How we'll resurrect the gastric brooding frog, the Tasmanian tiger
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0:07 - 0:09Now...
-
0:09 - 0:11let's go back in time.
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0:13 - 0:17It's 1974.
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0:18 - 0:21There is the gallery somewhere...
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0:22 - 0:24in the world,
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0:25 - 0:28and there is a young girl, aged 23,
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0:28 - 0:31standing in the middle of the space.
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0:33 - 0:36In the front of her is a table.
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0:37 - 0:42On the table there are 76 objects
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0:43 - 0:45for pleasure and for the pain.
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0:47 - 0:49Some of the objects are
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0:49 - 0:55a glass of water, a coat, a shoe, a rose.
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0:55 - 1:01But also the knife,
the razor blade, the hammer... -
1:02 - 1:04and the pistol with one bullet.
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1:06 - 1:09There are instructions which say,
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1:09 - 1:11"I'm an object.
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1:11 - 1:14You can use everything on the table on me.
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1:14 - 1:18I'm taking all responsibility --
even killing me. -
1:19 - 1:22And the time is six hours."
-
1:24 - 1:27The beginning of this
performance was easy. -
1:28 - 1:32People would give me
the glass of water to drink, -
1:32 - 1:34they'd give me the rose.
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1:34 - 1:37But after very soon,
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1:37 - 1:40there was a man who took the scissors
and cut my clothes, -
1:40 - 1:44and then they took the thorns of the rose
and stuck them in my stomach. -
1:45 - 1:49Somebody took the razor blade
and cut my neck and drank the blood. -
1:50 - 1:52And I still have the scar.
-
1:53 - 1:55The women would tell the men what to do.
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1:56 - 2:01And the men didn't rape me
because it was just a normal opening, -
2:01 - 2:03and it was all public,
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2:03 - 2:05and they were with their wives.
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2:05 - 2:07They carried me around
and put me on the table, -
2:07 - 2:09and put the knife between my legs.
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2:09 - 2:13And somebody took the pistol and bullet
and put it against my temple. -
2:14 - 2:18And another person took the pistol
and they started a fight. -
2:19 - 2:22And after six hours were finished,
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2:22 - 2:24I...
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2:24 - 2:27started walking towards the public.
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2:27 - 2:29I was a mess.
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2:29 - 2:33I was half-naked, I was full of blood
and tears were running down my face. -
2:34 - 2:37And everybody escaped, they just ran away.
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2:37 - 2:42They could not confront myself,
with myself as a normal human being. -
2:43 - 2:44And then --
-
2:45 - 2:47what happened
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2:47 - 2:52is I went to the hotel,
it was at two in the morning. -
2:53 - 2:55And...
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2:56 - 2:58I looked at myself in the mirror,
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2:59 - 3:02and I had a piece of gray hair.
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3:04 - 3:05Alright --
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3:06 - 3:08please take off your blindfolds.
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3:11 - 3:13Welcome to the performance world.
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3:14 - 3:17First of all, let's explain
what is the performance. -
3:18 - 3:20So many artists,
so many different explanations, -
3:20 - 3:23but my explanation
for performance is very simple. -
3:24 - 3:28Performance is a mental
and physical construction -
3:28 - 3:31that the performer makes
in a specific time -
3:31 - 3:34in a space in front of an audience,
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3:34 - 3:37and then energy dialogue happens.
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3:37 - 3:41The audience and the performer
make the piece together. -
3:42 - 3:45And the difference between
performance and theater is huge. -
3:46 - 3:50In the theater, the knife is not a knife
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3:50 - 3:52and the blood is just ketchup.
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3:52 - 3:57In the performance,
the blood is the material, -
3:57 - 4:00and the razor blade or knife is the tool.
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4:00 - 4:04It's all about being there
in the real time, -
4:04 - 4:06and you can't rehearse performance,
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4:06 - 4:10because you can't do many
of these types of things twice -- ever. -
4:11 - 4:14Which is very important,
the performance is -- -
4:14 - 4:18you know, all human beings
are always afraid of very simple things. -
4:18 - 4:22We're afraid of suffering,
we're afraid of pain, -
4:22 - 4:24we're afraid of mortality.
-
4:24 - 4:25So what I'm doing --
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4:26 - 4:30I'm staging these kinds of fears
in front of the audience. -
4:30 - 4:32I'm using your energy,
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4:32 - 4:38and with this energy I can go
and push my body as far as I can. -
4:38 - 4:41And then I liberate myself
from these fears. -
4:41 - 4:43And I'm your mirror.
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4:43 - 4:46If I can do this for myself,
you can do it for you. -
4:47 - 4:49After Belgrade, where I was born,
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4:49 - 4:51I went to Amsterdam.
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4:51 - 4:54And you know, I've been doing performances
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4:54 - 4:56since the last 40 years.
