You are fluent in this language (and don't even know it) | Christoph Niemann

Prevoditelj: Mirela Ivoš Recezent: Sanda L

I'm an artist.

Ja sam umjetnik.

Being an artist is the greatest job there is.

Biti umjetnik najbolji je posao koji postoji.

And I really pity each and every one of you

I stvarno žalim svakoga od vas

who has to spend your days discovering new galaxies

koji moraju provoditi dane otkrivajući nove galaksije

or saving humanity from global warming.

ili spašavajući čovječanstvo od globalnog zatopljenja.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

But being an artist is also a daunting job.

Ali biti umjetnik također je i obeshrabrujuć posao.

I spend every day, from nine to six, doing this.

Svaki dan od devet do šest provedem radeći ovo.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

I even started a side career that consists entirely

Čak sam započeo sporednu karijeru koja se u potpunosti sastoji

of complaining about the difficulty of the creative process.

od žaljenja na poteškoće kreativnog procesa.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

But today, I don't want to talk about what makes my life difficult.

Ali danas ne želim pričati o tome što moj život čini teškim.

I want to talk about what makes it easy.

Želim pričati o onome što ga čini lakim.

And that is you --

A to ste vi

and the fact that you are fluent in a language

i činjenica da ste fluentni u jeziku

that you're probably not even aware of.

kojega vjerojatno niste ni svjesni.

You're fluent in the language of reading images.

Fluentni ste u jeziku čitanja slika.

Deciphering an image like that

Dešifriranje ovakve slike

takes quite a bit of an intellectual effort.

zahtijeva priličan intelektualni napor.

But nobody ever taught you how this works,

Ali nitko vas nije naučio kako to funkcionira,

you just know it.

jednostavno znate.

College, shopping, music.

Fakultet, kupovina, glazba.

What makes a language powerful is that you can take a very complex idea

Ono što jezik čini moćnim jest da možete uzeti jako kompleksnu ideju

and communicate it in a very simple, efficient form.

i iskomunicirati je na vrlo jednostavan, učinkovit način.

These images represent exactly the same ideas.

Ove slike predstavljaju potpuno iste ideje.

But when you look, for example, at the college hat,

Ali kada pogledate, primjerice, akademsku kapu,

znate da ona ne predstavlja dodatak koji nosite na glavi

you know that this doesn't represent the accessory you wear on your head

when you're being handed your diploma,

kada vam se uruči vaša diploma,

but rather the whole idea of college.

nego zapravo cijelu ideju fakulteta.

Now, what drawings can do is they cannot only communicate images,

Sada, ono što crteži mogu je ne samo iskomunicirati slike,

they can even evoke emotions.

oni mogu pobuditi emocije.

Let's say you get to an unfamiliar place and you see this.

Recimo da dođete na nepoznato mjesto i vidite ovo.

You feel happiness and relief.

Osjećate sreću i olakšanje.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Or a slight sense of unease or maybe downright panic.

Ili blagi osjećaj nelagode ili možda potpunu paniku.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Or blissful peace and quiet.

Ili blaženi mir i tišinu.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

But visuals, they're of course more than just graphic icons.

Ali vizualni materijali, naravno, više su od samo grafičkih ikona.

You know, if I want to tell the story of modern-day struggle,

Znate, ako želim ispričati priču problema modernog života,

I would start with the armrest between two airplane seats

započeo bih s naslonom za ruke između dva sjedala u avionu

and two sets of elbows fighting.

i borbom dva lakta.

What I love there is this universal law

Ono što volim je univerzalni zakon

that, you know, you have 30 seconds to fight it out

prema kojemu, znate, imate 30 sekundi da se izborite

and once it's yours, you get to keep it for the rest of the flight.

i jednom kada je vaš, možete ga zadržati ostatak leta.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Now, commercial flight is full of these images.

Sada, komercijalni letovi puni su ovakvih slika.

If I want to illustrate the idea of discomfort,

Ako želim ilustrirati ideju neudobnosti,

nothing better than these neck pillows.

nema ništa bolje od ovih jastuka za vrat.

They're designed to make you more comfortable --

Dizajnirani su da vam bude udobno,

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

except they don't.

ali ne bude.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

So I never sleep on airplanes.

Tako ja nikada ne spavam u avionu.

What I do occasionally is I fall into a sort of painful coma.

Ono što ponekad činim je da upadnem u neku vrstu bolne kome.

And when I wake up from that,

I kada se probudim iz nje,

I have the most terrible taste in my mouth.

imam najgori mogući okus u ustima.

It's a taste that's so bad, it cannot be described with words,

Toliko je loš da ne može biti opisan riječima,

but it can be drawn.

ali može biti nacrtan.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

The thing is, you know, I love sleeping.

Stvar je u tome da, znate, volim spavati.

