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Written by NATASHA TSAKOS for the TwentyThirty United Nations SDSN Youth Project
Adapted & Edited into a video essay by NATASHA TSAKOS
Music ALBINONI, Adagio in G Minor
ARTISTS & ART FEATURED: * Leonardo da Vinci, The Mona Lisa * The Mona Lisa satire, Artist not found * Jeff Koons, Balloon Dog * Nazi Pin Up Girl, Nazi Propaganda, Artist Unknown * Tom Friedman, 1,000 Hours of Staring * Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn Diptych, 1962 * David Bowie * Lady Gaga * Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup Cans * Ron Mueck, life size sculpture, title unknown * Inbal Pinto, Wrapped * Bot & Dolly, Box * Pina, a movie by Wim Wenders, tribute to legendary choreographer Pina Bausch * Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Les Étés de la Danse * The Sanctuary of Christ the King, Almada, in Portugal, Francisco Franco de Sousa * John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie, American jazz trumpeter * Slava Polunin, Slava’s Snow Show * Album cover for Jh-Anu - Dark Matter (SANY-ON Remix), Artist not found * Michael Jackson * Marilyn Manson * Mike Parr, Bronze liars (minus 1 to minus 16) 1996 * Burning Man, Love, Alexander Milov * Salvador Dali, Caravan * Marina Abramovic, The Artist is Present * Michael D'Antuono, A Tale Of Two Hoodies * Damien Hirst, Cow Head * Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, 1917 * Spencer Tunick, volunteers posing on the largest glacier in the Alps, Aletsch, Switzerland * World's first HOLOGRAM protest, Madrid Spain, Artist not found * Shepard Fairey, Obama * Animators at work, Pixar * Data visualization, Artist not found * Jil Love, poetic protest * Gustavo Dudamel, conductor * Gustavo Dudamel, students practicing * Amy Bishop during the “Brain on Art” EEG at the Blaffer Art Museum * New World Symphony, New World Center, Wallcast * Various Posters on Broadway * Great Sphinx of Giza, Egypt * Dr. V. Ganapati Sthapati, Thiruvalluvar Statue, Tamil Nadu, India * Leonardo da Vinci, drawings and inventions * Gustave Eiffel's company, Eiffel Tower * Acropolis of Athens, commissioned by Pericles * Opera singer, unknown * Man unknown * Bob Marley * Hans Namuth, Jackson Pollock © Estate of Hans Namuth * Ernest Miller Hemingway * Unknown Man, Magic Leap Offices * Keith Arnatt, Trouser - Word Piece 1972–89 * Shirin Neshat, 1994, Rebellious Silence (from the series Women of Allah) * Awol Erizku, Girl With A Bamboo Earring * Ai Weiwei, Sunflower Seeds * Martin Luther King, The Selma to Montgomery marches * Lars Jan, Holoscenes * Jim Carrey, in his studio * Engineer, Magic Leap * Scientists from the University of Rochester * Artists for Haiti, We are The World * 24 CEOs in the White House's State Dining Room to discuss American manufacturing * Pharrell Williams, Scott Vener, Aziz Anzari & DJ Khaled, OTHERtone Episode 14 * Ohad Naharin, Choreographer, Gaga technique * Tilt Brush, Google * Michal Trpak, Escape into reality * George Lucas, on the set of Star Wars * Looking at Mars and Earth
The word "Art" is probably one of the most ambiguous and controversial words ever.
What is Art? Is all Art equal? Is all Art good? Can good art be bad? What makes a work of Art? What makes an Artist? Aren't we all artists? Is an artist an artist if the art is not "Art"?
I have to confess, I am a little bit of an art snob. I have my opinions and preferences, and If I find a performance amazing, of course everybody should find it amazing! But how arrogant and foolish, because that's not the point. All this time I was missing the point. My taste, your taste, may not matter at all.
Art is not there to please or displease us. It is there to augment reality and offer possibilities. It is there to amplify the human condition, reflect the zeitgeist of Time and provoke us from emotion, to question, to action, to change. Artists are change makers. They are social sensors and transmitters of ideas. And in an increasingly data driven world, Artists have been taken for granted because these qualities are hard to quantify, yet bring a fundamental value to society.
We know Art is good for the brain, for the soul, for education, good for communities and good for the economy. We know the Arts are the archives of our human history, the wind of invention and the heartbeat of humanity. It is not so much about the 'pleasing' outcome, but about the intent, impact and process, which is critical to innovation.
We, Artists, might have been taken for granted, it's true. But I think we have also taken our potential for granted: our ability to play and imagine, to question and problem solve, to look at life through different lenses and invent. Artists need to be at the table today and part of the operating system of solutions, where their creativity transcends their current media of expression, and truly enacts change in a deeply interconnected world. Artists as Innovators: that's what I envision for 2030 and beyond. - Natasha Tsakos
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