-
4:56 - 4:58And here I met Ulay,
-
4:58 - 5:01and he was the person
I actually fell in love with. -
5:01 - 5:04And we made, for 12 years,
performances together. -
5:05 - 5:08You know the knife
and the pistols and the bullets, -
5:08 - 5:11I exchange into love and trust.
-
5:11 - 5:14So to do this kind work
you have to trust the person completely -
5:14 - 5:17because this arrow
is pointing to my heart. -
5:17 - 5:22So, heart beating and adrenaline
is rushing and so on, -
5:22 - 5:26is about trust, is about total trust
to another human being. -
5:27 - 5:30Our relationship was 12 years,
-
5:30 - 5:33and we worked on so many subjects,
both male and female energy. -
5:33 - 5:38And as every relationship
comes to an end, ours went too. -
5:38 - 5:41We didn't make phone calls
like normal human beings do -
5:41 - 5:43and say, you know, "This is over."
-
5:43 - 5:46We walked the Great Wall
of China to say goodbye. -
5:47 - 5:51I started at the Yellow Sea,
and he started from the Gobi Desert. -
5:51 - 5:55We walked, each of us, three months,
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5:55 - 5:56two and a half thousand kilometers.
-
5:57 - 5:59It was the mountains, it was difficult.
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5:59 - 6:01It was climbing, it was ruins.
-
6:01 - 6:04It was, you know, going through
the 12 Chinese provinces, -
6:04 - 6:08this was before China was open in '87.
-
6:08 - 6:12And we succeeded to meet in the middle
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6:12 - 6:13to say goodbye.
-
6:14 - 6:16And then our relationship stopped.
-
6:17 - 6:21And now, it completely changed
how I see the public. -
6:21 - 6:24And one very important piece
I made in those days -
6:24 - 6:26was "Balkan Baroque."
-
6:26 - 6:29And this was the time of the Balkan Wars,
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6:29 - 6:33and I wanted to create
some very strong, charismatic image, -
6:33 - 6:36something that could serve
for any war at any time, -
6:36 - 6:40because Balkan Wars are now finished,
but there's always some war somewhere. -
6:40 - 6:42So here I am washing
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6:42 - 6:46two and a half thousand
dead, big, bloody cow bones. -
6:46 - 6:49You can't wash the blood,
you never can wash shame off the wars. -
6:49 - 6:54So I'm washing this six hours, six days,
and wars are coming off these bones, -
6:54 - 6:57and becoming possible --
an unbearable smell. -
6:58 - 7:00But then something stays in the memory.
-
7:01 - 7:03I want to show you the one
who really changed my life, -
7:03 - 7:07and this was the performance in MoMa
which just recently I made. -
7:07 - 7:11This performance,
when I said to the curator, -
7:11 - 7:13"I'm just going to sit at the chair,
-
7:13 - 7:15and there will be
an empty chair at the front, -
7:15 - 7:19and anybody from the public
can come and sit as long as they want." -
7:19 - 7:20The curator said to me,
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7:20 - 7:23"That's ridiculous, you know,
this is New York, -
7:23 - 7:24this chair will be empty,
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7:24 - 7:26nobody has time to sit in front of you."
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7:26 - 7:27(Laughter)
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7:27 - 7:29But I sit for three months.
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7:29 - 7:31And I sit everyday, eight hours --
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7:31 - 7:32the opening of the museum --
-
7:32 - 7:35and 10 hours on Friday
when the museum is open 10 hours, -
7:35 - 7:37and I never move.
-
7:37 - 7:39And I removed the table
and I'm still sitting, -
7:39 - 7:42and this changed everything.
-
7:42 - 7:44This performance,
maybe 10 or 15 years ago -- -
7:44 - 7:46nothing would have happened.
-
7:46 - 7:51But the need of people to actually
experience something different, -
7:51 - 7:53the public was not anymore the group --
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7:53 - 7:55relation was one to one.
-
7:55 - 7:59I was watching these people,
they would come and sit in front of me, -
7:59 - 8:02but they would have to wait
for hours and hours and hours -
8:02 - 8:03to get to this position,
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8:03 - 8:04and finally, they sit.
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8:04 - 8:06And what happened?
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8:06 - 8:09They are observed by the other people,
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8:09 - 8:11they're photographed,
they're filmed by the camera, -
8:11 - 8:13they're observed by me
-
8:13 - 8:16and they have nowhere to escape
except in themselves. -
8:16 - 8:18And that makes a difference.
-
8:18 - 8:20There was so much pain and loneliness,
-
8:20 - 8:24there's so much incredible things
when you look in somebody else's eyes, -
8:24 - 8:27because in the gaze
with that total stranger, -
8:27 - 8:30that you never even say one word --
everything happened. -
8:30 - 8:35And I understood when I stood up
from that chair after three months, -
8:35 - 8:37I am not the same anymore.
