ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Candy Chang - Artist, designer, urban planner
Candy Chang creates art that prompts people to think about their secrets, wishes and hopes -- and then share them. She is a TED Senior Fellow.

Why you should listen

Candy Chang is an artist, designer, and urban planner who explores making cities more comfortable and contemplative places. She believes in the potential of introspection and collective wisdom in public space to improve our communities and help us lead better lives.

Recent projects include Before I Die, where she transformed an abandoned house in her neighborhood in New Orleans into an interactive wall for people to share their hopes and dreams -- a project The Atlantic called “one of the most creative community projects ever.” Other projects include I Wish This Was, a street art project that invites people to voice what they want in vacant storefronts, and Neighborland, an online tool that helps people self-organize and shape the development of their communities. She is a TED Senior Fellow, an Urban Innovation Fellow, and was named a “Live Your Best Life” Local Hero by Oprah magazine. By combining street art with urban planning and social activism, she has been recognized as a leader in developing new strategies for the design of our cities. She is co-founder of Civic Center, an art and design studio in New Orleans. See more at candychang.com.

Coming up: Before I Die ... the book!

More profile about the speaker
Candy Chang | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2012

Candy Chang: Before I die I want to ...

坎迪·张:在死之前,我想......

Filmed:
5,640,247 views

TED Fellow坎迪·张居住在新奥尔良市。她把她社区里的一栋废弃房屋改造成一块巨大的黑板。她在这块黑板上写满了同一道填空题-“在死之前,我想......”邻居们则填上了各种或是惊奇、或是辛酸、亦或是风趣的答案。这块巨型黑板则成为他们社区里的一块明镜。 (你会答些什么呢?)
- Artist, designer, urban planner
Candy Chang creates art that prompts people to think about their secrets, wishes and hopes -- and then share them. She is a TED Senior Fellow. Full bio

