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
TED Fellows Retreat 2013

Gabe Barcia-Colombo: My DNA vending machine

Gabriel Barcia-Colombo: Moj automat za prodaju DNK

Filmed:
828,455 views

Automati za prodaju uglavnom nude sokove, slatkiše i grickalice. Ali ne i onaj koji je napravio TED Fellow, Gabe Barcia-Colombo. Taj umjetnik je zamislio automat za prodaju DNK, koji daje izdvojenu ljudsku DNK, zapakiranu u bočicu s jedinstvenom fotografijom osobe koja ju je dala. To je šarmantno i otkačeno, ali ukazuje na veće etičke probleme koji će se javiti kako se povećava pristupačnost biotehnologije.
- 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.

00:12
This is a vendingautomat machinemašina in LosLos AngelesAngeles.
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Ovo je automat za prodaju u Los Angelesu.
00:14
It's in a shoppingkupovina malltrgovački centar, and it sellsproda fishriba eggsjaja.
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Nalazi se u tržnom centru
i prodaje riblja jaja.
00:17
It's a caviarkavijar vendingautomat machinemašina.
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To je automat za prodaju kavijara.
00:21
This is the Art-o-matArt-o-mat,
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Ovo je Art-o-mat,
00:22
an artumjetnost vendingautomat machinemašina that sellsproda
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automat za prodaju umjetnosti koji prodaje
00:24
smallmali artisticumjetnički creationskreacije by differentdrugačiji artistsizvođači,
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mala umjetnička djela raznih umjetnika,
00:26
usuallyobično on smallmali wooddrvo blocksblokovi or matchboxesšibica,
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obično na malim drvenim blokovima
ili kutijama od šibica,
00:28
in limitedograničen editionizdanje.
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u ograničenim edicijama.
00:30
This is OliverOliver MedvedikMedvedik. He's not a vendingautomat machinemašina,
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Ovo je Oliver Medvedik.
On nije automat za prodaju,
00:32
but he is one of the foundersOsnivači of GenspaceGenspace,
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ali je jedan od osnivača Genspace-a,
00:34
a communityzajednica biolabBiolab in BrooklynBrooklyn, NewNovi YorkYork,
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bio-laboratorija zajednice u Brooklynu,
New York,
00:36
where anybodyiko can go and take classesklase
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gdje svatko može otići na satove
00:37
and learnnaučiti how to do things like
growrasti E. coliColi that glowssvijetli in the darkmrak
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i naučiti stvari poput uzgajanja
Escherichia coli koja svijetli u mraku
00:41
or learnnaučiti how to take strawberryjagoda DNADNK.
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ili naučiti kako uzeti DNK jagode.
00:43
In factčinjenica, I saw OliverOliver do one of these strawberryjagoda
DNADNK extractionsekstrakcija about a yeargodina agoprije,
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U stvari, vidio sam Olivera kako prije
otprilike godinu dana uzima DNK jagode,
00:47
and this is what led me ontona this bizarrebizarno pathstaza
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i to me je odvelo na ovaj bizarni put
00:49
that I'm going to talk to you right now.
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o kojem ću vam sada pričati.
00:50
Because strawberryjagoda DNADNK is really
fascinatingfascinantan, because it's so beautifullijep.
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DNK jagode je stvarno očaravajući,
jer je tako lijep.
00:54
I'd never thought about DNADNK
beingbiće a beautifullijep thing before,
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Nikada prije nisam mislio kako je DNK
toliko lijepa stvar,
00:56
before I saw it in this formoblik.
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prije nego što sam je vidio u ovoj formi.
00:57
And a lot of people, especiallyposebno in the artumjetnost communityzajednica,
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I puno ljudi, posebno
u umjetničkoj zajednici,
00:59
don't necessarilyobavezno engageangažirati in scienceznanost in this way.
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ne bavi se nužno znanošću na ovaj način.
