Ursus Wehrli: Tidying up art

[Flor1395]

anyone knows the name of the paint at 09:50? :)

[Flor1395]

the shaking hands thing, omg hahaha

[Skraap]

Hello, 9gag.

[scudder99]

Seems a bit of a gimmick.

[TheRealMattChan]

this takes OCD to a whole new level.

[d34d23]

I don't really understand the point of this one...

[greijscha]

really advanced tidying up. meega guut. dankä ursus :D

[droidi]

12:25!



[marksnoise]

FANTASTISCH!

[lakeavenue]

Oh my that breathing!! I agree with everything he says, makes me wonder if I have OCD lol...

[CrazyTurkBoy]

i think, the jackson pollock thing was the best :)

[absolutmod]

One trick pony...

[humansforbreakfast]

I only noticed the breathing after that guy pointed it out.

[joannema7]

Great way to introduce art in a unique way!

[kurtilein3]

to anyone complaining about his accent:

unless you are able to speak two languages, and both with less accent than he has (including the inhales of part of the accent), dont complain. When i speak english, i sound like arnold schwarzenegger, but im very much able to communicate. And im capable of not only doing english-german translations (do it professionally), but now in written form even german-english. getting rid of the accent is as much work as learning the language, i think.

[kurtilein3]

now he is tidying up reallife, youtube for "Herr Wehrli räumt die Badewiese auf" or "Herr Wehrli räumt den Parklplatz auf", in which he tidys up people at a lake, and a parking lot. He now also organizes things like a fruit salad, or a fir branch. and of course alphabet soup.

he has progressed quite a lot since this tedtalk, i would say: time to re-invite him. thumbs up if you look at his new stuff and agree ;)

[savikovic]

isn't rolex handmade?

[kurtilein3]

@savikovic

yes, with swiss presision. they laser-cut many of the parts. they use the most modern machines, and quality control is, well, stringent.

[batnoseswartzy]

Carrot Top meets Contemporary art?? I think I dig it.

[LizaWall]

Is he okay? :/ What's up with his inhales? D:

[pienoceros]

@LizaWall He's not used to speaking in public and he's speaking a foreign language. He hasn't developed a speaking rhythm that includes normal breathing.

[kurtilein3]

@pienoceros

also, his native language is swiss german, german with a very heavy swiss accent, it sounds really funny for people that speak that unified thing called high (contemporary, urban) german. this means he can produce a larger variety of sounds compared to the average german speaker, but these people suffer from something that is the opposite of pride in language, they have a language complex. when they learn english, the accent they develop is different from the typical german accent.

[LizaWall]

@pienoceros Ohh, phew. x)

[p3destrian]

funny!

[Mokurentate]

Gawd his accent is so hot! XD ♥

[TheOffenderDeadlock]

12:30 great :)))!!

[MissJaike]

i love this! su funny XD

[emin1471985]

haha that is so predictable! someone already managed to confuse swiss and swedish :) for these people austria and australia are two versions of one country :D

[highfatmilk]

Sweeeeeedishhhh men…..hahhh. 

[swissnpatriotic]

@highfatmilk he's not swedish he's SWISS....

[Mslaralah]

Fine sense of humor one always appreciates this.

[wehrli18]

search:"ursus und nadeschkin"

[ashtray45]

HAHA! Awesome!

[youngnewtonian]

Haha... Really funny!!

[LUCIDity2009]

Brilliant! ;o)

[hoomelemele]

great comedy act, why is he at TED?

[MathausLC]

Technology Education Design

Art involves design.

[ashtray45]

The 'E' stands for entertainment.

[Malephex]

It's satire. Imposing order on life is not always desirable.

[DontTouchMyTea]

I have his books! I never knew he gave a speech at TED. That makes me immensely happy.

[jimmshorts]

now that's why the cliche "thinking outside the box" exists!

[OnePineTree]

Very charming and entertaining! Enjoy it!

[InsectRoyalty]

Hilarious!

I was actually trying to find his meaning. Some, substance behind the humour, some lesson...then I realized that wasn`t the point.

Or was it?

OH..art!

[GiorgosLazarou]

haha that was pretty funny, I enjoyed the paint being put back into the container joke

[julian1000]

I really like the talk, but the breathing started to bothering me after like 10 minutes...

still a good speech though.

[Agaettis]

Sounds like he has asthma...maybe made worse by being nervous?

[redenthor2]

@julian1000 You're right... his breathing makes me colapse...

[kikongbilog]

@julian1000 Shouldn't have read your comment, now I can't stand the breathing D:

[Flor1395]

@kikongbilog same! I read the comment first and now all I can hear is the breathing D:

[imphotephe]

@julian1000 since you mentioned, it started to bother me as soon as reading your comment :-/

[highway234]

jesus, the swiss are going to start world war iii.

can't you see it?

[DigitalAssassin]

Very good talk. How is this analysis of art any less valid than the "...the internal elements of the painting and the distribution is perfect; the smaller part of the picture's elements are points, that together complement each other..." sort?

[nilbud]

This guy and Hans Rosling should do a double act.

[ameera14]

amazing

[waitingastar]

oh my god jackson pollock, seurat

LMAO! i love this!

