The art of bow-making | Dong Woo Jang

Translator: Nika Kotnik Reviewer: Snežana Stone

It is said that the grass is always greener

Pravijo, da je trava zmeraj bolj zelena

on the other side of the fence,

na drugi strani ograje,

and I believe this is true,

in verjamem, da je to res,

especially when I hear President Obama

še posebej, ko slišim predsednika Obamo

often talk about the Korean education system

pogosto govoriti o korejskem izobraževalnem sistemu

as a benchmark of success.

kot merilu uspeha.

Well, I can tell you that,

No, lahko vam povem,

in the rigid structure and highly competitive nature

da v togi strukturi in zelo tekmovalni naravi

of the Korean school system,

korejskega šolskega sistema,

also known as pressure cooker,

znanem tudi kot ekonom lonec,

not everyone can do well in that environment.

vsi ne delujejo dobro v takem okolju.

While many people responded in different ways

Medtem ko se veliko ljudi odzove na različne načine

about our education system,

na naš izobraževalni sistem,

my response to the high-pressure environment

je bil moj odziv na okolje visokega pritiska

was making bows with pieces of wood

izdelovanje lokov iz kosov lesa,

found near my apartment building.

ki sem jih našel blizu svojega stanovanja.

Why bows?

Zakaj loki?

I'm not quite sure.

Nisem povsem prepričan.

Perhaps, in the face of constant pressure,

Mogoče se je zaradi stalnega pritiska

my caveman instinct of survival

moj instinkt preživetja jamskega človeka

has connected with the bows.

povezal z loki.

If you think about it,

Če pomislite,

the bow has really helped drive human survival

je lok resnično pomagal gnati človeško preživetje

since prehistoric times.

že od prazgodovinskih časov.

The area within three kilometers of my home

Območje znotraj treh kilometrov okrog mojega doma

used to be a mulberry forest

je bilo gozd murv

during the Joseon dynasty,

v času dinastije Joseon,

where silkworms were fed with mulberry leaves.

kjer so sviloprejke hranili z listi murv.

In order to raise the historical awareness of this fact,

Da bi povečali zgodovinsko ozaveščenost o tem dejstvu,

the government has planted mulberry trees.

je vlada posadila murve.

The seeds from these trees

Semena teh dreves

also have spread by birds here and there

so ptiči raznesli tu in tam

nearby the soundproof walls of the city expressway

blizu zvočnih zidov mestne hitre ceste,

that has been built around the 1988 Olympics.

ki so bili zgrajeni okrog olimpijskih iger leta 1988.

The area near these walls,

Območje blizu teh zidov,

which nobody bothers to pay attention to,

ki mu nihče ne posveča pozornosti,

had been left free from major intervention,

so pustili pri miru,

and this is where I first found my treasures.

in tu sem prvič našel svoje zaklade.

As I fell deeper into bow making,

Ko sem se bolj poglobil v izdelovanje lokov,

I began to search far and beyond my neighborhood.

sem začel iskati daleč naokrog izven moje soseske.

When I went on school field trips,

Ko sem bil na šolskih izletih,

family vacations, or simply on my way home

družinskih počitnicah, ali preprosto na poti domov

from extracurricular classes,

iz obšolskih aktivnosti,

I wandered around wooded areas

sem hodil okrog teh gozdnih področij

and gathered tree branches

in zbiral veje z orodji,

with the tools that I sneaked inside my school bag.

ki sem jih pretihotapil v šolski torbi.

And they would be somethings like saws, knives,

To so bile nekakšne žage, noži,

sickles and axes

srpi in sekire,

that I covered up with a piece of towel.

ki sem jih zakril s kosom brisače.

I would bring the branches home,

Veje sem prinesel domov,

riding buses and subways,

peljal sem se z avtobusom in s podzemno,

barely holding them in my hands.

in jih komaj držal v rokah.

And I did not bring the tools here to Long Beach.

Orodij nisem prinesel sem v Long Beach.

Airport security.

Saj veste, varnost na letališčih.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

In the privacy of my room, covered in sawdust,

V zasebnosti svoje sobe, pokrit z žaganjem,

I would saw, trim and polish wood all night long

sem žagal, rezal in poliral les celo noč,

until a bow took shape.

dokler ni nastal lok.

One day, I was changing the shape of a bamboo piece

Nekega dne sem spreminjal obliko kosa bambusa

and ended up setting the place on fire.

in zanetil požar.

Where? The rooftop of my apartment building,

Kje? Na strehi mojega bloka,

a place where 96 families call home.

kjer živi 96 družin.

A customer from a department store across from my building

Stranka iz bližnje veleblagovnice nasproti mojega bloka

called 911,

je poklicala reševalce

and I ran downstairs to tell my mom

in jaz sem stekel dol in povedal mami,

with half of my hair burned.

s pol glave zažganih las.

I want to take this opportunity

Rad bi izkoristil to priložnost,

to tell my mom, in the audience today:

da povem mami, ki je danes tu v občinstvu:

Mom, I was really sorry,

Mama, res mi je žal

and I will be more careful with open fire from now on.

in od sedaj naprej bom z odprtim ognjem bolj previden.

My mother had to do a lot of explaining,

Moja mama je morala veliko pojasniti,

telling people that her son did not commit

prepričati ljudi, da njen sin ni zagrešil

a premeditated arson.

naklepnega požiga.

I also researched extensively on bows around the world.

