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Social Sofas – bringing communities together | Karin Bruers | TEDxMaastricht


[Music]
they said to me a lot of young people
who are younger than 20 you should go to
bed okay I’m going now I’m what about
social sofa social so for I designed the
source of sulfur and what is the source
of sofa its empathy it’s seeing each
other it’s speaking with each other it’s
being there for each other it means not
being lonely anymore it means living
long forever and healthy and all these
kind of things that social sofa isn’t
that nice
it’s just one sofa and it’s just a sofa
itself about thousand six hundred
kilograms I said to ten students trying
to throw it in a channel and then I give
you all a basket of beer you say baskets
well they had to pay their own basket
because they didn’t move it for one
centimeter and it has about 30 times and
little mosaic tiles all around and you
have to put one by one by one by one by
one and it’s a glass and if that’s
graffiti yeah it’s okay because you
swipe it off like that and if you really
really want to be an oyster scum scum
person yeah imagine you’re scum and you
really want to break the sofa and you
take a hammer and you hit the sofa you
hit just one tile nothing more
yeah and there thirty thousand tiles so
you have to be really really angry to
break down this sofa and if you are dead
angry I give you a second sofa because
then you need it Daniel is don’t be dead
angry it’s it’s it’s it’s so simple it’s
so easy you know the whole set of
effects you know that quickly then what
do you know you understand what you
understand you understand me some people
are looking at me like that
you ask if you don’t understand to stop
me and you ask so Oh Sato effect there’s
a little village name Pro Seto in
Pennsylvania America and they just died
cause of a natural course isn’t that
nice oh and I’m old and now I die like
that nothing else and they smoked a lot
they drink beer and wine they have the
most horrible vinegar oil things like
that that makes you fat and cholesterol
and attacks of the heart everything like
this I had was a heart attack I don’t
know if it’s my is now Vidic I was young
and well well it’s like well I have 18
minutes 15 whatever I just take my time
they cut it out though I was as a child
I was very happy there was this little
horse in me I’m happy I couldn’t breathe
I was very young five six seven 10 12 15
years I was happy and my cardiologist he
said no these are heart rhythm
disturbances things you were never happy
he said to me yeah okay well sad no okay
then so and it’s very funny because the
social self it brings people together
that’s what I want it’s not bringing
people together it’s your obligation to
look for each other you have to you
cannot just consume your life with a
sticky and yourself are at home no you
cannot you have to go out you have to
share your life you have to share your
talents you have to share your joy and
your sadness and your pain you have to
because sometimes in your neighborhood
you’re a teacher and sometimes your
mother you’re the father are you are you
about the victim yeah you have to
participate and in a democracy is really
obligated if not you go and live in a
dictatorial okay but if you live in a
democracy you have duties so in a potato
they were really really really healthy
and not because of what they ate etc
what happens in that little village
there was a bit cohesion look it’s
really 30 thousand cases like that
and it’s it’s they were healthy because
they saw each other they spoke with each
other they had a big Club life there
were three generations in the house you
know you live with your grandmother you
know that’s normal you if somebody had
bit success he didn’t come there with
his BMW keys and his trophy wives no no
no no no you held the one oh it’s just
it goes like imbalance to keep the whole
community in balance you know it got
it’s about together but together I
always find it it’s funny work together
to get her so I prefer to say community
okay let’s forget about together it’s
horrible but they’re they live together
they really live together and if you
live together you’re healthy it doesn’t
matter what you smoke or what you do
then you’re healthy it’s just nice I
can’t keep on going then no no I mean if
we sit and we share and it’s so strange
because I’m I think about MTT etc I’m
not a social but I’m not so sure I’m a
bit don’t touch me so it’s very very
funny and strange that I designed this
sofa and the sofa is now in Holland
hundreds thousands it’s it’s every
neighbourhood is making their own sofa
they design it so every sofa is unique
every surface unique is their sofa they
do it together
one sofa it’s about a hundred hours but
it’s just one color I don’t let them I
said you make them nicer one
yeah because but and sometimes it takes
three 400 hours or 500 if you have
thousand mosquitoes oh she want you
