[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.25,0:00:11.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(loud scraping)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.20,0:00:14.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MEL CHIN: It was after a big \Nmuseum show, her first museum show,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.70,0:00:22.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I was in an elevator, going \Ndown and the voice says, or asks,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.12,0:00:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“Mel, what do you love more \Nthan anything in the world?”
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.00,0:00:28.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I said, “Well, I love to make things \Nwith my hands. I just love doing that.”
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.70,0:00:33.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(drawing on paper)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.37,0:00:35.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The other voice says, “okay, stop.”
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.00,0:00:40.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I listened to that voice.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.04,0:00:44.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By stopping I was able to \Nflow free in the world again,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.72,0:00:49.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not being held by some delusional \Nidea of what it meant to be an artist.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.92,0:00:56.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I felt free to listen to other voices, \Nother ideas that were in the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.92,0:01:00.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,NEWSCASTER: It happened on Detroit’s \NEast side, the 2100 block of Springell.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:00.72,0:01:03.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You’re watching one of the most \Nintense fires of this “Devil’s Night.”
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.92,0:01:05.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The target—an abandoned home.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.92,0:01:10.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For nearly 2 ½ hours, city firefighters struggled \Nwith low water pressure and a roaring blaze.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:11.02,0:01:20.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(car motor rumbling)
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.93,0:01:26.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,CHIN: If you look at the images \Nof burning homes in Detroit,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.14,0:01:30.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if that’s my recollection of it, I have \Nto change that image of that house.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.56,0:01:39.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What could you do with that house? You \Nhave no electricity, no water, no money.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.16,0:01:43.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But you have these places decayed \Nby fire or by abandonment.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.56,0:01:48.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As an artist, you go in to \Nsee what you can contribute.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.80,0:01:50.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That’s where the “Spawn” idea came around—
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.64,0:01:57.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It stands for… a covert activity.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.16,0:02:01.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You take the internal organs of a place,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.04,0:02:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you use it in a whole ‘nother \Nway, rather than just reconstruction.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.02,0:02:08.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(creaking floorboards)
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.94,0:02:14.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MAN: But it’s sad to see something \Nthat working and now not working.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.26,0:02:17.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,–Can we get up the stairs this way?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.32,0:02:21.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,–We’d be better off going up the stairs \Nthe front way. This has got a lot of trash.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.20,0:02:26.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,CHIN: This project is about \Ntransformation on many different levels.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.12,0:02:32.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You’re taking what is considered \Nof no value and of shame and says,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.36,0:02:35.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“No, it has value, but it has \Nanother kind of value, another life.”
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.52,0:02:38.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Through the idea of conceptual \Nart, we can do this.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.64,0:02:44.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s almost like kind of, reclaim it out \Nof the fire. It’s a whole ‘nother idea.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.12,0:02:46.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it’s a three-year project, \Nmaybe two-year project,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.32,0:02:49.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where you actually see a transformation over time.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.18,0:02:51.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,–MAN: And the last I know, \Nthe basement was flooded.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.76,0:02:56.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,–CHIN: Okay, so there is a basement to \Nthis? But we got to engineer it correctly.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.80,0:02:58.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So you can work on one half.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.96,0:03:02.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the whole house can just swing \Naside and the basement is revealed.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.32,0:03:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Take a whole house, put it on a pivot, \Nso the whole house can spin aside.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.00,0:03:11.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And underneath is all this activity \Nin the basement of raising earthworms,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.48,0:03:15.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or fishing worms, Devil’s Night \NCrawlers that you can sell to
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.40,0:03:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the large fishing population, \N-...in a way where it could really help
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.00,0:03:22.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,transform the vision of \NDetroit in a very positive way.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.96,0:03:30.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My contribution is twofold— to create \Nsomething that can be living after I’m gone,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.68,0:03:33.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or I’m not a part of it so it can \Nbe returned to the neighborhood.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.95,0:03:37.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(sweeping broken glass)
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.24,0:03:43.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And at the same time reclaim an icon \Nfrom what it has been depicted now as.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.05,0:03:45.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(sweeping broken glass)
