Hiding in New York No. 7 — Made in China, 2012. Photo: courtesy of Eli Klein Fine Art, © Liu Bolin

Liu Bolin’s images invite a game akin to Where’s Waldo?. In some of the Chinese artist’s incredible photos, it’s clear where he is standing; in others, like the one above, it’s much harder to spot the outline of his body at all. It’s for this that Bolin has been called “The Invisible Man.”

Liu Bolin: The invisible manIn today’s TED Talk, Bolin shares the meaning behind these images — that they are a way to examine the relationship between culture and its development, and to speak for those who are rendered invisible by the Chinese government, by consumer culture or simply by the circumstances of history.

“From the beginning, this series has a protesting, reflective and uncompromising spirit,” says Bolin.  “I think that in art, an artist’s attitude is the most important element. If an artwork is to touch someone, it must be the result of not only technique, but also the artist’s thinking and struggles in life.”

In this talk, Bolin shows us the very first image in the series, taken in November of 2005. He reveals many, many more images too, giving a peak into his process of being painted into the background — which can take anywhere from 3 to 4 hours to 3 to 4 days. The talk ends with a timelapse, showing how Bolin disappeared into the TED stage. Watch the talk now »

Meanwhile, in this gallery, Bolin shares many more of his fantastical and powerful images, courtesy of Eli Klein Fine Art.

Hiding in the City No. 92 — Temple of Heaven, 2010. Photo: courtesy of Eli Klein Fine Art, © Liu Bolin

Teatro alla Scala, 2010. Photo: courtesy of Eli Klein Fine Art, © Liu Bolin

Hiding in the City — Mobile Phone, 2012. Photo: courtesy of Eli Klein Fine Art, © Liu Bolin

Hiding in the City No. 91 — Great Wall, 2010. Photo: courtesy of Eli Klein Fine Art, © Liu Bolin

Hiding in the City — Family Photo, 2012. Photo: courtesy of Eli Klein Fine Art, © Liu Bolin

Hiding in the City No. 86 — Bird’s Nest, 2009. Photo: courtesy of Eli Klein Fine Art, © Liu Bolin

Hiding in the City No. 16 and No. 17 — People’s Policeman, 2006. Photo: courtesy of Eli Klein Fine Art, © Liu Bolin

Dragon Series — Panel 3 of 9, 2010. Photo: courtesy of Eli Klein Fine Art, © Liu Bolin

Hiding in the City No. 71 — Bulldozer, 2008. Photo: courtesy of Eli Klein Fine Art, © Liu Bolin

Hiding in the City No. 94 — In The Woods, 2010. Photo: courtesy of Eli Klein Fine Art, © Liu Bolin

Read a Q&A with Bolin from TED2013, in which he talks a bit more about his process »

For more information on Liu Bolin, and to see much more of his work, head to his site at Eli Klein Fine Art »

Artist JR’s Inside Out photo truck is parked in Times Square in New York City through May 10 for a project he calls “Art vs. Advertising.” Photo: Instagram.com/newyorkermag

TED Prize winner JR rolled into New York this weekend for the premiere of his documentary, INSIDE OUT: The People’s Art Project, at the Tribeca Film Festival. But that was far from the renegade artist’s only stop.

JR's TED Prize wish: Use art to turn the world inside outWith a photobooth truck in tow, he performed actions in Red Hook and the Rockaways, two areas hit hard by Hurricane Sandy in the fall. Now, JR is parking the truck in Times Square for a full two weeks, through May 10. Oh, and did I mention that he’s also taking over the Instagram account @newyorkermag for seven days to post some of the best images he captures through it all?

This has been an exceptionally busy time for JR. In addition to the documentary and New York actions, JR also recently released the digital book, The Wrinkles of the City, Los Angeles – an ode to the inhabitants of the city who’ve lived there for decades, through myriad cultural changes. Right before heading to New York, JR stopped in Berlin, where he and his crew similarly pasted 15 walls with images of older Berliners. At the same time, JR also released an app which allows fans to browse Inside Out projects across the world through a beautiful map.