David takes a long time but every sulfur
has his own story and I’m going to tell
you one story it’s it’s it’s it’s what
the sofa can do how you can change
energy that was last a year ago in
honing in the north of Holland there was
shoe shorts one egg sure there’s a young
boy 20 years old it was his birthday
yeah they had drains etc and he went
home they went home and he went home and
he fell in a channel in the car and he
died they were looking for 10 days then
horrible days but everybody was looking
everybody everywhere and then they found
him and at a certain place and everybody
avoided that place is bad energy demonic
nobody wanted to go there anymore
so then I met the father and we made a
sofa and the so far we made holes and he
put old things from shorten and we
closed it again a nice text on it and
shoot and we put the sofa on the place
where we found him and now we change the
energy everybody’s proud everybody said
this is shoot here yeah we said on shoes
we think and we speak and we do and his
Alan he has about and she passes the
channel she said normally I never go
there anymore and now I take everybody
there just with the sofa just to see
just to speak just carrying together our
pain I was in Argentina this summer and
I had some lunches with the month of
Plaza de Mayo
yeah these mothers yeah and now 80 90
years old and they told me the story
imagine imagine that you you survived
beer canal you survived it and then you
got to Argentina to feel safe and then
your only child disappears
yeah or another mother who two children
disappeared 20 years old so I said to
this multiple how do you carry that how
do you carry is so much pain
and then they told me in the house we
got really crazy my husband and I
because we didn’t know where the
children well we couldn’t speak when
there was nothing and then the mother
said I went through the Plaza de Mayo
because every week they walk there with
the napkins of the children the napkins
with the white and then it still hurts
but they carry my pain with me
we carry you together and it’s substance
and you need this you need to be a part
of a community you have to go in there
they won’t there forty years and I say
aren’t you angry don’t you want to hit
no no we don’t want that we want the
bones from our children we want to bury
them
they weren’t angry they we only keep on
walking they cannot stand still because
then it’s a demonstration but together
we are together you have to do don’t
close yourself look for the intimacy the
intimacy and not only in bed not only
the sex Oh something about sex okay who
has sake now it’s you know that’s a
stinger that’s this thing in our society
I have two daughters one dot of mine she
sent me a message last week I said mom
the taxi driver is watching all dirty
pictures what do i do you stopped you
pay him you don’t give him a tip yeah
and when you are out you hit him on the
back I close the door and she did
she’s a girl of mine but I remember
she’s my girl I don’t doubt that but my
other daughter – a few years ago she
went to a party 18 years yeah yeah but
then she came home early because there
was a girl taking off her clothes and
everybody was there is slapping and and
oh my god I thought I forgot in the
education to say that she’s a sex object
your sex objects I forgot to tell you
it’s the only job where you can make
really good money baby yeah
no but it’s horrible for me sex is a
co-product is its sexes that comes no
it’s a fridge how was it called fridge
benefits yeah second there are wasteful
rather Gemma it is when you are in love
then it’s it’s a co-product from love
sex sex is not on itself
I feel the society with society a bit
reliable I don’t trust imagine all these
men what they saw a porno things like
this oh but and I always think why don’t
you make no notes yeah that you know
whatever we cut this out yeah I mean if
I I feel I don’t feel comfortable in
this society so if I sit on the sofa I
can say for example to my neighborhood I
don’t like it such man who’s always
watching that and I said what I speak to
him do you watch porn if we could speak
to each other and call back there was
this man he said to me are you that
woman from the sofas I said yes I am he
said well there’s a lot of noise by the
sofa I was in front of me and I said
well I’m not going to take that self
away baby I’m going to put ten more yeah
don’t let the drum p1 decide how your
neighborhoods you divide the things and
now we have a soul a sofa
it’s with the Sun panel and it warms and
you can charge your cell phone and your
computer so you
stay a long time us in the winter and
then somebody says to me but but all the
homeless are going to be there on that
sofa now we don’t go at them away I said
yeah that was the idea I do this for the
homeless it’s really nice and warm they
belong to our community yeah they belong
here with us everybody I have to tell I
have to tell much more Huck I we also do