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.73,0:03:55.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MAN: Yo, man, you think \Nit’s going to happen today?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.47,0:03:56.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MAN 2: I hope so.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.23,0:04:01.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MAN 3: Hey, guy, Gerald’s been here \Nall day. Is it going to happen soon?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.23,0:04:01.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MAN 1: Maybe.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.89,0:04:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MAN 4: What you guys doing?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.41,0:04:06.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MAN 2: Well, we’re just waiting for it to happen.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.15,0:04:08.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MAN 4: Come on, guys, you got to make it happen.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:11.11,0:04:12.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MAN 3: Here we go.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.83,0:04:20.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MAN 2: Gerald, you’re the hardest \Nworking man around. How is it today?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:20.40,0:04:27.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MAN: Man, I am one happy ass. Big fat worms to \Nsort for all those rich people’s delicate roses.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.97,0:04:29.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MAN: Fade in to black.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:32.26,0:04:36.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,CHIN: Making art, I think, is not \Nabout one track, not one method,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.88,0:04:40.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the diversity of mediums \Nand techniques is minor.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.12,0:04:43.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the diversity of ideas \Nand how they survive and the
Dialogue: 0,0:04:43.64,0:04:47.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,methods they are transmitted is very important.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:47.68,0:04:52.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(ethereal music)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:52.88,0:04:57.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“Knowmad” is a video game that you sit down,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:57.12,0:05:03.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you drive through 36 tribal \Ncarpets that were selected
Dialogue: 0,0:05:03.04,0:05:11.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,based on a mapping of tribes that exist in \NTurkey, or Anatolia, in Iran and Afghanistan.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.60,0:05:17.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tribal cultures are dying, as we \Nknow, or as we have known them,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:17.12,0:05:19.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after existing for thousands of years.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:21.76,0:05:29.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Video game culture is thriving, overtaking \NHollywood in terms of how much money it brings in.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:30.80,0:05:35.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Perhaps in a video game, it can drive \Nyou into a place, a curious place,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.88,0:05:40.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where you might ask the question, \N“Where did these patterns come from?”
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.18,0:05:42.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(throwing carpet)
Dialogue: 0,0:05:48.46,0:05:50.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(throwing second carpet)
Dialogue: 0,0:05:51.90,0:05:56.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It felt like to have the installation \Noccur with the real tribal rugs
Dialogue: 0,0:05:56.32,0:06:01.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was a way of allowing peripheral \Ninformation to float back into your head
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.08,0:06:02.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as you would turn away from the game.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:02.76,0:06:06.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There’s a real world of rugs \Nand people there as well.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:08.95,0:06:13.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That’s a prayer rug, so we want to make sure \Nit’s pointing in the right direction—east.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:14.80,0:06:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s creating a layered environment.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:20.43,0:06:22.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MAN: Originally, Mel kind of \Ngave us the concept of what to do
Dialogue: 0,0:06:22.56,0:06:25.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the whole driving game aspect and stuff.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:26.48,0:06:30.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Only he really didn’t know what all \Nit was going to entail. Half-way.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:31.18,0:06:34.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MAN: He gave us specific rugs \Nthat he wanted us to use,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:34.56,0:06:39.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and using software we developed sort \Nof these abstract obstacle courses.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:39.75,0:06:42.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(inaudible speaking)
Dialogue: 0,0:06:42.04,0:06:45.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This gave us an opportunity to \Njust sort of make these abstract,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:45.68,0:06:49.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,colorful, make-believe worlds \Nwhere there really was no rules
Dialogue: 0,0:06:49.32,0:06:52.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,other than just sort of respect the symbolism
Dialogue: 0,0:06:52.56,0:06:56.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the patterns in the carpet and \Njust kind of go crazy from there.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:56.74,0:07:00.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(upbeat arabic music)
Dialogue: 0,0:07:04.52,0:07:10.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,CHIN: I wanted to limit my influence. Rather \Nthan saying, “It has to be this, and this,”
Dialogue: 0,0:07:10.64,0:07:14.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I said, “Sort of see this, but you \Ndo not have to be held to that.”
Dialogue: 0,0:07:14.56,0:07:18.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because if we’re going to make \Nart, it should be liberating.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.49,0:07:24.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(inaudible cheerful speaking)
Dialogue: 0,0:07:24.20,0:07:27.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My thoughts in the objects I \Nmake or have made have been a
Dialogue: 0,0:07:27.56,0:07:29.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,collection of ideas that have \Ncome from others as well.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:30.24,0:07:36.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Part of the art is creating the \Nform for the new invention to occur.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:36.39,0:07:40.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(upbeat music and speaking)
Dialogue: 0,0:07:43.44,0:07:47.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Knowmad is a digital re-weave of patterns \Nthat have been around for thousands of years
Dialogue: 0,0:07:47.88,0:07:49.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we may know nothing about.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:52.44,0:07:56.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But perhaps in a video game, \Nwe might have that, again,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:56.88,0:08:03.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the desire to respect what they might \Nhave been, more than just decoration.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:03.64,0:08:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because they are about people.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:16.56,0:08:21.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“Revival field” is a simple sculpture \Nthat has this poetic premise.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:23.48,0:08:27.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In Michaelangelo’s days, he \Nwould have a block of marble,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:27.08,0:08:30.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he would have an image in his \Nmind, incredible images in his mind,\N
Dialogue: 0,0:08:30.92,0:08:37.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he would take the chisel and carve away \Nuntil we see something as remarkable as “David.”
