ABOUT THE SPEAKER
tobacco brown - Social artist
TED Resident tobacco brown is a social artist working at the public intersection of environmental art and restorative justice.

Why you should listen

tobacco brown paints the landscape with the authentic medium of flora and fauna. She initiates living art installations from nature's products and materials with the intention of creating a collective consciousness that results in liberated and healthy communities, focusing on art as a tool for blight remediation and therapeutic healing.

brown has created social environmental art sculptures and installations for public art, permaculture for resilient community projects and blight remediation that results in the restorative healing from socio-political inequalities. She received her BFA in 1978 at Memphis State University in communications design. She continued to study at School of Visual Arts, when selected by portfolio to study with Milton Glaser. During those SVA years, she also studied advertising design at DDB+O, Young and Rubicam and Mary Wells in invitational classes at professionals home in New York City.

brown currently travels between New York City, nature sites, art residencies and communities that seek and promote healing and continuity. She believes that nature principles when amplified can impact the behavior of global cultures.

More profile about the speaker
tobacco brown | Speaker | TED.com
TED Residency

tobacco brown: What gardening taught me about life

Tobacco Brown: O que a jardinagem me ensinou sobre a vida

Filmed:
1,289,610 views

Jardins são espelhos da nossa vida, diz a artista ambientalista Tobacco Brown, e devemos cultivá-los com cuidado para colher sua beleza plena. Partindo de sua experiência em trazer instalações de arte pública natural às cidades ao redor do mundo, Brown revela que a jardinagem pode nos ensinar sobre a criação de vidas com compaixão, conexão e graça.
- Social artist
TED Resident tobacco brown is a social artist working at the public intersection of environmental art and restorative justice. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
At age four, I found a garden,
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Aos quatro anos, descobri um jardim
00:15
living underneath the kitchen floor.
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debaixo do chão da cozinha.
00:18
It was hiding behind
leftover patches of linoleum
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Estava escondido atrás
de restos de linóleo
00:22
on the worn-out floor
my mother was having removed.
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no piso desgastado
que minha mãe mandou remover.
00:26
The workman was busy
when the garden caught my attention.
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O funcionário estava ocupado
quando o jardim chamou minha atenção.
00:29
My eyes became glued to the patterns
of embroidered roses
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Meus olhos ficaram vidrados
nos padrões de rosas bordadas
00:35
blooming across my childhood landscape.
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florescendo na paisagem da minha infância.
00:38
I saw them and felt
a sense of joy and adventure.
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Eu os vi e tive uma sensação
de alegria e aventura.
00:44
This excitement felt like
a feeling to go forward
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Esse entusiasmo parecia
um sentimento de entrar
00:46
into something I knew nothing about.
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em algo de que eu nada sabia.
00:50
My passion and connection to garden
started at that exact moment.
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Minha paixão e conexão com a jardinagem
começaram naquele exato momento.
00:55
When spring arrived,
I ran so fast through the house,
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Quando a primavera chegou,
corri tão rápido pela casa,
00:58
speeding ahead of my mother's voice.
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que cheguei antes da voz da minha mãe.
01:00
I pulled on my red corduroy jumper
and my grey plaid wool hat
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Vesti minha jardineira de veludo
e coloquei meu gorro cinza de lã
01:05
before my mother could get her jacket on.
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antes que minha mãe
pudesse vestir o casaco.
01:07
I catapulted out of the front screen door
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Passei pela porta de tela como um furacão
01:10
and threw myself
on a fresh carpet of grass.
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e me joguei em um carpete fresco de grama.
01:14
Excited, I bounced to my feet
and flipped three more cartwheels
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Entusiasmada, fiquei de pé
e dei três estrelinhas
01:19
before landing by her side.
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antes de finalizar ao lado dela.
01:21
Mother dear was in the garden
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Mamãe querida estava no jardim
01:24
busy breaking up the soil,
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ocupada arando o solo,
01:26
and I sat beside her,
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e eu me sentei ao lado dela
01:29
playing with mud pies in the flower bed.
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brincando com tortas de lama
no canteiro de flores.
01:33
When her work was done,
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Quando ela terminou o trabalho,
01:34
she rewarded me with an ice-cold glass
of bittersweet lemonade
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fui premiada com um copo
de limonada bem gelada
01:40
and then lined my shoes
with sprigs of mint
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e ela cobriu meus sapatos
com galhinhos de menta
01:43
to cool off my feet.
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para refrescar meus pés.
01:46
My mother cooked with the colors
and textures of her garden.
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Minha mãe cozinhava com as cores
e texturas do jardim.
01:50
She baked yams and squash
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Cozinhava inhame, abóbora,
