TEDBlog October, 2010 Archive
30 October 2010
Can Business Make a Difference? TEDTalks Playlist
Big Business is often blamed for the environmental and social ills that we are faced with today. But these speakers suggest that a business with a conscience can also provide solutions to the world’s biggest problems.
Melinda Gates says foundations and nonprofits can learn important lessons from big business — to turn honorable intentions into widespread impact.
Ray Anderson is a businessman and a recovering “plunderer.” Now that he has seen the light, he says that business and industry should lead the charge in preserving the earth and its peoples by adopting a “take nothing, do no harm” mentality.
Jeff Skoll’s film production company Participant Productions (producers of Waiting for ‘Superman’ has a new take on Hollywood – his films promote best practices and ideas for environmental sustainability and social impact.
John Doerr proclaims that panic is now our appropriate response to a world in jeopardy: companies and individuals together must use this panic, and their overwhelming power to save the world.
We’d love to hear more of your favorite TEDTalks about Big Business. Add your suggestions to the comments below, join the conversation on Facebook, or email contact@ted.com with the subject PLAYLIST: BIG BUSINESS. (Jog your memory with the TEDTalks spreadsheet.)
Curator of this playlist: Rachel Tobias
29 October 2010
Glorious visions from animation and shadow: Miwa Matreyek on TED.com
Using animation, projections and her own moving shadow, Miwa Matreyek performs a gorgeous, meditative piece about inner and outer discovery. Take a quiet 10 minutes and dive in. With music from Anna Oxygen, Mirah, Caroline Lufkin and Mileece. (Recorded at TEDGlobal 2010, July 2010 in Oxford, England. Duration: 11:12)
Watch Miwa Matreyek’s performance on TED.com where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 800+ TEDTalks.
This performance is abridged from the full-length work “Myth and Infrastructure.”
Music credits:
Shadow Hands scene song: Anna Oxygen
Island scene song: “Shells” by Mirah, (a)spera, K records
City scene song: Caroline Lufkin
Magic Hands scene song: Anna Oxygen
Additional music: Mileece
29 October 2010
How I got that shot: JR’s photographer tells the story
Portrait of JR. Courtesy Christopher Shay
The iconic portrait of 2011 TED Prize winner JR, jumping in front of a bold pair of eyes, was shot by the photographer and writer Christopher Shay. The story of how this photo came to be is an interesting one — and we asked Shay to tell it:
I met JR when I was writing and photographing for the Phnom Penh Post, an English-language daily newspaper in Cambodia. He was invited to show his work as part of the Phnom Penh Photography Festival, and I interviewed him while he and his assistants were covering the exterior walls of the French Embassy with 20 sets of giant black-and-white eyes. The location was poignant, and it’s not just because Cambodia was once a French colony. In 1975 as the Khmer Rouge were taking over the city, the French Embassy was where foreigners and high-ranking officials — even Soviet diplomats — were forced to take refuge. There’s one story of a former Prime Minister’s wife attempting to throw her baby over the wall before she was taken to be executed. Those walls have a historical resonance, and it’s a history that many in Cambodia still remember.
It was easy tracking him down. JR may be anonymous, but he’s not media-shy. He agreed to meet with me and he explained his career, which has been nothing short of meteoric. In 2008, he’d been photographing for seven years and had already had an iconic installation at the Tate. Though when he spoke, he barely mentioned the Tate or his establishment accomplishments — he focused on the work he did in poor areas in France and his recent trip to India. He peppered his stories with comments from local communities he worked. The women he photographed had clearly touched him.
He told me that his photos didn’t have any specific meanings, which I think is probably true. But in a general sense, all his work is about social justice and creating connections between different people. Whether it’s posting shots of Israelis and Palestinians with the same profession on the walls between the countries or putting up those shots of African and Brazilian women’s eyes in Cambodia, he’s compelling people to think about other people. Why are they making those faces? This sort of thinking compels people to realize what they have in common. One Cambodian man I spoke with identified with the shots so much he was absolutely certain that one of the pair of eyes was from a Cambodian woman. People look at them, they look at you back, and then the viewers make up stories and meanings. It’s an interaction with art that is accessible to everyone — it’s not just out of the gallery, it’s into impoverished, developing countries.