Dialogue: 0,0:08:37.32,0:08:41.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(serene music)
Dialogue: 0,0:08:41.16,0:08:44.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In our contemporary times, \Nour materials have changed.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:44.20,0:08:47.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our materials are still \Nmarble, but they also can be…
Dialogue: 0,0:08:50.64,0:08:52.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,stuff that we’ve never dreamed of using.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:54.48,0:08:56.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In this case, toxic earth.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:58.96,0:09:03.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is the sculpturing of an \Necology from one near death,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:03.48,0:09:08.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or one that is decayed or \Ndead, into one that is living.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:15.00,0:09:18.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,NARRATOR: The diversity of life has \Nbeen deeply affected by industry.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:23.60,0:09:30.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The smelting of metals, such as zinc, cadmium, \Nlead, and copper, produces particulates,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:30.20,0:09:33.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sometimes invisible to the eye, \Nwhich contaminate the environment.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:34.20,0:09:37.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These metal particulates weaken \Nand destroy many forms of life.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:38.92,0:09:42.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Long after the smelting is complete, \Npollution remains in the soil.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:43.52,0:09:45.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There have been no viable \Nsolutions to this problem,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:46.52,0:09:51.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,until the “Revival Field'' project, \Nwhich proved an existing theory.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:51.24,0:09:56.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Special plants called hyperaccumulators \Nare introduced into the barren landscape.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:56.08,0:09:58.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The metal in the soil would kill most plants,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:58.52,0:10:03.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the hyperaccumulators thrive, pulling \Nthe metals into their stems and shoots.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:03.08,0:10:05.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When the plants mature, they are harvested.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:05.88,0:10:09.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The plants are then burned in reclaiming furnaces.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:09.20,0:10:14.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This process yields metal purer than \Nhigh-grade ore, which can be resold.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:14.24,0:10:20.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The continuation of this process cleans the soil \Nand allows life to return to the environment.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:20.44,0:10:24.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This renewed ecology is the \Ncompletion of a work of art.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:34.12,0:10:38.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,CHIN: I don’t go about trying to make \Na science/art project or anything,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:38.52,0:10:44.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or political project. I think it has \Nto be driven by some kind of poetry.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:44.36,0:10:47.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(wind blowing)
Dialogue: 0,0:10:47.40,0:10:55.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That poetry of plants having the capacity \Nto transform a system was amazing enough,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:56.13,0:10:58.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it was also driven by pragmatism.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:58.04,0:11:04.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think you have to have both. It has \Na little red cast in it, at the base.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:04.76,0:11:06.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I don’t know if that is…
Dialogue: 0,0:11:11.12,0:11:18.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In this world, there are cultures \Ndying… and some cultures thriving.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:20.92,0:11:27.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are soils that are dead that can \Nbe reborn with the help of a work of art.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:28.56,0:11:36.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are neighborhoods, they tell us, that \Nare dying… but instead they are inspiring.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:36.60,0:11:40.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We assume that we are living \Nin a culture of consumption…
Dialogue: 0,0:11:40.88,0:11:44.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that tells us what to eat and what to dear.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:50.48,0:11:57.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But it’s not all that. Art for the 21st \Ncentury is the same as it’s always been—
Dialogue: 0,0:11:58.12,0:12:00.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it is never the same.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:11.00,0:12:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MAN:
Dialogue: 0,0:12:12.00,0:12:14.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, normally I like to use artificial.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:14.52,0:12:19.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But if I’m going after that big lunker, or that \Nornery wall-eyed pike up here in the great lake,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:19.20,0:12:22.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I like to use the biggest, \Nbaddest worm of them all—
Dialogue: 0,0:12:22.32,0:12:26.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Devil’s Nightcrawlers, direct from Detroit City.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:26.32,0:12:29.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These worms will drive you crazy \Nwith all the fish you gonna catch.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:31.36,0:12:35.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,See what I mean? Devil’s \NNightcrawlers, the Motown worm.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:35.52,0:12:39.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Guaranteed to catch you mo’ fish, give \Nyou mo’ action than any worm around.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:39.84,0:12:44.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Devil’s Nightcrawlers, \Nhome-grown in East Side Detroit.