Aparna Rao: High-tech art (with a sense of humor)

Translator: Alba Porrúa Reviewer: Andres Corral

Hi. Today, I'm going to take you through glimpses

Ola. Hoxe, vouvos amosar unhas pinceladas

of about eight of my projects,

de oito dos meus proxectos,

done in collaboration with Danish artist Soren Pors.

feitos en colaboración co artista danés Soren Pors.

We call ourselves Pors and Rao,

Facémonos chamar Pors & Rao

and we live and work in India.

e vivimos e traballamos na India.

I'd like to begin with my very first object,

Gustaríame comezar co meu primeiro obxecto,

which I call "The Uncle Phone."

ao que chamo "O teléfono tío".

And it was inspired by my uncle's peculiar habit

Inspireime no peculiar hábito do meu tío

of constantly asking me to do things for him,

de pedirme constantemente que faga cousas por el,

almost like I were an extension of his body --

case coma se eu fose unha extensión do seu corpo:

to turn on the lights or to bring him a glass of water,

acender as luces ou levarlle un vaso de auga

a pack of cigarettes.

ou un paquete de tabaco.

And as I grew up, it became worse and worse,

Cando medrei, a cousa foi a peor

And I started to think of it as a form of control.

e comeceino a ver como unha forma de control.

But of course, I could never say anything,

Por suposto, non podía dicir nada nunca

because the uncle is a respected figure

porque o tío é unha figura moi respetada

in the Indian family.

na familia india.

And the situation that irked me and mystified me the most

O que máis me irritaba e desconcertaba

was his use of a landline telephone.

era o seu uso do teléfono fixo.

He would hold on to the receiver and expect me to dial a number for him.

El collería o auricular e agardaría a que eu marcase o número por el.

And so as a response and as a gift to my uncle,

En resposta e como agasallo para o meu tío,

I made him "The Uncle Phone."

fíxenlle "O teléfono tío".

It's so long that it requires two people to use it.

É tan longo que fan falta dúas persoas para usalo.

It's exactly the way my uncle uses a phone that's designed for one person.

É exactamente a forma na que o meu tío usa un teléfono diseñado para unha persoa.

But the problem is that, when I left home and went to college,

O problema é que, cando marchei de casa e fun á universidade,

I started missing his commands.

empecei a botar de menos as súas ordes.

And so I made him a golden typewriter

Por iso lle fixen unha máquina de escribir dourada

through which he could dispense his commands

coa que podía dar as súas ordes

to nephews and nieces around the world as an email.

a sobriños e sobriñas de todo o mundo mediante correos electrónicos.

So what he had to do was take a piece of paper, roll it into the carriage,

O que tiña que facer era coller un papel, colocar o papel no carro,

type his email or command and pull the paper out.

escribir o correo electrónico ou orde e sacar o papel.

This device would automatically send the intended person

Este aparello enviaría automaticamente á persoa en cuestión

the letter as an email.

a carta en forma de correo electrónico.

So here you can see, we embedded a lot of electronics

Aquí podedes ver que insertamos moitos aparellos electrónicos

that understands all of the mechanical actions

que entenden todas as accións mecánicas

and converts it to digital.

e convértenas en dixitais.

So my uncle is only dealing with a mechanical interface.

Así, o meu tío só trata cunha interface mecánica.

And of course, the object had to be very grand and have a sense of ritualism,

E, desde logo, o obxecto ten que ser grandioso e ter un toque de ritualismo,

the way my uncle likes it.

como lle gusta ao meu tío.

The next work is a sound-sensitive installation

O seguinte traballo é un aparello sensible ao son

that we affectionately call "The Pygmies."

que chamamos cariñosamente "Os Pigmeos".

And we wanted to work with a notion of being

Queríamos traballar coa noción de estar

surrounded by a tribe of very shy, sensitive and sweet creatures.

rodeados dunha tribu de criaturas tímidas, sensibles e doces.

So how it works is we have these panels, which we have on the wall,

Isto funciona así. Temos estes paneis aquí na parede

and behind them, we have these little creatures which hide.

e, detrás, temos estas pequenas criaturas que se agochan.

And as soon as it's silent, they sort of creep out.

En canto nos quedamos en silencio, intimidan.

And if it's even more silent, they stretch their necks out.

E se hai máis silencio aínda, estiran os pescozos.

And at the slightest sound, they hide back again.

E ao mínimo son, agóchanse de novo.

So we had these panels on three walls of a room.

Así, temos estes paneis en tres paredes dunha habitación.

And we had over 500 of these little pygmies hiding behind them.

E tivemos uns 500 destes pequenos pigmeos agochados detrás.

So this is how it works.

E así é como funciona.

This is a video prototype.

Este é un prototipo de vídeo.

So when it's quiet, it's sort of coming out from behind the panels.

Cando hai silencio, saen de detrás dos paneis

And they hear like humans do, or real creatures do.

e oen como os humanos ou as criaturas reais.

So they get immune to sounds that scare them after awhile.

E fanse inmunes aos sons que os asustan de alí a pouco.

And they don't react to background sounds.