The interpretations of the art, though, is not always what you’d expect. A couple weeks after I interviewed and photographed JR, a moto-dop said a Cambodian 2-year-old started crying and trembling next to the walls; his mother had apparently told him the photos were the eyes of giants.
JR knows all the women’s stories behind the photo. I remember him speaking about the woman he’s jumping in front of; the woman was a prostitute and had been infected with HIV, but can’t leave her slum because it’s the only place she can get her medications. What impressed JR about her, though, was both strength of will and her happiness. The woman’s story, her vitality and how it manifests itself in that photo of her eyes is something many women in Cambodia and elsewhere can relate to. It’s something that transcends language, borders and politics — which is precisely the point.
I’d always imagined shooting a famous photographer would be intimidating or stressful, but it wasn’t so with JR. He’s soft-spoken, friendly, and you could tell he enjoyed what he was doing. He’s also young; no matter how talented you are, a person in his mid-twenties is going to be less intimidating than someone who has been in the game for decades. Perhaps one of the reasons why he’s able to get such great shots is a simple one: He’s nice. A lot of his most famous shots are from his 28mm project, where he shoots people up close with a wide-angle lens. In order to do that, people have to be comfortable with you invading their personal space. He asked to wear the sunglasses and hat as it’s become part of his image that he’s built up as an anonymous, globetrotting street artist. Hopefully, though, the TED Prize and whatever the enigmatic Parisian chooses as his wish for the world will add something to this image: the notion that beneath his trademark glasses and hat is really a preeminent advocate for social justice.
– Christopher Shay
29 October 2010
Congratulations to AOL 25for25 winners, including …
… by an interesting twist, three winners connected to three different TED initiatives:
TEDGlobal 2010 Fellow Adital Ela, a sustainable-design star. Watch Adital’s 5-minute talk from the TED Fellows conference >>
Abreu Fellow Dantes Rameau, whose work with the El Sistema music program is an outgrowth of José Abreu’s 2009 TED Prize wish >>
and TEDGlobal 2010 speaker Rachel Sussman — watch her TEDTalk on the oldest living things in the world >>
Congrats to all winners — each of whom is awarded $25,000 to pursue their art. Read more about AOL’s 25for25 grant program >>
29 October 2010
Fellows Friday with Vijay Nair
How did you get started in India’s independent music industry, and where has it led you?
When I was 17, I was working with a website called Gigpad. It was a networking site for musicians. I got into it from a designing and PR perspective, not really thinking that I wanted to get into the music business. But I was really well networked with musicians, since it was the only online community for Indian musicians. A band called Acquired Funk Syndrome (AFS) lived close by knew that I knew a lot of people. They needed some help getting gigs and spreading the word around. They came to me and said, “Do you want to travel with us and manage us?” And it obviously sounds like a good idea when you’re 17. So that’s how it got started.
Over the last eight years Only Much Louder has grown from one company to a group of companies, all dealing with the music business. Largely it’s the live music business that we’re a part of, so we do concerts, festivals … we have an artist management booking agency and a record label. It’s a lot of work revolving around independent music.
Being in India, Bollywood kind of takes away most of the space in anything that you do. But we’ve stuck around the non-Bollywood scene and have done independent music over the last few years.
This year is actually going to be the biggest for us. The kind of projects we have taken up are much larger than what we’ve done before. We’re putting together two big music festivals here this year: in December we’re doing the first indie music festival in India, and in January we’ve got The Prodigy coming down. It’s their first time coming here.
Right now every day life is pretty much consumed by work. But work’s a lot of fun, so I don’t really complain.
What sets Only Much Louder apart?
When we started, we were the first artist management company to work with independent artists. When we started the label, we were one of the first Indian labels to come out and have a proper set up. What differentiates us is that we’ve always focused on the non-Bollywood sector in India and that’s a pretty hard thing to do. Plus we’ve never really been limited to any genre; it’s just been about anything that’s independent, good, live, very flexible. So we’re managing everything form heavy metal bands to folk bands. We try to work with as many new artists as possible. Every year we sign on new artists – that’s been the goal of the company.
