A Statement without Words

Miwa Matreyek's glorious visions | Video on TED.com

When we watch an animated movie, what do we see? Of course we see the animations, the special effects, and virtual programs. If we look closely enough, we can see the deeper meaning of the piece. Miwa Materyek's glorious vision combining animations and her own acting was a visual journey that leads us on a journey of ourselves and the world. This I believe is the best kind of expression. Words can be informative and factual but emotion and deeper meanings are best portrayed through visual artistic works.

The saying, "A picture is worth 1000 words" is true. It is proven in Miwa's vision with the perfect use of visual imagery. Her presentation was unbelieveable. With the visual animations and her own acting, her story told more than a 1000 words. In the presentation, the screen would have animations like cities, water, and just many appealing pieces. Incorparated with her own shadow, yes I said shadow because she moved and interacted with the animations using the outline of herself, it made the piece even more amazing.

The first part of her TED was her hand guided an apple to cut in half, then she procceded to twirl a goldfish bowl with many fish swimming inside of it. There were many intricate designs, and the animations and happenings were mostly daily events, like turning a book and cutting an apple up to eat. I think those images were to symbolise daily events and our automation. We always go on in our days, but we dont know the history behind it, and I think that is the next part of Miwa's vision.

After that she waved her hand, and the plate turned into a moon in the sky. Now instead of using the outlines of her hand, she walked into the middle of the screen, using her body as the basis of her story. Her story I thought revolved around creation, and it was the story of a woman who hunted, made fire, and lived on the island that was Miwa's back. The story of the island means that we live and grow simply, also we are able to understand nature and embrace it without hindrances. After that though, the ocean that Miwa was the island in ebbed away, and the little human walked away on the bare ground. Seconds after leaving, cities sprouted in the place the ocean was. Miwa walks through the city looking at everything, seeing even a nuclear power plant. At the end of her path there are battleships that are green with plants growing on them. I feel that the certain part of the city and the abandoned battleships meant that humans are moving way too fast, and fight till there is nothing left. Her message is we must be equal with each other and not cause strife.

The part of human connections in her TED came towards the very end. A forest appeared and out of nowhere a bowl and ingredients for a cake appeared. She mixed all the ingredients together in the bowl and in a second a cake was in the bowl's place. I believe this was the whole message of her vision. The cake symbolises every single ethinicity. When we are apart we arent tasty, but together we make something sweet.

Miwa Materyek's TED was really riveting and inspiring. I highly recommend people to watch this video as it is just fascinating and beautiful. Miya Materyek was able to weave a story that contained millions of words, without the use, of words.