ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Eric Dyer - Artist, educator
Eric Dyer is an artist and educator who brings animation into the physical world with his sequential images, sculptures and installations.

Why you should listen

Eric Dyer spent years working at a computer to produce images for the screen. Longing to "get my hands back on the work," he returned to a tactile creative process. He began exploring the zoetrope, an early form of animation. The device, popular in the 19th century, consists of a slitted drum whose interior is lined with a sequence of images. When the object is spun, the viewer peers through the apertures in the drum and the forms appear to move. By replacing the drum with a fast-shutter digital video camera, Dyer invented the process of making films from spinning sculptures. He continues to innovate with new tools and applications, moving his work off the screen and into real spaces.

Dyer work has been widely exhibited at events and venues such as the Smithsonian National Gallery of Art, Ars Electronica, international animation festivals in numerous countries, the screens of Times Square, and the Cairo and Venice Biennales. He has been honored as a Fulbright Fellow, Sundance New Frontier Artist, Creative Capital Artist and Guggenheim Fellow. Dyer's fervent exploration of expression through motion has placed his work in books such as Re-imagining Animation: the Changing Face of the Moving Image, Pervasive Animation, Animation: A World History and A New History of Animation. He has been a visiting artist at institutions such as Carnegie Mellon University, ECNU in Shanghai, and CalArts. Dyer teaches visual arts and animation at UMBC in Baltimore, MD and is represented by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York.

