Sam Van Aken: How one tree grows 40 different kinds of fruit
Sam Van Aken: Como uma árvore produz 40 tipos diferentes de frutas
Sam Van Aken is a contemporary artist who works beyond traditional modes of art-making, crossing artistic genres and disciplines to develop new perspectives on themes like communication, botany, agriculture, climatology and the ever-increasing impact of technology. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
of apples growing in the United States.
de maçãs sendo cultivadas nos EUA.
dessas variedades
by industrialization of agriculture,
pela industrialização da agricultura,
include the Blood Cling,
estão a Blood Cling,
by Spanish missionaries to the Americas,
às Américas por missionários espanhóis
Americans for centuries;
nativos americanos por séculos;
by Chinese immigrants
on the Transcontinental Railroad;
na ferrovia transcontinental americana;
that originated in the Middle East
oriundas do Oriente Médio
French and German immigrants.
franceses e alemães.
é natural dos EUA.
were brought here,
árvores frutíferas foram trazidas,
pessegueiros e cerejeiras.
essas frutas trazem em si a nossa cultura.
is our culture.
cuidaram delas e as cultivaram,
and cultivated them,
that they brought them here with them
que as trouxeram consigo pra cá
them on and shared them.
e as compartilharam.
essas frutas são nossa história.
to learn about it
chamada "Árvore das 40 Frutas".
entitled the "Tree of 40 Fruit."
varieties of stone fruit.
de frutas do tipo drupa,
nectarines and cherries
damascos, nectarinas e cerejas,
throughout the majority of the year,
durante a maior parte do ano,
in pink and white
flores rosas e brancas
bears a multitude of different fruit.
um monte de frutas diferentes.
for purely artistic reasons:
puramente artísticas:
the reality of the everyday,
em que as pessoas vissem a árvore
when people would see this tree
carregada com diferentes frutas.
through the process of grafting.
através do processo de enxertia.
in winter, store them,
no inverno, armazeno
onto the ends of branches in spring.
dos galhos na primavera.
fruit trees are grafted,
as árvores frutíferas são enxertadas
is a genetic variant of the parent.
é uma variante genética da árvore-mãe.
that we really like,
de que realmente gostamos,
is by taking a cutting off of one tree
um corte de uma árvore
came from one tree
veio de uma árvore
from generation to generation.
de uma geração à outra,
can't be preserved by seed.
ser preservadas via semente.
as long as I can remember.
há muito tempo.
grafting peach orchards
com enxertia em pomares de pêssegos
mencionava o nome dele,
a magical or mystical capability.
uma habilidade mágica ou mística.
for the Tree of 40 Fruit
para o nome "Árvore das 40 Frutas"
as religiões ocidentais
throughout Western religion
and not the infinite
e nem como o infinito,
que vai além da contagem.
varieties of these fruit,
diferentes dessas frutas,
that I live in New York state,
no estado de Nova Iorque,
producers of these fruit.
produtores dessas frutas.
research orchards
pomares de pesquisa
em árvores em meu canteiro.
quando foi plantada pela primeira vez,
look like when they were first planted,
six years later.
de gratificação imediata.
of immediate gratification --
if a graft has succeeded;
se uma enxertia foi bem-sucedida,
to know if it produces fruit;
para sabermos se produzirá frutas
to create just one of the trees.
somente uma das árvores.
na Árvore das 40 Frutas
to the Tree of 40 Fruit
and a slightly different color.
de quando todas as árvores floresciam,
of when all these blossomed
how the tree appears during spring.
a aparência da árvore na primavera.
through September.
depois os damascos,
in there, somewhere ...
que fica do lado de fora da galeria,
that exists outside of the gallery,
by way of the art world.
de conservação por meio da arte.
essas árvores em locais diferentes,
these in different locations,
historically grown in that area,
cultivadas nesses locais
and graft them to the tree
e faço a enxertia delas na árvore
of the area where they're located.
agricultural da área.
ao mesmo tempo.
was all of the tattoos that I saw
as tatuagens que vi
you do that to your body?"
fazer isso com seu corpo?"
was all of the requests that I received
todos os pedidos que recebi
as a central part within their service.
como parte central de seus cultos.
is "I hope not?"
é "Espero que não..."
like the Tree of 40 Fruit?]
a Árvore das 40 Frutas?]
on NPR's "Weekend Edition,"
no "Weekend Edition" da NPR
I thought I peaked --
achei que era o meu auge,
of my career --
from the Department of Defense.
Departamento de Defesa dos EUA.
