ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Matt Kenyon - New media artist
From a plant that lives or dies based on stock prices to an oilcan that flows backward, Matt Kenyon creates art that startles, amuses and challenges assumptions.

Why you should listen

Matt Kenyon works at the intersection of art and technology, creating pieces that question society’s large, complex systems — from our reliance on global corporations and oil, to the military-industrial complex. His works include: “SPORE 1.1,” a self-sustaining ecosystem for a rubber tree, purchased from The Home Depot and watered in conjunction with Home Depot stock prices; “Supermajor,” a collection of vintage oilcans with droplets of oil that defy gravity and flow back into a punctured hole; and ”Notepad,” a commemoration of the Iraqi civilians who died as a result of the US-led invasion, printed in the lines of what appear to be your average, everyday legal pads. 

Kenyon creates these projects through SWAMP, or Studies of Work Atmosphere and Mass Production. He teaches art at the University of Michigan's Stamps School of Art & Design.

More profile about the speaker
Matt Kenyon | Speaker | TED.com
TED2015

Matt Kenyon: A secret memorial for civilian casualties

Matt Kenyon: Como eu coloquei um memorial de civis iraquianos no governo dos EUA

Filmed:
861,905 views

Estima-se que entre 150 mil e 1 milhão de civis iraquianos morreram devido à invasão conduzida pelos EUA em 2003. O artista Matt Kenyon quis criar um monumento a eles. Mas em vez de construir um grande pilar de pedra, ele fez um monumento de tamanho pequeno e de fácil replicação. Ele passou cinco anos "contrabandeando-o" aos salões do poder, inclusive para as mãos do procurador-geral dos EUA da época da guerra, um evento gravado em vídeo.
- New media artist
From a plant that lives or dies based on stock prices to an oilcan that flows backward, Matt Kenyon creates art that startles, amuses and challenges assumptions. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
There's this quote by activist and punk
rock musician Jello Biafra that I love.
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Jello Biafra, ativista e roqueiro,
é autor de uma frase que eu adoro.
00:18
He says, "Don't hate the media.
Be the media."
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Ele diz: "Não odeie a mídia.
Seja a mídia".
00:23
I'm an artist.
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Eu sou um artista.
00:24
I like working with media and technology
because A, I'm familiar with them
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Eu gosto de trabalhar com mídia
e tecnologia, porque tenho familiaridade
e gosto do poder que elas detêm.
00:29
and I like the power they hold.
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00:31
And B, I hate them and I'm terrified
of the power they hold.
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Além disso, eu as odeio,
e morro de medo do poder que elas detêm.
00:35
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
00:37
I remember watching, in 2003, an interview
between Fox News host Tony Snow
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Eu me lembro de assistir, em 2003,
a uma entrevista
entre Tony Snow, da Fox News,
e Donald Rumsfeld,
na época secretário de defesa dos EUA.
00:42
and then-US Defense Secretary,
Donald Rumsfeld.
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Eles conversaram
sobre a recente invasão do Iraque,
00:47
They were talking
about the recent invasion of Iraq,
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e foi perguntado a Rumsfeld:
00:50
and Rumsfeld is asked the question,
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"Soubemos a contagem das nossas baixas,
00:53
"Well, we're hear about our body counts,
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00:55
but we never hear about theirs, why?"
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mas nunca soubemos
as baixas deles. Por quê?"
00:59
And Rumsfeld's answer is,
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E Rumsfeld respondeu:
01:03
"Well, we don't do body counts
on other people."
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"Não contabilizamos
as baixas de outros povos".
01:07
Right?
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Certo?
01:09
It's estimated that between 150,000
to one million Iraqis, civilians,
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Estima-se que entre 150 mil
e 1 milhão de iraquianos, civis,
morreram devido à invasão
liderada pelos EUA, em 2003.
01:14
have died as a result
of the US-led invasion in 2003.
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01:19
That number is in stark contrast with
the 4,486 US service members who died
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Este número é um contraste enorme
face aos 4.486 americanos que morreram
durante o mesmo período.
01:25
during that same window of time.
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01:28
I wanted to do more than just bring
awareness to this terrifying number.
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Eu quis ir além da conscientização
sobre este número estarrecedor.
01:32
I wanted to create a monument
for the individual civilians
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Eu quis criar um monumento
em homenagem aos civis
01:35
who died as a result of the invasion.
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que morreram devido à invasão.
01:39
Monuments to war,
such as Maya Lin's Vietnam Memorial,
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Monumentos de guerra,
como o Memorial do Vietnã, de Maya Lin,
em geral são gigantescos.
01:42
are often enormous in scale.
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01:44
Very powerful and very one-sided.
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Muito poderosos e muito tendenciosos.
01:48
I wanted my monument to live
in the world, and to circulate.
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Eu quis que meu monumento
vivesse e circulasse pelo mundo.
01:54
I remember when I was a boy in school,
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Eu me lembro de quando eu ia à escola,
