Janet Echelman: Taking imagination seriously

Prevodilac: Dejan Levi Lektor: Ivana Korom

This story

Ova priča

is about taking imagination seriously.

je o ozbiljnom pristupu mašti.

Fourteen years ago,

Pre 14 godina

I first encountered this ordinary material, fishnet,

ja sam prvi put pronašla jedan običan materijal, ribarsku mrežu,

used the same way for centuries.

koji je korišćen na isti načim već stotinama godina.

Today, I'm using it to create

Danas, ja ga koristim da stvorim

permanent, billowing, voluptuous forms

stalne, bujne, pohotljive oblike

the scale of hard-edged buildings

veličine grubih zgrada

in cities around the world.

u gradovima po celom svetu.

I was an unlikely person to be doing this.

Ja nisam tipična osoba koja se bavi time.

I never studied sculpture,

Nisam nikada studirala skulpturu,

engineering or architecture.

ni inženjerstvo ili arhitekturu.

In fact, after college

Zapravo, posle srednje škole

I applied to seven art schools

prijavila sam se na sedam škola umetnosti

and was rejected by all seven.

i nisam prihvaćena ni u jednu.

I went off on my own to become an artist,

Rešila sam da sama postanem umetnik,

and I painted for 10 years,

i slikala sam narednih 10 godina,

when I was offered a Fulbright to India.

kad sam konačno dobila Fulbrajt stipendiju da idem za indiju.

Promising to give exhibitions of paintings,

Kako sam obećala da ću izložiti svoje slike,

I shipped my paints and arrived in Mahabalipuram.

poslala sam ih i stigla u Mahabalipuram.

The deadline for the show arrived --

Dan izložbe je stigao --

my paints didn't.

ali moje slike nisu.

I had to do something.

Morala sam nešto da preuzmem.

This fishing village was famous for sculpture.

Ovo ribarsko selo je vrlo poznato po skulpturi.

So I tried bronze casting.

Pa sam probala livenje bronze.

But to make large forms was too heavy and expensive.

Ali praviti velike forme je bilo teško i skupo.

I went for a walk on the beach,

Otišla sam da se prošetam na plaži,

watching the fishermen

i tamo sam gledala ribare

bundle their nets into mounds on the sand.

kako gomilaju svoje mreže na pesku.

I'd seen it every day,

Isto kao što sam videla svaki dan to tada,

but this time I saw it differently --

ali ovaj put mi se učinilo drugačije --

a new approach to sculpture,

novi pristup skulpturi,

a way to make volumetric form

način da se napravi volumetrijska forma

without heavy solid materials.

bez teških i čvrstih materijala.

My first satisfying sculpture

Moja prva zadovoljavajuća skulptura

was made in collaboration with these fishermen.

je napravljena u saradnji sa ovim ribarima.

It's a self-portrait

To je autoportret

titled "Wide Hips."

nazvan "Široki kukovi".

(Laughter)

(smeh)

We hoisted them on poles to photograph.

Podigli smo ih na šipke da bi ih slikali.

I discovered

Primetila sam

their soft surfaces

da su te mekane površine

revealed every ripple of wind

reagovale na svaki dah vetra

in constantly changing patterns.

u stalno promenljivim oblicima.

I was mesmerized.

Bila sam opčinjena.

I continued studying craft traditions

Nastavila sam da proučavam tradicije zanata

and collaborating with artisans,

i da sarađujem sa zanatlijama,

next in Lithuania with lace makers.

onda sa krojačima čipke u Litvaniji.

I liked the fine detail

Volela sam fine detalje koje

it gave my work,

su davale mojim radovima,

but I wanted to make them larger --

ali htela sam da budu veći --

to shift from being an object you look at

da ne budu samo objekti koji se mogu gledati

to something you could get lost in.

nego da budu objekti u kojima se može izgubiti.

Returning to India to work with those fishermen,

Vratila sam se u Indiju da bi opet radila sa onim ribarima,

we made a net

napravili smo mrežu

of a million and a half hand-tied knots --

od milion i po ručno vezanih čvorova --

installed briefly in Madrid.

koja je bila neko kratko vreme izložena u Madridu.

Thousands of people saw it,

Hiljade ljudi su je videli

and one of them was the urbanist

i jedan od njih je bio urbanista

Manual Sola-Morales

Manuel Sola-Morales,

who was redesigning the waterfront

koji je tad redizajnirao kej

in Porto, Portugal.

u Portu, u Portugaliji.

He asked if I could build this

Pitao me je da li bih mogla to da napravim

as a permanent piece for the city.

ali kao stalnu skulpturu za grad.

I didn't know if I could do that

Nisam znala da li bih mogla to da uspem

and preserve my art.

a i da sačuvam svoju umetnost.

