Theaster Gates: How to revive a neighborhood: with imagination, beauty and art
Theaster Gates: Jak odnowić dzielnice dzięki wyobraźni, pięknu i sztuce
Theaster Gates is a potter whose ambitions stretch far beyond the wheel and the kiln. In Chicago, his leadership of artist-led spaces has catalyzed interest and excitement in a formerly neglected neighborhood, as he uses culture as a transformational weapon. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
całkiem prostym zajęciem.
excites me in my artistic practice
w mojej artystycznej praktyce
how to make great things out of nothing;
jak robić wielkie rzeczy z niczego.
with mounds of clay trying stuff;
próbując coś stworzyć z gliny.
of my capacity, my ability,
zdolności i możliwości
a really nice bowl
has been very, very helpful to my life.
jest dla mnie bardzo pomocny.
how to shape the world.
in my artistic capacity
karierze zdarzało się,
the history of the world
from that content?
discontinued firehoses from Alabama,
of civil rights in the '60s?
walki o prawa cywilne w latach 60.?
and I doing labor projects?
które robiłem z ojcem?
he owned small businesses,
miał swój mały własny biznes
and his tar kettle was my inheritance.
był moim dziedzictwem.
like much of an inheritance. It wasn't.
bogatym spadkiem. I nim nie był.
a lot of space in my studio,
dużo miejsca w mojej pracowni,
to make some art with me,
czy nie chciałby tworzyć ze mną sztuki.
of nothing material
and my dad's skill,
i umiejętności mojego taty,
just like clay, in a new way,
jak o glinie, w nowy sposób.
helping us to imagine what was possible?
co jest możliwe.
to lots of different kinds of materials,
because I thought, well,
it's about our capacity to shape things.
ale o możliwości tworzenia rzeczy.
innymi pomysłami,
were happening just outside my studio.
I live in Chicago.
że mieszkam w Chicago.
I'm a West Sider.
a pochodzę z zachodniej.
that won't mean anything,
nic wam to nie mówi,
that I was a West Sider,
że jestem z zachodniej części
in the city that would be very upset.
is Grand Crossing.
that has seen better days.
osiedle strzeżone.
in my neighborhood,
making pots and busy making art
tworzeniem garnków oraz sztuki,
that was happening
failing housing markets
kulejącego rynku mieszkaniowego
with some of our cities more than others,
kilku miast, inne pomijając.
U.S. cities and beyond
no longer know what to do anything with.
z którymi nie wiadomo, co zrobić.
that I could start to think
or an expansion of my artistic practice?
i rozwoju mojej artystycznej działalności.
along with other creatives --
real estate finance people --
agentami nieruchomości,
to kind of think
about the reshaping of cities.
o przekształceniu miast.
to try to just get some activity happening
żeby zapoczątkować jakieś działania
for about 18,000 dollars,
około 18 000 dolarów,
as a kind of performance.
polegający na zamiataniu.
and people would come over,
and sweeping was free.
i zamiatanie było darmowe.
to stage exhibitions, small dinners,
jako scenę dla wystaw, małych kolacji.
on my block, Dorchester --
na moim osiedlu,
as Dorchester projects --
became a kind of gathering site
what we called now the Archive House.
w tak zwany teraz Dom Archiwów.
all of these amazing things.
in the city and beyond
w naszym mieście i nie tylko
in the middle of the hood.
between my history with clay
między moją historią z gliną,
starting to develop,
którą zacząłem rozwijać.
the South Side of the city.
postrzegali południową część miasta.
a beautiful vessel important,
tworzenie pięknego naczynia,
in those buildings is also very important.
about development,
that could happen
between one neighbor and another.
the Listening House,
kolekcja niechcianych książek
that was going out of business.
these buildings as much as I could
ożywić te budynki jak najlepiej
kto chciał do mnie dołączyć.
amazing building stock.
wiele pięknych budynków.
the former crack house on the block,
imagine what else could happen there.
co mogłoby tam powstać.
what we call Black Cinema House.
co nazywamy Czarnym Kinem.
in the hood to screen films
wyświetlania filmów,
to the folk who lived around me,
mieszkających obok mnie.
an old Melvin Van Peebles film, we could.
stary film Melvina Van Peeblesa, mogliśmy.
wyświetlić "Car Wash", mogliśmy.
do większego miejsca.
from just a small piece of clay,
zbudowane z małego kawałka gliny.
piece of clay, which is now my studio.
w którym jest teraz moja pracownia.
for those of you who are zoning junkies,
którzy popierają podział na strefy,
that had been left behind,
the buildings were built,
dla którego budynek był stworzony.
needs to stay residential."
ain't nobody interested in living there?
kiedy nikt nie chce tam zamieszkać?
the means to leave have already left?
these abandoned buildings?
to wake them up using culture.
je ożywić dzięki kulturze.
was so exciting for folk,
that we had to then find bigger buildings.