meu professor nos deu uma tarefa
sobre educação cívica clássica
01:57
my teacher assigned us
this classic civics assignment
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em que pegávamos uma folha de papel
e escrevíamos para um membro do governo.
02:01
where you take a sheet of paper
and you write a member of your government.
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E se escrevêssemos
uma carta boa de verdade,
02:06
And we were told,
if we wrote a really good letter,
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se pensássemos bem sobre ela,
02:08
if we really thought about it,
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02:10
we would get back more than just
a simple formed letter as a reply.
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teríamos uma resposta muito melhor
do que uma carta pré-escrita.
02:16
This is my "Notepad."
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Este é o meu "Notepad".
02:19
What looks like an everyday,
yellow legal tablet of paper
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O que parece um bloco
de papel amarelo comum
é na verdade um monumento
aos civis iraquianos
02:22
is actually a monument
to the individual Iraqi civilians
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que morreram com a invasão americana.
02:25
that died as a result of the US invasion.
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02:30
"Notepad" is an act of protest
and an act of commemoration
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O "Notepad" é um ato de protesto
e também de comemoração
disfarçado de um bloco de papel comum.
02:34
disguised as an everyday tablet of paper.
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02:38
The lines of the paper, when magnified,
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As linhas do papel, quando ampliadas,
revelam um texto microimpresso
02:42
are revealed to be micro-printed text
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contendo os detalhes,
os nomes, datas e locais
02:44
that contains the details, the names,
the dates and locations
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dos civis iraquianos que morreram.
02:49
of individual Iraqi civilians that died.
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02:54
So, for the last 5 years, I've been taking
pads of this paper, tons of this stuff,
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Eu venho distribuindo esses blocos,
toneladas deles, pelos últimos cinco anos,
"contrabandeando-os"
para fornecedores de papel
02:58
and smuggling it
into the stationery supplies
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dos governos
dos Estados Unidos e da coalizão
03:01
of the United States
and the Coalition governments.
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(Risos)
03:04
(Laughter)
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(Aplausos)
03:05
(Applause)
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03:14
I don't have to tell you guys this is not
the place to discuss how I did that.
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Vocês sabem que aqui não é o lugar
para eu contar como fiz isso.
(Risos)
03:18
(Laughter)
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Mas também venho me reunindo a sós
com membros e ex-membros
03:20
But also, I've been meeting one-on-one
with members and former members
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da chamada Coalizão Militar no Iraque,
que ajudou na invasão.
03:26
of the so-called Coalition of the Willing,
who assisted in the invasion.
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Sempre que eu posso
me encontro com um deles,
03:31
And so, whenever I can,
I meet with one of them,
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e apresento o projeto a eles.
03:33
and I share the project with them.
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No verão passado, tive
a chance de me encontrar
03:35
And last summer, I had the chance to meet
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03:37
with former United States Attorney General
and Torture Memo author, Alberto Gonzales.
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com o antigo procurador-geral dos EUA,
e autor de memorandos de tortura,
Alberto Gonzales.
(Video) Matt Kenyon: Posso lhe dar isto?
03:44
(Video) Matt Kenyon:
May I give this to you?
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Este é um bloco de notas especial.
É parte de um projeto em andamento.
03:46
This is a special legal tablet.
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03:48
It's actually part
of an ongoing art project.
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Alberto Gonzalez: É um bloco
de notas especial?
03:51
Alberto Gonzalez:
This is a special legal pad?
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03:54
MK: Yes. You won't believe me,
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MK: Sim. Você não vai acreditar,
mas está no Museu de Arte Moderna.
03:55
but it's in the collection of the Museum
of Modern Art; I'm an artist.
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Eu sou um artista.
03:59
MK: And all of the lines
of the paper are actually --
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MK: E todas as linhas
do papel, na verdade...
AG: Elas desaparecem?
04:02
AG: Are they going to disappear?
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04:03
MK: No, they're micro-printed text
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MK: Não, elas são um texto microimpresso
04:06
that contains the names
of individual Iraqi civilians
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contendo os nomes dos civis iraquianos
que morreram desde a invasão do Iraque.
04:10
who have died since the invasion of Iraq.
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AG: Certo. Obrigado.
MK: Obrigado.
04:13
AG: Yeah. OK.
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04:16
AG: Thank you. MK: Thank you.
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(Risos)
04:18
(Laughter)
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O jeito que ele me agradeceu me arrepia.
04:20
The way he says "thank you"
