Six TED Talks on Engineering Art
Bran Ferren: To create for the ages, let's combine art and engineering
When Bran Ferren was just 9, his parents took him to see the Pantheon in Rome — and it changed everything. In that moment, he began to understand how the tools of science and engineering become more powerful when combined with art, with design and beauty. Ever since, he's been searching for a convincing modern-day equivalent to Rome's masterpiece. Stay tuned to the end of the talk for his unexpected suggestion.
Mae Jemison: Teach arts and sciences together
Mae Jemison is an astronaut, a doctor, an art collector, a dancer ... Telling stories from her own education and from her time in space, she calls on educators to teach both the arts and sciences, both intuition and logic, as one — to create bold thinkers.
David McCandless: The beauty of data visualization
David McCandless turns complex data sets (like worldwide military spending, media buzz, Facebook status updates) into beautiful, simple diagrams that tease out unseen patterns and connections. Good design, he suggests, is the best way to navigate information glut — and it may just change the way we see the world.
Golan Levin: Art that looks back at you
Golan Levin, an artist and engineer, uses modern tools — robotics, new software, cognitive research — to make artworks that surprise and delight. Watch as sounds become shapes, bodies create paintings, and a curious eye looks back at the curious viewer.
Robert Lang: The math and magic of origami
Robert Lang is a pioneer of the newest kind of origami — using math and engineering principles to fold mind-blowingly intricate designs that are beautiful and, sometimes, very useful.
John Bohannon: Dance vs. powerpoint, a modest proposal
Instead of a boring slide deck at your next presentation, how about bringing in a troupe of dancers? That's science writer John Bohannon's "modest proposal" in this spellbinding choreographed talk. He makes his case by example, in collaboration with dancers from Black Label Movement.