Gabriel Barcia-Colombo: Capturing memories in video art

Translator: Thu-Huong Ha Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: Guillermo Parra Reviewer: Eva Garcia Pinos

I love to collect things.

M'encanta col·leccionar coses.

Ever since I was a kid, I've had massive collections

Des que era petit, sempre he tingut col·leccions gegants

of random stuff, everything from bizarre hot sauces

de coses aleatòries, des d'estranyes

from all around the world to insects

salses picants de tot el món fins a insectes

that I've captured and put in jars.

que capturava i guardava en pots.

Now, it's no secret, because I like collecting things,

I d'aquí podreu deduir

that I love the Natural History Museum

que m'encanta el Museu d'Història Natural

and the collections of animals

i les col·leccions

at the Natural History Museum in dioramas.

de diorames d'animals que hi ha allà.

These, to me, are like living sculptures, right,

Per mi són com escultures vivents

that you can go and look at,

que pots anar a contemplar

and they memorialize a specific point of time

i que immortalitzen un moment concret

in this animal's life.

en la vida d'aquell animal.

So I was thinking about my own life,

I reflexionava sobre la meva vida

and how I'd like to memorialize my life, you know,

i sobre com podria immortalitzar-la

for the ages, and also — (Laughter) —

per tota l'eternitat, i també (Rialles)

the lives of my friends, but

les vides dels meus amics,

the problem with this is that my friends aren't quite keen

però el problema és que a ells no els entusiasma

on the idea of me taxidermy-ing them. (Laughter)

gaire la idea de que els dissequi. (Rialles)

So instead, I turned to video,

Així que vaig recórrer al vídeo,

and video is the next best way to preserve and memorialize

que és la millor manera de conservar i immortalitzar

someone and to capture a specific moment in time.

algú i de capturar un moment específic en el temps.

So what I did was, I filmed six of my friends

Vaig gravar sis dels meus amics

and then, using video mapping and video projection,

i després, utilitzant mapatge i projecció de vídeo,

I created a video sculpture, which was these six friends

vaig crear una videoescultura, composta pels meus amics

projected into jars. (Laughter)

projectats en pots. (Rialles)

So now I have this collection of my friends

Ara tinc aquesta col·lecció dels meus amics

I can take around with me whenever I go,

que sempre puc portar amb mi,

and this is called Animalia Chordata,

anomenada "Animalia Chordata",

from the Latin nomenclature for

que ve de la nomenclatura llatina

human being, classification system.

per classificar l'ésser humà (animal cordat).

So this piece memorializes my friends in these jars,

L'obra immortalitza els meus amics en aquests pots

and they actually move around. (Laughter)

i fins i tot es mouen. (Rialles)

So, this is interesting to me,

Tot això és molt interessant,

but it lacked a certain human element. (Laughter)

però li faltava el toc humà. (Rialles)

It's a digital sculpture, so I wanted to add

Volia afegir-li

an interaction system. So what I did was,

un sistema d'interacció, així que vaig

I added a proximity sensor, so that when you get close

agregar-li un sensor de proximitat, de manera que quan t'acostes

to the people in jars, they react to you in different ways.

a la gent dels pots, reacciona de formes diferents.

You know, just like people on the street

Ben igual que la gent al carrer

when you get too close to them.

quan t'hi acostes massa.

Some people reacted in terror. (Laughter)

Alguns reaccionen amb terror, (Rialles)

Others reacted in asking you for help,

d'altres et demanen ajuda

and some people hide from you.

i n'hi ha que s'amaguen de tu.

So this was really interesting to me, this idea of

I m'interessava molt la idea

taking video off the screen and putting it in real life,

de traslladar el vídeo a la vida real

and also adding interactivity to sculpture.

i afegir interactivitat a l'escultura.

So over the next year, I documented 40 of my other friends

Així que l'any següent vaig enregistrar 40 amics més

and trapped them in jars as well

i també els vaig ficar en pots

and created a piece known as Garden,

per crear l'obra "Jardí",

which is literally a garden of humanity.

que és, literalment, un jardí d'humanitat.