More profile about the speaker
Eric Dyer | Speaker | TED.com
TEDxCharlottesville

Eric Dyer: The forgotten art of the zoetrope

Eric Dyer: A arte esquecida do zootropo

Filmed:
1,087,963 views

O artista Eric Dyer passou anos trabalhando em frente a um computador para criar imagens para as telas. Desejando voltar a mexer com as mãos em seus trabalhos, começou a explorar o zootropo, uma ferramenta popular no século 19 que era usada para criar a ilusão de movimento bem antes do filme surgir. Nesta palestra vibrante, ele mostra o resultado de suas intervenções artísticas: esculturas que giram e invocam lindas imagens que parecem um sonho. (Aviso: Essa palestra inclui imagens piscando e luzes. Aqueles que têm ataques de epilepsia fotossensível são aconselhadas a evitar assistir.)
- Artist, educator
Eric Dyer is an artist and educator who brings animation into the physical world with his sequential images, sculptures and installations. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
A long time ago,
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Há muito tempo, eu era
um animador profissional.
00:14
I was a professional animator.
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00:18
(Music)
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(Música)
00:19
[Eric Dyer]
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[Eric Dyer]
00:21
[Animator]
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[Animador]
00:22
[Compositor]
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[Compositor]
00:28
And at night,
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De noite, fazia meus filmes experimentais.
00:30
I would make my own experimental films.
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(Música)
00:32
(Music)
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00:33
And I was spending a lot of time,
way too much time, in front of a screen
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Eu passava tempo demais na frente da tela
para fazer um trabalho
que seria apresentado numa tela,
00:38
for work that would be
presented on a screen,
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00:40
and I had this great need
to get my hands back on the work again.
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e tinha uma grande necessidade
de usar minhas mãos num trabalho de novo.
00:46
Now, before "The Simpsons,"
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Antes de "Os Simpsons",
00:48
before "Gumby,"
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de "Gumby",
00:49
before "Betty Boop,"
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de "Betty Boop",
00:51
before there was such a thing
as cinema and television,
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antes de haver algo
como a televisão e o cinema,
00:54
animation was hugely popular in this form.
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a animação era muito popular nesta forma.
00:57
This is a zoetrope.
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Isto é um zootropo.
00:59
And you spin this drum,
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Você roda o tambor,
01:01
and you look through the slits
into the inside of the drum,
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e olha pelas fendas
que mostram o interior do tambor,
01:04
and you see the animation pop to life.
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e vê a animação criar vida.
01:06
This is animation in physical form,
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Isto é a animação na sua forma física,
01:09
and it's animation I could
get my hands on again.
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e era uma animação em que poderia
usar minhas mãos novamente.
01:13
I took these ideas to Denmark.
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Levei essa ideia para a Dinamarca.
01:15
I went there with my family
on a Fulbright Fellowship.
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Fui para lá com minha família
pelo Programa Fulbright.
01:19
That's my daughter, Mia.
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Esta é minha filha, a Mia.
01:22
I rode around the city on my bicycle
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Andei pela cidade com minha bicicleta
01:25
and shot all the interesting
moving elements of Copenhagen:
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e filmei todos os movimentos
interessantes de Copenhague:
01:31
the boaters in the canals,
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os remadores nos canais,
01:34
the colors that explode in spring,
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as cores que explodem na primavera,
01:36
the free-use city bikes,
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as bicicletas gratuitas de rua,
01:38
love,
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o amor,
01:40
textures,
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as texturas,
01:42
the healthy cuisine --
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a culinária saudável...
01:43
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
01:46
And I brought all that video
back into the physical world
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E trouxe todos os vídeos
de volta para o mundo físico
01:49
by printing it out on these long
strips of ink-jet paper
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ao imprimi-los nestas
longas tiras de papel inkjet
01:52
and cutting out the forms.
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e cortando as formas.
01:54
Now, I invented my own
form of the zoetrope,
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Inventei meu próprio tipo de zootropo,
01:58
which removes the drum
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que não usa o tambor
02:01
and replaces the slits
with a video camera.
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e substitui as fendas
por uma câmera de vídeo.
02:08
And this was very exciting for me,
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Isso foi emocionante para mim,
02:10
because it meant that I could
make these physical objects,
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pois, assim, podia criar objetos físicos,
02:14
and I could make films from those objects.
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e poderia fazer filmes
a partir desses objetos.
02:18
That's me riding on my bicycle.
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Este sou eu andando de bicicleta.
02:20
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
02:27
I made about 25 paper sculptures,
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Fiz cerca de 25 esculturas de papel,
cada uma do tamanho
de uma roda de bicicleta.
02:31
each the size of a bicycle wheel.
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02:34
I brought them into the studio,
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Trouxe-as de volta ao estúdio, girei-as,
02:36
spun them
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e filmei-as para fazer
o filme "Ciclos de Copenhague".
02:37
and shot them to make the film
"Copenhagen Cycles."
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02:41
(Music)
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(Música)
02:50
This project not only allowed me
to get my hands back on the work again
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Esse projeto não só me fez usar
minhas mãos no trabalho novamente,
02:53
but it helped me get my life back.
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mas me ajudou a recuperar minha vida.
02:56
Instead of spending 12, 15 hours a day
with my face plastered to a screen,
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Em vez de ficar de 12 a 15 horas
do dia com a cara de frente a uma tela,
03:01
I was having these little adventures
with our new family
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estava me aventurando
com nossa nova família
03:05
and shooting video along the way,
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e filmando tudo que via no caminho,
03:08
and it was kind of a symbiosis
of art and life.
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foi quase como uma simbiose
entre arte e vida.
03:11
And I think that it's no mistake
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Não acho que seja coincidência
03:13
that zoetrope translates
into "wheel of life."
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que a tradução de "zootropo"
seja "a roda da vida".
03:17
(Music)
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(Música)
03:23
But film and video does flatten sculpture,
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Mas, de fato, o filme
deixa a escultura achatada,
03:25
so I tried to imagine
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então, tentei imaginar
03:27
a way that animated sculpture
could be experienced as such,
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uma maneira que uma escultura animada
pudesse ser experienciada como tal,
03:31
and also a completely immersive
kind of animated sculpture.
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e pudesse ser uma escultura animada
completamente imersiva.
03:35
And that's where I came up with the idea
for the zoetrope tunnel.
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Foi quando tive a ideia
de criar um túnel zootrópico.
Você anda por ele
com um estroboscópio de mão
03:39
You walk through with a handheld strobe,
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03:41
and wherever you point the flashlight,
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e, apontando a luz para qualquer lugar,
a animação ganha vida.
03:44
the animation pops to life.
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03:46
I plan to finish this project
in the next 30 to 40 years.
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Pretendo terminar esse projeto
daqui uns 30, 40 anos.
03:49
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
03:52
But I did build a half-scale prototype.
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Mas criei um protótipo numa escala menor.
03:56
It's covered in Velcro,
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Está coberto de velcro,
consegui me deitar nessa ponte,
03:58
and I could lay inside on this bridge
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04:01
and stick animated sequences to the walls
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grudar sequências animadas
nas paredes e testar algumas coisas.
04:05
and test stuff out.
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04:07
People would comment
that it reminded them of an MRI.
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Algumas pessoas falavam que isso parece
uma máquina de ressonância magnética.
04:13
And that medical connection spoke to me,
