Air is art, for those who see | Veronica De Angelis | TEDxVicenza

Veronica De Angelis is a young entrepreneur from Rome who decided to invest in sustainability. She has been working in real estate for 10 years, and after some time spent in New York, she realized that art can be a regenerative tool, both for the society and the city. One of her most remarkable achievements is Hunting Pollution, the largest green mural in Europe, realized with eco-friendly paint that cleans the air.

This talk was given at a TEDx event, using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

"Half seasons no longer exist."

"He's smart, but not committed".

"It was better when it was worse."

"Math is not an opinion. "

"We had fun with the little we had."

"It's always the best
who eventually leave."

There are clichés that millions of people
repeat year after year.

And starting this talk

saying that we are in the middle
of the sixth mass destruction,

the one that will perhaps mark our end,

would be yet another one.

And so I won't, even if I just did that...

Fact is, we're filled with contradictions,

and we rarely do
what we really want to do.

We need something, or someone,
to awaken us.

What occurred to me was,

one morning, opening my eyes,
I saw a beautiful dawn.

As the sun rose, it began to light up
huge artistic structures.

I was at the "Burning Man",
in the middle of the Nevada desert,

a festival that tastes more
like a social experiment,

a collective dream,

a place where thousands of people

cooperate in creating
these gigantic installations.

My work often takes me to America:

and it is there, in America,

that I witnessed the rebirth
of some suburban neighborhoods,

thanks to street art's
regenerative power.

Winwood Art District, in Miami,
is a brilliant example of it.

Mind you, until the early 2000's
it was a suburban industrial district,

full of warehouses
and not very recommendable.

But back in those years,
the Primary Flight association

decided to create
an "open air museum" in this area,

and they invited artists
from all over the world

to decorate with their works
the warehouses' walls.

Today, Winwood is the world's
largest street art museum.

I am a dreamer,

and America has taught me
that anything is possible.

So I asked myself,

why not bring this dream here,
in Italy, in my country?

And if you think about it,
I already had a canvas.

This building, which is admittably ugly,

but my great-grandfather built it,

and it passed down to me
after I lost my father.

The man who taught me to love the sea,
to climb the mountains,

the same man who taught me
to pursue my dreams,

and the grit and determination
it takes to do so.

Because dreams wither in the drawer,
and turn into regrets.

The more I looked at it,

the more it dawned what a perfect canvas
that wall could be,

one that could send
a message dear to me.

But I was alone,
and I had no idea how to do it.

One day, my yoga teacher

told me that, according to Hindu religion,
the universe is perfect,

and everything is balanced.

And that when we have a desire,
and we act to fulfill it,

the universe supports us,
it responds to us.

So, one summer, I discovered
the existence of these magical paintings,

that were capable of eating the city smog,

purifying the area of 88.8 percent
of the present pollution.

In that same summer
I met my current vice-president,

a woman who is both practical
and dreamer at the same time,

and a brilliant project manager.

The universe was responding,

the pieces were fitting in the right way.

Soon after I went to New York,

and I met, again by chance,
Federico Massa, aka Iena Cruz,

an artist already popular
for his attention to environmental issues.

He was the missing link.

I told him about my project,

he took up the challenge, came to Rome
and sent me a first sketch shortly after.

So I started a non-profit organization,
called "Yourban 2030",

to exploit the universal language of art

in order to raise awareness

of the importance and urgency
of acting on environmental issues.

And on that wall, once the property
of my great-grandfather,

"Hunting Pollution"
was created in 21 days,

and it to me it represents

the perfect synthesis
between art and technology.

(Video)

Aldo! Come down so I can see you,
you're breaking my neck!

[Discover Europe's largest Green Murales ]

[by Iena Cruz]

(Applause)

We had created Europe's
largest green murales,

a Guinness-grade work,
1,000 square meters of mural.

"Hunting Pollution"

is able to absorb the pollution
of 80 vehicles in one day.

It's like planting 30 tall trees.

And all this, thanks to the painting
we chose for this project,

a water-based,

totally natural, antibacterial
and anti-smog paint.

This paint's chemical action

closely resembles plants'
chlorophyllian photosynthesis.

When exposed to light,
a photochemical process is triggered

through polluting particles
are captured,

and turns them into harmless salts.

The poetics behind "Hunting Pollution"
invites us to consider

mankind's contaminating actions
on the environment.

It represents a multi-colored heron,
an endangered species,

which hunts its prey
in a heavily polluted sea.

He is standing on a barrel of oil,
now its new habitat,

and black drops fall on him,
in contrast with the white ones.

The heron is unaware
that that prey may be contaminated,

and therefore lethal to him.

And if you think about it,

we too ignore the danger
we encounter every day

when we do the most
natural thing in the world:

breathing.

90 percent of the world's population
breathes heavily polluted air;

in the world, pollution affects
nine out of ten people,

claiming seven million victims a year,
one every five seconds.

In Italy, out of of 60 million people,

we have 38 million cars in the streets,

and 90,000 deaths a year

attributable to air pollution.

Yet we continue with deforestation.

Do you know how many trees
we would have to plant

in order to achieve
a significant carbon dioxide decrease?

About 10 million square kilometres,
roughly equivalent to the size of Canada.

Native Americans say,

we do not inherit a land from our fathers,

but we borrow it from our children.

I am not yet a mother,
yet one question already haunts me,

what will we tell our children?

That it wasn't our fault?

That this was beyond us?

Or will we teach them to dream, to hope,

to act on those dreams,
to turn that hope into reality?

I received an email, a few days ago,
and I'd like to share it with you:

"Dear Veronica, my name is Tommaso,
I am a 14 years old student from Terni,

and I saw on tv what you did in Rome.

Well, I'd like to propose my building,
in my heavily polluted city.

We have a steel factory
and an incinerator.

God only knows what we breathe;
in fact, I was born with asthma.

Some days,

when you go to school in the morning,
you just can't breathe.

Plus, our municipality,
in an entire street,

has cut down all the trees.

I saw that you, with painting,
can change the air,

I would like you,
or those who work for you,

to paint my building,

which is in the center,
in a very busy area,

also to make it clear to adults in power

that we young people also have a brain,

and we might want
something more for our future.

And if we are on this Earth,

we must take care of it
in every possible way.

I hope you will answer me.
Thank you, Tommaso.

My new challenge, my new dream,

is to realize projects like this.

I'm imagining people willing to donate
the facades of their buildings,

artists willing to work on them,

and a crowdfunding operation

capable of involving everyone,
according to their means.

To feel part of a change,
of a metamorphosis,

so that those walls and those works
can really belong to everyone.

I imagine a shout out made of colors,
of thought, of communion.

A world where, looking at a wall,
we could say "This is ours",

because this is our home.

And so, no,

"Half seasons no longer exist",

"He's smart, but not committed",

"It was better when it was worse",

"Math is not an opinion",

"We had fun with the little we had."

Because wrapping this talk up
saying, "The future is in our hands",

would be yet another commonplace.

And I'll do it because this is the case.

(Applause)