Art

Fuel cell symphonies and art from gift bag wrappers: The Reimagine Project launches with the TEDActive 2013 artists-in-residence

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Soft-spoken and self-effacing, Andy Cavatorta performed with punk bands in the early 1990s, has worked with Bjork and is a graduate of MIT’s Media Lab. His counterintuitive resume has led him to create these gigantic, aural structures — both meditative and comforting — which you can see here in a video the Lincoln Motor Company partnered with TED to produce.

After an exciting night of design-themed talks at TED@250, we unveiled this series of videos that profiles three artists who came to TEDActive 2013 to show their work: Aurora Robson, Andy Cavatorta, and Gilberto Esparza. The artists’ time at TED and the resulting short documentaries are part of the newly launched Lincoln Reimagine Project, which supports pioneering thinkers in the arts, design and innovation.

Why these three? Because they turn upside down the traditional ways we imagine music, sculpture and even recycling. At TEDActive, Robson, Cavatorta and Esparza showcased original works that disrupt cultural and environmental paradigms. The videos highlight their unique artistic philosophies.

Cavatorta, as he introduced himself to the audience, aptly philosophized: “I believe new instruments will lead the way to fertile and innovative territory, challenging composers to find new voices within new expressive dimensions and constraints… Because in an ever-changing world, sometimes the only way to say something true is to say something new. Or to say something old in a new way.”

Watch the following videos to see how Robson and Esparza have combined contemporary technology with formal constraints to give unique voice and shape to their respective work.

Polluted Art: Gilberto Esparza’s Fuel Cell Symphony
Gilberto creates a futuristic symphony made from plastic tubes, an iPad and bacteria.

Recycling Plastic into Art with Aurora Robson
Robson asked TED attendees to give her the plastic packaging from their gift bags, which she used as a medium to create an ethereal, floating sculpture.