Amanda Williams: Why I turned Chicago's abandoned homes into art
Amanda Williams: Por que transformei casas abandonadas de Chicago em arte
Amanda Williams blurs the distinction between art and architecture through works that employ color as a way to draw attention to the political complexities of race, place and value in cities. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
with elusive-sounding names,
com nomes indefiníveis,
I am black, thank you --
sou negra, obrigada,
in a segregated city as I have,
como eu cresci, em Chicago,
that color and race can never be separate.
nunca podem ser separadas.
reminding you of your color.
não lembre você de sua cor.
is a socially constructed phenomenon,
é um fenômeno criado socialmente,
in our everyday existence.
em nossa existência cotidiana.
culturally coded beauty.
de beleza culturalmente codificada.
with brightly painted storefronts
tinham fachadas de cores vivas
dos consumidores negros.
and beauty supply houses,
de esquina, bonitos armazéns
learned the foundational principles
os princípios fundamentais
come to know is called color theory.
que se chama "teoria das cores".
by this term in college --
com essa expressão na faculdade:
with their treatises
antiquados com seus tratados
color palettes and associated principles.
das paletas de cores
to the art and science
principalmente, à arte e à ciência
compositions and spaces.
composições e espaços.
about the color red,
sobre a cor vermelha
color of a cola can is red,
de uma lata de Coca é o vermelho
all of us can agree that it's red
concordamos que é o vermelho,
of people in this room.
de pessoas nesta sala.
taught since kindergarten is primary --
desde a pré-escola, que é primária:
as a relational context.
como um contexto relacional.
criou uma série de mapas
to determine which neighborhoods
de codificação por cores
federal housing loans.
empréstimos habitacionais do governo.
was its own kind of color palette,
tinha um tipo próprio de paleta de cores
than all of those color palettes
do que todas aquelas paletas de cores
in college combined.
who lived in neighborhoods like mine.
que moravam em bairros como o meu.
were literally coloring in these maps
colorindo esses mapas
in the foreclosure crisis.
na crise da execução de hipotecas.
symbolized by these Xs
bem simbolizado por estes X
on the fronts of vacated houses
de South Side e West Side.
color palettes were determining
de cor de alguém
física e artística.
my own color palette
minha própria paleta de cores,
who live where I do
que moram onde eu moro
that color had been defined for us.
havia sido definida para nós.
have to search far for
emerges from this reality?
understanding of color
understanding of color.
was a two-year artistic project
artístico de dois anos
to my own neighborhoods
paleta de cores a meus bairros
79th Street right now
of the slightly greener shade of cyan,
mais verde do ciano,
is Ultra Sheen?" --
"Qual é a cor do Ultra Sheen?",
grandmother's bathroom ensue.
sobre o banheiro da avó delas.
when you have Ultra Sheen?
quando temos o Ultra Sheen?
quando temos o Ultra Sheen?
quando temos...
que obtive minha paleta.
that were similar to mine
more than the product itself.
mais do que o produto em si.
"Harold's Chicken Shack."
"Harold's Chicken Shack".
chamada Englewood.
as I could fit in my trunk,
em meu porta-malas,
in monochromatic fashion.
externas de modo monocromático.
in a way that I hadn't before.
de um modo que não havia percebido,
to the biggest canvas I could imagine ...
que pudesse imaginar:
familiar streets that I'd grown up on,
conhecidas nas quais eu havia crescido.
with the city's data portal
com o portal de dados da cidade
tagged for demolition --
marcadas para demolição,
what it meant to just let color rule,
deixar que a cor dominasse,
com funcionários públicos,
different pictures about the South Side.
imagens diferentes sobre South Side.
to their fully lined counterparts.
com suas equivalentes ao lado.
like Monopoly pieces
como peças do jogo Monopoly
of that paint or until someone complained.
a tinta ou até alguém se queixar.
this image one day.
quando eu estava tirando esta foto.
when he drove past
quando passou por ali
mysteriously change colors overnight,
a Crown Royal bag involved,
com uma garrafa de Crown Royal.
was almost all but erased,
estivesse quase todo arrasado,
could pop up in unexpected places
pudesse surgir em locais inesperados
that the music industry and society
que a sociedade e a indústria musical
had become synonymous with royalty.
havia se tornado sinônimo de realeza.
had regained its value.
havia reconquistado seu valor.
apesar de sermos estranhos,
despite being strangers
nós havíamos estudado
crianças em South Side,
absolutely nothing to do with Prince,
nada a ver com o Prince,
parecendo concordar,
e ele foi embora, disse:
full ownership of this project
posse total desse projeto
transformed the neighborhood
que esse projeto transformou o bairro
that we like to rely on:
que gostamos de confiar:
reduced crime, no alcoholism --
sem alcoolismo,
catalyzed new conversations
incentivou novas conversas
visible the uncomfortable questions
de maneira inconfundível,
have to ask themselves
têm de fazer a si mesmos
of myself and my neighborhood counterparts
sobre mim mesma e meus vizinhos,
to collective agency needs to be.
para uma ação coletiva.
that didn't wait for permission
que não esperou autorização,
poderia dominar agora.
and paint crew members said it best
e da equipe de pintura disse melhor:
change the neighborhood,
mas a percepção das pessoas
what's possible for their neighborhood,"
para o bairro delas",
"Why are you painting that house
se sabem que a cidade vai derrubá-la?"
to come and tear it down?"
understand color as both a medium
that I am identified in society.
que sou identificada na sociedade.
of making the world better,
de tornar o mundo melhor,
both of these ways that I'm understood,
essas formas de ser entendida,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Amanda Williams - Visual artistAmanda Williams blurs the distinction between art and architecture through works that employ color as a way to draw attention to the political complexities of race, place and value in cities.
Why you should listen
The landscapes in which Amanda Williams operates are the visual residue of the invisible policies and forces that have misshapen most inner cities. Her installations, paintings, video and works on paper seek to inspire new ways of looking at the familiar -- and raise questions about the state of urban space in America in the process.
Williams has exhibited widely, including the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale, a solo exhibition at the MCA Chicago, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St. Louis. She is a 2018 United States Artists Fellow, a Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors grantee, an Efroymson Family Arts Fellow, a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow and a member of the multidisciplinary Museum Design team for the Obama Presidential Center. She is this year's Bill and Stephanie Sick Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of the Art Institute Chicago and has previously served as a visiting assistant professor of architecture at Cornell University and Washington University in St. Louis. She lives and works on Chicago's south side.
Amanda Williams | Speaker | TED.com