że musimy znaleźć większe budynki.
necessary to think about those things.
do przemyślenia tych spraw.
it was in pretty bad shape.
był w bardzo złym stanie.
of standing water.
in the neighborhood
in the neighborhood
It was nowhere.
what else could happen in this building?
co zrobić z tym budynkiem.
of my block has spread,
can now be a center
może być centrum wystaw,
music performance,
who are now interested
którzy zaczęli interesować się
because we brought some heat,
ponieważ dostarczyliśmy ciepła,
is this Johnson Publishing Corporation.
jest dla Johnson Publishing Corporation.
memorabilia from American history,
zbierać pamiątki amerykańskiej historii
or have lived in that neighborhood.
lub mieszkali w sąsiedztwie.
are degraded images of black people,
są zniszczonymi zdjęciami czarnych.
of very challenging content,
problematycznej zawartości.
asking themselves about their identity
pytają siebie o własną tożsamość,
Bank reprezentuje centrum,
hardcore node of cultural activity,
ekstremalny węzeł kulturalnych wydarzeń.
to make multiple hubs
kolejne takie centra
green stuff around there,
purchased and rehabbed,
które kupiliśmy i przekształciliśmy,
miniature Versailles on top of that,
by a beautiful greenbelt --
never wanted to be
nikt nigdy nie chciał się znaleźć,
the country and world.
z każdego zakątka kraju i świata.
very much like I'm a potter,
that are at our wheel,
that I want to make.
house to a block to a neighborhood
potem osiedle, dzielnicę,
to thinking about the city,
that I didn't know that I had to learn.
które niespodziewanie musiałem poznać.
o prawie użytkowania przestrzeni.
about zoning law in my life.
że będę musiał to wiedzieć.
that there's not just room
artistic practices.
artystycznych praktyk.
going to go to scale?"
I couldn't export myself,
że nie mogę się rozdwoić.
in cities like Akron, Ohio,
who already believe in those places,
to make those places beautiful,
chcieliby je upiększyć,
who are passionate about a place
necessary to make cool things happen,
do podjęcia fajnych działań
a contingency of people
around the country
na terenie całego państwa,
that are in front of you,
co jest na wyciągnięcie ręki,
at a wheel or at your block
na kole lub na osiedlu
many people watching this
Myślę, że wielu oglądających
the question you just raised at the end:
które pojawiło się na końcu:
na temat tego, co ktoś zainspirowany
about what someone who is inspired
żeby stworzyć projekt jak twój?
to take on projects like yours?
I've found that's really important
the kind of individual project,
odosobnionym projektem,
between an old house,
between those things?
pomiędzy tymi rzeczami?
że ci ludzie zaczną głośno mówić?
where neighborhoods have failed,
in that place, the passionate people,
pasjonujących ludziach
who have been fighting,
about the place that they live?
I would be talking about buildings alone,
mówiłbym tylko o budynkach,
a "For Lease" sign in the window.
have to curate more than that,
you have to be mindful about,
that I want to grow here?
którzy tam mieszkają,
who live in this place
a cultural space or housing;
of an economic core.
together feels right.
wydaje się właściwe.
to create the spark again
slogging for 20 years.
that have helped break through?
there are lots of examples
when the media is constantly saying
happen in a place,
zdarzają się w tym miejscu,
and the particular context,
i w konkretnym kontekście,
in your neighborhood
if you're a theater person,
the resources in certain neighborhoods
a certain kind of splashy,
of making sure that people
of the things that are happening locally,
poprzeć lokalne sprawy,
that the projects you're creating
że projekty, które tworzysz
vegetarian indie movie crowd
wegetariańskiej publiki niezależnej,
to take advantage of them.
it starts to get into the thick weeds.
zaczyna się robić stromo.
TG: Right now, Grand Crossing
a przynajmniej zamieszkałą przez czarnych.
who owns property in a place
która jest właścicielem miejsca
która chodzi codziennie ulicami.
the streets every day.
that Grand Crossing is already
different than it is today.
housing trusts or land trusts
some of the space that happens,
7,500 empty lots in a city,
pustych powierzchni w mieście,
just interested in the development piece,
chcącego nie tylko odbudować miejsce,
in the stabilization piece,
is really motivated,
of neighborhood consciousness,
important watchdogs
that are made available
who have lived in a place for a long time.
w tym miejscu od dawna?
One more question:
i jego istoty oraz sztuki.
and the importance of beauty and the arts.
that funds would be better spent
że fundusze można lepiej wydać
or come against it?
lub się mu sprzeciwiasz?
is a basic service.
when there are resources
że w przypadkach, gdy środki
to certain under-resourced cities
niedofinansowanym miasto
that helps to ignite,
if you can start with culture
gdzie począwszy od kultury
reinvested in their place,
amenities start to grow,
that's a poetic demand,
are necessary to wake up our cities,
for being here with us today.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Theaster Gates - Artist, potter, community builderTheaster Gates is a potter whose ambitions stretch far beyond the wheel and the kiln. In Chicago, his leadership of artist-led spaces has catalyzed interest and excitement in a formerly neglected neighborhood, as he uses culture as a transformational weapon.
Why you should listen
Theaster Gates is helping to define the future of artistic place-based efforts, in research and practice. Beginning with interventions in small-scale residences now known as Dorchester Projects, Gates’ houses in Greater Grand Crossing in Chicago have become a nexus for globally engaged experiments in structures of individual and collective living, working and art-making. Launched into the international art world at Documenta(13), the houses embodied a new system of values and celebrated both a flexible use of space and provided a way for artists, visitors and students to connect and collaborate.
The latest example of this kind of work is the Stony Island Arts Bank, set to open for the Chicago Architecture Biennial in October 2015. Gates will convert a formerly derelict bank on Chicago's south side to create an artwork -- and a communal and creative space.
At the University of Chicago, where he is a professor and the director of arts and public life, Gates leads the Arts Incubator in Washington Park. Gates also leads an urban research initiative known as the Place Lab, a team of social scientists, architects, creative professionals and business leaders. With support from the Knight Foundation, Gates and his team will create frameworks for reimagining the role that culture plays in the redevelopment of transforming African American communities.
Theaster Gates | Speaker | TED.com