Art

Reframing: Session 10 at TEDGlobal 2012

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Click to view (and remix) the session-opening animation

Progress comes, often, from forging ahead, striking out in a direction and discovering the unknown. But sometimes it comes from looking at a familiar problem, or a familiar solution, and looking at it in a new way. In this session we’ll look at a variety of familiar ideas — science, sculpture, photography, and language — and look at them in a new light (in one case, literally).

In this session:

In her latest release, the double album Land & Sea, Sarah Slean plays piano pop-rock against an orchestral panorama.

Laura Snyder weaves tales of Victorian-era scientists, most recently inĀ The Philosophical Breakfast Club, which traces the friendship of four 19th-century scientists. She’ll talk about how this remarkable group invented the modern notion of science.

Boaz Almog uses quantum physics to levitate and trap objects in midair. Call it “quantum levitation.” Expect a fantastic demonstration from the stage.

John Maeda is the president of the Rhode Island School of Design, where he is dedicated to linking design and technology. Through the software tools, web pages and books he creates, he spreads his philosophy of elegant simplicity.

Michael Hansmeyer is an architect and programmer who explores the use of algorithms and computation to generate architectural form. He will show how, and why, he creates extraordinary pieces that no human could design alone.

Ramesh Raskar, has created camera that photographs at the speed of light. He’ll demonstrate this new way of taking pictures — called femtophotography.

Keith Chen, behavioral economist who shows how your language determines how you feel about the future. He’ll present his novel hypothesis, that your willingness to take risks is determined by how your native language treats the future tense.