-
8:37 - 8:40And I understood
that I have a very strong mission, -
8:40 - 8:43that I have to communicate this experience
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8:43 - 8:44to everybody.
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8:44 - 8:47And this is how, for me, was born the idea
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8:47 - 8:51to have an institute
of immaterial performing arts. -
8:51 - 8:54Because thinking about immateriality,
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8:54 - 8:56performance is time-based art.
-
8:56 - 8:57It's not like a painting.
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8:57 - 9:00You have the painting on the wall,
the next day it's there. -
9:00 - 9:05Performance, if you are missing it,
you only have the memory, -
9:05 - 9:07or the story of somebody else telling you,
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9:07 - 9:09but you actually missed the whole thing.
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9:09 - 9:10So you have to be there.
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9:10 - 9:13And in my point,
if you talk about immaterial art, -
9:13 - 9:16music is the highest --
absolutely highest art of all, -
9:16 - 9:18because it's the most immaterial.
-
9:18 - 9:21And then after this is performance,
and then everything else. -
9:21 - 9:23That's my subjective way.
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9:23 - 9:27This institute is going to happen
in Hudson, upstate New York, -
9:27 - 9:30and we are trying to build
with Rem Koolhaas, an idea. -
9:30 - 9:31And it's very simple.
-
9:31 - 9:36If you want to get experience,
you have to give me your time. -
9:36 - 9:39You have to sign the contract
before you enter the building, -
9:39 - 9:42that you will spend there
a full six hours, -
9:42 - 9:45you have to give me your word of honor.
-
9:45 - 9:46It's something so old-fashioned,
-
9:47 - 9:50but if you don't respect your own
word of honor and you leave before -- -
9:50 - 9:51that's not my problem.
-
9:51 - 9:54But it's the six hours, the experience.
-
9:54 - 9:57And then after you finish,
you get a certificate of accomplishment, -
9:57 - 9:59so get home and frame it if you want.
-
9:59 - 10:00(Laughter)
-
10:00 - 10:01This is orientation hall.
-
10:01 - 10:06The public comes in, and the first thing
you have to do is dress in lab coats. -
10:06 - 10:07It's this importance
-
10:07 - 10:11of stepping from being
just a viewer into experimenter. -
10:11 - 10:14And then you go to the lockers
-
10:14 - 10:17and you put your watch,
your iPhone, your iPod, your computer -
10:17 - 10:19and everything digital, electronic.
-
10:19 - 10:24And you are getting free time
for yourself for the first time. -
10:24 - 10:27Because there is nothing
wrong with technology, -
10:27 - 10:29our approach to technology is wrong.
-
10:29 - 10:32We are losing the time
we have for ourselves. -
10:32 - 10:35This is an institute
to actually give you back this time. -
10:36 - 10:37So what you do here,
-
10:37 - 10:40first you start slow walking,
you start slowing down. -
10:40 - 10:42You're going back to simplicity.
-
10:42 - 10:45After slowing walking, you're going
to learn how to drink water -- -
10:46 - 10:49very simple, drinking water
for maybe half an hour. -
10:50 - 10:52After this, you're going to
the Magnet Chamber, -
10:52 - 10:56where you're going to create
some magnet streams on your body. -
10:56 - 10:58Then after this,
you go to Crystal Chamber. -
10:58 - 11:01After Crystal Chamber,
you go to Eye-Gazing Chamber, -
11:01 - 11:05after Eye-Gazing Chamber, you go to
a chamber where you are lying down. -
11:05 - 11:08So it's the three basic positions
of the human body, -
11:08 - 11:09sitting, standing and lying.
-
11:09 - 11:11And slow walking.
-
11:11 - 11:12And there is a sound chamber.
-
11:13 - 11:15And then after you've seen all of this,
-
11:15 - 11:17and prepared yourself
mentally and physically, -
11:17 - 11:20then you are ready to see
something with a long duration, -
11:20 - 11:22like in immaterial art.
-
11:22 - 11:26It can be music, it can be opera,
it can be theater piece, -
11:26 - 11:29it can be film, it can be video dance.
-
11:29 - 11:33You go to the long duration chairs
because now you are comfortable. -
11:33 - 11:34In the long duration chairs,
-
11:34 - 11:38you're transported to the big place
where you're going to see the work. -
11:38 - 11:39And if you fall asleep,
-
11:39 - 11:42which is very possible
because it's been a long day, -
11:42 - 11:44you're going to be
transported to the parking lot. -
11:44 - 11:46(Laughter)
-
11:46 - 11:49And you know, sleeping is very important.
-
11:49 - 11:51In sleeping, you're still receiving art.
-
11:51 - 11:55So in the parking lot you stay
for a certain amount of time, -
11:55 - 11:58and then after this
you just, you know, go back, -
11:58 - 12:01you see more of the things you like to see
-
12:01 - 12:03or go home with your certificate.
-
12:03 - 12:07So this institute right now is virtual.
-
12:07 - 12:10Right now, I am just
making my institute in Brazil, -
12:10 - 12:11then it's going to be in Australia,
-
12:11 - 12:14then it's coming here,
to Canada and everywhere. -
12:14 - 12:18And this is to experience
a kind of simple method, -
12:18 - 12:21how you go back to simplicity
in your own life. -
12:21 - 12:23Counting rice will be another thing.
-
12:24 - 12:26(Laughter)
-
12:26 - 12:28You know, if you count rice
you can make life, too. -
12:28 - 12:30How to count rice for six hours?
-
12:30 - 12:32It's incredibly important.
-
12:32 - 12:36You know, you go through this whole range
of being bored, being angry, -
12:36 - 12:41being completely frustrated, not finishing
the amount of rice you're counting. -
12:41 - 12:44And then this unbelievable
amount of peace you get -
12:44 - 12:46when satisfying work is finished --
-
12:46 - 12:48or counting sand in the desert.
-
12:49 - 12:52Or having the sound-isolated situation --
-
12:52 - 12:55that you have headphones,
that you don't hear anything, -
12:55 - 12:57and you're just there
together without sound, -
12:57 - 13:02with the people experiencing silence,
just the simple silence. -
13:02 - 13:07We are always doing things
we like in our life. -
13:07 - 13:09And this is why you're not changing.
-
13:09 - 13:10You do things in life --
-
13:10 - 13:14it's just nothing happens
if you always do things the same way. -
13:14 - 13:19But my method is to do things
I'm afraid of, the things I fear, -
13:19 - 13:21the things I don't know,
-
13:21 - 13:24to go to territory
that nobody's ever been. -
13:24 - 13:27And then also to include the failure.
-
13:27 - 13:28I think failure is important
-
13:28 - 13:32because if you go,
if you experiment, you can fail. -
13:32 - 13:35If you don't go into that area
and you don't fail, -
13:35 - 13:38you are actually repeating yourself
over and over again. -
13:38 - 13:42And I think that human beings
right now need a change, -
13:42 - 13:46and the only change to be made
is a personal level change. -
13:46 - 13:49You have to make the change on yourself.
-
13:49 - 13:51Because the only way
to change consciousness, -
13:51 - 13:53and to change the world around us,
-
13:53 - 13:55is to start with yourself.
-
13:55 - 13:58It's so easy to criticize
how it's different, -
13:58 - 14:00the things in the world
and they're not right, -
14:00 - 14:03and the governments are corrupted
and there's hunger in the world -
14:03 - 14:07and there's wars -- the killing.
-
14:07 - 14:09But what we do on the personal level --
-
14:09 - 14:12what is our contribution
to this whole thing? -
14:13 - 14:16Can you turn to your neighbor,
the one you don't know, -
14:16 - 14:20and look at them for two full minutes
in their eyes, right now? -
14:22 - 14:26(Chatter)
-
14:26 - 14:30I'm asking two minutes
of your time, that's so little. -
14:30 - 14:36Breathe slowly, don't try to blink,
don't be self-conscious. -
14:36 - 14:37Be relaxed.
-
14:37 - 14:43And just look a complete
stranger in his eyes. -
14:44 - 14:45(Silence)
-
15:23 - 15:25Thank you for trusting me.
-
15:26 - 15:31(Applause)
-
15:33 - 15:35Chris Anderson: Thank you.
-
15:36 - 15:38Thank you so much.
- Title:
- How we'll resurrect the gastric brooding frog, the Tasmanian tiger
- Speaker:
- Michael Archer
- Description:
-
The gastric brooding frog lays its eggs just like any other frog -- then swallows them whole to incubate. That is, it did until it went extinct 30 years ago. Paleontologist Michael Archer makes a case to bring back the gastric brooding frog and the thylacine, commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger. (Filmed at TEDxDeExtinction.)
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 17:36
Krystian Aparta commented on English subtitles for How we'll resurrect the gastric brooding frog, the Tasmanian tiger | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for How we'll resurrect the gastric brooding frog, the Tasmanian tiger | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for How we'll resurrect the gastric brooding frog, the Tasmanian tiger | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for How we'll resurrect the gastric brooding frog, the Tasmanian tiger | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for How we'll resurrect the gastric brooding frog, the Tasmanian tiger | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for How we'll resurrect the gastric brooding frog, the Tasmanian tiger | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for How we'll resurrect the gastric brooding frog, the Tasmanian tiger | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for How we'll resurrect the gastric brooding frog, the Tasmanian tiger |
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was updated on 12/14/2015.