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
TED2012

Gabriel Barcia-Colombo: Capturing memories in video art

Gabriel Barcia-Colombo: Capturar els records per mitjà del videoart

Filmed:
800,296 views

Utilitzant mapatge i projecció de vídeo, l'artista Gabriel Barcia-Colombo captura i comparteix els seus records i les seves amistats. En el marc de les TED Fellow Talks, ens ensenya la seva obra reflexiva i encantadora, en la qual, segons sembla, conserva la gent del seu entorn en pots, maletes, batedores...
- 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.

00:16
I love to collectrecollir things.
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M'encanta col·leccionar coses.
00:19
Ever sincedes de llavors I was a kidnoi, I've had massivemassiu collectionscol·leccions
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Des que era petit,
sempre he tingut col·leccions gegants
00:21
of randomaleatori stuffcoses, everything from bizarreestranya hotcalenta saucessalses
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de coses aleatòries, des d'estranyes
00:23
from all around the worldmón to insectsinsectes
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salses picants de tot el món
fins a insectes
00:27
that I've capturedcapturat and put in jarsflascons.
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que capturava i guardava en pots.
00:29
Now, it's no secretsecret, because I like collectingrecollint things,
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I d'aquí podreu deduir
00:31
that I love the NaturalNatural HistoryHistòria MuseumMuseu
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que m'encanta
el Museu d'Història Natural
00:33
and the collectionscol·leccions of animalsanimals
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i les col·leccions
00:34
at the NaturalNatural HistoryHistòria MuseumMuseu in dioramasDiorames.
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de diorames d'animals que hi ha allà.
00:36
These, to me, are like livingvivent sculpturesescultures, right,
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Per mi són com escultures vivents
00:38
that you can go and look at,
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que pots anar a contemplar
00:40
and they memorializeMemorialize a specificespecífic pointpunt of time
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i que immortalitzen un moment concret
00:41
in this animal'sde l'animal life.
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en la vida d'aquell animal.
00:43
So I was thinkingpensant about my ownpropi life,
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I reflexionava sobre la meva vida
00:45
and how I'd like to memorializeMemorialize my life, you know,
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i sobre com podria immortalitzar-la
00:47
for the agesedats, and alsotambé — (LaughterRiure) —
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per tota l'eternitat, i també
(Rialles)
00:50
the livesvides of my friendsamics, but
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les vides dels meus amics,
00:52
the problemproblema with this is that my friendsamics aren'tno ho són quitebastant keenmolt agraït
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però el problema és
que a ells no els entusiasma
00:55
on the ideaidea of me taxidermy-ingtaxidèrmia-ció them. (LaughterRiure)
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gaire la idea de que els dissequi.
(Rialles)
00:58
So insteaden canvi, I turnedconvertit to videovideo,
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Així que vaig recórrer al vídeo,
01:01
and videovideo is the nextPròxim bestmillor way to preservepreservar and memorializeMemorialize
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que és la millor manera
de conservar i immortalitzar
01:03
someonealgú and to capturecaptura a specificespecífic momentmoment in time.
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algú i de capturar
un moment específic en el temps.
01:06
So what I did was, I filmedfilmat sixsis of my friendsamics
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Vaig gravar sis dels meus amics
01:08
and then, usingutilitzant videovideo mappingcartografia and videovideo projectionprojecció,
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i després, utilitzant
mapatge i projecció de vídeo,
01:10
I createdcreat a videovideo sculptureescultura, whichquin was these sixsis friendsamics
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vaig crear una videoescultura,
composta pels meus amics
01:13
projectedprojectat into jarsflascons. (LaughterRiure)
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projectats en pots. (Rialles)
01:17
So now I have this collectioncol · lecció of my friendsamics
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Ara tinc aquesta col·lecció
dels meus amics
01:18
I can take around with me wheneversempre que sigui I go,
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que sempre puc portar amb mi,
01:20
and this is calledanomenat AnimaliaAnimalia ChordataCordats,
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anomenada "Animalia Chordata",
01:22
from the LatinLlatí nomenclaturenomenclatura for
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que ve de la nomenclatura llatina
01:24
humanhumà beingser, classificationclassificació systemsistema.
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per classificar l'ésser humà
(animal cordat).
01:26
So this piecepeça memorializesRecorda m. Hugues my friendsamics in these jarsflascons,
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L'obra immortalitza
els meus amics en aquests pots
01:29
and they actuallyen realitat movemoure's around. (LaughterRiure)
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i fins i tot es mouen. (Rialles)
01:33
So, this is interestinginteressant to me,
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Tot això és molt interessant,
01:36
