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My day starts just like yours.
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(Laughter)
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When I wake up in the morning,
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I check my phone,
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and then I have a cup of coffee.
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But then my day truly starts.
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It may not be like yours,
because I live my life as an artwork.
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Picture yourself in a giant jewelry box
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with all the beautiful things
that you have ever seen in your life.
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Then imagine that your body is a canvas.
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And on that canvas,
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you have a mission to create a masterpiece
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using the contents
of your giant jewelry box.
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Once you've created your masterpiece,
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you might think, "Wow, I created that.
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This is who I am today."
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Then you would pick up your house keys,
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walk out the door into the real world,
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maybe take public transport
to the center of the town ...
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Possibly walk along the streets
or even go shopping.
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That's my life, every day.
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When I walk out the door,
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these artworks are me.
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I am art.
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I have lived as art my entire adult life.
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Living as art is how I became myself.
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I was brought up in a small village
called Fillongley, in England,
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and it was last mentioned
in the "Domesday Book,"
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so that's the mentality.
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(Laughter)
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I was raised by my grandparents,
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and they were antiques dealers,
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so I grew up surrounded
by history and beautiful things.
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I had the most amazing dress-up box.
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So as you can imagine, it started then.
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I moved to London when I was 17
to become a model.
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And then I went to study photography.
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I wasn't really happy
with myself at the time,
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so I was always looking for escapism.
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I studied the works of David LaChapelle
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and Steven Arnold,
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photographers who both curated
and created worlds
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that were mind-blowing to me.
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So I decided one day to cross over
from the superficial fashion world
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to the superficial art world.
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(Laughter)
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I decided to live my life
as a work of art.
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I spend hours, sometimes
months, making things.
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My go-to tool is a safety pin,
like this --
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(Laughter)
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They're never big enough.
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(Laughter)
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And I use my fabrics time and time again,
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so I recycle everything that I use.
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When I get dressed I'm guided
by color, texture and shape.
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I rarely have a theme.
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I find beautiful objects
from all over the world,
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and I curate them into 3-D tapestries
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over a base layer that covers
my whole body shape ...
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because I'm not very happy with my body.
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(Laughs)
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I ask myself, "Should I take something off
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or should I put something on?
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100 pieces, maybe?"
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And sometimes, I do that.
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I promise you it's not
too uncomfortable --
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well, just a little --
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(Laughter)
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I might have a safety pin
poking at me sometimes
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when I'm having a conversation with you,
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so I'll kind of go off --
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(Laughter)
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It usually takes me
about 20 minutes to get ready,
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which nobody ever believes.
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It's true --
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sometimes.
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So, it's my version
of a t-shirt and jeans.
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(Laughter)
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When I get dressed,
I build like an architect.
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I carefully place things
till I feel they belong.
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Then, I get a lot of my ideas
from lucid dreaming.
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I actually go to sleep
to come up with my ideas,
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and I've taught myself to wake up
to write them down.
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I wear things till they fall apart,
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and then, I give them a new life.
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The gold outfit, for example --
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it was the outfit that I wore
to the Houses of Parliament in London.
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It's made of armor,
sequins and broken jewelry,
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and I was the first person
to wear armor to Parliament
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since Oliver Cromwell
banned it in the 17th century.
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Things don't need
to be expensive to be beautiful.
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Try making outfits out of bin liners
or trash you found out on the streets.
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You never know,
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they might end up on the pages of "Vogue."
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There's over 6,000 pieces
in my collection,
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ranging from 2,000-year-old Roman rings
to ancient Buddhist artifacts.
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I believe in sharing what I do
and what I have with others,
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so I decided to create an art exhibition,
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which is currently traveling
to museums around the world.
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It contains an army of me --
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life-size sculptures
as you can see behind me,
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they're here --
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they are my life, really.
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They're kind of like 3-D tapestries
of my existence as living as art.
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They contain plastic crystals
mixed with diamonds,
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beer cans and royal silks all in one look.
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I like the fact that the viewer
can never make the assumption
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about what's real and what's fake.
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I find it important to explore and share
cultures through my works.
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I use clothing as a means to investigate
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and appreciate people
from all over the world.
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Sometimes, people think
I'm a performer or a drag queen.
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I'm not.
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Although my life appears
to be a performance,
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it's not.
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It's very real.
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People respond to me as they would
any other type of artwork.
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Many people are fascinated and engaged.
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Some people walk around me,
staring, shy at first.
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Then they come up to me and they say
they love or absolutely hate what I do.
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I sometimes respond, and other times
I let the art talk for itself.
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The most annoying thing in the world
is when people want to touch the artwork.
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But I understand.
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But like a lot of contemporary art,
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many people are dismissive.
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Some people are critical,
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others are abusive.
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I think it comes from
the fear of the different --
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the unknown.
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There are so many reactions to what I do,
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and I've just learned
not to take them personally.
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I've never lived
as Daniel Lismore, the person.
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I've lived as Daniel Lismore, the artwork.
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And I've faced every
obstacle as an artwork.
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It can be hard ...
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especially if your wardrobe
takes up a 40-foot container,
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three storage units
and 30 boxes from IKEA --
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(Laughter)
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and sometimes, it can be
very difficult, getting into cars,
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and sometimes --
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well, this morning I didn't fit
through my bathroom door,
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so that was a problem.
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(Laughter)
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What does it mean to be yourself?
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People say it all the time,
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but what does it truly mean,
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and why does it matter?
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How does life change when you choose
to be unapologetically yourself?
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I've had to face struggles
and triumphs whilst living my life as art.
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I've been put on private jets
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and flown around the world.
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My work's been displayed
in prestigious museums,
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and I've had the opportunity --
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that is my grandparents, by the way,
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they're the people that raised me,
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and there I am --
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(Laughs)
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(Applause)
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So I've been put on private jets,
flown around the world,
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and yet, it's not been that easy
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because at times, I've been homeless,
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I've been spat at,
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I've been abused, sometimes daily,
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bullied my entire life,
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rejected by countless individuals,
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and I've been stabbed.
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But what hurt the most
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was being put on the "Worst Dressed" list.
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(Laughter)
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It can be hard, being yourself,
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but I've found it's the best way.
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There's the "Worst Dressed."
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(Laughs)
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As the quote goes,
"Everyone else is already taken."
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I've come to realize that confidence
is a concept you can choose.
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I've come to realize that authenticity
is necessary, and it's powerful.
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I've tried to spend time
being like other people.
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It didn't work.
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It's a lot of hard work,
not being yourself.
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I have a few questions for you all.
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Who are you?
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How many versions of you are there?
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And I have one final question:
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Are you using them all to your advantage?
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In reality, everyone is capable
of creating their own masterpiece.
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You should try it sometime.
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It's quite fun.
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Thank you.
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(Applause and cheers)