Delete ? | Thierry Bisch | TEDxLimoges

"Delete" is an international undertaking from Thierry Birsch, animal painter, aiming to make society aware of the imminent threat of extinction of a large number of species. Showing an example of one of his animations, he shares with us his decision to act for the protection of endangered animal species. You will never see the "Delete" button again in the same way.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

What is the role of an artist?

You may think,
like the vast majority of people,

that an artist's role
is to deliver a message.

When Picasso was asked,

"Master, what is your message?"

he would answser, "What message?
I am not a mailman!"

An artist is there to ask questions,

to himself first,

and then to the public

so that they seize upon them
and ask themselves in turn.

From the question is born
the thought that will lead to action.

The Anthropocene -
as Gilles told you earlier -

is the nice name that many
meteorologists and geologists

give to the current period
in our planet's history.

Anthropocene is a neologism
built from two Greek words:

"anthropos," human being,
and "kainos," new,

in reference to that new period

in which human activity has become
the major geologic constraint.

Today, it is men who alter
the environment and alter the planet,

in a very dangerous way.

I am just completing...

But "Where danger lies
also grows that which saves."

This famous sentence
of the poet Friedrich Hölderlin

has never been more relevant.

The extraordinary technological advances

which have enabled the overexploitation
of our natural resources,

this human genius can be put,

in my opinion, as a counterpart,

to the service of redemption and repair.

All of us can act,

not just engineers,
scientists and technicians ...

No, all of us, you ladies
and you gentlemen, and me ...

But to do so, we must resist.

We must resist the depressive atmosphere

and resist fatalism.

To resist is to fight the gregarious
instinct that is in each of us.

By which, I mean "consumption."

Don't worry,
I am not going to tell you,

"We must all ride bicycles, use candles,
or live under teepees!"

No.

Seriously, I think that we can,
as often as possible,

ponder and weigh up

the real consequences
of each purchase we make,

such as for example,
buying a bigger flat-screen TV,

a more powerful computer,

a more comfortable car

or even just a new clothe.

I act as a citizen,
but I also act as an artist.

Today, I want to use my expertise
to raise awareness.

The overexploitation of natural resources
has resulted, among other things,

in the extinction of a large number
of animal species.

In just 42 years, we have lost
58% of the planetary wildlife.

38% of which are terrestrial vertebrates,

because there are also fish, birds, etc.

It just so happens
that animals are my business.

My animal paintings are sold
in numerous galleries around the world -

they sell very well -

and I could go on making
a very comfortable living of this work

without questioning myself.

But I've decided
to get involved and to act.

If an artist cannot act directly

on the causes of this extinction,
on the causes of this decline,

he can nevertheless try
through the power of his art,

and as far as possible,

to convince and rally
as many people as possible

to support those who fight
for the preservation of biodiversity,

through donations aimed to fund

programs that protect wildlife
and which are very costly.

Let me remind you
that Barack Obama's first campaign

for the 2008 presidential elections,

was widely funded by $5 to $30 donations.

This year, in partnership with
Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation,

we have presented
our first campaign "Delete ?"

"Delete ?" is a series of artworks
I created to alert urban populations

to the threat to a large
number of species.

So, what should I paint to rally,

to convince,

to seduce people?

During our earliest meetings
with the Foundation, in 2015,

we discussed a lot about that.

Scientists think - and I assume
they're right about it -

that the loss of the amphibians
is far more harmful for humanity

than that of the elephants.

But I wanted to paint elephants.

Then I remembered a story
that had stuck with me.

Do you know who created this?

His name was Raymond Loewy.

He is the father of industrial design.

He is also credited for the logo
design of LU biscuits,

the Lucky Strike's packaging, Studbaker
and many Coca-Cola products,

in short, many world-famous visuals.

Raymond Loewy, as a young designer
in the 1940s and 1950s,

would go to industrial fairs
to seek out new customers,

and tell the manufacturers
at their stands,

" Your product is excellent. It works
really well. It's very effective ...

But, boy! It's so ugly!

If it were beautiful,
you would sell many more.

And I can make it beautiful! "

And this has been his life-long
motto: "Beauty sells!"

To sell an idea, it's not enough
that she be beautiful

philanthropically or philosophically,

it also has to be beautiful aesthetically,
artistically and in its modeling,

because the image is the first thing
that seizes you in the public space.

It's the image that will convince you
to want to know more about it.

Long before any sound
or anything else, the picture does it.

So, I managed to convince my partners
to go straight to the point

and show large and beautiful mammals,

such as the Panthera Tigris Altaïca.

Panthera Tigris Altaïca,

is the taxonomic name
of the Siberian tiger,

also known as the Amur Tiger.

It is the most powerful
of all the tiger subspecies.

It is also the third largest
predator on Earth

behind the Kodiak bear and the polar bear.

Males can weigh up to 350-400 kg

and measure up to 3.80 m
from head to tail.

The Siberian tiger

lives in the northeast of China
and in Eastern Siberia,

along the Amur River - hence its name -

which is the natural boundary
between this two big countries.

It lives on a huge territory

that is also a very geopolitically
strategic location.

Indeed, it is where the biggest
oil pipeline in the world runs,

the ESPO pipeline.

The ESPO pipeline goes from Eastern
Siberia to the Pacific Ocean

and runs for over 4,000 km.

In 2020, it will deliver more
than 80 million tons of crude oil

to China, Japan and Korea,

for an annual sum of $125 billion.

The stakes are colossal.

The construction of ESPO
required some deforestation,

which resulted in a partial reduction
of the tiger's habitat.

But it also opened new roads
that facilitate access for poachers.

A Siberian tiger's skin is worth
10,000 € on the black market.

Now, protection programs are costly.

You have to pay people to watch
over the tigers, fight against poachers.

It really requires funds.

The sums invested are significant -

Prince Albert II Foundation
is participating

as well as other organizations -

but the results are rewarding.

It can be done.

In the middle of the 1990s,

there were only around
30 Siberian tigers left.

Today, they number around 500.

perhaps a bit more, as we suspect
there are some in North Korea,

but going there
to count them is difficult.

So, programs are rewarding.

It allowed the IUCN -

the International Union
for the Conservation of Nature,

to downgrade the Siberian tiger

from its famous Red List
of endangered species,

from "Critically endangered"
to simply "endangered."

Now, to return to my introduction,

an artist is there to ask questions.

My question is "Delete ?"

which is in French "Supprimer."

"Delete ?" is a universally
known IT pictogram.

It is the usual way to erase
a file from a computer.

I adapted this common pictogram

to a tangible and tragic reality,

that is the extinction and the threat
to a large number of species,

by showing on large tarps
hung in the streets,

or by nocturnal projections,

mammals and animals
that are disappearing

in a very theatrical way.

During the creation of these
paintings in my workshop,

I photographed the work in progress
almost frame by frame.

This enabled us to obtain
high definition pictures

that could then be printed
on these large tarps,

and then

when looking at these images

from the last one
where the canvas is finished,

to the first one in reverse order
up to the empty background,

we can see the animal slowly disappearing.

So, we've created short videos

which were shown for the first time
during all the summer at night,

on the ramparts of the princely palace.

Passers-by could watch live
the disappearance of big mammals.

"Delete ?" engages our reptilian brain.

When we see the pictogram appear,

we sense our index finger ready to click

but, at the same time,
we feel a compelling need to resist ...

(Applause)