01:02
I instantlyodmah joinedspojen GenspaceGenspace after this,
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Odmah sam se priključio
Genspace-u poslije ovoga,
01:04
and I askedpitao OliverOliver, "Well, if
we can do this strawberriesjagode,
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i pitao sam Olivera:
„Ako možemo raditi te jagode,
01:06
can we do this with people as well?"
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možemo li to raditi i s ljudima?“
01:07
And about 10 minutesminuta laterkasnije, we were bothoba
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I 10 minuta kasnije, oboje smo
01:09
spinningpredenje it in vialsbočice togetherzajedno and comingdolazak up
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to vrtili u bočicama i smišljali
01:10
with a protocolprotokol for humanljudski DNADNK extractionvađenje.
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protokol za ekstrakciju ljudskog DNK.
01:13
And I startedpočeo doing this on my ownvlastiti,
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I to sam počeo raditi na svoju ruku,
01:15
and this is what my DNADNK actuallyzapravo looksizgled like.
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i ovako u stvari izgleda moj DNK.
01:17
And I was at a dinnervečera partystranka with
some friendsprijatelji, some artistumjetnik friendsprijatelji,
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Dok sam bio na večeri s
nekim prijateljima, umjetnicima,
01:19
and I was tellingreći them about this projectprojekt,
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i dok sam im pričao o ovom projektu,
01:22
and they couldn'tne mogu believe that
you could actuallyzapravo see DNADNK.
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oni nisu mogli vjerovati da
možemo stvarno vidjeti DNK.
01:25
So I said, all right, let's get
out some suppliespribor right now.
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Tako sam im rekao, idemo
po neke zalihe odmah.
01:27
And I startedpočeo havingima these bizarrebizarno dinnervečera
partiesstranke at my housekuća on FridayPetak nightsnoću
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I tako sam krenuo s tim bizarnim večerama
u mojoj kući petkom navečer
01:30
where people would come over
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gdje bi ljudi došli
01:32
and we would do DNADNK extractionsekstrakcija,
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i onda bi radili ekstrakcije DNK,
01:34
and I would actuallyzapravo captureuhvatiti them on videovideo,
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a ja bi ih snimao,
01:35
because it createdstvorio this kindljubazan of funnysmiješno portraitportret as well.
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jer je to također stvaralo tu vrstu
nekog smiješnog portreta.
01:38
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
01:40
These are people who don't necessarilyobavezno regularlyredovito
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To su ljudi koji se obično
01:42
engageangažirati with scienceznanost whatsoevergod.
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ne bave uopće znanošću.
01:44
You can kindljubazan of tell from theirnjihov reactionsreakcije.
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To možete zaključiti
iz njihovih reakcija.
01:48
But they becamepostao fascinatedopčinjen by it,
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Ali postaju fascinirani njome,
01:50
and it was really excitinguzbudljiv for me to see them
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a to je bilo zaista zanimljivo gledati
01:51
get exciteduzbuđen about scienceznanost.
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kako ih znanost uzbuđuje.
01:53
And so I startedpočeo doing this regularlyredovito.
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Tako sam to počeo raditi redovito.
01:56
It's kindljubazan of an oddneparan thing to
do with your FridayPetak nightsnoću,
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To je na neki način čudna stvar
za raditi petkom navečer,
01:58
but this is what I startedpočeo doing,
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ali to je ono što sam započeo raditi,
02:00
and I startedpočeo collectingprikupljanje a wholečitav groupskupina
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počeo sam skupljati cijele grupe
02:01
of my friends'prijatelji' DNADNK in smallmali vialsbočice
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DNK mojih prijatelja u bočicama
02:03
and categorizingrazvrstavanju them.
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i kategorizirati ih.
02:04
This is what that lookedgledao like.
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Tako je to izgledalo.
02:06
And it startedpočeo to make me
think about a couplepar of things.
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I to me navelo razmišljati o par stvari.