See images of all of the above in this gallery.

Are you or someone you know interested in launching a worldwide project on the scale of Inside Out? Nominations for the 2014 TED Prize are open, from now until June 16 »

JR takes a self portrait of his team on the red carpet of the Tribeca Film Festival. The documentary, “INSIDE OUT: The People’s Art Project,” premiered on April 20. TED’s own Anna Verghese was on hand and said of the premiere, “Alastair Siddon’s film is a glowing testament to the passion and commitment of the hundreds of thousands of people JR’s wish has inspired worldwide.” Photo: Instagram.com/jr/

A shot of Inside Out posters on what used to be a boardwalk in The Rockaways. Photo: Instagram.com/jr/

Residents of Red Hook paste up Inside Out images — as JR announces that he’s taking over The New Yorker’s Instagram account. Photo: Instagram.com/jr/

The Inside Out truck stationed in Times Square. Says TED’s Anna Verghese, who was there as it parked, “Hundreds of people descended upon Times Square to share their faces and stories. It’s a great reminder of the power of art to start a conversation.” Photo: Instagram.com/jr/

An aerial shot as more people paste their Inside Out images in the center of Times Square. Photo: Instagram.com/jr/

An image of a building in Los Angeles, included in JR’s iPad book, “The Wrinkles of the City, Los Angeles.” Photo: JR-art.net

Another view of a pasted building in Los Angeles. Photo: JR-art.net

The wrinkles of Berlin. Photo: JR-art.net

A screenshot of a new app that lets you look up INSIDE OUT projects by their location. Photo: JR-art.net

This group of activists from Seoul, Korea, visited New York City, hoping to raise awareness of “Comfort Women” – some 200,000 Korean women who were forced into prostitution by the Japanese Army during WWII. These women, now elderly, have yet to receive reparations.

JR is an artist with a desire to transform our collective streets — from French public houses to Brazilian favelas. As he describes in his talk from TED2011, JR headed to the barrier wall between Israel and the Palestinian territories for his project “Face 2 Face,” JR's TED Prize wish: Use art to turn the world inside out pasting massive portraits the size of houses on either side of the wall. The goal: to catch both sides off guard with their similarities and give them the experience of relating to the other by staring them straight in the face. JR found that people are thirsty to heal in this way — to be seen and to share a story through a simple image.

After winning the 2011 TED Prize, JR transformed his mission to a global scale with Inside Out. Through the initiative, any willing participant can send a portrait (or a series of them), and receive the images back as posters, ready to be pasted anywhere with a social purpose in mind. The purposes and messages may vary, but the images hold a common thread. These public exhibits are then documented and shared on the project’s website.

In August, Inside Out surpassed the goal of dispersing 100,000 posters. But they are hardly stopping there. Below, see images of some recent projects, pasted all around the globe — from Colombia to New Zealand.

This project went on behind bars in a women’s prison in Medellin, Colombia. The idea was to photograph those incarcerated and interview them about what they plan to do upon release.

This school in Christchurch, New Zealand, was hit hard by an earthquake, and the community lacks the funds to rebuild it. To increase support, participants of Inside Out pasted posters of the children who attended the school, and their grandparents who — generations ago — also studied there.

This project from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, was undertaken to represent the many different occupations represented in the city, not to mention the diversity to be appreciated there.

Cyclists in Utrecht, Germany, began this initiative to share the stories of young bike-riders.

In Oaxaca de Juarez, Mexico, a group of students pasted the many diverse faces of their community, to instill pride for residents and to help encourage their artistic endeavors.

Some members of Tokyo’s community wanted to give honor to the various volunteers of many fields — their efforts spanning across earthquake relief, domestic abuse counselors and food bank assistants. Their portraits were plastered across the city.

Amy Lehman runs a floating healthcare clinic along Lake Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Here, in Kigoma, she pasted these posters on the walls of the village.

As a form of non-violent protest in Madrid, Spain, these posters were used to display the faces of those who are being harmed by living under corrupt government.