but it lackedno tenien a certaincert humanhumà elementelement. (LaughterRiure)
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però li faltava el toc humà.
(Rialles)
01:39
It's a digitaldigital sculptureescultura, so I wanted to addafegir
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Volia afegir-li
01:41
an interactioninteracció systemsistema. So what I did was,
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un sistema d'interacció, així que vaig
01:43
I addedafegit a proximityproximitat sensorsensor, so that when you get closea prop
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agregar-li un sensor de proximitat,
de manera que quan t'acostes
01:45
to the people in jarsflascons, they reactreacciona to you in differentdiferent waysmaneres.
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a la gent dels pots,
reacciona de formes diferents.
01:47
You know, just like people on the streetcarrer
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Ben igual que la gent al carrer
01:49
when you get too closea prop to them.
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quan t'hi acostes massa.
01:50
Some people reactedva reaccionar in terrorterror. (LaughterRiure)
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Alguns reaccionen amb terror,
(Rialles)
01:53
OthersAltres reactedva reaccionar in askingpreguntant you for help,
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d'altres et demanen ajuda
01:55
and some people hideocultar from you.
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i n'hi ha que s'amaguen de tu.
01:58
So this was really interestinginteressant to me, this ideaidea of
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I m'interessava molt la idea
02:00
takingpresa videovideo off the screenpantalla and puttingposant it in realreal life,
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de traslladar el vídeo a la vida real
02:02
and alsotambé addingafegint interactivityinteractivitat to sculptureescultura.
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i afegir interactivitat a l'escultura.
02:04
So over the nextPròxim yearcurs, I documenteddocumentat 40 of my other friendsamics
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Així que l'any següent
vaig enregistrar 40 amics més
02:09
and trappedatrapat them in jarsflascons as well
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i també els vaig ficar en pots
02:10
and createdcreat a piecepeça knownconegut as GardenJardí,
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per crear l'obra "Jardí",
02:12
whichquin is literallyliteralment a gardenjardí of humanityhumanitat.
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que és, literalment,
un jardí d'humanitat.
02:15
But something about the first piecepeça,
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Però encara em faltava una cosa
02:17
the AnimaliAnimali ChordataCordats piecepeça, keptmantingut comingarribant back to me,
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de la primera obra,
"Animalia Chordata",
02:19
this ideaidea of interactioninteracció with artart,
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la idea d'interactuar amb l'art,
02:21
and I really likedagradat the ideaidea of people beingser ablecapaç to interactinteractuar,
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i em va agradar molt que la gent
hi pogués interactuar
02:23
and alsotambé beingser challengeddesafiat by interactinginteractuant with artart.
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i se sentís estimulada
interactuant amb l'art.
02:25
So I wanted to createcrear a newnou piecepeça that actuallyen realitat
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Volia crear una nova obra
02:27
forcedobligat people to come and interactinteractuar with something,
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que obligués el públic a acostar-s'hi
i a interactuar,
02:29
and the way I did this was actuallyen realitat by projectingprojectant
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i ho vaig aconseguir projectant
02:31
a 1950s housewifemestressa de casa into a blenderbatedora. (LaughterRiure)
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una mestressa de casa dels anys 50
en una batedora. (Rialles)
02:35
This is a piecepeça calledanomenat BlendBarreja, and what it does is
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Aquesta obra s'anomena "Mescla",
i fa que el públic
02:37
it actuallyen realitat makesfa you implicitimplícit in the work of artart.
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participi en la creació de l'art.
02:39
You maypot never experienceexperiència the entiretot thing yourselftu mateix.
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Potser ningú no la veurà sencera.
02:42
You can walkcaminar away, you can just watch as this characterpersonatge
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Pots passar de llarg,
parar-te a observar el personatge
02:44
standsestands there in the blenderbatedora and looksaspecte at you,
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i com et mira des de la batedora
02:46
or you can actuallyen realitat choosetriar to interactinteractuar with it.
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o pots escollir interactuar amb l'obra.
02:48
So if you do choosetriar to interactinteractuar with the piecepeça,
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Llavors, si decideixes
interactuar amb ella,
02:53
and you presspremeu the blenderbatedora buttonbotó, it actuallyen realitat sendsenvia
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i prems el botó de "batre", sumiràs
02:55
this characterpersonatge into this dizzyingvertiginosa disarraydesordre of dishevelmentdishevelment.
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el personatge en
el desconcert més absolut i vertiginós.
02:58
By doing that, you are now partpart of my piecepeça.
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En el moment en què fas això,
