Backstage at TEDxAmsterdam we mostly look forward to our next event, but it pays off to look back every now and then to see whether previous speakers have walked their talk, added more interestingness to their activities or just caught our attention for other reasons.
That’s why I have selected three former speakers who add to the understanding of Human Nature through their approach to art, kicking off your thinking about the subject:
Image credits: Christien Meindertsma
Christien Meindertsma, a designer who’s TEDxAmsterdam talk is also featured on TED continued to put her work to reveal the invisible processes or resources behind mundane products. A simple, but striking example are her OAK INSIDE chairs, fully painted, but sliced off at the top to show they’re made from real oak. Keep an eye on her for a fascinating journey of the continuous reshuffling of man’s relationship with nature, through products.
Another artist playing with the often diametric opposites of man and nature is Bjarke Ingels – a progressive Danish architect pioneering in Hedonistic Sustainability. By this he means that sustainability doesn’t need to come at the cost of cutting back, but rather, should generate an increase in quality of life. Bjarke designs buildings that embrace the way we live, instead of forcing something artificial upon us. His latest project is the conversion of an urban waste-incinerator into a multi-purpose urban ski slope. This building generates electricity for 140,000 homes whilst citizens of Copenhagen can ski in the sun! For Bjarke, Hedonistic Sustainability means dropping the concept of an isolated building, and treating them instead as ecosystems. How very natural.
Image credits: BIG
Lastly, lighting designer Rogier van der Heide, who designed the lighting in the Stadsschouwburg during TEDxAmsterdam 2010, has brought LED and OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) technology into fashion by co-designing a little black dress for The Black Eyed Peas’ Fergie. His take on lighting is to show how light can enhance experiences, since so often it is treated as a given, and its power underestimated. Playing with light emitting from the human body means thinking radically different about light, and opens up a world where technology and art come to serve human performance.
Image credits: Philips Lighting
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