really creeps me out.
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04:23
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
Eu gostaria que cada um de vocês
olhasse embaixo de sua poltrona.
04:25
OK, so I'd like each of you
to look under your chairs.
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04:28
There's an envelope.
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Há um envelope.
04:32
And please open it.
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Podem abrir.
04:38
The paper you're holding in your hand
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O papel que vocês têm na mão,
contém os detalhes dos civis iraquianos
que morreram devido à invasão.
04:41
contains the details of Iraqi civilians
that died as result of the invasion.
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04:50
I'd like you to use this paper
and write a member of government.
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Eu gostaria que vocês usassem esse papel
para escrever a um membro do governo.
04:54
You can help to smuggle
this civilian body count
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Vocês podem ajudar a colocar
esta contagem de baixas de civis
04:58
into government archives.
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nos arquivos do governo,
pois toda carta que é enviada ao governo,
05:01
Because every letter
that's sent in to the government,
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e isso vale para o mundo inteiro, é claro,
05:05
and this is all across
the world, of course --
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toda carta recebida é processada,
arquivada e registrada.
05:07
every letter that is sent in
is archived, filed and recorded.
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05:13
Together, we can put this in the mailboxes
and under the noses of people in power.
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Juntos, podemos colocar isso
nas caixas de correio,
e bem embaixo do nariz dos poderosos.
05:19
Everything that's sent in
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Tudo que é recebido,
05:21
eventually becomes part of the permanent
archive of our government,
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por fim se torna parte
do arquivo permanente do governo,
nosso registro histórico compartilhado.
05:27
our shared historical record.
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Obrigado.
05:30
Thank you.
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05:31
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
Tom Rielly: Matt, me diga uma coisa:
05:42
Tom Rielly: So, tell me Matt,
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05:43
how did this idea
come into your head, of "Notepad"?
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como a ideia do "Notepad"
veio à sua cabeça?
Matt Kenyon: Eu tinha terminado um projeto
05:49
Matt Kenyon: I'd just finished a project
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05:51
that dealt with
the US Coalition side of the war
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que tratava da participação
dos EUA na coalizão da guerra,
era uma braçadeira preta chamada
"Dispositivo Empático Improvisado"
05:55
and it was a black armband that was called
the "Improvised Empathetic Device"
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que reunia, em tempo real,
06:00
which accumulated, in real time,
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os nomes, patentes
e causas e locais de morte
06:03
the names, ranks,
cause of death and location
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de membros a serviço dos EUA
que morreram fora do país.
06:07
of US service members
who had died overseas,
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A cada vez em que o Departamento de Defesa
ou o CENTCOM liberava esses dados,
06:09
and each time the Department of Defense
or CENTCOM released their data,
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ele me dava uma pontada no braço.
06:13
it would stab me in the arm.
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06:15
And so, I became aware
that there was a spectacle
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Assim eu fiquei ciente
de que havia uma vigilância
06:18
associated with our own people
who were dying overseas,
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do nosso próprio povo
que morria fora do país,
06:21
but a disproportionate
amount of casualties
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mas um número de baixas desproporcional
era o de mortes de civis.
06:24
were the civilian casualties.
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TR: Muito obrigado.
MK: Obrigado.
06:26
TR: Thank you so much.
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06:27
MK: Thank you.
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(Aplausos)
06:28
(Applause)
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Translated by Thiago Hilger
Reviewed by Maricene Crus

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Matt Kenyon - New media artist
From a plant that lives or dies based on stock prices to an oilcan that flows backward, Matt Kenyon creates art that startles, amuses and challenges assumptions.

Why you should listen

Matt Kenyon works at the intersection of art and technology, creating pieces that question society’s large, complex systems — from our reliance on global corporations and oil, to the military-industrial complex. His works include: “SPORE 1.1,” a self-sustaining ecosystem for a rubber tree, purchased from The Home Depot and watered in conjunction with Home Depot stock prices; “Supermajor,” a collection of vintage oilcans with droplets of oil that defy gravity and flow back into a punctured hole; and ”Notepad,” a commemoration of the Iraqi civilians who died as a result of the US-led invasion, printed in the lines of what appear to be your average, everyday legal pads. 

Kenyon creates these projects through SWAMP, or Studies of Work Atmosphere and Mass Production. He teaches art at the University of Michigan's Stamps School of Art & Design.

More profile about the speaker
Matt Kenyon | Speaker | TED.com