ja ets part de la meva obra.
03:02
You, like the people that are trappedatrapat in my work
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Tant tu com la gent
que hi ha atrapada
03:04
— (BlenderBatedora noisessorolls, laughterriure) —
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(So de batedora, rialles)
03:08
have becomeconvertir-se en partpart of my work as well. (LaughterRiure)
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passeu a formar part de la meva obra.
(Rialles)
03:15
(LaughterRiure)
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(Rialles)
03:17
(ApplauseAplaudiments)
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(Aplaudiments)
03:20
But, but this seemssembla a bitpoc unfairinjust, right?
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Però això sembla una mica injust, oi?
03:23
I put my friendsamics in jarsflascons, I put this characterpersonatge,
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Fico els meus amics en pots,
aquesta espècie
03:26
this sortordenar of endangereden perill speciesespècie characterpersonatge in a blenderbatedora.
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de personatge en perill d'extinció
en una liquadora,
03:29
But I'd never donefet anything about myselfjo mateix.
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però mai no he fet res amb mi.
03:31
I'd never really memorializedva apuntar myselfjo mateix.
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Mai no m'havia immortalitzat,
03:32
So I decidedva decidir to createcrear a piecepeça whichquin is a self-portraitAutoretrat piecepeça.
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així que vaig decidir crear
una obra sobre mi.
03:35
This is sortordenar of a self-portraitAutoretrat taxidermytaxidèrmia time capsulecàpsula piecepeça
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És una espècie d'autoretrat
o càpsula del temps taxidèrmica
03:37
calledanomenat A PointPunt Just PassedPassat,
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anomenada "Un moment fugaç",
03:39
in whichquin I projectprojecte myselfjo mateix on topsuperior of a time cardtargeta punchcop de puny clockrellotge,
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en la qual em projecto
a la part superior d'un rellotge,
03:42
and it's up to you.
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i depèn de vosaltres.
03:43
If you want to choosetriar to punchcop de puny that punchcop de puny cardtargeta clockrellotge,
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Si decidiu passar la vostra targeta
03:45
you actuallyen realitat ageedat me.
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pel rellotge, m'envelliu.
03:47
So I startcomençar as a babybebè, and then if you punchcop de puny the clockrellotge,
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Començo com un nadó,
i si passeu la targeta,
03:50
you'llho faràs actuallyen realitat transformtransformar the babybebè into a toddlernen,
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fareu que el nadó
es transformi en un nen petit,
03:54
and then from a toddlernen I'm transformedtransformat into a teenageradolescent.
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i després passo
de nen petit a adolescent.
03:57
From a teenageradolescent, I'm transformedtransformat into my currentactual selfautoestima.
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D'adolescent,
em transformo en el meu jo actual.
04:00
From my currentactual selfautoestima, I'm turnedconvertit into a middle-agedmitjana edat man,
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Del meu jo actual, em converteixo
04:03
and then, from there, into an elderlyancians man.
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en un home de mitjana edat,
i llavors en un ancià.
04:07
And if you punchcop de puny the punchcop de puny cardtargeta clockrellotge a hundredcent timestemps
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I si passeu la targeta 100 vegades
04:10
in one day, the piecepeça goesva blacknegre
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en un dia, l'obra es torna negra
04:13
and is not to be resetrestablir untilfins a the nextPròxim day.
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i no es reiniciarà
fins el dia següent.
04:16
So, in doing so, you're erasings'està esborrant time.
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En fer això, esteu esborrant el temps.
04:18
You're actuallyen realitat implicitimplícit in this work
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Formeu part implícita d'aquesta obra
04:20
and you're erasings'està esborrant my life.
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i esborreu la meva vida.
04:22
So I like this about interactiveinteractiu videovideo sculptureescultura,
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Això és el que m'agrada
de la videoescultura interactiva,
04:24
that you can actuallyen realitat interactinteractuar with it,
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que es pot interactuar amb ella,
04:25
that all of you can actuallyen realitat touchtocar an artworkobra d'art
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que tots podeu tocar-la
04:27
and be partpart of the artworkobra d'art yourselvesvosaltres mateixos,
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i formar part de l'obra d'art.
04:29
and hopefullyamb sort, one day, I'll have eachcadascun and everycada one of you
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I, amb sort, potser algun dia
us tindré a tots
04:32
trappedatrapat in one of my jarsflascons. (LaughterRiure)
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atrapats en un dels meus pots.
(Rialles)
04:34
Thank you. (ApplauseAplaudiments)
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Gràcies. (Aplaudiments)
Translated by Guillermo Parra
Reviewed by Eva Garcia-Pinos

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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