And when I sleep, I really prefer to do it while spooning.

I kada spavam, radije to činim dok se grlim.

I've been spooning on almost a pro level for close to 20 years,

Grlim se na gotovo profesionalnoj razini skoro 20 godina,

but in all this time, I've never figured out

ali cijelo to vrijeme, nikada nisam shvatio

what to do with that bottom arm.

što da radim s donjom rukom.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

And the only thing --

I jedina stvar -

the only thing that makes sleeping even more complicated

jedina stvar koja spavanje čini još kompliciranijim

than trying to do it on an airplane

od pokušaja da to radite u avionu

is when you have small children.

je kad imate malu djecu.

They show up at your bed at around 4am

Pojave se pored vašeg kreveta oko 4 ujutro

with some bogus excuse of, "I had a bad dream."

s nekom lažnom isprikom poput "Ružno sam sanjao".

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

And then, of course you feel sorry for them, they're your kids,

I onda, naravno, bude vam žao, vaša su djeca,

so you let them into your bed.

pa ih pustite u krevet.

And I have to admit, at the beginning, they're really cute and warm and snugly.

I moram priznati, u početku budu stvarno slatki, topli i ugodni.

The minute you fall back asleep, they inexplicably --

Čim ponovno zaspu, neobjašnjivo -

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

start rotating.

se počnu rotirati.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

We like to call this the helicopter mode.

Ovo volimo zvati modalitet helikoptera.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Now, the deeper something is etched into your consciousness,

Sada, što je nešto dublje urezano u vašu svijest,

the fewer details we need to have an emotional reaction.

manje detalja je potrebno da bi se izazvala emocionalna reakcija.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

So why does an image like this work?

Pa zašto ova slika funkcionira?

It works, because we as readers

Funkcionira jer smo mi kao čitači

are incredibly good at filling in the blanks.

izuzetno dobri u popunjavanju praznina.

Now, when you draw, there's this concept of negative space.

Sada, kada crtate, postoji koncept negativnog prostora.

And the idea is, that instead of drawing the actual object,

Ideja je da umjesto crtanja stvarnog objekta,

you draw the space around it.

nacrtate prostor oko njega.

So the bowls in this drawing are empty.

Tako su posude na ovom crtežu prazne.

But the black ink prompts your brain to project food into a void.

Ali crna tinta tjera vaš mozak da projicira hranu u prazninu.

What we see here is not a owl flying.

Ono što ovdje vidimo nije sova koja leti.

What we actually see is a pair of AA batteries

Ono što zapravo vidimo je par AA baterija

standing on a nonsensical drawing,

koje stoje na besmislenom crtežu,

and I animate the scene by moving my desk lamp up and down.

a scenu sam animirao pomičući svoju stolnu lampu gore i dolje.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

The image really only exists in your mind.

Slika zapravo postoji samo u vašem umu.

So, how much information do we need to trigger such an image?

Pa, koliko je informacija potrebno da bi se ta slika formirala?

My goal as an artist is to use the smallest amount possible.

Moj cilj kao umjetnika je koristiti najmanju moguću količinu.

I try to achieve a level of simplicity

Pokušavam dosegnuti razinu jednostavnosti

where, if you were to take away one more element,

gdje, ako uduzmete još jedan element,

the whole concept would just collapse.

cijeli koncept propada.

And that's why my personal favorite tool as an artist is abstraction.

Stoga je moj omiljeni alat kao umjetniku apstrakcija.

I've come up with this system which I call the abstract-o-meter,

Stvorio sam ovaj sustav koji nazivam apstraktometar,

and this is how it works.

a koji funkcionira ovako.

So you take a symbol, any symbol, for example the heart and the arrow,

Dakle, uzmete simbol, bilo koji simbol, recimo srce i strijelu,

which most of us would read as the symbol for love,

koje mnogi od nas čitaju kao simbol ljubavi,

and I'm an artist, so I can draw this

i ja sam umjetnik pa to mogu nacrtati

in any given degree of realism or abstraction.

u bilo kojem stupnju realizma ili apstrakcije.

Now, if I go too realistic on it, it just grosses everybody out.

Sada, ako budem prerealističan, svi će se samo zgroziti.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

If I go too far on the other side and do very abstract,

Ako odem previše na drugu stranu i nacrtam preapstraktno,

nobody has any idea what they're looking at.

nitko neće znati što gleda.

So I have to find the perfect place on that scale,

Stoga moram naći savršeno mjesto na toj skali,

in this case it's somewhere in the middle.

a u ovom slučaju to je negdje na sredini.

Now, once we have reduced an image to a more simple form,

Sada, jednom kada smo suzili sliku na jednostavniji oblik,

all sorts of new connections become possible.

mnoge nove veze postaju moguće.