In an effort to stand up to bullying, this action, titled “Not in Our Schools,” took place in Palo Alto, California, in order to advocate acceptance in local high schools.

And a bonus video action:

In the dark of night, these posters of Taiwanese youth were pasted alongside portraits of youth from Mainland China. It’s an expression of hope toward a more united future. These posters were immediately removed by the Chinese public authorities, but not before this footage of the pasting (and subsequent removal) was captured.

Denise Herzing works to understand the language of dolphins, with the hopes that we may one day be able to communicate with them. Here’s her talk from session 8.

A TED Talk is generally an auditory experience. But Fever Picture, a collective of graphic mavens who translate the ideas expressed at conferences into graphic form, have changed that. Earlier this week, they thrilled us with their comic versions of the first half of TED2013. Here, their renderings of the second half of the conference.

Also during Session 8, linguist John McWhorter shares why the language of texting may be evidence of advanced intelligence, not (as we so often think) the decline of society.

Ajit Narayanan works to help autistic children communicate through the creation of his app, Free Speech. This uplifting talk was from Session 8.

In Session 9, Rose George says it’s time to end the taboo over excrement, and start “talking shit.” So many are without basic sanitation, which leads to disease, and the potential to harness the gas that poop gives off is exponential.

James Lyne, also in Session 9, shares the secret lives of cyber criminals — and what you can do to protect yourself against them.

Anas Aremayaw Anas is an undercover journalist. In Session 9, he gave a peek at how he exposes corruption and uncovers injustice.

In Session 10, Hyeonseo Lee talks about her escape from North Korea and her goal to help North Korean refugees.

Peter Gabriel, Diana Reiss, Neil Gershenfeld and Vint Cerf discuss the prospects of an interspecies internet during Session 10.

Eleanor Longden gave an incredible talk in Session 10, detailing how she came to terms with the voices in her head.

Joshua Prager told the moving story of a car crash that changed him forever, and his search for the man responsible.

Daniel Reisel shares his experience training the brains of psychopaths at Session 11.

In session 12, Dan Pallotta delivered a powerhouse talk asking us to think about more than a charity’s overhead when judging its worth.

A view of a street in Tirana, where the buildings have been splashed with color— for a political purpose. Photo: Merlin and Rebecca

Edi Rama — the mayor of Tirana, Albania, for 11 years — was an artist before a politician.

“I still paint. I love the joy that color can give to our lives and to our communities,” says Rama in today’s talk, filmed at TEDxThessaloniki. Edi Rama: Take back your city with paint“I try to bring something of the artist in me to my politics.”

Tirana, Albania’s capital city, was downtrodden when Rama took office. The city budget was squandered, corruption was rampant and crime was the norm. But Rama had an idea to raise the spirits of his town — he painted a grey building a bright orange.

As Rama set out to have more of the city painted in loud colors and bold designs, he met resistance from other countries in the European Union. He was asked to opt for more neutral colors.

“I told them no. Compromise in colors is grey,” explains Rama. “When colors came out everywhere, a mood of change started transforming the spirit of the people … People started to drop less litter in the streets. They started to pay taxes. They started to feel something they’d forgotten … Beauty was giving people a feeling of being protected. This was not a misplaced feeling — crime did fall.”

To hear more about the radical transformation of Tirana, and about Rama’s thoughts on how politicians are not all the same and can bring hope to people through seemingly small actions, watch his moving talk. And here, see just some of the buildings in Tirana that got the color treatment.

The first building in Tirana to get splashed with paint. Here is the before and after comparison. Photo: Edi Rama

The before and after of an apartment building. Photo: Edi Rama

Yet another gorgeously multicolored building. Photo: David Dufresne/Flickr

Rama says, “As a result of the project, international artists turned whole living blocks in central Tirana into unique works of contemporary art. “ Photo: David Dufresne/Flickr

An undulating rainbow on the side of a building. Photo: David Dufresne/Flickr

This building gets the block treatment. Photo: David Dufresne/Flickr

A building gets the blues. Photo: Merlin and Rebecca