Es Devlin: Mind-blowing stage sculptures that fuse music and technology
Es Devlin: Esculturas alucinantes que fusionan música y tecnología
Es Devlin is an artist and designer practicing across the worlds of art, music and technology. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
"The Lehman Trilogy,"
llamada "La trilogía de Lehman",
of Western capitalism
del capitalismo occidental
para esta obra.
la travesía del Atlántico,
within this single revolving cube,
en este único cubo giratorio,
through the centuries.
a través de los siglos.
around and through
de los hermanos Lehman,
with the simple, human origins
los orígenes simples, humanos,
global financial systems
sistemas financieros mundiales
myself when I was younger.
cuando era más joven.
up to your heart,
sobre el corazón,
of your whole body
and heard it translated into music.
y escucharla traducida en música.
good at the violin,
of the second violin section
de la sesión del segundo violín
that we were making
sinfónico que producíamos,
more beautiful and powerful
have managed on our own.
hubiéramos logrado por nuestra cuenta.
large-scale performances,
a gran escala,
of a symphony orchestra.
de una orquesta sinfónica.
chess piece time tunnels
inspirados en el ajedrez
for Kanye West,
y montañas para Kanye West,
the most articulate sculpture,
la escultura más articulada,
of communication to an audience.
más poético para el público.
at its most condensed,
en su forma más densa,
to be unlocked and unpacked.
a descifrar y desmenuzar.
to design Beyoncé's "Formation" tour,
"Formation" de Beyoncé,
that Beyoncé wrote.
escrito por Beyoncé.
at four or five about bad dreams
por una pesadilla, a los 4 o 5 años,
if I put my hand to the TV.
si apoyaba la mano en la TV.
an electric current running through me."
una corriente eléctrica que me atravesó".
to Beyoncé as a child
a Beyoncé cuando niña
monolítica en movimiento
to the back of the stadium.
hasta el fondo del estadio.
of a hundred thousand people
de cien mil personas
with every word together,
cada palabra juntas,
each seeking one-to-one intimacy
de una intimidad recíproca
we have to provide intimacy
debíamos conservar la intimidad
this 60-foot-high, revolving,
de la artista, de 18 metros, móvil,
the piece of paper in half.
underneath it all.
a la humanidad subyacente.
but of course translating from a sketch
por supuesto traducir un boceto
six-story building
que va de gira y debe transportarse
working around the clock for three months,
de unos ingenieros excepcionales,
with that Illuminati mess
obsesionados con esa bobería illuminati.
and my cocky fresh
y mi confiada frescura.
my Givenchy dress
mi vestido Givenchy.
his Roc necklaces
sus collares Roc.
is the experience of the audience,
es la experiencia del público,
that the audience spend with us.
pasa con nosotros.
for a hundred thousand passengers.
para cien mil pasajeros.
artist The Weeknd,
canadiense The Weeknd,
of the audience,
por complicaciones,
is the liftoff, the beginning,
el comienzo,
that you're working with
or crew to transport it.
pueden transportar.
in the arena, before the show starts.
antes que comience el show.
the story of how they came to get there,
de cómo llegó hasta allí,
to pay for the tickets.
para pagar las entradas.
outside the arena,
for an audience on their anticipation,
las expectativas del público,
of the performer.
memorable con la artista.
transformed into metaphor --
su música en metáfora...
and with three-dimensional portraiture,
con máscaras y retratos tridimensionales,
Adele's first live concert in five years,
concierto en vivo de Adele en cinco años,
of her eyes asleep.
de sus ojos dormidos.
echoing around the arena,
por todo el estadio,
we're navigating the audience
por la audiencia
of politics, poetry and music.
de política, poesía y música.
with the band and their creative teams,
con la banda y sus equipos creativos,
the band's past with their present,
de la banda con su presente,
as activists and artists,
como activistas y artistas,
to become protagonists
se convierta en protagonista
Have No Name")
Have No Name", de U2)
is like the end of a flight.
es como el final de un vuelo.
out to the audience.
del escenario al público.
an 80-foot high mechanical human figure
una figura humana mecánica de 24 metros
from music to mechanics,
de música a mecánica,
entirely technically impossible.
técnicamente imposible.
we took it to said no,
consultados dijeron que no,
the way that it was achieved
control system together
el sistema de control junto
onto a flatbed truck
en un camión de plataforma
without coming apart.
sin tener que desmontarlo.
was that the dimension of its head
que la dimensión de la cabeza
that it had to travel under on its tour.
que tuvo que recorrer en la gira.
and annoyingly low bridge
y fastidiosamente bajo
pieces that we've worked on
técnicamente en las que hemos trabajado
out of Lake Constance,
salir del lago Constanza,
of cards in the air
between sky and sea.