Project Administration invited me
Avançada de Defesa me convidou
innovation and creativity,
sobre inovação e criatividade,
shifted to a discussion of food security.
para segurança alimentar.
is dependent upon our food security.
depende da nossa segurança alimentar.
varieties of each crop,
variedades de cada cultura,
to just one of those varieties,
uma dessas variedades,
upon our food supply.
em nossa cadeia de alimentos.
our food security
nossa segurança alimentar
por qualquer pessoa que tivesse um jardim
by everybody that had a garden
in their backyard,
passed down through their family.
repassadas dentro da família.
of 40 Fruit in one week in August.
das 40 Frutas numa semana de agosto.
collections of these fruit
das maiores coleções dessas frutas
is absolutely terrifying.
é completamente assustador.
eu não sabia o que eu tinha.
I didn't know what I had.
of the varieties I had
das variedades que tinha
of the industrialization of agriculture.
da industrialização da agricultura.
thousands and thousands of years.
milhares e milhares de anos.
with trying to preserve them,
before they were torn out
antes de serem cortados
or the trunk section
que possuíam a enxertia original.
de flores e folhas
of flowers and the leaves
to preserve the story
a preservar a história
and letterpress descriptions.
de cobre e descrições tipográficas.
do pêssego Geroge IV,
two buildings in New York City --
na cidade Nova Iorque...
variety in the 19th century
variedade comercial no século 19,
e não se adapta à agricultura moderna.
to modern agriculture.
it needs to be told.
precisa ser contada.
of being able to touch,
a experiência de poder tocar,
available to the public,
disponíveis para o público,
in the highest density of people
com a maior densidade de pessoas
of land in New York City --
por um terreno na cidade de Nova Iorque...
seemed, like, rather ambitious,
pareceu algo bem ambicioso
was returning my phone calls or emails --
retornar minhas ligações e mensagens...
I heard back from Governors Island.
recebi resposta de Governors Island.
to the City of New York in 2000.
de Nova Iorque em 2000.
from New York.
de barca de Nova Iorque.
that we're calling the "Open Orchard"
que estamos chamando de "Pomar Aberto",
in New York for over a century.
há mais de 100 anos.
will be 50 multigrafted trees
50 árvores multienxertadas
and antique fruit varieties.
de frutas herdadas e antigas.
or were historically grown in the region.
ou historicamente cultivadas na região,
and Third Avenue.
com a Terceira Avenida.
can't be preserved by seed,
não pode ser preservada por semente,
like a living gene bank,
como um banco genético vivo,
ele será empírico, e também simbólico.
people to participate in conservation
a participarem em termos de conservação
and thousands of emails from people,
de pessoas fazendo perguntas do tipo:
about "How do you plant a tree?"
of the population
com a agricultura,
is going to invite people
and to take part in workshops,
e participar de oficinas,
to prune and to harvest a tree;
podar e colher de uma árvore;
de degustações e de floração;
and blossom tours;
to learn how to use these fruit
para aprender a usar essas frutas
were grown specifically for.
foram especificamente criadas.
site of the orchard,
that compiles all of those recipes.
que compila todas essas receitas.
and traits of those fruit,
e especificidades dessas frutas,
I thought I understood agriculture,
achei que entendia a agricultura,
within my own DNA.
que está dentro do meu próprio DNA.
closely tied to the culture,
muito mais apegados à cultura,
and the story of our food,
dos nossos alimentos,
to this unknown past,
a esse passado desconhecido,
what the future of our food could be.
poderia ser o futuro dos nossos alimentos.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sam Van Aken - ArtistSam Van Aken is a contemporary artist who works beyond traditional modes of art-making, crossing artistic genres and disciplines to develop new perspectives on themes like communication, botany, agriculture, climatology and the ever-increasing impact of technology.
Why you should listen
Sam Van Aken’s interventions in the natural and public realm are seen as metaphors that serve as the basis of narrative, sites of place making and, in some cases, even become the basis of scientific research.
Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Van Aken received his undergraduate education in art and communication theory. Immediately following his studies, he lived in Poland and worked with dissident artists under the former communist regime through the auspices of the Andy Warhol Foundation and the United States Information Agency. Van Aken received his MFA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and since then his work has been exhibited and placed nationally and internationally. He has received numerous honors including a Joan Mitchell Foundation Award, Association of International Curator's of Art Award and a Creative Capital Grant. Most recently, his work has been presented as part of Nature-Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial with the Cube Design Museum, Netherlands. Van Aken lives and works in Syracuse, New York, where he is currently an associate professor in the School of Art at Syracuse University. Van Aken's work is represented by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts.
Sam Van Aken | Speaker | TED.com