Non reaccionan aos sons de fondo.

You'll hear a train in moment that they don't react to.

Oiredes un tren nun momento ao que non reaccionan.

(Noise)

(ruido)

But they react to foreground sounds. You'll hear that in a second.

Pero reaccionan aos sons en primeiro plano. Oiredes iso nun segundo.

(Whistling)

(asubiando)

So we worked very hard

Traballamos moi duro

to make them as lifelike as possible.

para os facer o máis realistas posible.

So each pygmy has its own behavior, psyche,

Cada pigmeo ten o seu propio comportamento, psique,

mood swings, personalities and so on.

cambios de humor, personalidades, etc.

So this is a very early prototype.

Este é un prototipo moi prematuro.

Of course, it got much better after that.

Por suposto, foi a mellor despois diso.

And we made them react to people,

Fixemos que reaccionaran á xente,

but we found that people were being quite playful and childlike with them.

pero vimos que a xente era bastante xoguetona e infantil con eles.

This is a video installation called "The Missing Person."

Este é un aparello de vídeo chamado "A persoa desaparecida".

And we were quite intrigued

Estabamos bastante intrigados

with playing with the notion of invisibility.

coa idea de xogar coa noción de invisibilidade.

How would it be possible to experience a sense of invisibility?

Como sería posible experimentar a invisibilidade?

So we worked with a company

Traballamos cunha empresa

that specializes in camera surveillance,

especializada en cámaras de vixilancia

and we asked them to develop a piece of software with us,

e pedímoslles que crearan un software connosco

using a camera

usando unha cámara

that could look at people in the room, track them

que podía mirar á xente na habitación, seguir a esta xente

and replace one person with the background, rendering them invisible.

e substituír a unha persoa co fondo, volvéndoas invisibles.

So I'm just going to show you a very early prototype.

Vouvos amosar un prototipo moi prematuro.

On the right side you can see my colleague Soren,

Á dereita, podedes ver ao meu colega Soren,

who's actually in the space.

que, de feito, está no espazo.

And on the left side, you'll see the processed video

E á esquerda, veredes o vídeo procesado

where the camera has made him invisible.

onde a cámara o fai invisible.

Soren enters the room. Pop! He goes invisible.

Soren entra no cuarto. Vaia! Faise invisible.

And you can see that the camera is tracking him and erasing.

Podedes ver como a cámara o segue e o borra.

It's a very early video,

É un vídeo prematuro,

so we haven't yet dealt with the overlap and all of that,

polo que aínda non trataramos o solapamento e todo iso,

but that got refined pretty soon, later.

pero perfeccionouse axiña, máis adiante.

So how we used it was in a room where we had a camera looking into the space,

Isto fixémolo nunha habitación onde había unha cámara mirando ao espazo

and we had one monitor, one on each wall.

e tiñamos un monitor en cada parede.

And as people walked into the room,

E segundo a xente entraba na habitación,

they would see themselves in the monitor, except with one difference:

veríanse a si mesmos no monitor, excepto por unha diferenza:

one person was constantly invisible

unha persoa era constantemente invisible

wherever they moved in the room.

onde queira que se moveran na habitación.

So this is a work called "The Sun Shadow."

Este traballo chámase "A sombra do sol".

And it was almost like a sheet of paper,

Foi case como unha folla de papel,

like a cutout of a childlike drawing

coma un recortable dun debuxo infantil

of an oil spill or a sun.

dunha mancha de petróleo ou un sol.

And from the front, this object appeared to be very strong and robust,

Por diante, este obxecto parecía ser moi forte e robusto

and from the side, it almost seemed very weak.

e de lado, case parecía moi débil.

So people would walking into the room and they'd almost ignore it,

A xente camiñaría pola habitación e case o ignoraría

thinking it was some crap laying around.

pensando que era algunha trapallada.

But as soon as they passed by,

Pero en canto pasaran preto,

it would start to climb up the wall in jerky fashion.

comezaría a trepar pola parede de forma brusca.

And it would get exhausted, and it would collapse every time.

Cansaríase e desplomaríase sempre.

(Laughter)

(gargalladas)

So this work

Este traballo

is a caricature of an upside-down man.

é unha caricatura dun home do revés.

His head is so heavy, full of heavy thoughts,

A súa cabeza é tan pesada, chea de pensamentos pesados,

that it's sort of fallen into his hat,

que parece que cae no seu sombreiro

and his body's grown out of him almost like a plant.

e o seu corpo crece del case coma unha planta.

Well what he does is he moves around

O que fai é moverse arredor da súa cabeza

in a very drunken fashion on his head

coma se estivese bébedo

in a very unpredictable and extremely slow movement.

nun movemento moi impredecible e extremedamente lento.

And it's kind of constrained by that circle.

Está como obrigado por ese círculo.

Because if that circle weren't there, and the floor was very even,

Porque se ese círculo non estivese aí e o solo fora moi chan,

it would start to wander about in the space.

comezaría a deambular polo espazo.

And there's no wires.

E non hai cables.

So I'll just show you an instance --

Mostrareivos un exemplo.

so when people enter the room, it activates this object.

Cando a xente entra na habitación, actívase este obxecto.

And it very slowly, over a few minutes,

E, moi lentamente, nuns minutos,

sort of painfully goes up,

achégase terriblemente,

and then it gains momentum

colle velocidade

and it looks like it's almost about to fall.

e parece que está a punto de caer.

And this is an important moment,

Este é un momento importante

because we wanted to instill in the viewer

porque queriamos infundir no espectador

an instinct to almost go and help, or save the subject.

un instinto de case ir e axudar ou salvar ao suxeito.

But it doesn't really need it,

Aínda que non o necesita

because it, again, sort of manages to pull itself up.

porque el mesmo é quen de erguerse outra vez.

So this work was a real technical challenge for us,

Este traballo foi un auténtico reto técnico para nós

and we worked very hard, like most of our works, over years

e traballamos moi duro, como na maioría dos nosos traballos, durante anos

to get the mechanics right and the equilibrium and the dynamics.

para conseguir unha mecánica, un equilibrio e unha dinámica perfectos.

And it was very important for us

Foi moi importante para nós

to establish the exact moment that it would fall,

establecer o momento exacto no que caería,

because if we made it in a way that it would topple over,

porque se o faciamos de xeito que perdese o equilibrio,

then it would damage itself,

entón danaríase,

and if it didn't fall enough, it wouldn't instill that fatalism,

e se non caera o suficiente, non infundiría ese fatalismo,

or that sense of wanting to go and help it.

ou ese efecto de querer ir a o axudar.

So I'm going to show you a very quick video

Vouvos amosar un vídeo moi rápido

where we are doing a test scenario -- it's much faster.

onde facemos unha proba. É moito máis rápido.

That's my colleague. He's let it go.

Ese é o meu compañeiro. Déixao ir.

Now he's getting nervous, so he's going to go catch it.

Agora estase poñendo nervioso, así que vai o vai coller.

But he doesn't need to,

Pero non precisa o facer,

because it manages to lift itself up on its own.

porque consegue erguerse por si mesmo.

So this is a work that we were very intrigued with,

Este é un traballo co que estivemos moi intrigados,

working with the aesthetic of fur

traballando coa estética da pel

embedded with thousands of tiny different sizes

incrustada con miles de diversos tamaños diminutos

of fiber optics, which twinkle like the night sky.

de fibra óptica, que brillaban coma o ceo nocturno.

And it's at the scale of the night sky.

E está á escala do ceo nocturno.

So we wrapped this around a blob-like form,

Envolvemos isto arredor dunha gota

which is in the shape of a teddy bear,

con forma de oso de peluche,

which was hanging from the ceiling.

que estaba colgado do teito.

And the idea was to sort of contrast

A idea era contrastar

something very cold and distant and abstract like the universe

algo tan frío, distante e abstracto coma o universo

into the familiar form of a teddy bear,

coa forma familiar dun oso de peluche,

which is very comforting and intimate.

que é moi reconfortante e íntimo.

And the idea was that at some point

A idea era que nalgún momento

you would stop looking at the form of a teddy bear

deixariades de mirar a forma dun oso de peluche

and you would almost perceive it to be a hole in the space,

e case o percibiriades como un buraco no espazo,

and as if you were looking out into the twinkling night sky.

coma se estivesedes mirando un ceo nocturno brillante.

So this is the last work, and a work in progress,

Este é o último traballo, aínda en proceso,

and it's called "Space Filler."

e chámase "Recheo de espazo".

Well imagine a small cube that's about this big

Imaxinade un cubiño así de grande

standing in front of you in the middle of the room,

diante de vós no medio da habitación

and as you approached it, it tried to intimidate you

e que, según vos achegades, intentase intimidarvos

by growing into a cube

converténdose nun cubo

that's twice its height and [eight] times its volume.

o dobre de alto e de catro veces o seu volume.

And so this object is constantly expanding and contracting

Este obxecto está en constante expansión e contracción

to create a dynamic with people moving around it --

para crear unha dinámica con xente movéndose darredor,

almost like it were trying

coma se intentase

to conceal a secret within its seams or something.

ocultar un segredo nas súas xuntas ou algo así.

So we work with a lot of technology,

Traballamos con moita tecnoloxía,

but we don't really love technology,

pero en realidade non nos gusta,

because it gives us a lot of pain in our work over years and years.

porque nos causa moito sufrimento no noso traballo durante anos e anos.

But we use it because we're interested

Pero a usamos porque estamos interesados

in the way that it can help us

no xeito en que nos axuda

to express the emotions and behavioral patterns

a expresar emocións e patróns de comportamento

in these creatures that we create.

nestas criaturas que creamos.

And once a creature pops into our minds,

Cando unha criatura nos vén á mente,

it's almost like the process of creation

e case coma se o proceso de creación

is to discover the way this creature really wants to exist

fose a descubrir a maneira na que esta criatura quere existir,

and what form it wants to take and what way it wants to move.

que forma quere coller e como se quere mover.

Thank you.

Grazas.

(Applause)

(aplausos)