01:54
and heirloom tomatoes and carrots.
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tomates e cenouras.
01:58
She fed love to a generation of people
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Ela nutriu uma geração com amor
02:02
with purple hull peas and greens.
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com ervilhas roxas e verduras.
02:07
It seems that during my childhood,
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Parece que, na minha infância,
02:09
the blooms from my mother's gardens
have healed all the way from her halo
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os brotos do jardim de minha mãe
foram curados desde a auréola
02:14
to the roots on the soles of our feet.
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até as raízes nas solas de nossos pés.
02:18
In our last conversation before her death,
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Em nossa última conversa
antes de sua morte,
02:21
she encouraged me to go
anywhere in the world
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ela me encorajou
a ir a qualquer lugar no mundo
02:25
that would make me happy.
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que me fizesse feliz.
02:28
Since then, I have planted her gardens
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Desde então, plantei seus jardins
02:32
through art installations
throughout the world,
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através de instalações de arte pelo mundo,
02:35
in countries of the people that I meet.
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em países de pessoas que conheci.
02:38
Now they lining
parks and courtyards,
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Agora eles revestem parques e pátios,
02:42
painted on walls and even
in blighted lots off the street.
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pintados nas paredes
e até em lugares degradados.
02:47
If you were in Berlin, Germany,
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Se estivessem em Berlim, na Alemanha,
02:49
you would have seen my garden
at Stilwerk Design Center,
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vocês teriam visto meu jardim
no Stilwerk Design Center,
02:53
where rosemary and lavender,
hydrangea and lemon balm
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onde alecrim, lavanda,
hortênsias e capim-limão
02:58
trailed up the glass elevators
to all six floors.
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seguiam os elevadores de vidro
por todos os seis andares.
03:03
In 2009, I planted "Philosophers Garden,"
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Em 2009, plantei o "Philosophers Garden",
03:07
a garden mural,
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um mural-jardim,
03:08
blooming at the historic
Frederick Douglass High School
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florescendo no histórico
colégio Frederick Douglass
03:11
in Memphis, Tennessee.
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em Memphis, Tennessee.
03:14
This school’s garden
fed an entire community
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O jardim dessa escola nutriu
uma comunidade inteira
03:17
and was honored by Eleanor Roosevelt
during the Great Depression.
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e foi honrado por Eleanor Roosevelt
durante a Grande Depressão.
03:22
Again, in 2011, I planted
at Court Square Park --
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Novamente, em 2011, plantei,
no Court Square Park,
03:28
six entry gardens
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seis jardins de entrada
03:30
with 80 varieties
of deliciously fragrant floribunda
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com 80 variedades
de floribundas perfumadas
03:36
and hybrid tea roses.
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e rosas híbridas de chá.
03:39
Gardening has taught me
that planting and growing a garden
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A jardinagem me ensinou
que plantar e cuidar de um jardim
03:43
is the same process as creating our lives.
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é o mesmo processo
que o de criar nossa vida.
03:48
This process of creation
begins in the spring,
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Este processo de criação
começa na primavera
03:50
when you break up the soil and start anew.
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quando você ara a terra e começa de novo.
03:54
Then it's time to clear out
the dead leaves,
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Então é hora de tirar as folhas mortas,
03:58
debris and roots of the winter.
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restos e raízes do inverno.
04:02
The gardener must then make sure
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O jardineiro deve se assegurar
04:05
that a good disposition
and the proper nutrients
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que uma boa disposição
e que os nutrientes adequados
04:09
are correctly mixed in the soil.
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estejam misturados com o solo.
04:12
Then it's important to aerate the topsoil
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Daí é importante aerar o solo superficial
04:16
and leave it loosely packed
on the surface.
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para deixá-lo fofo na superfície.
04:19
You won't get those
beautiful blooms in life
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Vocês não terão
aqueles lindos botões na vida
04:22
until you first do the work just right.
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até que comecem
a fazer o trabalho direito.
04:26
When our gardens are balanced with care,
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Quando nossos jardins estiverem
equilibrados com cuidado,
04:29
we can harvest the beauty
of living a life of grace.
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poderemos colher a beleza
de levar uma vida com graça.
04:34
In the forests,
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Nas florestas,
04:36
when trees realize through their roots
that another tree is sick,
