Ideas change everything

Taking imagination seriously

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Janet Echelman |

TED2011

• March 2011

Janet Echelman found her true voice as an artist when her paints went missing -- which forced her to look to an unorthodox new art material. Now she makes billowing, flowing, building-sized sculpture with a surprisingly geeky edge. A transporting 10 minutes of pure creativity.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

Janet Echelman found her true voice as an artist when her paints went missing -- which forced her to look to an unorthodox new art material. Now she makes billowing, flowing, building-sized sculpture with a surprisingly geeky edge. A transporting 10 minutes of pure creativity.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

This talk was presented at an official TED conference.

Read our curation guidelines.

About the speaker

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American artist Janet Echelman reshapes urban airspace with monumental, fluidly moving sculpture that responds to environmental forces including wind, water, and sunlight.

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The sky painted with unnumbered sparks

Blending art and technology, Janet Echelman created a massive, mesmerizing crowd-sourced sculpture for TED's 30th anniversary.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference.

Read our curation guidelines.