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

00:16
There are a lot of ways方法 the people around us
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我们周围的人能以很多种方式
00:20
can help improve提高 our lives生活.
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来帮我们把生活变得更美好
00:22
We don't bump磕碰 into every一切 neighbor邻居,
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我们不一定能常常碰到我们的邻居
00:23
so a lot of wisdom智慧 never gets得到 passed通过 on,
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所以即使我们生活在同一片公共空间里
00:26
though虽然 we do share分享 the same相同 public上市 spaces空间.
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邻居的智慧也难以被传递开来
00:29
So over the past过去 few少数 years年份, I've tried试着 ways方法 to share分享 more
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所以在过去的几年里,我尝试着以不同的方式
00:32
with my neighbors邻居 in public上市 space空间,
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如用贴纸、展板和粉笔这些简单工具
00:35
using运用 simple简单 tools工具 like stickers贴纸, stencils模板 and chalk粉笔.
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来在公共空间里与邻居分享更多的东西
00:38
And these projects项目 came来了 from questions问题 I had, like,
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这些项目都源自于我自己的一些疑问,如
00:41
how much are my neighbors邻居 paying付款 for their apartments公寓?
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我的邻居得付多少房租?
00:45
(Laughter笑声) How can we lend and borrow more things
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(笑声)我们怎么样能够从邻里间互借到更多的东西
00:48
without knocking敲门 on each other's其他 doors at a bad time?
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同时避免在不合时宜的时候敲开对方的门?
00:52
How can we share分享 more of our memories回忆
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我们怎样能够更好地分享各自的
00:54
of our abandoned buildings房屋,
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关于被毁弃的建筑的回忆
00:56
and gain获得 a better understanding理解 of our landscape景观?
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并更好地理解我们居住的这片土地?
01:00
And how can we share分享 more of our hopes希望
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怎样更能表达我们对空置的店面的期待
01:02
for our vacant空的 storefronts店面, so our communities社区
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使我们的社区能反映出
01:05
can reflect反映 our needs需求 and dreams today今天?
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我们现在的需求和梦想?
01:10
Now, I live生活 in New Orleans奥尔良,
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我现时住在新奥尔良
01:12
and I am in love with New Orleans奥尔良.
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并深深地爱上了这座城市
01:14
My soul灵魂 is always soothed安慰 by the giant巨人 live生活 oak橡木 trees树木,
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那些生生不息的巨型橡树总是可以抚慰我的灵魂
01:19
shading阴影 lovers情侣, drunks醉鬼 and dreamers梦想家
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几百年来,情侣、醉汉和追梦人们
01:22
for hundreds数以百计 of years年份, and I trust相信 a city
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总会稍息在树影下
01:25
that always makes品牌 way for music音乐. (Laughter笑声)
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我深信这一座充满着音乐律动的城市
01:27
I feel like every一切 time someone有人 sneezes打喷嚏,
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每当有人打喷嚏时,
01:29
New Orleans奥尔良 has a parade游行. (Laughter笑声)
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我都感觉新奥尔良来了一只游行队伍(笑声)
01:32
The city has some of the most beautiful美丽 architecture建筑
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新奥尔良拥有世界上很多最漂亮的建筑
01:35
in the world世界, but it also has one of the highest最高 amounts
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但同时,她也是全美拥有最多
01:37
of abandoned properties性能 in America美国.
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废弃建筑的城市
01:39
I live生活 near this house, and I thought about how I could
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我住在这栋房子附近,我就想如何让它
01:42
make it a nicer更好 space空间 for my neighborhood邻里,
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在这片社区里成为一个更好的地方
01:45
and I also thought about something
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也思考了另一件事
01:47
that changed my life forever永远.
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这件事彻底改变了我的人生
01:52
In 2009, I lost丢失 someone有人 I loved喜爱 very much.
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2009年,我失去了一个我挚爱的人
01:56
Her name名称 was Joan, and she was a mother母亲 to me,
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她的名字叫琼,对我来讲,她就像我的母亲一样
02:00
and her death死亡 was sudden突然 and unexpected意外.
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她死得很突然,没有人预料到
02:07
And I thought about death死亡 a lot,
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然后我思考了很多关于死亡的事
02:13
and
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然后⋯⋯
02:15
this made制作 me feel deep gratitude感谢 for the time I've had,
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这件事让我对我拥有的时光怀着深切致意
02:19
and
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并且
02:23
brought clarity明晰 to the things that are meaningful富有意义的
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显现出了那些
02:25
to my life now.
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对我的生命有真正意义的东西
02:30
But I struggle斗争 to maintain保持 this perspective透视 in my daily日常 life.
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但我却很难在日常生活中保持这种心态
02:35
I feel like it's easy简单 to get caught抓住 up in the day-to-day日复一日,
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我觉得人们太容易被日复一日的琐碎困住
02:38
and forget忘记 what really matters事项 to you.
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而忘记什么才是真正重要的事
02:40
So with help from old and new friends朋友,
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我于是在一些新老朋友的帮助下
02:43
I turned转身 the side of this abandoned house
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把这栋废弃的房子的一面墙
02:45
into a giant巨人 chalkboard黑板 and stenciled钢印 it
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做成了一个巨型黑板
02:47
with a fill-in-the-blank填充式的空白 sentence句子:
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我在上面写满了同一道填空题
02:49
"Before I die, I want to ... "
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“在死之前,我想⋯⋯”
02:54
So anyone任何人 walking步行 by can pick up a piece of chalk粉笔,
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所以每一个路过的人都可以捡起一根粉笔
02:57
reflect反映 on their lives生活, and share分享 their personal个人 aspirations愿望
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在公共场合里留下一些他们人生的痕迹
03:00
in public上市 space空间.
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且来分享他们内心深处的愿望
03:02
I didn't know what to expect期望 from this experiment实验,
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我并不知道该从这个实验里期待些什么
03:06
but by the next下一个 day, the wall was entirely完全 filled填充 out,
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但是第二天,整个墙壁都被填满了
03:09
and it kept不停 growing生长.
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而且不断有人添加新的答案
03:11
And I'd like to share分享 a few少数 things
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我想跟大家分享一些人们在那面墙上
03:13
that people wrote on this wall.
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写的东西
03:17
"Before I die, I want to be tried试着 for piracy海盗行为." (Laughter笑声)
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“在死之前,我想为我的海盗行为接受审判”(笑声)
