ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Gabriel Barcia-Colombo - Video sculptor
Gabe Barcia-Colombo creates madcap art inspired both by Renaissance era curiosity cabinets and the modern-day digital chronicling of everyday life. Think: miniature people projected in objects and a DNA Vending Machine.

Why you should listen

Gabe Barcia-Colombo is an American artist who creates installation pieces that both delight and point to the strangeness of our modern, digital world. His latest work is a DNA Vending Machine, which dispenses vials of DNA extracted from friends at dinner parties. He's also created video installations of "miniature people" encased inside ordinary objects like suitcases, blenders and more. His work comments on the act of leaving one's imprint for the next generation. Call it "artwork with consequences."

As he explains it: "While formally implemented by natural history museums and collections (which find their roots in Renaissance-era 'cabinets of curiosity'), this process has grown more pointed and pervasive in the modern-day obsession with personal digital archiving and the corresponding growth of social media culture. My video sculptures play upon this exigency in our culture to chronicle, preserve and wax nostalgic, an idea which I render visually by 'collecting' human beings (alongside cultural archetypes) as scientific specimens. I repurpose everyday objects like blenders, suitcases and cans of Spam into venues for projecting and inserting videos of people."

Barcia-Colombo is an alumnus and instructor at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program. Read about his latest work on CoolHunting and in his TED Fellows profile.

More profile about the speaker
Gabriel Barcia-Colombo | Speaker | TED.com
TED Fellows Retreat 2013

Gabe Barcia-Colombo: My DNA vending machine

Gabriel Barcia-Colombo: Minha Máquina de Vendas de DNA

Filmed:
828,455 views

Máquinas de venda automática geralmente oferecem refrigerantes, doces e batatas fritas, mas não é assim para o colega do TED, Gabe Barcia-Colombo. Este artista sonhou com uma máquina de vendas de DNA, a qual vende o DNA humano embalado em um tubo de ensaio, junto com uma foto colecionável da pessoa que o forneceu. É encantador e peculiar, mas chama a atenção para questões éticas relevantes que irão surgir com o aumento do acesso à biotecnologia.
- Video sculptor
Gabe Barcia-Colombo creates madcap art inspired both by Renaissance era curiosity cabinets and the modern-day digital chronicling of everyday life. Think: miniature people projected in objects and a DNA Vending Machine. Full bio