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quando as árvores percebem
pelas raízes que outra está doente,
04:41
they will send a portion
of their nutrients to that tree
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enviam uma parte de seus nutrientes
para aquela árvore
04:44
to help them to heal.
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para ajudá-la a se curar.
04:46
They never think
about what will happen to them
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Elas nunca pensam
no que vai acontecer a elas
04:48
or feel vulnerable when they do.
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nem ficam vulneráveis quando descobrem.
04:51
When a tree is dying,
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Quando uma árvore está morrendo,
04:52
it releases all of its nutrients
to other trees that need it the most.
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ela libera todos os nutrientes
para aquelas que mais precisam deles.
04:59
Below the surface,
we are all connected by our roots
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Abaixo da superfície, estamos
todos conectados por nossas raízes
05:02
and sharing nutrients with each other.
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e dividimos nutrientes uns com os outros.
05:05
It's only when we come together
that we can honestly grow.
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Apenas quando nos unimos,
podemos genuinamente crescer.
05:12
It's the same for humans
in the garden of hardship.
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Também é assim com humanos
no jardim da dificuldade.
05:16
In this garden,
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Neste jardim,
05:18
when the caterpillar transforms
into a chrysalis,
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quando uma lagarta
se transforma em uma crisálida,
05:22
this involves some struggle.
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isso exige algum esforço.
05:24
But it's a challenge with a purpose.
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Trata-se de um desafio com propósito.
05:26
Without this painful fight
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Sem esta luta dolorosa
05:28
to break free from
the confines of the cocoon,
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para se libertar
do confinamento do casulo,
05:32
the newly formed butterfly
can't strengthen its wings.
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a recém-formada borboleta
não pode fortalecer suas asas.
05:36
Without the battle, the butterfly dies
without ever taking flight.
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Sem a batalha, a borboleta
morre sem sequer voar.
05:42
My life's work
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Minhas obras
05:44
is to illustrate how to integrate
human connectivity into the garden.
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consistem em ilustrar formas de integrar
a conectividade humana no jardim.
05:51
Gardens are full of magical wisdom
for this transformation.
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Jardins são cheios de sabedoria mágica
para esta transformação.
05:57
Mother Nature is creative energy
waiting to be born.
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A mãe natureza é energia criativa
esperando para nascer.
06:03
Gardens are a mirror
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Os jardins são espelhos
06:04
that cast their own reflection
into our waking lives.
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que projetam seu reflexo em nossa vida.
06:09
So nurture your talents and strengths
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Portanto, nutram seus talentos e forças
06:11
while you appreciate
all you've been given.
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enquanto apreciam tudo
aquilo que receberam.
06:15
Remain humble to healing.
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Continuem humildes à cura.
06:17
And maintain compassion for others.
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Mantenham a compaixão por outros.
06:22
Cultivate your garden for giving
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Cultivem seu jardim para dar
06:24
and plant those seeds for the future.
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e plantem as sementes para o futuro.
06:27
The garden is the world
living deep inside of you.
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O jardim é o mundo que vive
bem dentro de vocês.
06:33
Thank you.
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Obrigada.
06:34
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
06:35
(Cheers)
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(Vivas)
06:36
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
Translated by Andréia Matias
Reviewed by Maricene Crus

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
tobacco brown - Social artist
TED Resident tobacco brown is a social artist working at the public intersection of environmental art and restorative justice.

Why you should listen

tobacco brown paints the landscape with the authentic medium of flora and fauna. She initiates living art installations from nature's products and materials with the intention of creating a collective consciousness that results in liberated and healthy communities, focusing on art as a tool for blight remediation and therapeutic healing.

brown has created social environmental art sculptures and installations for public art, permaculture for resilient community projects and blight remediation that results in the restorative healing from socio-political inequalities. She received her BFA in 1978 at Memphis State University in communications design. She continued to study at School of Visual Arts, when selected by portfolio to study with Milton Glaser. During those SVA years, she also studied advertising design at DDB+O, Young and Rubicam and Mary Wells in invitational classes at professionals home in New York City.

brown currently travels between New York City, nature sites, art residencies and communities that seek and promote healing and continuity. She believes that nature principles when amplified can impact the behavior of global cultures.

More profile about the speaker
tobacco brown | Speaker | TED.com