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E essa conexão com algo
médico me intrigou,
pois, aos 14 anos, fui diagnosticado
com uma doença degenerativa da retina
04:16
because at the age of 14,
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04:17
I was diagnosed with
a degenerative retinal condition
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04:20
that's slowly taking my vision away,
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que, aos poucos, danificava minha visão,
04:23
and I'd never responded
to that in my work.
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e eu nunca havia reagido
a isso usando meu trabalho.
04:26
So I responded to it
in this piece called, "Implant."
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Finalmente reagi com esse trabalho,
chamado de "Implante".
04:31
It is an imaginary,
super-magnified medical device
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É uma ferramenta médica
imaginária e superampliada
04:34
that fits around the optic nerve.
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que ficaria na volta do nervo óptico.
04:38
And the public is, in a sense,
miniaturized to experience it.
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E o público é, de certa maneira,
miniaturizado para experimentar isso.
04:48
With a handheld strobe,
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Com um estroboscópio de mão,
pode-se explorar a escultura,
04:49
they can explore the sculpture,
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04:53
and discover thousands
of cell-sized robots
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e descobrir milhares
de robôs do tamanho de células,
04:58
hard at work, leaping
in and out of the optic nerve,
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trabalhando duro, saltando
para dentro e fora do nervo óptico,
05:01
being deployed to the retina
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e sendo implantados
na retina para repará-la.
05:02
to repair it.
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05:04
It's my science fiction fantasy cure
of my own incurable disorder.
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É a minha cura ficcional
da minha própria doença incurável.
05:08
(Machine buzzes)
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(Zumbido)
05:11
Now, in the real-world gene therapy
and gene therapy research,
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Na terapia genética
e suas pesquisas no mundo real,
05:15
healthy genes are being administered
to unhealthy cells using viruses.
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os genes saudáveis estão sendo aplicados
em células não saudáveis usando vírus.
05:21
There's a lot of colorful,
fluffy hope in this,
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Esse trabalho nos dá
uma sensação leve e policromática,
05:25
and there's also some creepy,
threatening idea
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mas nos dá, também, uma ideia
assustadora e ameaçadora
05:28
of viruses maybe becoming
an invasive species in your body.
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dos vírus se tornando
uma espécie invasora em nosso corpo.
05:36
Vision loss has helped
to take me away from the things
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A perda da visão me ajudou
a me distanciar das coisas
05:40
that disconnect me from the world.
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que me desconectam do mundo.
05:43
Instead of being sealed off
in an automobile,
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Em vez de ficar preso a um carro,
05:45
I ride my bike,
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ando de bicicleta, pego ônibus
e metrô e ando muito.
05:47
take buses and trains
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05:48
and walk a lot.
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05:50
And instead of a visually intensive
process in the studio, primarily,
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Em vez de ser um processo visualmente
intenso, principalmente, num estúdio,
05:55
I'm also getting outdoors a lot more
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também estou saindo mais
e usando mais os meus sentidos.
05:58
and using more of my senses.
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06:01
This landscape is a couple hours east
of San Diego, California.
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Esta vista é a poucas horas de distância
do leste de San Diego na Califórnia.
06:05
My brother lives out that way.
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Meu irmão vive dessa maneira.
06:08
He and I went camping there for four days.
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Eu e ele acampamos lá por quatro dias.
06:12
And I grabbed my camera,
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Eu peguei minha câmera,
e andei pelos cânions.
06:14
and I walked through the canyons.
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06:16
And I tried to imagine and figure out
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E tentei imaginar e descobrir
que tipo de movimento estaria presente
06:19
what kind of motion would be present
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06:22
in this place that was so still
and so devoid of motion.
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nesse lugar tão parado
e desprovido de movimento.
06:27
I think it's the stillest
place I've ever been.
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Acho que é o lugar mais imóvel que já vi.
06:30
And I realized that it was the movement
of my own body through the landscape
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Daí percebi que era o movimento
de meu próprio corpo pela paisagem
06:35
that was creating the animation.
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que estava criando a animação.
06:37
It was the motion of changing perspective.
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Era o movimento da mudança de perspectiva.
06:40
So I created this piece called "Mud Caves"
from those photographs.
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Fiz este trabalho, "Cavernas de Lama",
a partir daquelas fotos.
06:44
It's a multilayered print piece,
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É um trabalho impresso de muitas camadas,
06:46
and you can think of it as
a zoetrope laid flat.
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podemos dizer que é
um zootropo deitado e plano.
06:50
It's kind of my western
landscape panorama.
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É meu panorama de uma paisagem faroeste.
06:54
And next to the print piece
there's a video monitor
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Ao lado do trabalho impresso,
há um monitor de vídeo
06:57
that shows the animation
hidden within the artwork.
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que mostra a animação
escondida dentro da arte.
07:01
I think one of the best parts
about this project for me
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Uma das melhores coisas
desse projeto, para mim,
07:04
was that I got to hang out
with my brother a lot,
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foi que consegui sair muito com meu irmão,
que vive a mais de 4 mil km de mim.
07:06
who lives 2,500 miles away from me.
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07:09
And we would just sit
in this seemingly eternal landscape
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Nós apenas nos sentávamos
diante dessa vista infinita,
07:14
sculpted by water over millions of years
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esculpida pela água
ao decorrer de milhões de anos,
07:17
and talk.
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e conversávamos.
07:18
We'd talk about our kids growing up
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Falávamos sobre nossos filhos crescendo,
os lentos passos de nossos pais,
07:21
and the slowing pace of our parents,
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07:23
and our dad who's suffering from leukemia,
memory loss and infection.
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e de nosso pai que sofre de leucemia,
perda de memória e infecção.
07:29
And it struck me that, as individuals,
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Isso me comoveu, pois,
como indivíduos, somos finitos
07:32
we're finite,
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mas, como família,
somos um círculo contínuo...
07:34
but as a family,
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07:35
we are an ongoing cycle --
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07:37
a kind of wheel of life.
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meio como uma roda da vida.
07:40
Now, I want to leave you with a tribute
to one of my mentors.
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Quero deixar vocês com uma homenagem
a uma de minhas mentoras.
07:45
She reminds me that physical
presence is important
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Ela me lembra que a presença
física é importante
07:51
and that play is not a luxury,
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e que brincar não é um luxo,
mas uma necessidade.
07:54
but a necessity.
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08:02
She's Pixie,
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O nome dela é Pixie,
08:04
and she's our family dog.
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a cachorra da família.
08:10
And she loves to jump.
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Ela ama pular.
08:12
(Dog barking)
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(Latido)
08:14
(Dog barking and spring boinging)
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(Latido e som de mola)
08:20
And this is a new kind of zoetrope
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Esta é uma nova forma de zootropo
08:23
that I developed
at the Imaging Research Center
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que desenvolvi no Imaging Research Center
na UMBC, em Baltimore.
08:25
at UMBC in Baltimore.
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08:29
And I call it a "real-time zoetrope."
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Chamo-o de um "zootropo em tempo real".
08:31
(Dog barking)
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(Latido)
08:33
(Dog barking and spring boinging)
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(Latido e som de mola)
08:37
Thank you.
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Obrigado.
08:38
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Eric Dyer - Artist, educator
Eric Dyer is an artist and educator who brings animation into the physical world with his sequential images, sculptures and installations.