Durable, engineered, permanent --

Izdržljivo, inženjersko, dugotrajno --

those are in opposition

ti kvaliteti se teško uklapaju

to idiosyncratic, delicate and ephemeral.

sa idiosinkratičnim, delikatnim i efemernim.

For two years, I searched for a fiber

Dve godine sam tražila vlakno

that could survive ultraviolet rays,

koje bi moglo da izdrži ultravioletno zračenje,

salt, air, pollution,

so, vazduh, zagađenje,

and at the same time remain soft enough

a itekako koje bi ostalo dovoljno mekano da bi

to move fluidly in the wind.

se lagano kretalo uz vetar.

We needed something to hold the net up

Trebalo nam je nešto što bi moglo da drži tu

out there in the middle of the traffic circle.

mrežu tamo na sredini koloseka.

So we raised this 45,000-pound steel ring.

Zatim smo podigli čelični prsten od 22,000 kg.

We had to engineer it

Morali smo ga napraviti

to move gracefully in an average breeze

da se može lagano kretati na tihom vetru,

and survive in hurricane winds.

a i da bi preživeo najžešću oluju.

But there was no engineering software

Ali tada nije postojao kompjuterski program

to model something porous and moving.

koji bi mogao da modelira nešto toliko pokretno i porozno.

I found a brilliant aeronautical engineer

Našla sam odličnog aeronautičkog inženjera

who designs sails for America's Cup racing yachts

koji pravi jedra za amerikke trkačke jahte,

named Peter Heppel.

zove se Piter Hepel.

He helped me tackle the twin challenges

On mi je pomogao da rešim oba problema:

of precise shape

precizni oblik

and gentle movement.

i lagano kretanje.

I couldn't build this the way I knew

Nisam ga mogla praviti tako kako sam znala,

because hand-tied knots

zato što ručno-vezani čvorovi

weren't going to withstand a hurricane.

ne bi mogli da izdrže oluju.

So I developed a relationship

Pa sam se zato udružila sa

with an industrial fishnet factory,

jednim industrijskim proizvođačem ribarskih mreža,

learned the variables of their machines,

i naučila kako rade njihove mašine,

and figured out a way

tako da bih konačno pronašla način

to make lace with them.

kako da stvorim čipku s njima.

There was no language

Nije postojao sistem

to translate this ancient, idiosyncratic handcraft

da bi se ova stara, idiosinkratična veština prevela

into something machine operators could produce.

u nešto što bi ovi mašinisti mogli da kreiraju.

So we had to create one.

I to smo morali da stvorimo.

Three years and two children later,

Tri godine i dvoje dece kasnije,

we raised this 50,000-square-foot lace net.

podigli smo ovu čipkanu mrezu od 18,000 kvadrata.

It was hard to believe

Stvarno je bilo teško verovati

that what I had imagined

da to što sam ja zamišljala

was now built, permanent

je sada izgrađeno, stalno

and had lost nothing in translation.

i da nije izgubilo ništa u tom prevodu.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

This intersection had been bland and anonymous.

Ova raskrsnica je ranije bila dosadna i anonimna.

Now it had a sense of place.

Sada ima smisao mesta.

I walked underneath it

Prošla sam ispod skulpture

for the first time.

po prvi put.

As I watched the wind's choreography unfold,

Gledala sam kako se razvijala koreografija vetra,

I felt sheltered

imala sam utisak zaštićenosti

and, at the same time,

i u istom trenutku,

connected to limitless sky.

povezanosti sa neograničenim nebom.

My life was not going to be the same.

Život mi je od tada skroz promenjen.

I want to create these oases of sculpture

Htela sam da stvaram ove oaze skulptura

in spaces of cities around the world.

u praznim mestima raznih gradova po svetu.

I'm going to share two directions

Htela bi sada da govorim o dva dodatna

that are new in my work.

elementa u mom radu.

Historic Philadelphia City Hall:

Istorijska gradska kuća Filadelfije:

its plaza, I felt, needed a material for sculpture

imala sam utisak da je njenom trgu trebao materijal za skulpturu

that was lighter than netting.

lakši od ribarske mreže.

So we experimented

Zato smo eksperimentisali

with tiny atomized water particles

sa malim atomiziranim vodenim česticama

to create a dry mist

da bismo stvorili suvu maglu

that is shaped by the wind

koja bi reagovala na vetar.

and in testing, discovered

U testiranju smo shvatili

that it can be shaped by people

da može reagovati i na ljudsku ruku

who can interact and move through it without getting wet.

i da ljudi mogli da se kreću kroz nju, a da ne budu mokri.

I'm using this sculpture material

Ja koristim ovaj skulpturni materijal

to trace the paths of subway trains above ground

da bih pratila putanje metroa iznad zemlje

in real time --

u realnom vremenu --

like an X-ray of the city's circulatory system unfolding.

kao rendgen gradskog circularnog sistema.