entre el cielo y el mar.
this flick of the wrists
este movimiento de muñecas,
that would be strong enough
lo suficientemente fuerte
that you don't see in this photograph
que no se ven en esta fotografía
and support around the back,
y soporte en la parte posterior,
that aren't on my website.
que no están en mi sitio web.
for the audience to see,
que el público no la vea,
as a stage designer,
en la escenografía,
of communicating something that's true.
la búsqueda de comunicar algo verdadero.
using things that are false?"
mediante cosas falsas?"
the shows that I've worked on,
en el que he trabajado,
who is not looking at the stage.
que no mira el escenario.
that I find equally fascinating,
igualmente fascinante,
eres testigo de esto?
that originates here,
obras que se originan aquí,
Gallery in London,
en Londres,
to donate one word to a collective poem.
una palabra a un poema colectivo.
single LED portrait
to the back of the stadium,
home with them,
to the collective poem.
al poema colectivo.
of an ever-evolving collective work.
una obra colectiva en constante evolución.
will take architectural form.
tendrá forma arquitectónica.
at the World Expo 2020.
del Reino Unido en la Expo Mundial 2020.
it's never felt this divided.
se sintió tan dividido.
with divergent voices.
las voces divergentes.
in need of places
de encontrar lugares
conectarse y converger.
that this wooden sculpture,
a bit like that violin I used to play,
un poco como el violín que solía tocar,
can play and enter their word
pueda jugar y contribuir con su palabra
a collective poem, a collective voice.
a un poema colectivo, a una voz colectiva.
in machine learning.
de aprendizaje automático.
the collective poem is pretty simple.
colectivo es bastante simple.
written by poets in the 19th century.
escritas por poetas en el siglo XIX.
of intelligence, past and present,
de inteligencia, pasada y presente,
by the words of Stephen Hawking.
de Stephen Hawking.
he asked quite a simple question:
hizo una pregunta bastante simple:
to come across another advanced life-form,
otra forma de vida avanzada,
would we speak as a planet?
hablaríamos como planeta?
reaches every audience.
llega a todo público.
None of us can hold it.
Nadie puede contenerse.
in a dark place, devoid of light.
en un lugar oscuro, sin luz.
programming the lights,
enfocando las luces, programándolas,
to sculpt and carve light.
de esculpir la luz.
to shape and reshape light,
de formar y reformar la luz,
that we no longer need to say.
que ya no necesitamos decir.
over the last 25 years
he hecho en los últimos 25 años
in synaptic sculptures,
recuerdos, en las esculturas sinápticas,
who were once present
estuvieron presentes una vez
aprendido de memoria
and you've lost all your possessions.
y uno pierde todas sus posesiones.
that I learnt by heart a long time ago.
aprendí de memoria hace mucho tiempo.
novelist E.M. Forster,
inglés E. M. Forster,
before Europe, my continent,
de que Europa, mi continente,
still resonates
we're trying to make now.
tratamos de hacer ahora.
the whole of her sermon.
Ese era todo el sermón.
entre la prosa y la pasión,
in fragments no longer."
No más vida fragmentaria".
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Es Devlin - Artist, designerEs Devlin is an artist and designer practicing across the worlds of art, music and technology.
Why you should listen
Es Devlin is an artist and stage designer. She is known for creating large-scale performative sculptures and environments that fuse music, language and light.
Devlin has conceived touring stage sculptures for Beyoncé, U2, Adele, The Weeknd and Kanye West as well as two decades of design for opera, drama and dance worldwide.
She is supported by a small team of talented designers at Studio Es Devlin who help develop and execute the design work as well as supporting Es’s expanding practice as a solo exhibiting artist.
Devlin's fluorescent red Fifth Lion roared AI-generated collective poetry to crowds in London's Trafalgar Square in September 2018. The 2016 MIRRORMAZE in Peckham, London, and ROOM 2022 at Miami Art Basel 2017 both explored reflective labyrinthine geometries and narratives. In 2018 she collaborated with theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli on an interpretation of The Order of Time read by Benedict Cumberbatch.
Her practice was the subject of the Netflix documentary series Abstract: The Art Of Design, and she has been named artistic director of the 2020 London Design Biennale. Devlin has been awarded the London Design Medal, three Olivier Awards and a UAL fellowship. She has been named RSA Royal Designer For Industry and was made OBE in 2015.
Studio Es Devlin is designing the UK Pavilion at The World Expo 2020. The Poem Pavilion will continue Devlin's work in AI-generated collective poetry first conceived with Hans Ulrich Obrist at the Serpentine Gallery In London.
Es Devlin | Speaker | TED.com