Justine Law - JR TED Talk

http://www.ted.com/talks/jr_s_ted_prize_wish_use_art_to_turn_the_world_inside_out.html

The TED Talk that I chose was one by French artist JR; he is the 2011 TED Prize Winner, and in this video he reveals his TED Prize Wish. Not much is known about the personal life of JR. He does not talk about what he majored in or if he even went to university. However, I find something in what he does that inspires me. He is a self proclaimed “urban artivist,” a mix of an artist and an activist. He started off at age 15 as a graffiti artist, writing his name all over France, using Paris as his canvas. At age 17 he started pasting photos on public walls instead of painting directly on the walls, making his own sidewalk galleries. He was not afraid to show the public his art; he didn’t need the approval of galleries or museums.

He also talks about how, in Paris during a flaming riot, he went out into the scene and took portraits of the rioters. They made scary faces and caricatures of themselves in the photos to reflect what they were feeling on that day. The next day, JR pasted large posters of these people, and a year later the exhibition was placed in front of the City Hall of Paris. He also took action during the Palestinian and Israeli conflict. The media had made it seem that those two sides were so different, that they had nothing in common; he wanted to show that the media twists the truth sometimes. He took pictures of Palestinians and Israelis to show that those individuals are not that different. This was the biggest illegal art project ever, called “Face to Face.” Even four years after, most of the images are still there, and it actually did make a difference within those communities.

JR created a project, “Women Are Heroes,” to pay tribute to the hard work that women do for society every day. He took their pictures and pasted them around the world. Communities were brought together, and he was able to tell stories about the troubles that people go through. One thing that he talked about that caught my attention was when the media tried to find more about the project that JR and some of his friends were doing. They could only film from a helicopter, and they could not ask what they were doing directly. Right after JR was done with the project, he would leave the city and move on to the next one. That way, if the media wanted to know more, they would have to go to the women of the community and get the story from them. This created a bridge between the media and the common person.

I think that JR is a leader in his field because he is able to successfully get his message across to mass amounts of people. Because I want to be an artist as well, I think that his boldness and his courage to put himself out there will really help me in the long run. He is able to bring people’s stories around the world. Art can change the world; first it is a neutral place for discussion, then it changes one’s perception, and it changes the way we see the world. An important quality of JR’s is that he stands up for what he believes in and he is not afraid to reveal things to the world. He says that what we see becomes who we are and we have to create something that the world will remember.

As for myself, I probably want to major in art (studio art, specifically) and maybe minor/double major in Advertising, Marketing, or Business. In my future career I want to be able to teach people new things and open them up to new opinions and give them a new outlook on a certain subject. As for additional schooling, I don’t really know what I want to do, but probably the first job I apply for would be an advertising job, and if that doesn’t work out, I would have my art to fall back on. Getting into an art school or a university with a strong art program is hard in itself, so hopefully I'm taking the rights steps in that direction. In my spare time I draw and paint pieces of and for my favorite musicians, and I give it to them at their concerts. I started a clothing line with my best friend last summer, and I have been commissioned by my dentist to paint murals/canvases in his office. I take art classes 3 times a week and by the end of senior year, I will have taken all the art classes that Saint Francis has to offer. This summer I'm attending an art program at UCLA, and will also be teaching at an art camp for the second time. After high school I want to continue having exhibitions and continue having my art displayed in galleries. Hopefully this all gets me to where I want to be.