03:27
"Before I die, I want to straddle the International国际 Date日期 Line线."
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“在死之前,我想跨过国际日期变更线”
03:33
"Before I die, I want to sing for millions百万."
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“在死之前,我想在上百万的观众面前唱歌”
03:38
"Before I die, I want to plant a tree."
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“在死之前,我想种一棵树”
03:44
"Before I die, I want to live生活 off the grid."
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“在死之前,我想过隐居的生活”
03:49
"Before I die, I want to hold保持 her one more time."
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“在死之前,我想再抱她一次”
03:55
"Before I die, I want to be someone's谁家 cavalry骑兵."
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“在死之前,我想成为某个人的骑士”
04:01
"Before I die, I want to be completely全然 myself."
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“在死之前,我想要做完全真实的自己”
04:09
So this neglected被忽视的 space空间 became成为 a constructive建设性 one,
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这个本来被遗忘的建筑变成了一个极具建设性的地方
04:13
and people's人们 hopes希望 and dreams
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这些人的希望和梦想
04:16
made制作 me laugh out loud, tear眼泪 up,
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让我放声大笑,也黯然落泪
04:18
and they consoled安慰 me during my own拥有 tough强硬 times.
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也曾在我经历困境的时候给我安慰
04:22
It's about knowing会心 you're not alone单独.
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这让我们相信自己并不孤单
04:24
It's about understanding理解 our neighbors邻居
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让我们对邻居有了全新的
04:25
in new and enlightening启发 ways方法.
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启发心智的了解
04:28
It's about making制造 space空间 for reflection反射 and contemplation沉思,
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这为我们营造了一个反省和思考的空间
04:31
and remembering记忆 what really matters事项 most to us
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也提醒我们在不断成长改变的过程中
04:34
as we grow增长 and change更改.
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什么才是最为重要的
04:37
I made制作 this last year, and started开始 receiving接收
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这个黑板是我去年做的,然后我就不断收到
04:40
hundreds数以百计 of messages消息 from passionate多情 people
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一些热情的人们给我发的信息
04:42
who wanted to make a wall with their community社区,
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说想在他们的社区里也设立一面这样的墙壁
04:45
so my civic公民 center中央 colleagues同事 and I made制作 a tool工具 kit套件, and now
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所以我和我的同事们就做了一个小型工具箱
04:48
walls墙壁 have been made制作 in countries国家 around the world世界,
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现在,这面墙壁已经遍布全球
04:51
including包含 Kazakhstan哈萨克斯坦, South Africa非洲,
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包括哈萨克斯坦,南非
04:57
Australia澳大利亚,
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澳大利亚
04:59
Argentina阿根廷 and beyond.
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阿根廷等地
05:02
Together一起, we've我们已经 shown显示 how powerful强大 our public上市 spaces空间
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这些迹象表明,如果我们能有一个
05:05
can be if we're given特定 the opportunity机会 to have a voice语音
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表达自己的意愿并与他人分享的机会
05:07
and share分享 more with one another另一个.
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那么公共空间将发挥巨大的作用
05:13
Two of the most valuable有价值 things we have are time
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我们所拥有的最珍贵的两样东西,一个是时间
05:16
and our relationships关系 with other people.
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还有一个,是与他人的联系
05:19
In our age年龄 of increasing增加 distractions分心,
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在这个物欲横流的时代里
05:22
it's more important重要 than ever to find ways方法 to maintain保持
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努力坚持自我,铭记人生的短暂与生命的脆弱
05:25
perspective透视 and remember记得 that life is brief简要 and tender投标.
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变得比以往任何时代都更重要
05:30
Death死亡 is something that we're often经常 discouraged灰心
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我们总是没有勇气谈论死亡
05:32
to talk about or even think about, but
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甚至没有勇气去想着死亡
05:34
I've realized实现 that preparing准备 for death死亡
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但是我意识到,为死亡做心理准备
05:36
is one of the most empowering授权 things you can do.
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是我们能够做到的最有力的事情之一
05:39
Thinking思维 about death死亡 clarifies澄清 your life.
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思考死亡能够让你对自己的人生有更清醒的认识
05:45
Our shared共享 spaces空间 can better reflect反映 what matters事项 to us
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公共空间可以更好的体现到底什么对我们是真正重要的
05:48
as individuals个人 and as a community社区,
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无论是对个人来说或者对于整个社区来说
05:51
and with more ways方法 to share分享 our hopes希望, fears恐惧 and stories故事,
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有了更多的方式来分享我们的希望,恐惧和经历
05:55
the people around us can not only help us
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我们身边的人不仅能够帮助我们创造更美好的地方
05:57
make better places地方, they can help us lead better lives生活.
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更帮助我们过上更美好的生活
06:02
Thank you. (Applause掌声)
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谢谢(掌声)
06:04
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
06:07
Thank you. (Applause掌声)
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谢谢(掌声)
06:10
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Candy Chang - Artist, designer, urban planner
Candy Chang creates art that prompts people to think about their secrets, wishes and hopes -- and then share them. She is a TED Senior Fellow.

Why you should listen

Candy Chang is an artist, designer, and urban planner who explores making cities more comfortable and contemplative places. She believes in the potential of introspection and collective wisdom in public space to improve our communities and help us lead better lives.

Recent projects include Before I Die, where she transformed an abandoned house in her neighborhood in New Orleans into an interactive wall for people to share their hopes and dreams -- a project The Atlantic called “one of the most creative community projects ever.” Other projects include I Wish This Was, a street art project that invites people to voice what they want in vacant storefronts, and Neighborland, an online tool that helps people self-organize and shape the development of their communities. She is a TED Senior Fellow, an Urban Innovation Fellow, and was named a “Live Your Best Life” Local Hero by Oprah magazine. By combining street art with urban planning and social activism, she has been recognized as a leader in developing new strategies for the design of our cities. She is co-founder of Civic Center, an art and design studio in New Orleans. See more at candychang.com.

Coming up: Before I Die ... the book!

More profile about the speaker
Candy Chang | Speaker | TED.com