Why you should listen

Eric Dyer spent years working at a computer to produce images for the screen. Longing to "get my hands back on the work," he returned to a tactile creative process. He began exploring the zoetrope, an early form of animation. The device, popular in the 19th century, consists of a slitted drum whose interior is lined with a sequence of images. When the object is spun, the viewer peers through the apertures in the drum and the forms appear to move. By replacing the drum with a fast-shutter digital video camera, Dyer invented the process of making films from spinning sculptures. He continues to innovate with new tools and applications, moving his work off the screen and into real spaces.

Dyer work has been widely exhibited at events and venues such as the Smithsonian National Gallery of Art, Ars Electronica, international animation festivals in numerous countries, the screens of Times Square, and the Cairo and Venice Biennales. He has been honored as a Fulbright Fellow, Sundance New Frontier Artist, Creative Capital Artist and Guggenheim Fellow. Dyer's fervent exploration of expression through motion has placed his work in books such as Re-imagining Animation: the Changing Face of the Moving Image, Pervasive Animation, Animation: A World History and A New History of Animation. He has been a visiting artist at institutions such as Carnegie Mellon University, ECNU in Shanghai, and CalArts. Dyer teaches visual arts and animation at UMBC in Baltimore, MD and is represented by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York.

More profile about the speaker
Eric Dyer | Speaker | TED.com