with an iPhone, and, you know.

Caminava pel centre comercial amb un iPhone i, ja sabeu.

Like that.

Així.

(Laughter)

(Riure)

And security -- because malls, they don't like photography --

I els de seguretat... perquè als centres comercials no els agrada la fotografia,

so the security would come up and be like, "Put that away," and I'm like, "OK."

doncs els de seguretat venien i deien: "Guarda això," i jo: "Ok".

So I had to get creative and sneaky,

Vaig haver de posar-me creatiu i cautelós,

so I started using a hidden camera and different techniques

i vaig començar a fer servir una càmera amagada i diferents tècniques

per aconseguir les imatges que necessitava,

to get the footage that I needed,

and basically what I wanted to do

i bàsicament el que volia

was make the video

era fer el vídeo

like it was a first-person experience,

com si fos una experiència en primera persona,

like you are sitting --

com si seus...

put your headphones on watching the screen --

et poses els auriculars mirant la pantalla...

it's like, you're there in the video,

és com si fossis al vídeo,

like a video game, basically.

com un videojoc, bàsicament.

I also started to use music,

També vaig començar a fer servir música,

collaborating with artists who create music called vaporwave.

col·laborant amb artistes que creen música anomenada "vaporwave".

And vaporwave is a music genre

El vaporwave és un gènere

that emerged in the early 2010s among internet communities.

que va emergir a principis dels 2010 entre les comunitats d'internet.

Here's an example.

Aquí en teniu un exemple.

(Music)

(Música)

That's by an artist named Disconscious

És d'un artista anomenat "Disconscious"

from an album he did called "Hologram Plaza."

d'un àlbum anomenat "Hologram Plaza."

So if you look that up, you can hear more of those tunes.

Si el busqueu, podreu sentir més cançons.

Vaporwave is more than an art form. It's like a movement.

El vaporwave és més que una forma d'art. És un moviment.

It's nihilistic, it's angsty,

És nihilista, és angoixant,

but it's somehow comforting.

però d'alguna manera és tranquil·litzador.

The whole aesthetic is a way of dealing with things you can't do anything about,

Tota l'estètica és una forma de lidiar amb coses per les quals no pots fer res,

like no jobs, or sitting in your parents' basement eating ramen noodles.

com la falta de feina o seure al soterrani dels teus pares menjant ramen.

Ve del desig d'una generació d'expressar la seva desesperança,

Vaporwave came out of this generation's desire to express their hopelessness,

the same way that the pre-internet generation did

de la mateixa manera que va fer la generació pre-internet

sitting around in the food court.

gandulejant a la zona de restauració.

One of my favorite malls

Un dels meus centres comercials preferits

I've been to

on he estat

is in Corpus Christi, and it's called the Sunrise Mall.

és a Corpus Christi (Texas), i es diu Sunrise Mall.

When I was a kid,

Quan era petit,

my favorite thing to do was watch movies,

el que més m'agradava fer era veure pel·lícules,

and I used to watch movies over and over and over again.

i solia mirar-les una vegada, i una altra i una altra.

And one of my favorite films was "The Legend of Billie Jean."

I una de les meves preferides era "La llegenda de Billie Jean."

Now, for those of you who have seen "The Legend of Billie Jean,"

Els que hagueu vist "La llegenda de Billie Jean,"

you'll know that it's a great film.

sabreu que és una gran pel·lícula.

I love it.

M'encanta.

And Helen Slater and Christian Slater --

I la Helen Slater i en Christian Slater

and if you didn't know, they are not related.

i per si no ho sabeu, no són família.

Many people thought that they were brother and sister. They're not.

Molta gent pensa que eren germans. Però no ho són.

But anyway, Sunrise Mall was used in the film as a filming location.

Bé, el Sunrise Mall es feia servir a la pel·lícula com a lloc de rodatge.

The mall is exactly the same as it was in 1984.

El centre és exactament igual que era el 1984.

We're talking 32 years later. Let me show you.

Estem parlant 32 anys després. Deixeu que us ho ensenyi.

(Video) Dan Bell: And here's Billie Jean running across the fountain,

(Vídeo) Dan Bell: I aquí hi ha Billie Jean corrent a través de la font,

being chased by Hubie Pyatt's friends.

perseguida pels amics de Hubie Pyatt.

And she jumps over here.

I salta per aquí.

And you can see the shot right here is what it looks like today.

I podeu veure la imatge aquí així és com està avui.

It's pretty incredible.

És bastant increïble.

I mean, honestly, it's exactly the same.

Honestament, és exactament igual.

And there they are falling in the fountain,

I aquí cauen a la font,

and she runs up the stairs.

i ella puja corrent les escales.

This is a nice shot of the whole thing here.

Això és una bona imatge de tot el que hi ha aquí.

Dan Bell: I love that so much.

Dan Bell: M'agrada tant això.

(Laughter)

(Riures)

I always think in my head, if I owned a dead mall --

Sempre penso que, si tingués un centre comercial mort...

why don't they embrace their vintage look?

per què no aprofitar el seu estil vintage?

Put in a bar,

Posa-hi un bar,

like, put vegan food in the food court

posa menjar vegà a la zona de restauració

and invite millennials and hipsters

i convida millennials i hipsters

to come and drink and eat,

a venir, a beure i a menjar,

and I guarantee you within three weeks

i us garanteixo que en tres setmanes

H&M and Levi's will be banging on the door trying to get space.

H&M i Levi's trucaran a la porta intentant aconseguir espai.

I don't know why they don't do this,

No sé per què no ho fan,

but apparently,

però aparentment,

it's only in my mind, it goes all day.

només està al meu cap, tot el dia.

(Laughter)

(Riures)

Anyway, in closing --

Bé, ja acabo...

(Laughter)

(Riures)

When they first asked me to do this talk,

Quan em van demanar fer aquesta conferència

I said,

Vaig dir,

"Do you have the right person?"

"Teniu la persona adequada?"

(Laughter)

(Riures)

These talks are supposed to be kind of inspiring and --

Aquestes conferències se suposa que han de ser inspiradores i...

(Laughter)

(Riure)

I remembered something, though.

Però vaig recordar una cosa.

I put my camera down three or four years ago,

Vaig deixar la càmera, fa tres o quatre anys,

and it took going to these malls

i va caldre anar a aquests centres comercials

for me to be inspired again.

perquè tornés a estar inspirat.

And to see my audience

I per veure el meu públic

and people from all over the world writing me and saying,

i gent de tot el món escrivint-me i dient:

"God, I love your videos,"

"Déu meu, m'encanten els teus vídeos,"

is incredible.

és increïble.

I don't know how to even explain it,

I ni tan sols sé com explicar-ho,

as an artist,

com a artista,

how fulfilling that is.

com n'és de satisfactori, això.

If you would have told me a year ago

Si m'haguéssiu dit un any enrere

that I would be standing on this stage

que seria en aquest escenari

talking to all of you wonderful people,

parlant amb vosaltres, gent meravellosa,

I would have never believed it.

mai m'ho hauria cregut.

I am humbled

Em sento honrat

and so appreciative.

i agraït.

Thank you very much.

Moltes gràcies.

(Applause)

(Aplaudiments)