Yesterday, I have the privilege of attending a simulcast of TED 2011 at the Trinity Cathedral in downtown Phoenix.  The simulcast was hosted by my friend, Bob Diehl.  Bob is the organizer of the upcoming TEDxScottsdale.  The Valley was one of over 70+ TEDx cities around the world that gathered to watch the simulcast.

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out in 1984)as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.  From TED:

The TED Conference, held annually in the spring, is the heart of TED. More than a thousand people now attend, the event sells out a year in advance, and the content has expanded to include science, business, the arts and the global issues facing our world. Over four days, 50 speakers each take an 18-minute slot, and there are many shorter pieces of content, including music, performance and comedy. There are no breakout groups. Everyone shares the same experience. It shouldn’t work, but it does. It works because all of knowledge is connected. Every so often it makes sense to emerge from the trenches we dig for a living, and ascend to a 30,000-foot view, where we see, to our astonishment, an intricately interconnected whole.

It was an amazing event.  I’m a TED junkie, who is constantly downloaded TED talks, so I was very familiar with the format and quality of talks before walking in to the screening room.  However, there was something special about seeing the event unfold live and  witness the behind the scenes interactions that unfolded between the incredible presentations.  More importantly, it was great to watch the event surrounded by a community of people and be able to discuss and debate the often contreversial issues presented during the talks.

While there were too many highlights to discuss here (I spent nearly two hours talking to my wife about what inspired me last night), there is one highlight that In wanted to bring to your attention—this year’s TED prize winner.

The TED Prize

The TED Prize is awarded annually to an exceptional individual who receives $100,000 and, much more important, “One Wish to Change the World.” Designed to leverage the TED community’s exceptional array of talent and resources, the Prize leads to collaborative initiatives with far-reaching impact.

The Winner

JR owns “the biggest art gallery in the world.” He exhibits in the streets of the world, catching the attention of the people on the street, not the dedicated museum visitors. His work mixes ‘Art and Act’ and looks at issues of commitment, freedom, identity and limit.

His work has become a worldwide phenomenon with exhibits in sites around the world from Rio de Janeiro to Jerusalem and Amsterdam to Africa.

You can find out more about JR and hos work on JR’s website.

JR’s Wish

I wish for you to stand up for what you care about by participating in a global art project, and together we’ll turn the world…INSIDE OUT.

Watch JR’s work, be inspired and find a story to share:

The Plan

Create a large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work. Everyone will be challenged to use black and white photographic portraits to discover, show and share the untold stories and images of people around the world. These digitally uploaded images will be made into posters and sent back to the project’s co-creators for them to exhibit in their own communities. People can take part as an individual or in a group; posters can be placed anywhere, from a solitary image in an office window to a wall of portraits on an abandoned building or a full stadium. These exhibitions will be documented, archived and viewable virtually.

Calling Phoenix to Action

As part of the above project, JR has offered the opportunities for communities to get together and take part as a group, focusing on a central issue or statement.  I think this would be a natural fit for Phoenix.  Not only do we have a surplus of empty buildings and blank walls around town, we have several prominent human and social rights issues to make a statement about.