ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alexa Meade - Visual artist
Alexa 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. 

More profile about the speaker
Alexa Meade | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2013

Alexa Meade: Your body is my canvas

艾里珊.米得 (Alexa Meade): 你的身體我的畫布

Filmed:
2,815,934 views

艾里珊.米得 (Alexa Meade) 使用一種新穎的手法去創造藝術。對她來說,不只是拉緊畫布後在畫布上練習素描,而是選擇一個主題,並把它實在地畫出來。她將場景上的一切──人、 椅子、食物,只要能想到的──都以一層顏料依照畫下方的物體畫出來。在這次令人大開眼界的演講中,米得向我們展示出一些照片,一些稀奇古怪的作品,並分享了有關人、畫和牛奶的新專案。
- Visual artist
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可能 want to take a closer接近 look.
0
502
2206
你或許會想仔細地看看
00:14
There's more to this painting繪畫 than meets符合 the eye.
1
2708
3234
這幅畫比你看到的還複雜
00:17
And yes, it's an acrylic丙烯酸樹脂 painting繪畫 of a man,
2
5942
3990
是的,這張畫是用壓克力顏料
畫出來的男人
00:21
but I didn't paint塗料 it on canvas帆布.
3
9932
2432
但我並不是畫在畫布上
00:24
I painted it directly on top最佳 of the man.
4
12364
3288
而是直接畫在那個男人身上
00:27
What I do in my art藝術 is I skip跳躍 the canvas帆布 altogether,
5
15652
2734
我的藝術創作常常略過畫布
00:30
and if I want to paint塗料 your portrait肖像,
6
18386
1866
如果想替你畫一幅肖像
00:32
I'm painting繪畫 it on you, physically物理 on you.
7
20252
3640
我會畫在你身上,
實際地畫在你的身體上
00:35
That also means手段 you're probably大概 going to end結束 up
8
23892
1753
這也意味著最終
00:37
with an earful大發牢騷 of paint塗料,
9
25645
1908
你的耳朵裡可能到處是顏料
00:39
because I need to paint塗料 your ear on your ear.
10
27553
4083
因為我必須在你的耳朵上畫上你的耳朵
00:43
Everything in this scene現場, the person, the clothes衣服,
11
31636
2616
這場景內一切事物,人物、衣服、
00:46
chairs椅子, wall, gets得到 covered覆蓋 in a mask面具 of paint塗料
12
34252
3673
椅子、 牆壁,都遮蓋著一層顏料
00:49
that mimics模仿 what's directly below下面 it,
13
37925
2761
依照畫下方的物體繪畫出來
00:52
and in this way, I'm able能夠 to take a three-dimensional三維 scene現場
14
40686
3714
以這種方式,
我能創造一個三維的場景
00:56
and make it look like a two-dimensional二維 painting繪畫.
15
44400
3205
並使它看起來像一幅平面圖
00:59
I can photograph照片 it from any angle角度,
16
47621
2198
我能從任何角度拍攝
01:01
and it will still look 2D.
17
49819
3023
它看起來仍會像是二維的
01:04
There's no PhotoshopPhotoshop中 here.
18
52842
3013
這裡沒有用 Photoshop (修圖軟體)
01:07
This is just a photo照片
19
55855
1762
這只是一張相片
01:09
of one of my three-dimensional三維 paintings繪畫.
20
57617
3671
那些三維油畫的其中一幅
01:13
You might威力 be wondering想知道 how I came來了 up with this idea理念
21
61288
2120
或許你會想知道我怎麼會想到
01:15
of turning車削 people into paintings繪畫.
22
63408
2264
把人變成圖畫
01:17
But originally本來, this had nothing to do
23
65672
2794
原先其實跟人或顏料
01:20
with either people or paint塗料.
24
68466
2214
也無關的
01:22
It was about shadows陰影.
25
70680
2392
這是關於影子
01:25
I was fascinated入迷 with the absence缺席 of light,
26
73072
2620
我著迷於沒有光的世界
01:27
and I wanted to find a way that I could give it materiality實質性
27
75692
3451
想找一種方法,在它改變之前
01:31
and pin it down before it changed.
28
79143
2733
可以把它實質地固定下來
01:33
I came來了 up with the idea理念 of painting繪畫 shadows陰影.
29
81876
2525
於是我想到了畫陰影
01:36
I loved喜愛 that I could hide隱藏 within this shadow陰影
30
84401
2191
我熱愛可以隱藏在
01:38
my own擁有 painted version,
31
86592
2104
這些我畫的影子中
01:40
and it would be almost幾乎 invisible無形
