Theaster Gates: How to revive a neighborhood: with imagination, beauty and art
Theaster Gates: Hayalgücü, güzellik ve sanat ile bir semti nasıl yeniden canlandırırsınız?
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.
geçirdim.
excites me in my artistic practice
bir çömlekçi olarak eğitimim sırasında
biri
how to make great things out of nothing;
çok çabuk öğrenilebilmesi oldu.
with mounds of clay trying stuff;
bir şeyler deneyerek çok zaman geçirdim.
of my capacity, my ability,
a really nice bowl
kap yapmak istiyorsam
has been very, very helpful to my life.
çok çok yardımcı oldu.
how to shape the world.
şekillendirmenin de öğrenildiğini düşünüyorum.
in my artistic capacity
the history of the world
oldu.
from that content?
discontinued firehoses from Alabama,
bu yangın hortumları ile 60lardaki sivil
of civil rights in the '60s?
anlatmak için kullanabilir miydim?
and I doing labor projects?
anlatmak mümkün mü?
he owned small businesses,
Küçük bir işletmesi vardı.
and his tar kettle was my inheritance.
ve zift kazanını bana miras bıraktı.
like much of an inheritance. It wasn't.
miras gibi gelmiyor ha. Değildi de!
a lot of space in my studio,
çok yer kaplıyordu.
to make some art with me,
isteyip istemediğini sordum;
of nothing material
malzemeyi özel bir şeye
and my dad's skill,
yeteneklerini yücelterek,
just like clay, in a new way,
düşünüp
helping us to imagine what was possible?
hayal edebilir miydik?
to lots of different kinds of materials,
malzemeye yöneldim
because I thought, well,
şöyle düşünmüştüm:
it's about our capacity to shape things.
bir şeylere biçim kazandırma yeteneği.
were happening just outside my studio.
I live in Chicago.
Ben Chicago'da yaşıyorum.
I'm a West Sider.
bir Batı Yakalıyım.
that won't mean anything,
bir anlam ifade etmeyecektir
that I was a West Sider,
olduğumdan bahsetmesem
in the city that would be very upset.
is Grand Crossing.
Grand Crossing.
that has seen better days.
in my neighborhood,
making pots and busy making art
ve iyi bir
that was happening
failing housing markets
emlak pazarlarından ve
alanlardan haberi var.
with some of our cities more than others,
geçerli gibime geliyor.
U.S. cities and beyond
A.B.D. kenti ve ötesi
ne yapacaklarını
no longer know what to do anything with.
terk edilmiş binalarla karşı karşıya.
that I could start to think
deneyimimin genişlemesi ve
or an expansion of my artistic practice?
başlayabilir miydim?
along with other creatives --
real estate finance people --
emlak yatırımcıları--
to kind of think
kapsamlı bir şekilde
about the reshaping of cities.
başarabilirdik.
to try to just get some activity happening
for about 18,000 dollars,
18.000$'a aldıktan sonra
as a kind of performance.
süpürmeye başladım.
and people would come over,
insanlar gelecekti ve
and sweeping was free.
bedava!
to stage exhibitions, small dinners,
yemekler düzenlemek için kullanabilirdik.
on my block, Dorchester --
olarak bilinen o binayı
as Dorchester projects --
became a kind of gathering site
what we called now the Archive House.
bu alana dönüştürdük.
all of these amazing things.
Arşiv Evi yapacaktı.
in the city and beyond
hatırı sayılır sayıda insan
in the middle of the hood.
ortasında bulacaktı.
between my history with clay
starting to develop,
anlayışlarını değiştiren
the South Side of the city.
başladım.
başladık,
a beautiful vessel important,
o binalarda yapılanların
in those buildings is also very important.
çalıştık.
about development,
that could happen
ile bir diğeri arasında
between one neighbor and another.
düşünüyorduk.
the Listening House,
Johnson Basım Şirketi'nin
ve
that was going out of business.
these buildings as much as I could
elimde olan herşey
kullanılabilir hale getirmek istiyordum.
amazing building stock.
stoğu var.
the former crack house on the block,
bu bina
imagine what else could happen there.
fırsatı doğdu.
what we call Black Cinema House.
adını verdiğimiz yere dönüştürdük.
in the hood to screen films
insanlar için
to the folk who lived around me,
gösterebileceğimiz bir fırsattı.
an old Melvin Van Peebles film, we could.
gerekti
from just a small piece of clay,
Sinema Evi'nin
piece of clay, which is now my studio.
gerekti: benim atölyem.
for those of you who are zoning junkies,
insanlar için
that had been left behind,
the buildings were built,
kullanılmıyorlardı.
ki "Bak,
needs to stay residential."
kalmalılar."
ain't nobody interested in living there?
semtlerde n'apıyorsun?
the means to leave have already left?
these abandoned buildings?
ne yapacağız?
to wake them up using culture.
was so exciting for folk,
that we had to then find bigger buildings.
kadar hevesliydi ki, daha büyük binalar
bulduğumuzda
necessary to think about those things.
ihtiyacımız olduğunu anladık.
it was in pretty bad shape.
of standing water.
vardı.
in the neighborhood
in the neighborhood
ilgilenmiyorlardı,
It was nowhere.
what else could happen in this building?
ne yapılabilirdi?
of my block has spread,
can now be a center
arşivler ve müzik performansları
music performance,
kullanılabileceğini,
who are now interested
hevesli insanlar olduğunu fark ettik;
because we brought some heat,
is this Johnson Publishing Corporation.