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

00:12
This is a vending machine in Los Angeles.
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Essa é uma máquina de vendas
em Los Angeles.
00:14
It's in a shopping mall, and it sells fish eggs.
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Fica em um shopping
e vende ovos de peixe.
00:17
It's a caviar vending machine.
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É uma máquina de vendas de caviar.
00:21
This is the Art-o-mat,
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Essa é a Art-o-mat,
00:22
an art vending machine that sells
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uma máquina de vendas que vende
pequenas criações de diferentes artistas,
00:24
small artistic creations by different artists,
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geralmente em pequenos blocos de madeira
00:26
usually on small wood blocks or matchboxes,
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ou caixas de fósforo, em edição limitada.
00:28
in limited edition.
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Esse é Oliver Medvedick,
e não uma das máquinas.
00:30
This is Oliver Medvedik. He's not a vending machine,
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00:32
but he is one of the founders of Genspace,
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É um dos fundadores do Genspace,
00:34
a community biolab in Brooklyn, New York,
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um "biolab" comunitário
no Brooklyn, Nova Iorque,
onde qualquer um pode assistir às aulas
00:36
where anybody can go and take classes
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00:37
and learn how to do things like
grow E. coli that glows in the dark
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para aprender a fazer coisas
como criar E. coli que brilha no escuro
ou aprender a tirar o DNA de um morango.
00:41
or learn how to take strawberry DNA.
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00:43
In fact, I saw Oliver do one of these strawberry
DNA extractions about a year ago,
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De fato, eu vi Oliver fazer uma dessas
extrações de DNA do morango
há um ano atrás
00:47
and this is what led me onto this bizarre path
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e foi o que levou a este caminho bizarro
00:49
that I'm going to talk to you right now.
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do qual falarei agora.
00:50
Because strawberry DNA is really
fascinating, because it's so beautiful.
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Por que o DNA do morango é tão fascinante?
Porque é muito bonito.
Eu nunca havia pensado
sobre o DNA ser algo
00:54
I'd never thought about DNA
being a beautiful thing before,
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tão bonito antes de vê-lo com essa forma.
00:56
before I saw it in this form.
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00:57
And a lot of people, especially in the art community,
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E muitas pessoas, especialmente artistas,
00:59
don't necessarily engage in science in this way.
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não necessariamente se envolvem
com ciências desta forma.
01:02
I instantly joined Genspace after this,
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Depois disso, eu instantaneamente
me juntei ao Genspace
01:04
and I asked Oliver, "Well, if
we can do this strawberries,
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e perguntei ao Oliver:
"Bem, se fazemos isso com estes morangos,
01:06
can we do this with people as well?"
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poderemos também fazer com pessoas?"
01:07
And about 10 minutes later, we were both
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E cerca de 10 minutos depois,
nós dois estávamos girando
frascos e chegando
01:09
spinning it in vials together and coming up
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01:10
with a protocol for human DNA extraction.
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a um protocolo para extração
de DNA humano.
01:13
And I started doing this on my own,
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E eu comecei a fazer isso sozinho,
01:15
and this is what my DNA actually looks like.
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e na verdade esse é o meu DNA.
01:17
And I was at a dinner party with
some friends, some artist friends,
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Estava num jantar com alguns amigos artistas,
01:19
and I was telling them about this project,
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falando sobre esse projeto,
01:22
and they couldn't believe that
you could actually see DNA.
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e eles não acreditavam que
era possível ver o DNA.
01:25
So I said, all right, let's get
out some supplies right now.
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Então eu disse: "Tudo bem,
deixe-me pegar algumas amostras agora."
01:27
And I started having these bizarre dinner
parties at my house on Friday nights
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Eu comecei a ter jantares bizarros
na minha casa nas noites de sexta-feira,
01:30
where people would come over
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nos quais pessoas vinham
01:32
and we would do DNA extractions,
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e nós fazíamos extrações de DNA.
e eu até mesmo os capturava em vídeo,
01:34
and I would actually capture them on video,
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01:35
because it created this kind of funny portrait as well.
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já que também criava
um tipo de retrato engraçado.
(Risos)
01:38
(Laughter)
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01:40
These are people who don't necessarily regularly
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Essas são pessoas que não necessariamente
01:42
engage with science whatsoever.
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se envolvem sempre com qualquer ciência.
01:44
You can kind of tell from their reactions.
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Você pode perceber isso pelas reações.
01:48
But they became fascinated by it,
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Mas eles ficaram fascinados com isso,
01:50
and it was really exciting for me to see them
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e foi muito emocionante para mim vê-los
01:51
get excited about science.
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se animaram com a ciência.
01:53
And so I started doing this regularly.
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E então eu comecei
a fazer isso regularmente.
01:56
It's kind of an odd thing to
do with your Friday nights,
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É algo meio estranho para se fazer
com suas noites de sexta-feira,
mas foi isso que eu comecei a fazer,
01:58
but this is what I started doing,
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02:00
and I started collecting a whole group
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e comecei a coletar e a categorizar o DNA
02:01
of my friends' DNA in small vials
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de todo um grupo de amigos
em pequenos frascos.
02:03
and categorizing them.
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02:04
This is what that looked like.
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Ficou parecido com isso.
E isso me fez pensar sobre algumas coisas.
02:06
And it started to make me
think about a couple of things.
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02:08
First of all, this looked a lot like my Facebook wall.
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Primeiro, isso se parecia muito
com o meu mural do Facebook.
02:11
So in a way, I've created sort of a genetic network,
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Então, de certa forma,
eu criei uma espécie de rede genética,
02:13
a genetic social network, really.
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uma rede social genética, de fato.
02:15
And the second thing was,
one time a friend came over
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E certa vez um amigo foi até minha casa,
02:17
and looked at this on my table and was like, "Oh.
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olhou para isso na minha mesa e disse:
"Oh. Por que eles estão numerados?
02:20
Why are they numbered? Is this
person more rare than the other one?"
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Essa pessoa é mais rara do que a outra?"
E eu nem tinha pensado sobre isso.
02:23
And I hadn't even thought about that.
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02:25
They were just numbered because that
was the order that I extracted the DNA in.
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Eles só estavam numerados
porque esta era a ordem
que havia usado para extrair o DNA.
02:28
But that made me think about collecting toys,
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Mas isso me fez pensar sobre
a coleta de brinquedos
02:30
and this thing that's going on right now
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e nisso que está acontecendo agora
02:32
in the toy world with blind box toys,
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no mundo dos brinquedos,
com alguns em caixas lacradas,
02:34
and being able to collect these rare toys.
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e a possibilidade de colecionar
esses brinquedos raros.
02:36
You buy these boxes. You're not sure
what's going to be inside of them.
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Você compra essas caixas
sem saber o que há dentro delas.
02:38
But then, when you open them up,
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Mas então, quando você abre,
02:40
you have different rarities of the toys.
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há diferentes raridades de brinquedos.
02:42
And so I thought that was interesting.
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E então, eu achei aquilo interessante.
Eu comecei a pensar sobre isso
02:43
I started thinking about this and the caviar
vending machine and the Art-o-mat all together,
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e sobre a máquina de vendas de caviar
e a Art-o-mat juntos e por alguma razão,
02:46
and some reason, I was one
night drawing a vending machine,
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certa noite, eu estava desenhando
uma máquina de vendas,
02:50
thinking about doing paintings of a vending machine,
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pensando sobre fazer pinturas
de uma máquina de vendas,
02:51
and the little vial of my DNA was sitting there,
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e o pequeno frasco do meu DNA estava lá,
02:53
and I saw this kind of beautiful collaboration between
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e eu vi uma espécie de colaboração linda
entre as fitas do DNA
e as bobinas da máquina.
02:55
the strands of DNA and the
coils of a vending machine.
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02:58
And so, of course, I decided
to create an art installation
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E então, é claro, eu decidi criar
uma instalação de arte chamada:
03:01
called the DNA Vending Machine.
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Máquina de Vendas de DNA.
03:03
Here it is.
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Aqui está.
(Música)
03:04
(Music)
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03:10
["DNA Vending Machine is an art installation
about our increasing access to biotechnology."]
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["A Máquina de Vendas de DNA
é uma instalação de arte
sobre nosso crescente
acesso à biotecnologia."]
03:19
["For a reasonable cost, you can purchase a sample
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["Por um preço razoável, você pode comprar
uma amostra de DNA humano
03:23
of human DNA from a traditional vending machine."]
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em uma máquina de vendas tradicional."]
03:44
["Each sample comes packaged with a collectible
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["Cada amostra vem embalada
03:47
limited edition portrait of the human specimen."]
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com um retrato colecionável
do espécime humano
em edição limitada."]
03:54
["DNA Vending Machine treats DNA
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["A Máquina de Vendas de DNA trata o DNA
como um material colecionável e evidencia
03:56
as a collectible material and brings to light
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questões legais a respeito
da posse do DNA."]
03:59
legal issues over the ownership of DNA."]
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04:04
Gabriel Garcia-Colombo: So
the DNA Vending Machine
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Gabriel Barcia-Colombo: Então,
a Máquina de Vendas de DNA
04:06
is currently in a couple galleries in New York,
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está, atualmente, em algumas
galerias em Nova Iorque,
04:08
and it's selling out pretty well, actually.
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e, na verdade, está vendendo muito bem.
04:10
We're in the first edition of 100 pieces,
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Estamos na primeira edição de 100 peças,
04:12
hoping to do another edition pretty soon.
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com esperanças de fazer
outra edição em breve.
04:14
I'd actually like to get it into more of a metro hub,
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Eu realmente gostaria
de tê-la mais em metrôs,
04:16
like Grand Central or Penn Station,
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como a Grand Central ou a Penn Station,
04:18
right next to some of the other, actual
vending machines in that location.
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bem ao lado de algumas
das atuais máquinas do local.
04:20
But really with this project
and a lot of my art projects
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Mas, na verdade, com esse projeto
e muitos dos meus projetos de arte,
04:23
I want to ask the audience a question, and that is,
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eu quero fazer uma pergunta ao público,
e ela é: quando a biotecnologia
04:25
when biotechnology and DNA sequencing
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e o sequenciamento de DNA se tornarem
04:27
becomes as cheap as, say, laser cutting or
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tão baratos quanto, digamos,
o corte a laser,
04:30
3D printing or buying caviar from a vending machine,
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ou a impressão em 3D,
ou comprar caviar
de uma máquina de vendas,
04:34
will you still submit your sample of
DNA to be part of the vending machine?
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você ainda enviaria sua amostra de DNA
para ser parte de uma máquina de vendas?
04:36
And how much will these samples be worth?
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E quanto essas amostras vão valer a pena?
04:38
And will you buy someone else's sample?
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E você comprará a amostra de outra pessoa?
04:41
And what will you be able to do with that sample?
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E o que você fará com essa amostra?
04:44
Thank you.
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Obrigado.
(Aplausos)
04:46
(Applause)
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Translated by Juliana Satti
Reviewed by Leonardo Leidens