32
88696
2437
而且幾乎是看不見的
01:43
until直到 the light changed, and all of a sudden突然
33
91133
2523
直至光線改變了,突然間
01:45
my shadow陰影 would be brought to the light.
34
93656
3161
我的影子就暴露在日光下
01:48
I wanted to think about what else其他 I could put shadows陰影 on,
35
96817
3063
我在想還可把陰影畫在哪裡
01:51
and I thought of my friend朋友 Bernie伯尼.
36
99880
2280
於是想到了朋友貝尼
01:54
But I didn't just want to paint塗料 the shadows陰影.
37
102160
3230
但我不僅想畫一些影子
01:57
I also wanted to paint塗料 the highlights強調
38
105390
1906
還想畫上一些加亮的部分
01:59
and create創建 a mapping製圖 on his body身體 in greyscale灰階.
39
107296
3290
在他的身體上創作
一幅貼圖製成的灰階圖檔
02:02
I had a very specific具體 vision視力 of what this would look like,
40
110586
3721
對於它會變成什麼樣子
我有一個明確的概念
02:06
and as I was painting繪畫 him,
41
114307
2173
當我給他塗顏料時
02:08
I made製作 sure to follow跟隨 that very closely密切.
42
116480
2519
我得確保畫得很相近
02:10
But something kept不停 on flickering閃爍 before my eyes眼睛.
43
118999
2881
但有些東西不停地
在我眼前忽隱忽現
02:13
I wasn't quite相當 sure what I was looking at.
44
121880
2080
我不大確定看見什麼
02:15
And then when I took that moment時刻 to take a step back,
45
123960
3606
然後當我退一步,一瞬間
02:19
magic魔法.
46
127566
1676
不可思議!
02:21
I had turned轉身 my friend朋友 into a painting繪畫.
47
129242
3710
我把朋友變成了一幅畫
02:24
I couldn't不能 have foreseen預見 that
48
132952
988
在我剛開始畫陰影時
02:25
when I wanted to paint塗料 a shadow陰影,
49
133940
2555
從未預料到會變成這樣
02:28
I would pull out this whole整個 other dimension尺寸,
50
136495
1894
把其他空間維度也一併拉出來
02:30
that I would collapse坍方 it,
51
138389
1358
然後折疊起來
02:31
that I would take a painting繪畫 and make it my friend朋友
52
139747
4525
繪畫上色,再畫一下朋友
02:36
and then bring帶來 him back to a painting繪畫.
53
144272
3434
然後把他送回到一幅畫裡
02:39
I was a little conflicted衝突 though雖然,
54
147706
2092
我心裡有點矛盾
02:41
because I was so excited興奮 about what I'd found發現,
55
149798
3322
因為我對我的發現非常興奮
02:45
but I was just about to graduate畢業 from college學院
56
153120
2304
但快要大學畢業了
02:47
with a degree in political政治 science科學,
57
155424
1776
而且會得到政治學學位
02:49
and I'd always had this dream夢想
58
157200
2534
我一直有個夢想
02:51
of going to Washington華盛頓, D.C.,
59
159734
2226
就是去華盛頓哥倫比亞特區
02:53
and sitting坐在 at a desk
60
161960
2242
坐在辦公室
02:56
and working加工 in government政府.
61
164202
2718
受僱於政府
02:58
(Laughter笑聲)
62
166920
2048
(笑聲)
03:00
Why did this have to get in the way of all that?
63
168968
3200
為什麼出現這個擋路的?
03:04
I made製作 the tough強硬 decision決定
64
172168
1578
我做了一個艱難決定
03:05
of going home after graduation畢業
65
173746
3412
畢業後就搬回家
03:09
and not going up to Capitol國會大廈 Hill爬坡道,
66
177158
3100
而不是到國會山莊去
03:12
but going down to my parents'父母' basement地下室
67
180258
2142
回到父母家的地下室
03:14
and making製造 it my job工作 to learn學習 how to paint塗料.
68
182400
3470
學習如何以繪畫為生
03:17
I had no idea理念 where to begin開始.
69
185870
3312
我不知道該從何處著手
03:21
The last time I'd painted,
70
189182
1545
最後一次繪畫
03:22
I was 16 years年份 old at summer夏季 camp,
71
190727
2439
是在十六歲時的夏令營
03:25
and I didn't want to teach myself how to paint塗料
72
193166
2448
我不想透過臨摹年老大師的作品
03:27
by copying仿形 the old masters主人
73
195614
2239
或者拉緊畫布後
03:29
or stretching拉伸 a canvas帆布
74
197853
1346
