Drawings that show the beauty and fragility of Earth
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0:01 - 0:04I consider it my life's mission
-
0:04 - 0:08to convey the urgency
of climate change through my work. -
0:08 - 0:12I've traveled north to the Arctic
to the capture the unfolding story -
0:12 - 0:13of polar melt,
-
0:13 - 0:17and south to the Equator to document
the subsequent rising seas. -
0:18 - 0:22Most recently, I visited
the icy coast of Greenland -
0:22 - 0:24and the low-lying islands of the Maldives,
-
0:25 - 0:29connecting two seemingly disparate
but equally endangered -
0:29 - 0:30parts of our planet.
-
0:32 - 0:38My drawings explore moments
of transition, turbulence -
0:38 - 0:40and tranquility in the landscape,
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0:40 - 0:44allowing viewers to emotionally connect
-
0:44 - 0:47with a place you might never
have the chance to visit. -
0:47 - 0:52I choose to convey the beauty
as opposed to the devastation. -
0:52 - 0:57If you can experience the sublimity
of these landscapes, -
0:57 - 1:00perhaps you'll be inspired
to protect and preserve them. -
1:02 - 1:05Behavioral psychology tells us
that we take action -
1:05 - 1:09and make decisions based
on our emotions above all else. -
1:09 - 1:13And studies have shown
that art impacts our emotions -
1:13 - 1:16more effectively than a scary news report.
-
1:17 - 1:21Experts predict ice-free Arctic summers
-
1:21 - 1:23as early as 2020.
-
1:24 - 1:28And sea levels are likely to rise
between two and ten feet -
1:28 - 1:29by century's end.
-
1:30 - 1:35I have dedicated my career
to illuminating these projections -
1:35 - 1:37with an accessible medium,
-
1:37 - 1:42one that moves us in a way
that statistics may not. -
1:43 - 1:45My process begins
with traveling to the places -
1:45 - 1:48at the forefront of climate change.
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1:48 - 1:51On-site, I take thousands of photographs.
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1:51 - 1:52Back in the studio,
-
1:52 - 1:56I work from both my memory
of the experience and the photographs -
1:56 - 1:59to create very large-scale compositions,
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1:59 - 2:01sometimes over 10 feet wide.
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2:01 - 2:06I draw with soft pastel, which is dry
like charcoal, but colors. -
2:06 - 2:10I consider my work drawings
but others call them painting. -
2:10 - 2:14I cringe, though, when I'm referred to
as a "finger painter." -
2:14 - 2:15(Laughter)
-
2:15 - 2:18But I don't use any tools
-
2:18 - 2:20and I have always used
my fingers and palms -
2:20 - 2:23to manipulate the pigment on the paper.
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2:24 - 2:28Drawing is a form of meditation for me.
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2:28 - 2:30It quiets my mind.
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2:30 - 2:32I don't perceive what I'm drawing
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2:32 - 2:34as ice or water.
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2:34 - 2:36Instead, the image is stripped down
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2:36 - 2:40to its most basic form of color and shape.
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2:41 - 2:42Once the piece is complete,
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2:42 - 2:45I can finally experience
the composition as a whole, -
2:45 - 2:48as an iceberg floating
through glassy water, -
2:48 - 2:51or a wave cresting with foam.
-
2:52 - 2:56On average, a piece this size
takes me about, -
2:56 - 2:58as you can see, 10 seconds.
-
2:58 - 2:59(Laughter)
-
2:59 - 3:03(Applause)
-
3:03 - 3:08Really, more like 200 hours,
250 hours for something that size. -
3:08 - 3:11But I've been drawing ever since
I could hold a crayon, really. -
3:11 - 3:13My mom was an artist, and growing up,
-
3:13 - 3:15we always had art supplies
all over the house. -
3:15 - 3:18My mother's love of photography
-
3:18 - 3:21propelled her to the most
remote regions of the earth, -
3:21 - 3:24and my family and I were fortunate enough
-
3:24 - 3:27to join and support her
on these adventures. -
3:27 - 3:30We rode camels in Northern Africa
-
3:30 - 3:33and mushed on dog sleds
near the North Pole. -
3:34 - 3:38In August of 2012,
I led my first expedition, -
3:38 - 3:43taking a group of artists and scholars
up the northwest coast of Greenland. -
3:44 - 3:47My mother was originally
supposed to lead this trip. -
3:47 - 3:50She and I were in the early
stages of planning, -
3:50 - 3:52as we had intended to go together,
-
3:52 - 3:55when she fell victim to a brain tumor.
