TEDGlobal 2013
Alexa Meade: Your body is my canvas
Alexa Meade: El meu llenç és el vostre cos
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N'Alexa Meade pren una aproximació innovadora a l'art. Per ella, no es tracta d'una vida plena d'esbossos i esteses de llenços. En comptes d'això, selecciona un tema i el pinta, literalment. Cobreix tot el que hi ha a l'escena (les persones, les cadires, el menjar, el que vulgueu) amb una capa de pintura que imita allò que és a sota. En aquesta sorprenent xerrada, na Meade presumeix de les fotografies d'alguns dels resultats més extravagants i comparteix un nou projecte en què hi ha persones, pintura i llet.
Alexa Meade - Visual artist
Alexa Meade paints mesmerizing, illusionistic portraits directly on living subjects, subverting familiar visual cues with perspective and color. Full bio
Alexa Meade paints mesmerizing, illusionistic portraits directly on living subjects, subverting familiar visual cues with perspective and color. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
You may want to take a closer look.
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Potser ho hauríeu de mirar amb més deteniment.
00:14
There's more to this painting than meets the eye.
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Hi ha molt més en aquesta pintura del que es pot veure.
00:17
And yes, it's an acrylic painting of a man,
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Sí, és una pintura en acrílic d'un home,
00:21
but I didn't paint it on canvas.
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però no l'he pintada a sobre un llenç
00:24
I painted it directly on top of the man.
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sinó directament a sobre d'ell.
00:27
What I do in my art is I skip the canvas altogether,
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Al meu art no faig servir pas llenços
00:30
and if I want to paint your portrait,
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i si vull pintar-vos un retrat,
00:32
I'm painting it on you, physically on you.
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us el pintaré a sobre, literalment.
00:35
That also means you're probably going to end up
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Això vol dir que acabareu
00:37
with an earful of paint,
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amb les orelles plenes de pintura,
00:39
because I need to paint your ear on your ear.
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perquè he de pintar les orelles a sobre de les vostres.
00:43
Everything in this scene, the person, the clothes,
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Tota l'escena (la persona, la roba
00:46
chairs, wall, gets covered in a mask of paint
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les cadires, les parets...) es cobreix amb una capa de pintura
00:49
that mimics what's directly below it,
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que imita allò que és a sota.
00:52
and in this way, I'm able to take a three-dimensional scene
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Així, puc fer que una escena tridimensional
00:56
and make it look like a two-dimensional painting.
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es converteixi en una pintura bidimensional.
00:59
I can photograph it from any angle,
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Puc fotografiar-la des de qualsevol angle
01:01
and it will still look 2D.
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i es veurà en 2D igualment.
01:04
There's no Photoshop here.
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Aquí no hi ha Photoshop:
01:07
This is just a photo
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només és una foto
01:09
of one of my three-dimensional paintings.
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d'una de les meves pintures tridimensionals.
01:13
You might be wondering how I came up with this idea
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Us preguntareu com se'm va ocórrer la idea
01:15
of turning people into paintings.
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de transformar persones en pintures.
01:17
But originally, this had nothing to do
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Al principi, però, no tenia res a veure
01:20
with either people or paint.
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amb les persones o la pintura,
01:22
It was about shadows.
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sinó amb les ombres.
01:25
I was fascinated with the absence of light,
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L'absència de llum em fascinava;
01:27
and I wanted to find a way that I could give it materiality
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volia trobar la manera de fer-la material
01:31
and pin it down before it changed.
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i definir-la abans que canviés.
01:33
I came up with the idea of painting shadows.
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Se'm va ocórrer la idea de pintar les ombres.
01:36
I loved that I could hide within this shadow
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M'encantava poder amagar a l'ombra
01:38
my own painted version,
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la meva versió pintada
01:40
and it would be almost invisible
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i que fos quasi invisible
01:43
until the light changed, and all of a sudden
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fins que la llum canviava i, de sobte,
01:45
my shadow would be brought to the light.
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l'ombra pintada es deixava veure a la llum.
01:48
I wanted to think about what else I could put shadows on,
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Vaig dedicar-me a rumiar en què hi podria posar ombres
01:51
and I thought of my friend Bernie.
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i vaig pensar en el meu amic Bernie.
01:54
But I didn't just want to paint the shadows.
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No volia pintar pas només les ombres,
01:57
I also wanted to paint the highlights
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sinó també els tocs de llum.
01:59
and create a mapping on his body in greyscale.
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Volia crear un traçat al seu cos en escala de grisos.
02:02
I had a very specific vision of what this would look like,
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M'imaginava exactament com havia de ser
02:06
and as I was painting him,
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i, mentre el pintava,
02:08
I made sure to follow that very closely.
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m'assegurava que així fos,
02:10
But something kept on flickering before my eyes.
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però hi havia una cosa que fluctuava al meu davant.
02:13
I wasn't quite sure what I was looking at.
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No estava molt segura de què mirava
02:15
And then when I took that moment to take a step back,
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fins que vaig donar una passa enrere
02:19
magic.