在那平面上反復練習
03:31
and practicing over and over again on that surface表面,
75
199199
3377
去學習如何繪畫
03:34
because that's not what this project項目 was about for me.
76
202576
2804
因為這並不是我想要的計劃
03:37
It was about space空間 and light.
77
205380
3102
這是關於空間和光
03:40
My early canvases畫布 ended結束 up being存在
78
208482
2843
我早期用的畫布最後都變成
03:43
things that you wouldn't不會 expect期望 to be used as canvas帆布,
79
211325
3277
某些你不會想要用來當畫布的東西
03:46
like fried油炸 food餐飲.
80
214602
2158
像煎炸食物
03:48
It's nearly幾乎 impossible不可能
81
216760
2124
讓顏料黏貼在雞蛋的油脂上
03:50
to get paint塗料 to stick to the grease潤滑脂 in an egg.
82
218884
2786
幾乎是不可能的
03:53
(Laughter笑聲)
83
221670
2076
(笑聲)
03:55
Even harder更難 was getting得到 paint塗料 to stick
84
223746
2482
讓顏料黏貼在葡萄柚的酸上
03:58
to the acid in a grapefruit葡萄柚.
85
226228
2266
就更加困難
04:00
It just would erase抹去 my brush strokes
86
228494
3112
它只會把我的筆觸效果擦掉
04:03
like invisible無形 ink墨水.
87
231606
1431
像隱形墨水一樣
04:05
I'd put something down, and instantly即刻 it would be gone走了.
88
233037
3644
我畫下任何東西,它也會立即消失
04:08
And if I wanted to paint塗料 on people,
89
236681
2102
如果我想要在人類的身體上塗顏色
04:10
well, I was a little bit embarrassed尷尬
90
238783
2736
好吧,我真是有點尷尬
04:13
to bring帶來 people down into my studio工作室
91
241519
1808
要把其他人帶到工作室來
向他們展示
04:15
and show顯示 them that I spent花費 my days in a basement地下室
92
243327
3060
我整天躲在地下室
04:18
putting paint塗料 on toast烤麵包.
93
246387
3136
繪畫在土司上
04:21
It just seemed似乎 like it made製作 more sense
94
249523
1859
在自己身上練習作畫
04:23
to practice實踐 by painting繪畫 on myself.
95
251382
3229
看起來似乎更為合理
04:26
One of my favorite喜愛 models楷模 actually其實 ended結束 up being存在
96
254611
2926
我最喜歡的模特兒之一
04:29
a retired退休 old man
97
257537
1784
是一個已退休的老男人
04:31
who not only didn't mind心神 sitting坐在 still
98
259321
2279
他不僅不介意坐著靜止不動
04:33
and getting得到 the paint塗料 in his ears耳朵,
99
261600
2549
且在耳朵裡面塗滿顏料
04:36
but he also didn't really have much embarrassment困窘
100
264149
2649
他倒是一點也不覺得尷尬
04:38
about being存在 taken採取 out into very public上市 places地方
101
266798
1991
即使把他帶到公共場合
04:40
for exhibition展覽,
102
268789
1612
展覽
04:42
like the Metro地鐵.
103
270401
3319
例如捷運
04:45
I was having so much fun開玩笑 with this process處理.
104
273720
3727
過程中,帶給我許多快樂
04:49
I was teaching教學 myself how to paint塗料 in all these different不同 styles款式,
105
277447
4244
我繼續自學嘗試畫出不同的風格
04:53
and I wanted to see what else其他 I could do with it.
106
281691
3165
看看還能做點什麼不一樣的事
04:56
I came來了 together一起 with a collaborator合作者, Sheila希拉 VandVAND,
107
284856
2957
我和拍檔希拉‧萬斯 (Sheila Vand) 一起
04:59
and we had the idea理念 of creating創建 paintings繪畫
108
287813
2308
我們有個想法
05:02
in a more unusual異常 surface表面,
109
290121
2717
在一塊更為不尋常的表面上繪畫創作
05:04
and that was milk牛奶.
110
292838
2957
就是牛奶
05:07
We got a pool. We filled填充 it with milk牛奶.
111
295795
2419
我們找到了一個水池,
把它裝滿了牛奶
05:10
We filled填充 it with Sheila希拉. And I began開始 painting繪畫.
112
298214
2976
把希拉放在裡面
然後我開始作畫
05:13
And the images圖片 were always
113
301190
2009
最後畫像總是
05:15
completely全然 unexpected意外 in the end結束,
114
303199
2184
完全出乎意料
05:17
because I could have a very specific具體 image圖片
115
305383
2744
因為我有一個非常明確的圖像
05:20