Johnson Basım Şirketi'nin arşivi.
memorabilia from American history,
insanlardan, Amerikan tarihine ilişkin
or have lived in that neighborhood.
başladık.
are degraded images of black people,
siyahi insanların resimleri
of very challenging content,
sahip tarihsel anektotlar bunlar.
asking themselves about their identity
kişiliklerini sorgulayan
ki?
merkezini temsil ediyor.
hardcore node of cultural activity,
bir düğüm yaratmaya çalışırken
to make multiple hubs
green stuff around there,
bağlayabilir,
purchased and rehabbed,
miniature Versailles on top of that,
yerleştirebilir ve tüm bu
by a beautiful greenbelt --
çevreleyebilirsek--
never wanted to be
istemediği bu yer
the country and world.
very much like I'm a potter,
gibiyim;
that are at our wheel,
that I want to make.
çalışıyoruz.
house to a block to a neighborhood
bir mahalleye
to thinking about the city,
that I didn't know that I had to learn.
gerektiğini bilmediğim şeyler vardı.
about zoning law in my life.
imar yasasıyla ilgili bu kadar şey öğrenmemiştim.
hiç düşünmezdim.
that there's not just room
yalnızca benim sanatsal
artistic practices.
için de yer var.
going to go to scale?"
yapacaksın?"
I couldn't export myself,
farkına vardım.
in cities like Akron, Ohio,
Indiana
who already believe in those places,
halihazırda var
to make those places beautiful,
who are passionate about a place
tutkulu olan insanların
necessary to make cool things happen,
a contingency of people
kopuk olduğunu anladım.
around the country
olanla nasıl işe başlayabileceğiniz,
that are in front of you,
at a wheel or at your block
dünyanızı nasıl yeniden
many people watching this
izleyen birçok insan
the question you just raised at the end:
yapabilirler?
about what someone who is inspired
tür
to take on projects like yours?
birkaç taktik ver.
I've found that's really important
the kind of individual project,
özel ve tek bir proje
between an old house,
şarap dükkanının
herhangi
between those things?
where neighborhoods have failed,
vakalarda çoğu zaman
fark ettim.Oranın,
in that place, the passionate people,
nasıl yokluyorsun? 20 yıldır kavga
who have been fighting,
yaşadıkları yer
about the place that they live?
I would be talking about buildings alone,
ca binalar hakkında
a "For Lease" sign in the window.
tabelası koyardım.
have to curate more than that,
etmeniz gerek,
you have to be mindful about,
bilinçli
that I want to grow here?
istediğim işletmeler neler?
who live in this place
a cultural space or housing;
veya evlerle ilgili değil;
of an economic core.
yaratılması gerekiyor.
together feels right.
ilişki içerisinde düşünmek.
to create the spark again
içlerindeki kıvılcımı
slogging for 20 years.
that have helped break through?
taktikler var mı?
there are lots of examples
when the media is constantly saying
medyanın dediği gibi
happen in a place,
oluyorsa
and the particular context,
in your neighborhood
if you're a theater person,
açık havada
the resources in certain neighborhoods
olan
a certain kind of splashy,
kaynaklar olmuyor
of making sure that people
yerlisi olduğundan emin olmanın
of the things that are happening locally,
that the projects you're creating
aktiviteden
vegetarian indie movie crowd
dezavantajlı insanlar
to take advantage of them.
olabiliyorsunuz?
it starts to get into the thick weeds.
burada karışmaya başlıyor.
TG: Right now, Grand Crossing
TG: Şu anda Grand Crossing'de
who owns property in a place
the streets every day.
that Grand Crossing is already
olduğundan
different than it is today.
şimdiden girdiğini söyleyebiliriz.
housing trusts or land trusts
dayalı geliştirme projelerinin
some of the space that happens,
bir yolu olmalı.
7,500 empty lots in a city,
varsa
just interested in the development piece,
stabilizasyon kısmıyla da
in the stabilization piece,
üstlenmesini istersiniz.
is really motivated,
genelde çok hevesli
of neighborhood consciousness,
parça,
important watchdogs
that are made available
who have lived in a place for a long time.
One more question:
and the importance of beauty and the arts.
that funds would be better spent
temel hizmetler
söyleyen insanlar olacaktır.
or come against it?
nasıl karşı gelirsiniz?
is a basic service.
hizmet olduğuna inanıyorum.
when there are resources
to certain under-resourced cities
zaman
that helps to ignite,
olan şeyin kültür olduğunu ve
if you can start with culture
insanların
reinvested in their place,
yatırım yapmalarını sağlayabilirsen
amenities start to grow,
bulunabiliyorlar--şiirsel bir istek
that's a poetic demand,
olan politik
are necessary to wake up our cities,
için çok teşekkürler.
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