Watch the following videos and reflect on each video. Answer the questions:
– What was the purpose of watching these TED talks?
– What did you learn from each talk?
– What is your take on each of the talk?
Lucy McRae – https://www.ted.com/talks/lucy_mcrae_how_can_technology_transform_the_human_body?language=en
Lucy McRae shows her work as a “body architect” through her short TED talk. Her work is very varied, but all deals with accentuating the human form, almost as another step of evolution. She discusses the idea that there are no limits, and suggests that her work, or design in general, can surpass natural evolution entirely. This is especially apparent with her consumable perfume idea, which entirely changes the way its users’ perspiration smells, thus overriding our natural hormonal adaptation. As such, McRae shows that design can be taken to an extreme and does not even need to be limited to the most intense constraints of nature. I think this is wonderful inspiration for Project 2, especially in terms of aesthetic form.
Neil Harbisson – https://www.ted.com/talks/neil_harbisson_i_listen_to_color?utm_source=tedcomshare&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tedspread
Artist Neil Harbisson shows that sometimes, added sensory input can be a wonderful thing. He has an antenna that allows him to hear color in order to remedy his colorblindness. His TED talk is about the beauty of being able to perceive what he had been missing, even if colors are translated to sounds. He does not distinguish between the two and visual perception takes an auditory form in his case. He sees colors as audible melodies, which, if you think about it, is not any different than seeing colors as arbitrary indescribable visual melodies. This shows that design can create wearable that are so useful that they become ingrained into the user’s consciousness. For Project 2, this is a great standard to hold in terms of how functional the piece can be.
Viktoria Modesta – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fiSAXr4UME
Viktoria Modesta uses her own disability as a platform both for exploring her own body and for inspiring others to be comfortable doing so as well. The prosthetics that she uses are simply a further step of self-expression, a way to even replace what normally is natural on humans with something that is more personal. In using such unique prosthetics and shamelessly showing off her disability, she gives other disabled people inspiration to experiment themselves. This is a great example of using art and design for a social message and to effect change, and this gets me thinking about what message my own project could have.