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Gabriel Barcia-Colombo - Video sculptor
Gabe Barcia-Colombo creates madcap art inspired both by Renaissance era curiosity cabinets and the modern-day digital chronicling of everyday life. Think: miniature people projected in objects and a DNA Vending Machine.

Why you should listen

Gabe Barcia-Colombo is an American artist who creates installation pieces that both delight and point to the strangeness of our modern, digital world. His latest work is a DNA Vending Machine, which dispenses vials of DNA extracted from friends at dinner parties. He's also created video installations of "miniature people" encased inside ordinary objects like suitcases, blenders and more. His work comments on the act of leaving one's imprint for the next generation. Call it "artwork with consequences."

As he explains it: "While formally implemented by natural history museums and collections (which find their roots in Renaissance-era 'cabinets of curiosity'), this process has grown more pointed and pervasive in the modern-day obsession with personal digital archiving and the corresponding growth of social media culture. My video sculptures play upon this exigency in our culture to chronicle, preserve and wax nostalgic, an idea which I render visually by 'collecting' human beings (alongside cultural archetypes) as scientific specimens. I repurpose everyday objects like blenders, suitcases and cans of Spam into venues for projecting and inserting videos of people."

Barcia-Colombo is an alumnus and instructor at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program. Read about his latest work on CoolHunting and in his TED Fellows profile.

More profile about the speaker
Gabriel Barcia-Colombo | Speaker | TED.com

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