Emily Parsons-Lord: Art made of the air we breathe
Emily Parsons-Lord: De l'art fait grâce à l'air que nous respirons
Emily Parsons-Lord makes cross-disciplinary contemporary art that is informed by research and critical dialogue with materials and climate science. Full bio
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à un espace vide
chemistry teacher with really long socks
de mon prof de chimie au lycée,
portant de grandes chaussettes,
connectées à d'autres bulles
connected to other bubbles,
se heurtent dans une soupe agitée.
and collide in a kind of frantic soup.
about the air that much at all.
à voir l'air ainsi.
sensorielle désagréable,
sensory intrusion upon it,
visible comme de la fumée ou de la brume.
or something visible like smoke or mist.
gases that envelop the Earth,
invisibles enveloppant la Terre,
gravitationnelle de la Terre.
gravitational pull.
the invisibility of the air.
une compréhension innée de sa matérialité
understanding of its materiality
through gas exchange,
via un échange gazeux,
right now together take
en dioxyde de carbone.
in carbon dioxide.
17 breaths per minute
17 respirations par minute,
à 45 millions de litres d'air,
45 million liters of air,
en dioxyde de carbone,
Olympic-sized swimming pools.
18 piscines olympiques.
aussi petit que notre respiration
as small as our breathing
and maybe it doesn't matter.
peut-être cela importe peu.
pas tellement de le visualiser,
tactile et haptique.
and tactile and haptic.
of the aesthetic, how things look,
d'esthétique, l'apparence des choses,
comment la sensation sur votre peau,
like how it feels on your skin
quand il passe à travers.
as it passes through it.
but most importantly,
l'odeur, mais surtout,
que nous lions aux différents types d'air.
to different kinds of air.
d'air : journal d'une plante »,
of Air: A Plant's Diary,"
from different eras in Earth's evolution,
de l'évolution de la Terre
à venir le respirer avec moi.
to come in and breathe them with me.
drastiquement différent.
so drastically different.
will look for traces
dans l'air contenu dans les roches,
l'oxydation des roches,
et les rassemblent
that information and aggregate it,
constituer une recette
pretty much form a recipe
and take that recipe
je prends cette recette
les gaz qui la composent.
in moments of time
de la vie modifiant l'air,
of life changing the air,
comment la vie va évoluer.
how life will evolve,
million years ago.
as the time of the giants.
comme étant l'ère des géants.
in the history of life,
dans l'histoire de la vie,
dont les arbres sont faits.
that trees are made of.
ce qui sera leur tronc,
their own trunks at this time,
bigger and bigger,
oxygen, releasing oxygen,
sont environ deux fois plus élevés
are about twice as high
massive insects --
d'énormes insectes --
d'une envergure de 65 centimètres.
with a wingspan of about 65 centimeters.
and really fresh.
très propre et très frais.
un subtil élan d'énergie.
a really subtle kind of boost of energy.
Permien-Trias --
252,5 millions d'années,
en termes géologiques,
geologically speaking,
in Earth's history,
de l'histoire de la Terre,
the dinosaurs died out.
que l'extinction des dinosaures.
at this time die out,
de cette époque se sont éteintes.
et dramatique de dioxyde de carbone.
dramatic spike in carbon dioxide,
eruption of volcanoes
d'une éruption volcanique
to below half of what they are today,
étaient moins de la moitié des actuels,
aux besoins de la vie humaine,
support human life,
like soda water.
de l'eau gazeuse.
assez plaisant.
quite pleasant.
about air of the past,
sur l'air du passé,
à l'air de l'avenir.
about the air of the future.
sera l'air du futur,
might be the future air,
synthétisé par l'humain.
anywhere in nature,
nulle part dans la nature,
dans un laboratoire
dans différents milieux industriels.
industrial settings.
once it's released,
quand il sera libéré,
avant qu'il ne soit décomposé.
before it's broken down.
some very sensual qualities.
quelques qualités sensuelles.
than the air we're used to breathing.
que l'on a l'habitude de respirer.
that when you breathe it in,
que quand vous l'inspirez,
seront eux-aussi assez lourds,
are kind of literally heavy as well,
tombent sur le sol
and drop to the floor
quite a lot like a liquid.
assez comme un liquide.
with an ethical dimension as well.
avec une dimension éthique.
à effet de serre le plus puissant
greenhouse gas
that of carbon dioxide,
24 000 fois celui du dioxyde de carbone
of 12 to 16 generations.
de 12 à 16 générations.
is really central to my work.
est centrale à mon travail.
another quite surprising quality.
plutôt surprenante.
le son de votre voix.
quite dramatically.
It's still there a bit.
oh, il agit encore un peu.
au changement climatique,
et aux volcans en éruption,
giant insects and erupting volcanoes
comme le recul des glaciers
and polar bears adrift on icebergs.
à la dérive sur des icebergs.
and column graphs
en camembert et en colonnes,
parlant à des scientifiques en cardigan.
talking to scientists wearing cardigans.
de penser au changement climatique
thinking about climate change
que notre ressenti de l'air.
that we experience the air.
at the scale of the molecule,
est à la fois à l'échelle de la molécule,
self-portrait of humanity.
l'auto-portrait collectif de l'humanité.
en tant qu'individus,
I've learned from looking at air,
en m'intéressant à l'air,
it's changing, it persists.
de la vie telle que nous la connaissons
that we'd recognize,
aux besoins de quelque chose.
part of that change,
faisons tant partie du changement,
de ressentir la discussion.
that we can feel the discussion.
une trace éclatante dans l'air.
a very vibrant trace in the air.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Emily Parsons-Lord - ArtistEmily Parsons-Lord makes cross-disciplinary contemporary art that is informed by research and critical dialogue with materials and climate science.
Why you should listen
Through investigation into air and light, both conceptually, and culturally, Emily Parsons-Lord interrogates the materiality of invisibility, magic and the stories we tell about reality, the universe and our place in time and space. Tragi-humour, scale and invisibility are often used as access points her conceptual art practice.
Based in Sydney, Australia, Parsons-Lord's recent work includes recreating the air from past eras in Earth's evolution, recreating starlight in colored smoke, created multi-channel video and experimenting with pheromones, aerogel and chemistry. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally and participated in the Bristol Biennial – In Other Worlds, 2016, Primavera 2016 (Australia's flagship emerging art exhibition), Firstdraft Sydney and Vitalstatistix, Adelaide.
Parsons-Lord completed a bachelor of digital media (First Class Honours) 2008 at UNSW Art & Design, and a masters of peace and conflict studies from University of Sydney, 2010. She has been a researcher in residence at SymbioticA, at the Univeristy of Western Australia, and has had solo exhibitions at (forthcoming) Wellington St Projects 2017, Firstdraft in 2015, Gallery Eight in 2013 and the TAP Gallery in 2007, among many others.
Emily Parsons-Lord | Speaker | TED.com