And that allows for totally new angles in storytelling.

To omogućava potpuno nove kutove iz kojih se može ispričati priča.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

And so, what I like to do is,

Zato je ono što ja volim raditi,

I like to take images from really remote cultural areas and bring them together.

volim uzeti slike iz dalekih kulturalnih područja i spojiti ih.

Now, with more daring references --

Sada, s odvažnijim referencama -

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

I can have more fun.

mogu se više zabaviti.

But of course, I know that eventually things become so obscure

Ali naravno, znam da na kraju stvari postanu toliko nejasne

that I start losing some of you.

da počinjem gubiti neke od vas.

So as a designer, it's absolutely key to have a good understanding

Tako da, kao dizajneru, ključno je imati dobro razumijevanje

of the visual and cultural vocabulary of your audience.

vizualnog i kulturalnog vokabulara publike.

With this image here, a comment on the Olympics in Athens,

Ovom slikom, komentarom na Olimpijske igre u Ateni,

I assumed that the reader of the "New Yorker"

pretpostavio sam da će čitatelj New Yorkera

would have some rudimentary idea of Greek art.

imati neku osnovnu ideju o grčkoj umjetnosti.

If you don't, the image doesn't work.

Ako je nemate, slika ne funkcionira.

But if you do, you might even appreciate the small detail,

Ali ako imate, možda ćete čak cijeniti male detalje,

like the beer-can pattern here on the bottom of the vase.

poput uzorka limenki piva na dnu vaze.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

A recurring discussion I have with magazine editors,

Opetovana rasprava koju imam s urednicima časopisa,

who are usually word people,

koji su obično ljudi riječi,

is that their audience, you,

jest da je njihova publika, vi,

are much better at making radical leaps with images

mnogo bolja u pravljenju velikih skokova sa slikama

than they're being given credit for.

nego što se smatra.

And the only thing I find frustrating is that they often seem to push me

Jedina stvar koja me frustrira je to da me često tjeraju

towards a small set of really tired visual clichés

prema malome setu stvarno umarajućih vizualnih klišeja

that are considered safe.

koji se smatraju sigurnima.

You know, it's the businessman climbing up a ladder,

Znate, biznismen koji se penje po ljestvama

and then the ladder moves, morphs into a stock market graph,

i ljestve se pomiču, pretvarajući se u graf burze,

and anything with dollar signs; that's always good.

i bilo što sa znakom dolara, to je uvijek dobro.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

If there are editorial decision makers here in the audience,

Ako su donositelji uredničkih odluka ovdje u publici,

I want to give you a piece of advice.

želim vam dati mali savjet.

Every time a drawing like this is published,

Svaki put kada se crtež poput ovoga objavi,

a baby panda will die.

beba panda umre.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Literally.

Doslovno.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

When is a visual cliché good or bad?

Kada je vizualni klišej dobar ili loš?

It's a fine line.

Tanka je linija.

And it really depends on the story.

I zapravo ovisi o priči.

In 2011, during the earthquake and the tsunami in Japan,

2011. godine, tijekom potresa i tsunamija u Japanu,

I was thinking of a cover.

razmišljao sam o naslovnici.

And I went through the classic symbols:

I prošao sam kroz klasične simbole:

the Japanese flag,

japansku zastavu,

"The Great Wave" by Hokusai, one of the greatest drawings ever.

Veliki val Hokusaija, jednog od najboljih crteža ikad.

And then the story changed

I onda se priča promijenila

when the situation at the power plant in Fukushima got out of hand.

kad je situacija u nuklearnoj elektrani Fukushima izmakla kontroli.

And I remember these TV images of the workers in hazmat suits,

I sjećam se televizijskih snimki radnika u Hazmat odijelima

just walking through the site,

dok hodaju kroz mjesto,

and what struck me was how quiet and serene it was.

i ono što me zapanjilo je kako je tiho i spokojno bilo.

And so I wanted to create an image of a silent catastrophe.

I tako sam želio stvoriti sliku tihe katastrofe.

And that's the image I came up with.

I ovo je slika koju sam osmislio.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

What I want to do is create an aha moment, for you, for the reader.

Ono što želim jest stvoriti "aha" trenutak, za vas, za čitatelja.

And unfortunately, that does not mean

I nažalost, to ne znači

that I have an aha moment when I create these images.

da ja imam "aha" trenutak dok stvaram te slike.

I never sit at my desk

Ne sjedim za svojim stolom

with the proverbial light bulb going off in my head.

s poslovičnom žaruljom koja mi svijetli iznad glave.

What it takes is actually a very slow,

Ono što je potrebno je zapravo jako spor,

unsexy process of minimal design decisions

neseksi proces minimalnog odlučivanja o dizajnu

that then, when I'm lucky, lead to a good idea.

koje onda, ako imam sreće, dovodi do dobre ideje.