02:08
First of all, this lookedgledao a lot like my FacebookFacebook wallzid.
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Prije svega, to me prilično podsjećalo
na moj zid na Facebook-u.
02:11
So in a way, I've createdstvorio sortvrsta of a geneticgenetski networkmreža,
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Na neki način, stvorio sam
genetičku mrežu,
02:13
a geneticgenetski socialsocijalni networkmreža, really.
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zapravo genetičku društvenu mrežu.
02:15
And the seconddrugi thing was,
one time a friendprijatelj camedošao over
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A druga stvar je bila,
jednom je svratio prijatelj
02:17
and lookedgledao at this on my tablestol and was like, "Oh.
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i pogledao na moj stol i rekao, "Oh.
02:20
Why are they numberednumerirane? Is this
personosoba more rarerijedak than the other one?"
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Zašto su numerirani?
Je li ova osoba rijeđa od druge?"
02:23
And I hadn'tnije even thought about that.
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A ja uopće o tome nisam nikada
razmišljao.
02:25
They were just numberednumerirane because that
was the ordernarudžba that I extractedizvađen the DNADNK in.
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Bili su numerirani redoslijedom
kojim sam im uzeo DNK.
02:28
But that madenapravljen me think about collectingprikupljanje toysigračke,
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Ali to me je natjeralo da pomislim
na sakupljanje igračaka,
02:30
and this thing that's going on right now
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i ovo što se sada događa
02:32
in the toyigračka worldsvijet with blindslijep boxkutija toysigračke,
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u svijetu igračaka
s neobilježenim kutijama,
02:34
and beingbiće ableu stanju to collectprikupiti these rarerijedak toysigračke.
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i skupljanjem tih rijetkih igračaka.
02:36
You buykupiti these boxeskutije. You're not sure
what's going to be insideiznutra of them.
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Kupite te kutije. Niste sigurni što će
biti u njima.
02:38
But then, when you openotvoren them up,
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Ali onda, kada ih otvorite,
02:40
you have differentdrugačiji raritiesrijetkosti of the toysigračke.
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imate igračke različitog rariteta.
02:42
And so I thought that was interestingzanimljiv.
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I tako sam pomislio
kako je to interesantno.
02:43
I startedpočeo thinkingmišljenje about this and the caviarkavijar
vendingautomat machinemašina and the Art-o-matArt-o-mat all togetherzajedno,
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Počeo sam razmišljati o ovome,
automatu za kavijar, Art-o-matu i svemu,
02:46
and some reasonrazlog, I was one
night drawingcrtanje a vendingautomat machinemašina,
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i iz nekog razloga jedne večeri
sam crtao automat za prodaju,
02:50
thinkingmišljenje about doing paintingsslike of a vendingautomat machinemašina,
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razmišljajući o slikanju
automata za prodaju,
02:51
and the little vialbočica of my DNADNK was sittingsjedenje there,
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i bočica s mojom DNK je stajala tu,
02:53
and I saw this kindljubazan of beautifullijep collaborationkolaboracija betweenizmeđu
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onda sam vidio
ovu predivnu suradnju između
02:55
the strandstokova of DNADNK and the
coilszavojnice of a vendingautomat machinemašina.
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niti DNK i zavojnica
na automatu za prodaju.
02:58
And so, of coursenaravno, I decidedodlučio
to createstvoriti an artumjetnost installationmontaža
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Naravno, odlučio sam
napraviti umjetničku instalaciju
03:01
calledzvao the DNADNK VendingAutomat MachineZa prodaju.
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koja se zove Automat za prodaju DNK.
03:03
Here it is.
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Evo ga.
03:04
(MusicGlazba)
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(Glazba)
03:10
["DNADNK VendingAutomat MachineZa prodaju is an artumjetnost installationmontaža
about our increasingpovećavajući accesspristup to biotechnologybiotehnologija."]
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["Automat za prodaju DNK je umjetnička instalacija
o našem rastućem pristupu biotehnologiji."]
