- Jace Clayton
- DJ /rupture
- Posted: 10/20/11 | Recorded at Gel 2011
The most important skill for a DJ to have, explains Jace Clayton, is listening. And not only to the music: understanding the audience is just as important.
Jace Clayton performs around the world as DJ /rupture and here at Gel begins and ends his talk with exquisitely crafted samples of his work. A singular Gel presentation.
Jace's blog: negrophonic.com
Jace's radio show, Mudd Up!, is on WFMU on Mondays at 8pm Eastern.
- Kirby Ferguson
- Creator, Everything is a Remix
- Posted: 10/20/11 | Recorded at Gel 2011
- 1 comment
New York-based film producer Kirby Ferguson reveals the underpinnings of much of popular culture: remix. This is not a new idea, he argues. For hundreds of years innovators have learned their craft with an important first step: copying.
Watch the full series: Everything is a Remix.
- Perry Chen
- Co-founder and CEO, Kickstarter
- Posted: 09/23/11 | Recorded at Gel 2011
The co-founder of Kickstarter on the thinking behind his company - and the remarkable projects it helps make possible.
See also On Kickstarter, Designers' Dreams Materialize (New York Times, Sept 21, 2011).
- Louise Reilly Sacco
- Permanent Acting Interim Executive Director, MOBA (The Museum Of Bad Art)
- Posted: 06/11/10 | Recorded at Gel 2010
- 3 comments
Bad art is meant to be appreciated, which is why Louise Sacco has curated an entire museum of it since 1994. Here at Gel 2010, Louise displays some of her favorite works and describes the thinking behind the museum and its relationship to the artists.
See also: The Museum Of Bad Art
- Rachel Sussman
- Photographer of the oldest living things in the world
- Posted: 05/27/10 | Recorded at Gel 2010
Rachel Sussman takes photos of living things that are at least 2,000 years old. Here at Gel 2010 she gives a tour of some of the surprisingly old life forms she's encountered all over the world - and the lessons she's learned about persistence and longevity.
See also:
• Brief piece on the hydrozoan jellyfish (effectively immortal animal)
- Zina Saunders
- Artist
- Posted: 11/05/09 | Recorded at Gel 2009
- 2 comments
Great art can come out of frustration, as Zina Saunders shows. Her portraits of overlooked New Yorkers, and American political figures, reflect Zina's passionate view of the world.
See also:
• Overlooked New York: Impassioned New Yorkers from an Artist's Perspective
- Noah Scalin
- Creator, Skull-A-Day
- Posted: 08/12/09 | Recorded at Gel 2009
- 4 comments
To design a different skull every day for a year, it turns out, you need a little help from your friends - and some strangers, too. Noah Scalin talks about one of the boldest creative challenges you'll ever hear about.
- Ted Dewan
- Author, artist, transportation activist
- Posted: 03/31/09 | Recorded at euroGel '06
- 2 comments
Cars drove dangerously fast on Ted's residential street in Oxford, England - until he began installing activist art on the street. It brought the community together (even the mayor got on board), slowed the traffic, and improved the experience for everyone involved.
See also Ted's bio and Road Witch Trial.
- Lelavision
- Musicians, sculptors, performers
- Posted: 02/19/09 | Recorded at Gel 2008
- 2 comments
Like many of the best Gel presenters, Lelavision is difficult to describe in a few words. Are they musicians who sculpt? Or dancers who weld? Their performance here blends music, design, nature, sculpture, choreography, play, and a commitment to the simple, handmade item.
- Chris Jordan
- Photographer
- Posted: 01/13/09 | Recorded at Gel 2007
America's scale of consumption is beyond the reach of any camera... unless Chris Jordan is standing behind it. His work combines photography, information visualization, and wry commentary on the culture and environment. One of the all-time most popular Gel talks.
See more at Chris Jordan's website, or via the Seadragon iPhone app.
- Marie Lorenz
- Sculptor, boat builder, Tide and Current Taxi
- Posted: 12/16/08 | Recorded at Gel 2007
- 1 comment
Marie runs the Tide and Current Taxi, which takes passengers on a boat (that she hand-built) on voyages on New York City's East River ... with no planned destination. Her work touches on design, art, and community, which helped make it one of the most popular presentations at Gel '07.
See also the Tide and Current Taxi website.
- Sam Brown
- Artist, explodingdog.com
- Posted: 12/09/08 | Recorded at Gel 2008
- 1 comment
For years now, Sam has drawn cartoons at explodingdog.com based on reader-submitted captions. The simple-yet-rich feel of his art is a great fit with Gel, so Sam has drawn the Gel conference logo every year.
Sam was also one of the speakers at the very first Gel, back in 2003; here he describes what he's been up to in the five years since.
- Terry Border
- Artist, Bent Objects
- Posted: 12/03/08 | Recorded at Gel 2008
- 91 comments
Everyday objects take on surprising and often hilarious roles in Terry Border's hard-to-describe project. For years now, this unassuming photographer-sculptor-bargain-bin-shopper has worked with snack foods, office supplies, toys, and other items to create evocative and bizarre scenes. Making something great out of "throwaway" objects is a recurring Gel theme, and Terry's work is a perfect match.
To really get it, just watch the presentation - one of the most entertaining Gel talks ever.