But something about the first piece,

Però encara em faltava una cosa

the Animali Chordata piece, kept coming back to me,

de la primera obra, "Animalia Chordata",

this idea of interaction with art,

la idea d'interactuar amb l'art,

and I really liked the idea of people being able to interact,

i em va agradar molt que la gent hi pogués interactuar

and also being challenged by interacting with art.

i se sentís estimulada interactuant amb l'art.

So I wanted to create a new piece that actually

Volia crear una nova obra

forced people to come and interact with something,

que obligués el públic a acostar-s'hi i a interactuar,

and the way I did this was actually by projecting

i ho vaig aconseguir projectant

a 1950s housewife into a blender. (Laughter)

una mestressa de casa dels anys 50 en una batedora. (Rialles)

This is a piece called Blend, and what it does is

Aquesta obra s'anomena "Mescla", i fa que el públic

it actually makes you implicit in the work of art.

participi en la creació de l'art.

You may never experience the entire thing yourself.

Potser ningú no la veurà sencera.

You can walk away, you can just watch as this character

Pots passar de llarg, parar-te a observar el personatge

stands there in the blender and looks at you,

i com et mira des de la batedora

or you can actually choose to interact with it.

o pots escollir interactuar amb l'obra.

So if you do choose to interact with the piece,

Llavors, si decideixes interactuar amb ella,

and you press the blender button, it actually sends

i prems el botó de "batre", sumiràs

this character into this dizzying disarray of dishevelment.

el personatge en el desconcert més absolut i vertiginós.

By doing that, you are now part of my piece.

En el moment en què fas això, ja ets part de la meva obra.

You, like the people that are trapped in my work

Tant tu com la gent que hi ha atrapada

— (Blender noises, laughter) —

(So de batedora, rialles)

have become part of my work as well. (Laughter)

passeu a formar part de la meva obra. (Rialles)

(Laughter)

(Rialles)

(Applause)

(Aplaudiments)

But, but this seems a bit unfair, right?

Però això sembla una mica injust, oi?

I put my friends in jars, I put this character,

Fico els meus amics en pots, aquesta espècie

this sort of endangered species character in a blender.

de personatge en perill d'extinció en una liquadora,

But I'd never done anything about myself.

però mai no he fet res amb mi.

I'd never really memorialized myself.

Mai no m'havia immortalitzat,

So I decided to create a piece which is a self-portrait piece.

així que vaig decidir crear una obra sobre mi.

This is sort of a self-portrait taxidermy time capsule piece

És una espècie d'autoretrat o càpsula del temps taxidèrmica

called A Point Just Passed,

anomenada "Un moment fugaç",

in which I project myself on top of a time card punch clock,

en la qual em projecto a la part superior d'un rellotge,

and it's up to you.

i depèn de vosaltres.

If you want to choose to punch that punch card clock,

Si decidiu passar la vostra targeta

you actually age me.

pel rellotge, m'envelliu.

So I start as a baby, and then if you punch the clock,

Començo com un nadó, i si passeu la targeta,

you'll actually transform the baby into a toddler,

fareu que el nadó es transformi en un nen petit,

and then from a toddler I'm transformed into a teenager.

i després passo de nen petit a adolescent.

From a teenager, I'm transformed into my current self.

D'adolescent, em transformo en el meu jo actual.

From my current self, I'm turned into a middle-aged man,

Del meu jo actual, em converteixo

and then, from there, into an elderly man.

en un home de mitjana edat, i llavors en un ancià.

And if you punch the punch card clock a hundred times

I si passeu la targeta 100 vegades

in one day, the piece goes black

en un dia, l'obra es torna negra

and is not to be reset until the next day.

i no es reiniciarà fins el dia següent.

So, in doing so, you're erasing time.

En fer això, esteu esborrant el temps.

You're actually implicit in this work

Formeu part implícita d'aquesta obra

and you're erasing my life.

i esborreu la meva vida.

So I like this about interactive video sculpture,

Això és el que m'agrada de la videoescultura interactiva,

that you can actually interact with it,

que es pot interactuar amb ella,

that all of you can actually touch an artwork

que tots podeu tocar-la

and be part of the artwork yourselves,

i formar part de l'obra d'art.

and hopefully, one day, I'll have each and every one of you

I, amb sort, potser algun dia us tindré a tots

trapped in one of my jars. (Laughter)

atrapats en un dels meus pots. (Rialles)

Thank you. (Applause)

Gràcies. (Aplaudiments)