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i màgia:
02:21
I had turned my friend into a painting.
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havia convertit el meu amic en una pintura.
02:24
I couldn't have foreseen that
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No m'hauria imaginat que
02:25
when I wanted to paint a shadow,
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quan volia pintar una ombra,
02:28
I would pull out this whole other dimension,
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faria sorgir aquesta nova dimensió,
02:30
that I would collapse it,
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que cediria,
02:31
that I would take a painting and make it my friend
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que prendria una pintura, la convertiria en el meu amic
02:36
and then bring him back to a painting.
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i després el transportaria de nou a la pintura.
02:39
I was a little conflicted though,
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Això sí, tenia sentiments oposats,
02:41
because I was so excited about what I'd found,
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perquè em vaig emocionar molt pel que havia trobat,
02:45
but I was just about to graduate from college
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però m'anava a graduar
02:47
with a degree in political science,
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en ciències polítiques
02:49
and I'd always had this dream
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i sempre havia somiat
02:51
of going to Washington, D.C.,
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anar a Washington, D.C.,
02:53
and sitting at a desk
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seure a un escriptori
02:56
and working in government.
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i treballar pel govern.
02:58
(Laughter)
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(Rialles)
03:00
Why did this have to get in the way of all that?
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Per què s'havia d'interposar en el meu somni?
03:04
I made the tough decision
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Vaig prendre la difícil decisió
03:05
of going home after graduation
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d'anar-me'n a casa després de la graduació
03:09
and not going up to Capitol Hill,
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i, en comptes de pujar al Capitoli,
03:12
but going down to my parents' basement
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vaig baixar al soterrani dels meus pares
03:14
and making it my job to learn how to paint.
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i vaig convertir l'aprendre a pintar en la meva feina.
03:17
I had no idea where to begin.
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No sabia per on començar;
03:21
The last time I'd painted,
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la darrera vegada que havia pintat
03:22
I was 16 years old at summer camp,
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era quan tenia 16 anys en un campament d'estiu.
03:25
and I didn't want to teach myself how to paint
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No volia aprendre a pintar
03:27
by copying the old masters
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copiant als mestres clàssics
03:29
or stretching a canvas
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o posant una estesa de llenços
03:31
and practicing over and over again on that surface,
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per a practicar una vegada rere l'altra sobre aquesta superfície,
03:34
because that's not what this project was about for me.
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perquè per a mi aquest projecte no tractava pas sobre això.
03:37
It was about space and light.
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Tractava sobre l'espai i la llum.
03:40
My early canvases ended up being
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Els meus primers llenços varen ser
03:43
things that you wouldn't expect to be used as canvas,
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coses que no utilitzaríeu com a tal,
03:46
like fried food.
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com el menjar fregit.
03:48
It's nearly impossible
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És quasi impossible
03:50
to get paint to stick to the grease in an egg.
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fer que la pintura es quedi a l'oli de l'ou.
03:53
(Laughter)
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(Rialles)
03:55
Even harder was getting paint to stick
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I era encara més complicat que la pintura es quedés
03:58
to the acid in a grapefruit.
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a l'àcid de l'aranja.
04:00
It just would erase my brush strokes
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Esborrava les meves pinzellades,
04:03
like invisible ink.
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com si fos tinta invisible.
04:05
I'd put something down, and instantly it would be gone.
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Si hi posava alguna cosa, se n'anava a l'instant.
04:08
And if I wanted to paint on people,
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I si volia pintar sobre la gent,
04:10
well, I was a little bit embarrassed
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bé, m'empegueïa una mica
04:13
to bring people down into my studio
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de portar gent al meu estudi
04:15
and show them that I spent my days in a basement
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i de mostrar-los que em passava el temps al soterrani
04:18
putting paint on toast.
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posant pintura a les torrades.
04:21
It just seemed like it made more sense
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Semblava que tenia més sentit
04:23
to practice by painting on myself.
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practicar pintant sobre mi mateixa.
04:26
One of my favorite models actually ended up being
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Un dels meus models preferits va ser
04:29
a retired old man
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un home jubilat
04:31
who not only didn't mind sitting still
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a qui no només no li importava seure immòbil
04:33
and getting the paint in his ears,
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i emplenar-se les orelles de pintura,
04:36
but he also didn't really have much embarrassment
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sinó que tampoc posava massa problemes
04:38
about being taken out into very public places
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si el duia a un lloc públic
04:40
for exhibition,
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per a exhibir-lo,
04:42
like the Metro.
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com el metro.
04:45
I was having so much fun with this process.
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M'estava divertint molt amb aquest procés.
04:49
I was teaching myself how to paint in all these different styles,
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Aprenia jo tota sola a pintar en tots aquests estils diferents
04:53
and I wanted to see what else I could do with it.
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i volia veure què més hi podia fer.
04:56
I came together with a collaborator, Sheila Vand,
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Vaig trobar una col·laboradora, na Sheila Vand,
04:59
and we had the idea of creating paintings
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amb qui vaig tenir la idea de crear pintures
05:02
in a more unusual surface,
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en una superfície poc habitual:
05:04
and that was milk.