about how it would turn out,
116
308127
1323
它最後會變成的效果
05:21
I could paint塗料 it to match比賽 that,
117
309450
2256
我能畫得跟想像的一樣
05:23
but the moment時刻 that Sheila希拉 laid鋪設 back into the milk牛奶,
118
311706
2566
但當希拉躺在牛奶中的時候
05:26
everything would change更改.
119
314272
1846
所有東西都在改變
05:28
It was in constant不變 flux通量,
120
316118
2016
且不斷地變化著
05:30
and we had to, rather than fight鬥爭 it, embrace擁抱 it,
121
318134
3267
我們必須欣然接受,
而不是與其作戰
05:33
see where the milk牛奶 would take us
122
321401
1244
隨著牛奶帶領我們
05:34
and compensate補償 to make it even better.
123
322645
4144
並作出補償使畫作變得更好
05:38
Sometimes有時, when Sheila希拉 would lay鋪設 down in the milk牛奶,
124
326789
3258
有些時候,當希拉躺進牛奶裡
05:42
it would wash all the paint塗料 off of her arms武器,
125
330047
2594
她手臂上的顏料會被沖洗掉
05:44
and it might威力 seem似乎 a little bit clumsy笨拙,
126
332641
3154
這樣似乎有點笨拙
05:47
but our solution would be, okay, hide隱藏 your arms武器.
127
335795
3070
但是我們的解決方法就是把手臂藏起來
05:50
And one time, she got so much milk牛奶 in her hair頭髮
128
338865
3058
有一次,她的頭髮沾滿了牛奶
05:53
that it just smeared all the paint塗料 off of her face面對.
129
341923
2878
臉上的顏料也被擦模糊了
05:56
All right, well, hide隱藏 your face面對.
130
344801
2275
好吧,這樣的話就把妳的臉藏起來
05:59
And we ended結束 up with something far more elegant優雅
131
347076
3411
最後我們的作品
06:02
than we could have imagined想像,
132
350487
1845
比想像中的更為優美精緻
06:04
even though雖然 this is essentially實質上 the same相同 solution
133
352332
2215
即使這解決方法就像小孩子
06:06
that a frustrated受挫 kid孩子 uses使用 when he can't draw hands,
134
354547
3371
因為不會畫手而沮喪
06:09
just hiding them in the pockets口袋.
135
357918
3157
然後把手藏在口袋裡一樣
06:13
When we started開始 out on the milk牛奶 project項目,
136
361075
2534
當我們開始這項牛奶計劃時
06:15
and when I started開始 out,
137
363609
1530
當我剛開始時
06:17
I couldn't不能 have foreseen預見 that I would go
138
365139
2904
根本無法預料
06:20
from pursuing追求 my dream夢想 in politics政治
139
368043
2401
由到政治界去追夢
06:22
and working加工 at a desk
140
370444
1701
在辦公室工作
06:24
to tripping跳閘 over a shadow陰影
141
372145
1766
到為影子神魂顛倒
06:25
and then turning車削 people into paintings繪畫
142
373911
3068
繼而將人們變成油畫
06:28
and painting繪畫 on people in a pool of milk牛奶.
143
376979
3280
在牛奶池裡的人體上作畫
06:32
But then again, I guess猜測 it's also not unforeseeable不可預見的
144
380259
3408
但話說回來,我想根本不能預料到
06:35
that you can find the strange奇怪 in the familiar,
145
383667
3024
你會在熟識的事物裡找到新奇的東西
06:38
as long as you're willing願意 to look beyond
146
386691
1505
只要你肯去看遠一點
06:40
what's already已經 been brought to light,
147
388196
1571
去看那些已經熟識的東西
06:41
that you can see what's below下面 the surface表面,
148
389767
2247
那麼你就可以看得到底下蘊藏的東西
06:44
hiding in the shadows陰影,
149
392014
1991
躲在影子裡的東西
06:46
and recognize認識 that there can be more there
150
394005
2694
你會發現更多
06:48
than meets符合 the eye.
151
396699
1872
比想像中更複雜的東西
06:50
Thank you.
152
398571
1373
謝謝
06:51
(Applause掌聲)
153
399944
5339
(掌聲)
Translated by William Choi
Reviewed by Marssi Draw

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alexa Meade - Visual artist
Alexa 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. 

More profile about the speaker
Alexa Meade | Speaker | TED.com