TEDx Adelaide talks design innovation

Some of the TEDx Adelaide team  

Simultaneously local and global in scope and relevance, TEDx events are guided by the assertion that good ideas are worth spreading, both near and far and wide. It all started 26 years ago in California with the first conference run by non-profit organisation TED. Jump to 2011 and the list of world-leading thinkers and doers that TED can name-drop as past speakers is impressive.

The upcoming Adelaide event on 12 November 2011 promises an exciting diversity of speakers and topics united by the conference theme “ideas at the edge worth spreading”. Think cutting-edge research, technological and artistic innovation, stories of social change and activism, stories from those forging new connections and exploring the edge of possibility. Here, we speak to artistic innovators Gavin Artz and Stuart Nankivell to find out what their talks have in store and the implications for the future of design.

3D printing
The subject of Gavin Artz’s TEDx presentation has the potential to upstage all speakers that came before. It’s an emerging technology with that novelty or ‘wow’ factor that makes for great television. But according to the Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT) CEO, this technological advance could have a profound impact on all our lives.

Working from a customisable digital blueprint, a 3D printer builds up an object layer upon layer, using a nozzle or other method of depositing and solidifying the chosen construction material; plastic, metal or resin. Single items can be manufactured quickly and cheaply, thus undermining the economies of scale that drive conventional manufacturing.

“…you’re no longer thinking about factories where we have ten thousand people that require significant amounts of investment and management,” says Gavin. “We’re talking about people being able to manufacture things in their house, or even shop-front manufacturing, [that] becomes your manufacturing industry.”

ANAT is a research and development organisation that delivers programs and promotes trans-disciplinary professional collaborations that “bring a cultural aspect into science and technology research,” says Gavin. If new technologies like 3D printing render big machinery and industrial processes redundant, creative and cultural aspects will become much more important in manufacturing.

“Which is very strange for the manufacturing industry and also for the arts and the creative industries,” says Gavin, “They’re almost seen as diametrically opposed in skills that are required. With this technology both of those skills are required at the same time, so the arts need to get up to speed with what it means and the responsibilities around manufacturing and industrial processes. And business needs to understand they have to incorporate creativity otherwise they’re going to fail.“

MakerBot 3D printers will be demonstrated on the day, giving attendees the chance to see them in action and to consider the great impact this emerging technology may have on the world.

DIY Digital Art and film-making
Stuart Nankivell works as an animator, visual effects artist and graphic designer in Port Augusta, regional South Australia. Stuart’s path to TEDx can be traced back to his video interview to regional Australia-promoting the ABC Open website.

“[The local Open producer’s] job is to lift the image of the area, and finding people who can talk about interesting things,” says Stuart. “He saw a video I made for this national contest called libraryhack. It’s where you get royalty-free images, old archival stuff, black and white stuff, and do something interesting with it.”

Stuart’s entry, a short film titled Woomera - The People Behind the Rockets, was created by animating some interesting archival photos. A screening of the short will kick-off Stuart’s TEDx talk, which will focus on his approach to work and his career journey so far.

“When I was a kid I could not see how my drawing and painting and whatever I was doing at the time could transfer into a viable career. From an early age I considered them two very separate things: the things I do at school and whatever I’ll do in the workforce were entirely separate from the creative stuff in my spare time…[Now] I’m so pleased to work in an industry where I’m doing the same things I love doing in my spare time.”

Over three sessions across the day, eighteen speakers from diverse disciplinary and professional backgrounds - including Gavin and Stuart - will share their ideas with an enthusiastic audience; those in-person and those watching the live-streaming webcast. Discussions could potentially continue well into the night, with all attendees invited to the post-TEDx party at popular Adelaide nightspot Casablabla.

TEDx Adelaide is organised by Bridge8 Managing Director Dr. Kristin Alford with creative partner the Royal Institution of Australia (RiAus). The RiAus will host the conference this Saturday November 12 at the Science Exchange in Adelaide. Although the ticket allocation has been exhausted, presentations will be live-streamed from riaus.org.au/livestreaming and uploaded to YouTube and the TEDx site within TED.com.