in the studio if my own studio with 10
people 15 people we might also the
mosaic most of them is outside and in
that utter yeah that studio is really
really nice the people who work with me
one is really depressive well if you’re
dead depressive you have to stay at home
yeah don’t then you come later
I had one prostitute she stopped she had
to quit prostituting things but then it
was a break and I said where is she yeah
she’s out signs on the parking place
somewhere does so I go to the parking
place I see that in the car I didn’t
only her had came up and down so I
opened the door I said now you come out
yeah do in your mouth okay off you go
and you can do it yourself you’ve got
hands come on
and there are cars down so I’m a bitch
there are some things you just don’t do
you don’t want it you cannot you just
don’t do it it’s so difficult you don’t
do that you don’t want that another
thing is we have a sister sisterhood
sisterhood is very important we have to
stick together
we have to work together there was a
woman from Iraq she came to work with me
and I have the time is running her and I
got nervous now and she’s from Iraq and
she came to work with me because the
governance she had to her husband was
unemployed etc etc and she stopped most
akibo it was an artist was being artist
so I gave her a big salary you deserve
the salary then after few months she was
really dead good I said I’m going to
make you head of the department really
you’re so good and then one day she came
in she was full with blood and she was
she grew in status you said like that
she got a bigger position than her
husband so she had to go back to here
Huck to save her and I gave her ten
thousand euro to start our studio
because she was so good and everybody
around me said I don’t know why you
should do that you will never get that
money back it’s so difficult to they
always this encourage you to do goods we
have a friendly Society but in less than
one year I got all the money back and
then she called me and she said there’s
a big wall if I can do it at 20 meters
by 3 meters then I’m in so I went with
all these people with the prostitutes
with the drums with everybody we went to
the rock and we made this sisterhood and
she has a big job and we feel great
because we could help her then muhib he
worked with me he was from Afghanistan
and he he had two refugee he then they
stay seven years doing nothing and then
he had to come and work with me but it
was a diplomat and it was really nice
now last year he went back to
Afghanistan because the climate
political climate was better and what
happens in Afghanistan want to
rehabilitate renovate the knowledge of
mosaic and they want to do a big a woman
empowerment project and and he said
there’s only one woman who can do this
so two days ago I signed
so I sign and then they give them at
that and I get the other one I signed
with the government in Afghanistan to do
an amazing big mostly project most case
walls Gardens everything parks but with
woman empowerment woman are we are going
to put these women and women in their
power
I will tell ya
and wait I have one minute stopped up
and was so funny because I thought oh
now I go to Afghanistan they will rape
me and hit me and they put me on the
book I was really I do tough you know
like this but they were great those men
they were so respectful I had an amazing
dinner and they gave me food and food as
a Latino they explode they say if you
explode we don’t care about no bombilla
they really did as humor and so this
Afghanistan in Andorra we are going to
open a studio because there are many
unemployed young people and we’re all
going to give work because one so far to
300
yeah in Italy I have been about five
sofas and aldo ha is is going to be the
first big studio we are going to try
because they buy the sofas they put the
most and they can sell it for more and
so they make their own money in south
africa we’re going to Philippi village
is islam we’re going to put a studio
over there and the young people there
you know the old people we don’t forget
that we don’t forgive right I can
imagine but the young people say all
right we forgive we don’t forget and now
the surface going to be an icon for
death well so there are through good and
bad that’s what we are we are married
with each other through Goethe but I
will always always take care of you
always I will never do something to harm
you never never never
and if you do that to me imagine what
you have around you imagine what we can
be how healthy we can be yeah so it’s
social so for what’s about social so for
social so far is if you need me be next
to you on your side outstanding we fight
yeah yeah oh I stand here behind you
though I still you go always necessary I
stand in front I don’t think so you said
that I don’t think so yeah duh and if
it’s necessary
you ain’t happy because you’re my
brother you’re my sister
you
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