Prav tako sem se izčrpno poučil o lokih z vsega sveta.

In that process, I tried to combine

V tem procesu sem skušal združiti

the different bows from across time and places

različne loke skozi različne kraje in časovna obdobja,

to create the most effective bow.

da bi ustvaril najbolj učinkovit lok.

I also worked with many different types of wood,

Delal sem z različnimi vrstami lesa,

such as maple, yew and mulberry,

na primer javorjem, tiso in murvo,

and did many shooting experiments

in naredil veliko poskusnih strelov

in the wooded area near the urban expressway

v gozdnem območju blizu mestne hitre ceste,

that I mentioned before.

ki sem jo prej omenjal.

The most effective bow for me

Najbolj učinkovit lok bi po moje

would be like this.

izgledal takole.

One: Curved tips can maximize the springiness

Prvič: Zavite konice lahko povečajo prožnost,

when you draw and shoot the arrow.

ko napnete lok in puščico izstrelite.

Two: Belly is drawn inward for higher draw weight,

Drugič: Osrednji del je obrnjen navznoter za večjo vlečno težo,

which means more power.

kar pomeni več moči.

Three: Sinew used in the outer layer of the limb

Tretjič: Kita, uporabljena v zunanjem delu kraka,

for maximum tension storage.

za maksimalno ohranitev napetosti.

And four: Horn used to store energy in compression.

In četrtič: Rog za ohranitev energije in kompresije.

After fixing, breaking, redesigning,

Po popravljanju, lomljenju, preoblikovanju,

mending, bending and amending,

lepljenju, upogibanju in izboljševanju,

my ideal bow began to take shape,

je moj idealni lok dobival obliko.

and when it was finally done,

Ko je bil končno dokončan,

it looked like this.

je izgledal takole.

I was so proud of myself

Bil sem tako ponosen nase,

for inventing a perfect bow on my own.

ker sem izumil svoj lasten popoln lok.

This is a picture of Korean traditional bows

To je slika korejskih tradicionalnih lokov,

taken from a museum,

slikana v muzeju,

and see how my bow resembles them.

in vidite, kako jim je moj lok podoben.

Thanks to my ancestors

Hvala mojim prednikom,

for robbing me of my invention. (Laughter)

da so me oropali mojega izuma. (Smeh)

Through bowmaking,

Skozi izdelovanje lokov

I came in contact with part of my heritage.

sem prišel v stik z delom svoje dediščine.

Learning the information that has accumulated over time

Učenje informacij, ki so se nabrale skozi čas

and reading the message left by my ancestors

in branje sporočila, ki so ga pustili moji predniki

were better than any consolation therapy

so bili boljši kot katerakoli terapija ali nasvet,

or piece of advice any living adults could give me.

ki bi mi ga lahko dal katerikoli živ odrasli.

You see, I searched far and wide,

Vidite, iskal sem daleč in okrog,

but never bothered to look close and near.

ampak nikoli se nisem potrudil gledati blizu.

From this realization,

Zaradi tega spoznanja,

I began to take interest in Korean history,

sem se začel zanimati za korejsko zgodovino,

which had never inspired me before.

ki me prej ni navdihovala.

In the end, the grass is often greener

Na koncu je trava pogosto bolj zelena

on my side of the fence,

na moji strani ograje

although we don't realize it.

čeprav se tega pogosto ne zavedam.

Now, I am going to show you how my bow works.

Sedaj vam bom pokazal, kako moj lok deluje.

And let's see how this one works.

Poglejmo, kako deluje tale.

This is a bamboo bow,

To je bambusov lok,

with 45-pound draw weights.

z 20 kilogrami vlečne teže.

(Noise of shooting arrow)

(Zvok izstreljene puščice)

(Applause)

(Aplavz)

A bow may function in a simple mechanism,

Lok lahko funkcionira na preprost način,

but in order to make a good bow,

ampak da naredite dober lok,

a great amount of sensitivity is required.

potrebujete veliko rahločutnosti.

You need to console and communicate

Morate se posvetovati in komunicirati

with the wood material.

z lesom.

Each fiber in the wood

Vsako vlakno v lesu

has its own reason and function for being,

ima svoj namen in funkcijo,

and only through cooperation and harmony among them

in samo skozi sodelovanje in harmonijo med njimi

comes a great bow.

nastane izjemen lok.

I may be an [odd] student

Morda sem res nenavaden študent

with unconventional interests,

z nekonvencionalnimi interesi,

but I hope I am making a contribution

ampak upam, da prispevam s tem,

by sharing my story with all of you.

ker z vami delim svojo zgodbo.

My ideal world is a place

Zame je idealni svet kraj,

where no one is left behind,

kjer nikogar ne pustimo za sabo,

where everyone is needed exactly where they are,

kjer so vsi potrebni tam, kjer so,

like the fibers and the tendons in a bow,

kot vlakna in kite v loku,

a place where the strong is flexible

kraj, kjer je moč fleksibilnost

and the vulnerable is resilient.

in ranljivost odpornost.

The bow resembles me,

Lok je podoben meni

and I resemble the bow.

in jaz sem podoben loku.

Now, I am shooting a part of myself to you.

Sedaj sem del sebe izstrelil v vas.

No, better yet, a part of my mind

Ne, še boljše, del mojega uma

has just been shot over to your mind.

se je pravkar izstrelil proti vašemu.

Did it strike you?

Vas je zadelo?

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplavz)