Arturo Vega - Entrevista - Part 4

Second hand meanings
Lesson 167. Vocabulary
Arturo Vega moved from Mexico to the U.S. decades ago, so he's very well versed in all sorts of Americana. In fact, in our Spanish-language interview, he's occasionally searching for the right Spanish word, when the English one is at the tip of his tongue. For example, when Vega described a beloved belt buckle featuring an eagle that looked like it was made by "drunk Vikings," he asks his interviewer for help finding the right word. Listen in:
Yo tenía un cinturón... que lo compré en una tienda del ejército, de esas de... cómo se dice, de "surplus", de... de desperdicios, de... I had a belt... that I bought at an army store, one of those... how do you say, of "surplus," of, of leftovers, of... -De segunda.-Second-hand. -De segunda, con un águila muy grande. Era de una banda militar. -Second-hand, with a very big eagle. It was from a military band.
In the U.S., we all know about Army-Navy surplus stores, where you can find fatigues, drab-olive jackets and eagle-blazoned belts. But selling military surplus to the public for discount prices is not a common practice in many other countries, hence the struggle for words here. Vega says "surplus" in English, which is usually translated as "excedente" in Spanish. But Vega follows up with "desperdicios" which translates as "waste," "scraps" or "leftovers" -- as in, "desperdicios sólidos" ("solid wastes"). Hearing his search for words, our interviewer jumps in with "De segunda" -- which is short for "de segunda mano" ("second hand").

1.
¿Por qué un águila?
Why an eagle?
2.
Yo creo que la conexión... Bueno, yo creo que... llegué a... a este diseño
I believe that the connection... Well, I believe that... I came to... to this design
3.
por... por varias... o varias rutas... varias... varios motivos, ¿verdad? me llevaron a...
via... via several... or via several routes... several... several reasons, right? led me to...
4.
a diseñar esto. Ah.. Una de ellas es, por supuesto, tal vez la influencia pop
to design this. Uh.. One of them is, of course, maybe the pop influence
5.
de tomar una imagen ya existente, lo que le dicen "ready made," ¿verdad? Una imagen que ya existe
of taking an existing image, what they call "ready made," right? An image that already exists
6.
y que tú la incorporas, le... para cambiarla o adaptarla, y darle otro significado.
and which you take, you... to change it or adapt it, and give it another meaning.
7.
Pero el águila realmente ya existía dentro de mi iconografía, de mi mundo,
But actually the eagle already existed within my iconography, my world,
8.
por ejemplo como esta pintura.
for example like this painting.
9.
Esta pintura tiene una moneda con un águila, y esta es anterior a Los Ramones.
This painting has a coin with an eagle, and this one is prior to The Ramones.
10.
Estas fotos, esta foto, esta pintura es un...
These photos, this photo, this painting is a...
11.
Esta impresión, no es pintura, no está hecha a mano, es silkscreen.
This printing, it's not a painting, it's not handmade, it's silkscreen.
12.
Es del setenta y dos, es de mil novecientos setenta y dos.
It's from seventy-two, from nineteen seventy-two.
13.
Y la moneda es... el dólar de Eisenhower, se llama.
And the coin is... an Eisenhower dollar, it's called.
14.
Es de mil novecientos setenta y dos.
It's from nineteen seventy-two.
15.
Yo ya había usado el águila como un símbolo.
I'd already used the eagle as a symbol.
16.
Tal vez ha de haber sido...
Maybe it must have been...
17.
un intento de mi parte por...
an attempt on my part to...
18.
conceptualizar... a... la sociedad norteamericana, ¿verdad?
conceptualize... the... American society, right?
19.
Tal vez... o para, no sé si será para...
Maybe... or to, I don't know if it may be to...
20.
identificarme o para analizarla, para encontrar mi lugar dentro de...
identify myself or to analyze it, to find my place inside...
21.
Pero... o sea como símbolo...
But... I mean as a symbol...
22.
me parecía, me imagino que, pues, por eso también el águila es escogida como símbolo para,
it seemed to me, I imagine that, well, that's why the eagle is chosen as a symbol for,
23.
no nada más Estados Unidos, para muchos otros países, como un animal, ah...
not only The United States, for many other countries, like an animal, uh...
24.
noble y de mucha altura, ¿verdad?
noble and of great height, right?
25.
Y... mucho... muy... típico.
And... much... very... typical.
26.
Es que yo veía a Los Ramones como algo quintaesencialmente norteamericano.
It´s that I regarded The Ramones as something quintessentially American.
27.
Yo los veía con las cualidades de Los Ramones, las cualidades ideológicas de hacer algo,
I saw them with the qualities of The Ramones, the ideological qualities to do something,
28.
de... de tocar el tipo de música que ellos tocaban y cómo la tocaban,
to... to play the type of music that they played and how they played it,
29.
como an... como algo mucho- muy típico
like a... like something much- very typical
30.
norteamericano. Algo muy típico de la juventud.
American. Something very typical of youth.
31.
Y... Pero te digo, yo ya tenía otras, otras razones, otros antecedentes.
And... But I tell you, I already had other, other reasons, other backgrounds.

antecedente
adjective
1. preceding, previous
masculine noun
2. precedent (precedente)
3. antecedent (grammar & Mat)
antecedentes plural masculine noun
1. background (de asunto)
poner a alguien en antecedentes de -> to fill somebody in on (informar)
antecedentes penales o policiales -> criminal record

32.
No nada más el... estas pinturas.
Not just this... these paintings.
33.
Yo tenía un cinturón...
I had a belt...
34.
que lo compré en una tienda del ejército, de esas de...
that I bought at an army store, one of those...
35.
cómo se dice, de "surplus", de, de desperdicios, de...
how do you say, of surplus, of, of leftovers, of...
36.
-De segunda.
-Second-hand.
37.
De segunda, con un águila muy grande. Era de una banda militar.
Second-hand, with a very big eagle. It was from a military band.
38.
Creo que era banda de la marina y tiene un águila de plomo
I believe it was a navy band and it has a lead eagle,
39.
mucho muy mal hecha, muy mal hecha.
very badly done, very badly done.
40.
Yo bromeaba que parecía que la habían hecho vikingos borrachos,
I used to joke that it seemed to have been made by drunk Vikings,
41.
porque estaba muy mal hecha el águila, y esa águila...
because the eagle was very badly done, and that eagle...
42.
Yo tomaba muchas fotos en las maquinitas de veinticinco centavos,
I used to take many pictures in the twenty-five-cent booths,
43.
me hacía muchos autoretratos.
I would take many self-portraits.
44.
Y... una de esas fotos, una de esas series, terminó siendo la contraportada del primer disco,
And... one of those photos, one from those series, ended up as the back cover of the first record,
45.
antes de este logo. Este logo yo lo diseñé para el segundo disco.
before this logo. I designed this logo for the second record.
46.
Pero desde el principio, desde el primer disco usaba yo esta águila.
But from the beginning, since the first record I used this eagle.
47.
Y antes de eso, esto.
And before that, this.
48.
Entonces era un elemento que a mí me llamaba la atención.
So it was an element that had caught my attention.
49.
Y que... pues yo le di de... mucho uso.
And that... well I gave it of... a lot of use.
50.
Conscientemente yo lo quise incorporar a la imagen de Los Ramones porque desde el principio...
I deliberately wanted to add it to the image of The Ramones because from the beginning...
51.
Empezar, la prensa... empezó a identificar a Los Ramones
To start, the press... started to identify The Ramones
52.
como caracteres de caricaturas.
as cartoon characters.
53.
No ayudaba que Punk Magazine, ¿verdad? Los
It didn't help that Punk Magazine, right? The
54.
primeros, los pioneros en el mundo de las imágenes punk
first, the pioneers in the world of punk images
55.
hicieron muchas caricaturas de Los Ramones.
created many cartoons of The Ramones.
56.
Porque ese era el estilo del "magazine". Todo se presentaba por medio de ilustraciones de caricaturas.
Because that was the magazine´s [Spanish word for magazine is "revista"] style. Everything was shown through caricature illustrations.
57.
Y también la imagen tan rara y original. Mucha gente los veía chistosos, grotescos.
And also the image so strange and original. Many people saw them as humorous, grotesque.
58.
A mí me parecía no muy buena idea que el grupo fuera identificado con una imagen de caricatura.
It didn't seem quite a good idea to me for the group to be identified with a cartoon image.
59.
Entonces yo muy conscientemente quise crear un logo para ellos
So I very consciously wanted to create a logo for them
60.
que los pusiera del otro lado, que los hiciera fuerte,
that would place them on the other side, that would make them strong,
61.
que proyectara una imagen de fuerza y de poder,
that would project an image of strength and power,
62.
que es lo que yo veía en la música de todas maneras.
which is what I saw in their music anyway.
63.
Entonces, eh, por ese lado fue algo muy consciente, pero era algo que yo traía ya por dentro.
So, uh, that part of it was something very conscious, but it was something that I already carried inside.
64.
Que se había manifestado ya... de otras maneras.
That had already manifested itself... in other ways.