28 October 2010
Natural pest control … using bugs!: Shimon Steinberg on TED.com
At TEDxTelAviv, Shimon Steinberg looks at the difference between pests and bugs — and makes the case for using good bugs to fight bad bugs, avoiding chemicals in our quest for perfect produce. (Recorded at TEDxTelAviv, April 2010 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Duration: 15:24)
Watch Shimon Steinberg’s talk on TED.com where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 750+ TEDTalks.
27 October 2010
Sustainable seafood? Let’s get smart: Barton Seaver on TED.com
Chef Barton Seaver presents a modern dilemma: Seafood is one of our healthier protein options, but overfishing is desperately harming our oceans. He suggests a simple way to keep fish on the dinner table that includes every mom’s favorite adage — “Eat your vegetables!” (Recorded on the Mission Blue Voyage, April 2010 on the National Geographic Endeavor, the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Duration: 9:26)
Watch Barton Seaver’s talk on TED.com where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 750+ TEDTalks.
26 October 2010
Global power shifts: Joseph Nye on TED.com
Historian and diplomat Joseph Nye gives us the 30,000-foot view of the shifts in power between China and the US, and the global implications as economic, political and “soft” power shifts and moves around the globe. (Recorded at TEDGlobal 2010, July 2010 in Oxford, England. Duration: 18:16)
Watch Joseph Nye’s talk on TED.com where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 750+ TEDTalks.
24 October 2010
Celebrating astronomy in Tenerife with Garik Israelian
Unconventional astronomer Garki Israelian is known to TEDsters for his talk at TEDGlobal 2009 on studying the spectrum emitted by stars. Now Israelian is inviting anyone with an interest in astronomy and the space sciences to travel to the Canary Islands, in Spain, home of the world’s largest telescope, to participate on June 20-25, 2011 in a five-days festival of science, art and music structured around the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first man in space, legendary cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who in April 1961 became the first human in outer space and to orbit the Earth.
The event, dubbed StarmusFestival, will take place in Tenerife, with special events at the telescope itself (photo below). Israelian has gathered an incredible cast of world famous scientists and artists – from astronaut Buzz Aldrin to TEDPrize winner Jill Tarter of SETI, to Brian May, guitarist of the legendary rock band Queen, who’s an astrophysicist, and a number of other top scientists. “We want this to be a popular festival of astronomy and discovery, taking place at the Spring equinox”, says Israelian. There will be (see the preliminary program) space-art and photography exhibitions, observatory visits and experiences, documentaries, talks and debates and conferences, concerts (including a special appearance by Tangerine Dream) and “star parties”. Info and registration here.
22 October 2010
Fellows Friday with Peace Anyiam-Osigwe
Among other accomplishments, you’re a published poet, a TV/film director and producer, and creator of the African Movie Academy Awards. Of all that you do, what are you most proud of?
I think I’m most proud of the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA). They are one of the things that has changed African cinema in a very positive way. The AMAAs started in 2005, and as I travel more, as I meet more people, I’m suddenly realizing, “Wow, I actually did do something.” People talk about the AMAAs as an event that brings all fillmmakers in Africa and from the African diaspora together.
With the AMAAs, we have an award where we recognize ourselves amongst ourselves, and there’s a stimulated competition between the African countries over who’s going to win the next one. So it makes better films for us. People actually go out of their way to make films for the AMAA awards.
It started out just as something I was going to do, so that we could have one day as filmmakers to meet and sit down together. But now it’s something that everybody looks forward to. So when I look back, I think that’s my biggest achievement.
Tell us about your other projects.
Africadopt is one of the projects that the AMAAs started as a Corporate Social Responsibility effort. It tries to get people to do virtual adoptions, in which they financially support a child in an orphanage. It’s slow work, but I think it will pick up. We try to make people understand that as little as a dollar makes a difference in a child’s life.
My business partner Dayo Ogunyemi and I are also building cinemas throughout Africa. These “Cinemarts” are community centers in rural and low income urban areas, anchored by digital cinemas fitting an average of three hundred people, with indoor and outdoor refreshments areas. Each ticket to a show will cost one dollar or less. We have a lack of cinema halls on the continent now. We’re building them so that there is a form of distribution for African films that can make some money for the filmmaker.
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