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la llet.
05:07
We got a pool. We filled it with milk.
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Varem omplir una piscina de llet
05:10
We filled it with Sheila. And I began painting.
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hi varem ficar na Sheila i vaig començar a pintar.
05:13
And the images were always
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Les imatges eren sempre
05:15
completely unexpected in the end,
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completament inesperades al final,
05:17
because I could have a very specific image
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perquè podia tenir una imatge molt específica
05:20
about how it would turn out,
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sobre com resultaria
05:21
I could paint it to match that,
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i pintar per fer-ho coincidir,
05:23
but the moment that Sheila laid back into the milk,
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però quan na Sheila es tombava a la llet,
05:26
everything would change.
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tot canviava.
05:28
It was in constant flux,
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Estava en canvi constant,
05:30
and we had to, rather than fight it, embrace it,
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així que en comptes de lluitar-hi, havíem d'acollir-ho,
05:33
see where the milk would take us
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havíem de veure on ens portaria la llet
05:34
and compensate to make it even better.
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i compensar-ho per a millorar-ho.
05:38
Sometimes, when Sheila would lay down in the milk,
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De vegades, quan na Sheila es tombava a la llet,
05:42
it would wash all the paint off of her arms,
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la pintura dels braços desapareixia
05:44
and it might seem a little bit clumsy,
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i pareixia una mica barroer,
05:47
but our solution would be, okay, hide your arms.
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però la nostra solució era "'D'acord, amaga els braços".
05:50
And one time, she got so much milk in her hair
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Un cop, tenia tanta llet als cabells
05:53
that it just smeared all the paint off of her face.
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que li netejà la pintura de la cara
05:56
All right, well, hide your face.
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"Molt bé, doncs, amaga la cara."
05:59
And we ended up with something far more elegant
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Així varem acabar amb una cosa molt més elegant
06:02
than we could have imagined,
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del que podríem haver imaginat,
06:04
even though this is essentially the same solution
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tot i que en essència va ser la mateixa solució
06:06
that a frustrated kid uses when he can't draw hands,
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que un nen frustrat empra quan no pot dibuixar bé unes mans
06:09
just hiding them in the pockets.
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i les amaga a les butxaques.
06:13
When we started out on the milk project,
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Quan varem iniciar el projecte de la llet,
06:15
and when I started out,
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quan jo vaig començar,
06:17
I couldn't have foreseen that I would go
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no podia haver previst que passaria
06:20
from pursuing my dream in politics
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de perseguir el meu somni de política
06:22
and working at a desk
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i de treballar a un escriptori
06:24
to tripping over a shadow
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a ensopegar amb les ombres,
06:25
and then turning people into paintings
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convertir gent en pintures
06:28
and painting on people in a pool of milk.
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i pintar persones en una piscina de llet.
06:32
But then again, I guess it's also not unforeseeable
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Però, un altre cop, crec que tampoc es pot preveure
06:35
that you can find the strange in the familiar,
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que pugueu trobar allò desconegut en allò conegut
06:38
as long as you're willing to look beyond
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sempre que volgueu mirar més enllà
06:40
what's already been brought to light,
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del que ja es mostra a la llum,
06:41
that you can see what's below the surface,
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que volgueu veure el que hi ha sota la superfície,
06:44
hiding in the shadows,
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entre les ombres,
06:46
and recognize that there can be more there
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i admetre que hi ha molt més
06:48
than meets the eye.
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del que es pot veure.
06:50
Thank you.
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Gràcies.
06:51
(Applause)
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(Aplaudiments)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alexa Meade - Visual artistAlexa Meade paints mesmerizing, illusionistic portraits directly on living subjects, subverting familiar visual cues with perspective and color.
Why you should listen
Alexa Meade creates paintings in 3D space that make the real world appear to be a 2D painting. What may look like a traditional painted portrait is actually a photograph of a living, breathing person whose face, clothes and surroundings are all covered in acrylic paint. The 3D paintings can be photographed from any angle and maintain the illusion of flatness without the need for digital effects.
Alexa stumbled upon this technique by accident. While she was studying political science in college, she had an idea for an art project: what would it look like if she covered up shadows in the landscape with black paint? This question led her down a rabbit hole of experiments with painitng in 3D space that led to her discovery of this new style of optical illusion. She paints on people around the world who become part of the urban landscape as living street art. The photographs of the ephemeral painting performances hang on the walls of galleries and museums.
She recieved critical acclaim from CNN, Wired, NPR, the Wall Street Journal, and more. She has lectured at the CalArts, UC-Berkeley, Apple, Adobe and National Geographic London.
Alexa travels the world creating live painting performances, art installations and commisioned portraits. Currently, Alexa is collaborating with scientists and researching spacetime at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Alexa is making a series of magical paintings with David Blaine, transforming her home into a "Fun House" with Chris Hughes, developing a line of toys and volunteering in the art program at the Braille Institute.
Alexa Meade | Speaker | TED.com