Sculptures that’d be at home in the deep sea
-
0:01 - 0:03I was born in Taiwan.
-
0:03 - 0:04I grew up surrounded by
-
0:04 - 0:07different types of hardware stores,
-
0:07 - 0:09and I like going to night markets.
-
0:09 - 0:11I love the energy of the night markets,
-
0:11 - 0:14the colors, the lights, the toys,
-
0:14 - 0:17and all the unexpected things I find every time I go,
-
0:17 - 0:21things like watermelon with straw antennas
-
0:21 - 0:24or puppies with mohawks.
-
0:24 - 0:27When I was growing up, I liked taking toys apart,
-
0:27 - 0:29any kind of toys I'd find around the house,
-
0:29 - 0:32like my brother's BB gun when he's not home.
-
0:32 - 0:34I also liked to make environments
-
0:34 - 0:36for people to explore and play.
-
0:36 - 0:38In these early installations,
-
0:38 - 0:40I would take plastic sheets, plastic bags,
-
0:40 - 0:42and things I would find in the hardware store
-
0:42 - 0:43or around the house.
-
0:43 - 0:46I would take things like highlighter pen,
-
0:46 - 0:49mix it with water, pump it through plastic tubing,
-
0:49 - 0:52creating these glowing circulatory systems
-
0:52 - 0:54for people to walk through and enjoy.
-
0:54 - 0:57I like these materials because of the way they look,
-
0:57 - 1:00the way they feel, and they're very affordable.
-
1:00 - 1:03I also liked to make devices
that work with body parts. -
1:03 - 1:05I would take camera LED lights
-
1:05 - 1:07and a bungee cord and strap it on my waist
-
1:07 - 1:09and I would videotape my belly button,
-
1:09 - 1:10get a different perspective,
-
1:10 - 1:13and see what it does.
-
1:13 - 1:15(Laughter)
-
1:15 - 1:18I also like to modify household appliances.
-
1:18 - 1:19This is an automatic night light.
-
1:19 - 1:20Some of you might have them at home.
-
1:20 - 1:22I would cut out the light sensor,
-
1:22 - 1:24add an extension line,
-
1:24 - 1:25and use modeling clay,
-
1:25 - 1:27stick it onto the television,
-
1:27 - 1:29and then I would videotape my eye,
-
1:29 - 1:31and using the dark part of my eye
-
1:31 - 1:33tricking the sensor into thinking it's night time,
-
1:33 - 1:35so you turn on the lightbulb.
-
1:35 - 1:37The white of the eye and the eyelid
-
1:37 - 1:39will trick the sensor into thinking it's daytime,
-
1:39 - 1:42and it will shut off the light.
-
1:42 - 1:44I wanted to collect more different types of eyes,
-
1:44 - 1:46so I built this device using bicycle helmets,
-
1:46 - 1:49some lightbulbs and television sets.
-
1:49 - 1:51It would be easier for other
people to wear the helmet -
1:51 - 1:54and record their eyes.
-
1:54 - 1:57This device allows me to symbolically
-
1:57 - 1:58extract other people's eyes,
-
1:58 - 2:00so I have a diversity of eyes to use
-
2:00 - 2:03for my other sculptures.
-
2:09 - 2:11This sculpture has four eyes.
-
2:11 - 2:13Each eye is controlling a different device.
-
2:13 - 2:16This eye is turning itself around in a television.
-
2:16 - 2:19This eye is inflating a plastic tube.
-
2:19 - 2:22This eye is watching a video
of another piece being made. -
2:22 - 2:26And these two eyes are activating glowing water.
-
2:26 - 2:28Many of these pieces are later on shown
-
2:28 - 2:31in museums, biennials, triennial exhibitions
-
2:31 - 2:33around the world.
-
2:33 - 2:35I love science and biology.
-
2:35 - 2:38In 2007, I was doing a research fellowship
-
2:38 - 2:40at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum
-
2:40 - 2:43looking at bioluminous organisms in the oean.
-
2:43 - 2:46I love these creatures. I love the
way they look, the way they feel. -
2:46 - 2:49They're soft, they're slimy,
-
2:49 - 2:51and I was fascinated by the way they use light
-
2:51 - 2:52in their environment,
-
2:52 - 2:54either to attract mates, for self-defense,
-
2:54 - 2:57or to attract food.
-
2:57 - 2:59This research inspired my
work in many different ways, -
2:59 - 3:04things like movement or different light patterns.
-
3:06 - 3:08So I started gathering a lot of
-
3:08 - 3:10different types of material in my studio
-
3:10 - 3:12and just experimenting
-
3:12 - 3:13and trying this out, trying that out,
-
3:13 - 3:16and seeing what types of creatures I can come up with.
-
3:16 - 3:18I used a lot of computer cooling fans
-
3:18 - 3:22and just kind of put them
together and see what happens. -
3:22 - 3:24This is an 8,000-square-foot installation
-
3:24 - 3:25composed of many different creatures,
-
3:25 - 3:29some hanging from the ceiling
and some resting on the floor. -
3:29 - 3:30From afar, they look alien-like,
-
3:30 - 3:32but when you look closer,
-
3:32 - 3:33they're all made out of black garbage bags
-
3:33 - 3:35or Tupperware containers.
-
3:35 - 3:38I'd like to share with you how ordinary things
-
3:38 - 3:43can become something magical and wondrous.
-
3:55 - 4:01(Applause)
-
4:53 - 4:55Thank you.
-
4:55 - 4:58(Applause)
- Title:
- Sculptures that’d be at home in the deep sea
- Speaker:
- ShihChieh Huang
- Description:
-
When he was young, artist Shih Chieh Huang loved taking toys apart and perusing the aisles of night markets in Taiwan for unexpected objects. Today, this TED Fellow creates madcap sculptures that seem to have a life of their own—with eyes that blink, tentacles that unfurl and parts that light up like bioluminescent sea creatures.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 05:14
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Sculptures that’d be at home in the deep sea | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Sculptures that’d be at home in the deep sea | ||
Morton Bast approved English subtitles for Sculptures that’d be at home in the deep sea | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Sculptures that’d be at home in the deep sea | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Sculptures that’d be at home in the deep sea | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Sculptures that’d be at home in the deep sea | ||
Madeleine Aronson accepted English subtitles for Sculptures that’d be at home in the deep sea | ||
Madeleine Aronson edited English subtitles for Sculptures that’d be at home in the deep sea |