-
3:56 - 4:00The cancer quickly took over
her body and mind, -
4:00 - 4:02and she passed away six months later.
-
4:03 - 4:05During the months of her illness, though,
-
4:05 - 4:11her dedication to the expedition
never wavered, and I made a promise -
4:11 - 4:13to carry out her final journey.
-
4:13 - 4:17My mother's passion for the Arctic
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4:17 - 4:20echoed through my experience in Greenland,
-
4:20 - 4:23and I felt the power
-
4:23 - 4:25and the fragility of the landscape.
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4:27 - 4:29The sheer size of the icebergs
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4:29 - 4:31is humbling.
-
4:31 - 4:35The ice fields are alive
with movement and sound -
4:35 - 4:37in a way that I never expected.
-
4:37 - 4:40I expanded the scale of my compositions
-
4:40 - 4:44to give you that same sense of awe
that I experienced. -
4:45 - 4:49Yet, while the grandeur
of the ice is evident, -
4:49 - 4:51so, too, is its vulnerability.
-
4:51 - 4:52From our boat,
-
4:52 - 4:58I could see the ice sweating
under the unseasonably warm sun. -
4:59 - 5:03We had a chance to visit
many of the Inuit communities in Greenland -
5:03 - 5:05that now face huge challenges.
-
5:05 - 5:09The locals spoke to me
of vast areas of sea ice -
5:09 - 5:11that are no longer
freezing over as they once did. -
5:11 - 5:15And without ice, their hunting
and harvesting grounds -
5:15 - 5:16are severely diminished,
-
5:16 - 5:19threatening their way
of life and survival. -
5:21 - 5:23The melting glaciers in Greenland
-
5:23 - 5:27are one of the largest
contributing factors to rising sea levels, -
5:27 - 5:29which have already begun to drown
-
5:29 - 5:32some of our world's lowest-lying islands.
-
5:33 - 5:36One year after my trip to Greenland,
I visited the Maldives, -
5:37 - 5:40the lowest and flattest country
in the entire world. -
5:41 - 5:45While I was there, I collected
images and inspiration -
5:45 - 5:47for a new body of work:
-
5:47 - 5:51drawings of waves lapping
on the coast of a nation -
5:51 - 5:55that could be entirely underwater
within this century. -
5:57 - 6:01Devastating events happen every day
-
6:01 - 6:04on scales both global and personal.
-
6:05 - 6:06When I was in Greenland,
-
6:06 - 6:10I scattered my mother's ashes
amidst the melting ice. -
6:11 - 6:16Now she remains a part
of the landscape she loved so much, -
6:16 - 6:20even as it, too, passes
and takes on new form. -
6:21 - 6:24Among the many gifts my mother gave me
-
6:24 - 6:27was the ability to focus on the positive,
-
6:27 - 6:28rather than the negative.
-
6:29 - 6:35My drawings celebrate the beauty
of what we all stand to lose. -
6:36 - 6:42I hope they can serve as records
of sublime landscapes in flux, -
6:42 - 6:46documenting the transition
and inspiring our global community -
6:46 - 6:48to take action for the future.
-
6:49 - 6:50Thank you.
-
6:50 - 7:01(Applause)
- Title:
- Drawings that show the beauty and fragility of Earth
- Speaker:
- Zaria Forman
- Description:
-
Zaria Forman's large-scale compositions of melting glaciers, icebergs floating in glassy water and waves cresting with foam explore moments of transition, turbulence and tranquility. Join her as she discusses the meditative process of artistic creation and the motivation behind her work. "My drawings celebrate the beauty of what we all stand to lose," she says. "I hope they can serve as records of sublime landscapes in flux."
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 07:14
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Drawings that show the beauty and fragility of Earth | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Drawings that show the beauty and fragility of Earth | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Drawings that show the beauty and fragility of Earth | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for Drawings that show the beauty and fragility of Earth | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Drawings that show the beauty and fragility of Earth | ||
Camille Martínez accepted English subtitles for Drawings that show the beauty and fragility of Earth | ||
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for Drawings that show the beauty and fragility of Earth | ||
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for Drawings that show the beauty and fragility of Earth |