Next challenge,

Sledeći izazov je bio

the Biennial of the Americas in Denver

kada je Bijenale Amerika u Denveru

asked, could I represent

tražilo da prikažem

the 35 nations of the Western hemisphere and their interconnectedness

svih 35 nacija zapadne hemisfere i njihove povezanosti

in a sculpture?

u jednoj skulpturi.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

I didn't know where to begin,

Nisam znala gde da počnem,

but I said yes.

ali sam pristala.

I read about the recent earthquake in Chile

Čitala sam o zemljotresu u Čileu

and the tsunami that rippled across

i o cunamiju koji je prešao preko

the entire Pacific Ocean.

celog Pacifika.

It shifted the Earth's tectonic plates,

Pomerio je tektonske ploče Zemlje,

sped up the planet's rotation

i ubrzao rotaciju planete

and literally shortened the length of the day.

i bukvalno skratio dužinu dana.

So I contacted NOAA,

Nazvala sam Nacionalnu administraciju za okeane i atmosferu,

and I asked if they'd share their data on the tsunami,

i zamolila ih da mi proslede svoje podatke o cunamiju,

and translated it into this.

i prevela sam sve to u ovo.

Its title: "1.26"

Zove se: "1.26", a odnosi se

refers to the number of microseconds

na broj milisekundi

that the Earth's day was shortened.

za koliko je skraćen dan.

I couldn't build this with a steel ring, the way I knew.

Ovo nisam mogla zidati sa čeličnim prstenom kao što sam ranije radila.

Its shape was too complex now.

Oblik je postao previše komplikovan.

So I replaced the metal armature

Pa sam zamenila metalnu armaturu

with a soft, fine mesh

sa mekanom, finom mrežom,

of a fiber 15 times stronger than steel.

napravljenom od vlakana koja su 15 puta jača od čelika.

The sculpture could now be entirely soft,

Ova skulptura je sada mogla da bude skroz mekana,

which made it so light

i zato lagana

it could tie in to existing buildings --

da bi mogla da se ubaci u postojeće zgrade --

literally becoming part of the fabric of the city.

da bukvalno postane deo tkanine grada.

There was no software

Opet nije postojao kompjuterski program

that could extrude these complex net forms

koji bi mogao da modelira ove komplikovane forme

and model them with gravity.

sa gravitacijom.

So we had to create it.

Pa smo i to morali kreirati.

Then I got a call from New York City

Onda sam primila poziv iz Njujorka,

asking if I could adapt these concepts

pitali su me da li bih mogla da prilagodim ove ideje

to Times Square

na Tajms Skveru

or the High Line.

ili na Hajlajnu.

This new soft structural method

Ovaj novi mekani strukturalni metod

enables me to model these

mi omogućava da modeliram ovo

and build these sculptures

i da napravim ovakve skultpture,

at the scale of skyscrapers.

veličine oblakodera.

They don't have funding yet,

Trenutno nemaju finansiranje,

but I dream now

ali sada sanjam o tome da

of bringing these to cities around the world

ovo predstavim u raznim svetskim gradovima

where they're most needed.

gde su najviše potrebne.

Fourteen years ago,

Pre 14 godina,

I searched for beauty

tražila sam lepotu

in the traditional things,

u vrlo tradicionalnim stvarima,

in craft forms.

u zanatskim objektima.

Now I combine them with hi-tech materials and engineering

Sada ih spajam sa modernim materijalima i inženjeringom

to create voluptuous, billowing forms

da bih stvorila ogromne, vetrovite forme

the scale of buildings.

veličine celih zgrada.

My artistic horizons continue to grow.

Moji umetnički horizonti se i dalje proširuju.

I'll leave you with this story.

Završiću uz jednu anegdotu.

I got a call from a friend in Phoenix.

Primila sam poziv od prijatelja iz Feniksa.

An attorney in the office

Ona je advokat u kancelariji,

who'd never been interested in art,

nikada ranije nije bila zainteresovana za umetnost,

never visited the local art museum,

nije nikad išla u lokalni muzej,

dragged everyone she could from the building

ali je sada izvukla sve koje je mogla iz zgrade

and got them outside to lie down underneath the sculpture.

da odu napolje i da legnu ispod skulpture.

There they were in their business suits,

Bili su tu u poslovnim odelima,

laying in the grass,

ležali su na travi,

noticing the changing patterns of wind

gledali kako se kretao i pomerao vetar

beside people they didn't know,

pored nepoznatih lica,

sharing the rediscovery of wonder.

i zajedno su ponovo otkrivali čudo.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

Thank you. Thank you.

Hvala. Hvala.

Thank you.

Hvala.

Thank you. Thank you.

Hvala. Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)