So one day, I'm on a train, and I'm trying to decode

Tako jednog dana sjedim u vlaku i pokušavam dešifrirati

the graphic rules for drops on a window.

grafička pravila kapljica na prozoru.

And eventually I realize,

I s vremenom shvatim -

"Oh, it's the background blurry upside-down,

oh, pozadina je zamagljena naopako

contained in a sharp image."

i sadržana u izoštrenoj slici.

And I thought, wow, that's really cool,

I tako pomislim, wow, to je stvarno cool

and I have absolutely no idea what to do with that.

i nemam apsolutno nikakvu ideju što bih s time.

A while later, I'm back in New York,

Nešto kasnije, po povratku u New York,

and I draw this image of being stuck on the Brooklyn bridge in a traffic jam.

nacrtao sam ovu sliku kako je biti zaglavljen u gužvi na Brooklynskom mostu.

It's really annoying, but also kind of poetic.

Stvarno je iritantno, ali također i pomalo poetično.

And only later I realized,

Tek sam kasnije shvatio da

I can take both of these ideas and put them together in this idea.

mogu obje te ideje uzeti i povezati ih u ovu ideju.

And what I want to do is not show a realistic scene.

I ono što želim nije pokazati realističnu scenu.

But, maybe like poetry,

Nego, možda poput poezije,

make you aware that you already had this image with you,

učiniti vas svjesnim da ste tu sliku već imali sa sobom,

but only now I've unearthed it

ali ja sam je sada otkrio

and made you realize that you were carrying it with you all along.

i učinio da shvatite da ste je nosili sa sobom cijelo vrijeme.

But like poetry, this is a very delicate process

Ali kao i poezija, ovo je vrlo delikatan proces

that is neither efficient nor scalable, I think.

koji nije ni učinkovit ni skalabilan, bar mislim.

And maybe the most important skill for an artist

I možda je najbitnija vještina umjetnika

is really empathy.

zapravo empatija.

You need craft and you need --

Trebate vještinu i trebate -

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

you need creativity --

trebate kreativnost -

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

thank you --

hvala,

to come up with an image like that.

da biste došli do ovakve slike.

But then you need to step back

Ali tada se trebate udaljiti

and look at what you've done from the perspective of the reader.

i pogledati što ste napravili iz perspektive čitatelja.

I've tried to become a better artist by becoming a better observer of images.

Pokušao sam biti bolji umjetnik postajući bolji opažatelj slika.

And for that, I started an exercise for myself

I stoga, započeo sam vježbu za sebe

which I call Sunday sketching,

koju nazivam nedjeljno skiciranje,

which meant, on a Sunday, I would take a random object I found around the house

što znači da nedjeljom uzmem neki predmet koji nađem u kući

and try to see if that object could trigger an idea

i pokušam vidjeti može li taj predmet potaknuti ideju

that had nothing to do with the original purpose of that item.

koja nema nikakve veze s njegovom pravom namjenom.

And it usually just means I'm blank for a long while.

I to obično znači da nemam ništa dugo vremena.

And the only trick that eventually works is if I open my mind

I jedini trik koji zapravo djeluje jest da otvorim um

and run through every image I have stored up there,

i preletim preko svih slika koje sam tamo pohranio

and see if something clicks.

pa vidim hoće li nešto kliknuti.

And if it does, just add a few lines of ink to connect --

I ako bude, samo dodam nekoliko linija tinte da povežem,

to preserve this very short moment of inspiration.

da sačuvam taj vrlo kratki trenutak inspiracije.

And the great lesson there

I odlična lekcija tu je

was that the real magic doesn't happen on paper.

da se prava čarolija ne odvija na papiru.

It happens in the mind of the viewer.

Odvija se u umu gledatelja.

When your expectations and your knowledge clash with my artistic intentions.

Kada se vaša očekivanja i vaše znanje sudare s mojim umjetničkim namjerama.

Your interaction with an image,

Vaša interakcija sa slikom,

your ability to read, question, be bothered or bored or inspired

sposobnost da čitate, propitujete, da vam se smeta, dosadi ili vas se inspirira

by an image

slikom

is as important as my artistic contribution.

važno je koliko i moj umjetnički doprinos.

Because that's what turns an artistic statement

Jer to je ono što pretvara umjetničku izjavu

really, into a creative dialogue.

zapravo u kreativan dijalog.

And so, your skill at reading images

I stoga vaša sposobnost čitanja slika

is not only amazing,

nije samo zapanjujuća,

it is what makes my art possible.

ona je ono što čini moju umjetnost mogućom.

And for that, I thank you very much.

I zbog toga, veoma vam hvala.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

(Cheers)

(Klicanje)

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)