03:19
["For a reasonablerazuman costcijena, you can purchasekupiti a sampleuzorak
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["Za razumnu cijenu, možete kupiti uzorak
03:23
of humanljudski DNADNK from a traditionaltradicionalan vendingautomat machinemašina."]
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ljudskog DNK iz tradicionalnog automata
za prodaju."]
03:44
["EachSvaki sampleuzorak comesdolazi packagedu paketu with a collectiblekolekcionarskih
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["Svaki uzorak je upakiran s rijetkim
03:47
limitedograničen editionizdanje portraitportret of the humanljudski specimenprimjerak."]
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portretom ljudskog primjerka
iz ograničene serije."]
03:54
["DNADNK VendingAutomat MachineZa prodaju treatstretira DNADNK
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["Automat za prodaju DNK tretira DNK
03:56
as a collectiblekolekcionarskih materialmaterijal and bringsdonosi to lightsvjetlo
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kao rijedak kolekcionarski materijal
i rasvjetljava
03:59
legalpravni issuespitanja over the ownershipvlasništvo of DNADNK."]
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pravne probleme vlasništva DNK."]
04:04
GabrielGabriel Garcia-ColomboGarcia-Colombo: So
the DNADNK VendingAutomat MachineZa prodaju
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Gabriel Garcia-Colombo:
Tako je Automat za prodaju DNK
04:06
is currentlytrenutno in a couplepar galleriesgalerije in NewNovi YorkYork,
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trenutno u nekoliko galerija u New Yorku,
04:08
and it's sellingprodaja out prettyprilično well, actuallyzapravo.
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i prilično dobro prodaje.
04:10
We're in the first editionizdanje of 100 pieceskomada,
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Trenutno smo unutar
prve edicije od 100 komada,
04:12
hopingnadajući to do anotherjoš editionizdanje prettyprilično soonuskoro.
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nadajući se drugoj ediciji uskoro.
04:14
I'd actuallyzapravo like to get it into more of a metropodzemne hubsredište,
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Zapravo bih više volio
ubaciti ga u metro,
04:16
like GrandVelika CentralSredišnje or PennPenn StationKolodvor,
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poput metro stanica Grand Central
ili Penn,
04:18
right nextSljedeći to some of the other, actualstvaran
vendingautomat machinesstrojevi in that locationmjesto.
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pored nekih drugih, stvarnih
automata za prodaju na toj lokaciji.
04:20
But really with this projectprojekt
and a lot of my artumjetnost projectsprojekti
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Ali zapravo s ovim i
dosta drugih umjetničkih projekata
04:23
I want to askpitati the audiencepublika a questionpitanje, and that is,
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želim publici postaviti pitanje, a to je
04:25
when biotechnologybiotehnologija and DNADNK sequencingsekvencioniranje
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kada bio-tehnologija i DNK sekvenciranje
04:27
becomespostaje as cheapjeftino as, say, laserlaser cuttingrezanje or
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postanu jeftini poput recimo,
laserskog rezanja ili
04:30
3D printingtiskanje or buyingkupovina caviarkavijar from a vendingautomat machinemašina,
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3D printanja ili kupnje kavijara
iz automata za prodaju,
04:34
will you still submitpodnijeti your sampleuzorak of
DNADNK to be partdio of the vendingautomat machinemašina?
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hoćete li još uvijek davati svoj
uzorak DNK da bude dijelom automata?
04:36
And how much will these samplesuzorci be worthvrijedan?
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I koliko će vrijediti ti uzorci?
04:38
And will you buykupiti someonenetko else'sdrugo je sampleuzorak?
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I hoćete li kupiti nečiji uzorak?
04:41
And what will you be ableu stanju to do with that sampleuzorak?
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I što ćete moći napraviti s tim uzorkom?
04:44
Thank you.
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Hvala vam.
04:46
(ApplausePljesak)
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(Pljesak)

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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