[OneAngryAsian]

pretty entertaining. only annoying part is his constant gasping for air

[blindignition]

This guy must have emphysema or something.

[Furthen]

TED oughta mute those parts.

[JayAre561]

This guy is good, great delivery. He does well speaking infront of people, despite his language barriers. He surprised me with the American flag, I loved it!

[Linnert111]

I think the rearrangement of the american flag was the cuban flag. But apparently few people got it.

[Yellowcowie]

i'm not sure what flag it is, but its not the cuban flag, that flag has a triangle on the right.

[Linnert111]

True. I meant that it was rearrangement of the cuban flag. Both, the american and the cuban flag are a combination of the same colors. I think it was a joke of the lecturer.

[chunkybutt420]

he is kinda like the high classed carrot top :)

[easthawaiiculture]

Aloha from the East Hawaii Cultural Center, Hilo, Hawaii! Fantastically funny...mahalo (thanx) for

Ursus' frolicking vision and TED's sense of humor! Anything new on the 2009 Pangea Events?

[jaspertine9]

Funny!

[igorkrupitsky]

Any Art is about beauty and status. Thanks to modern technology, beauty is cheap. Thus Modem Art is only about Status. To be a high Status, a painting has to be produced by a famous artist and has to be unique. Paradoxically, Modern art can be ugly. Ursus uncovers this paradox by making Modem Art beautiful.

[IAmSatirizingYou]

Wow, you've entirely neglected a massive component of the arts. The arts are meant to convey a message, make an observation, and inspire and provoke thought. If all you gather from the arts are superficial qualities like status and visual attractiveness, then I truly pity you.

[igorkrupitsky]

IAmSatirizingYou,

Do you truly believe that the person that purchased a piece of Modern art for million of dollars does it because it conveys a message, makes an observation or provokes a thought??? It seems more likely that he does it to impress his friends... He would be horrified if he discovered that it was a fake.

[Nimzomyth68]

I thing you have completely missed the point.

[Qieth]

This was quite amusing!

[haeyoungsmu]

ha ha this is like a German Joke right. very economical and efficient art. yeah.

great clip.

[xanthus1]

I'm not quite sure I get the point.

I mean I can form my own opinions and perspectives about re-organizing the shapes in art and what it can mean/ do, or a point that can be formed from the information he provides. But why does HE do it, what is it really doing at all for HIM? Where's the substance in all of this?

[bluesrunthegame]

In seeking meaning thou looks past it.

[Arghira]

that is romanian flag at 12:05 red yellow and blue ;)

[LeftOfToday]

I enjoyed this presentation.. Intelligent humour =]

[timabad]

next their going to have carrot top... this is crap.

[jdrizd2]

Modern art like modern music is a farce. I was astounded by the video where the intellectual playing the banjo was out of key. Only before he spoke.

[stevenaudet]

Why are artists always using "I" so often. It seems like the whole world turn around them and it's lame. They always describe things from "I", from their view, never as "it", as something out of them... Donno, just making a statement.

By the way (translated part)

-Es war nicht so schwer zu verstehen!

[GabrielGZNH]

Woah, relax, take a deep breath....... Noooooo,not that deep!!!

[MihaZ]

it was definately pretty funny, but also quite useless haha.

[TheHolyCow92]

Was there any point to that video. I thought that TED was supposed to have speakers that talk about relevant issues. How is this video relevant to anything?

[ehsanul]

They have people there just to talk about interesting things that don't matter too.. Just for entertainment, just like they have musicians.. Music is generally not part of "relevant issues", but people do enjoy it. And that's the point of including it really, I guess.

[amozoness6]

Interesting thought but it's rather poor.

[ELuhn]

The NEA of OCD. Very funny.

My only complaint is that I needed to use an inhaler after watching. And I don't have asthma.

[bersaba]

*GAAAAAASP*

Yes, he was great, funny, and all that, but his gasping on the mic was annoying as hell.

[TheBirdsGoTweet]

Is this guy an artist himself? If so it would make this presentation a lot less awkward and not as offending to some artists if this is his sort of style.

[Flyborg]

*GAAAAAASP*

[OhThePain111]

He MUST have a breathing issue or something :P

[jameslikebond]

interesting!:)

[Jessiqua42]

:( sad american. i feel picked on.

[Animalll2003lll]

stupid guy & project. hehehehe.

[ViolaeGM]

This IS comedy right?

[yellowmellowzz]

very interesting idea, and he's really attractive! :]

[isegoria1]

Watch them all gulp and sign, "O boy we have really slid down the scale haven't we?" - ahhh STUPID ahhhp

[ssnatcherss]

It's funny how all the comments are about his breathing... including this one.

[Nykytyne2]

The premise of this is hilarious, although yes the breathing is somewhat distracting.

[devourerofbabies]

Funny for about a minute.

[tossmeacarrot]

Funny guy. The breathing doesn't bother me. Switzerland is at a higher altitude. Is it possible he is inhaling as he needs to in Switzerland in order to get enough oxygen? I don't know. Just a theory.

[gwailogavin]

Nah, if the conference were in Switzerland it might be feasible (i.e. the speakers might not be used to the higher altitude), but Swiss isn't a just country of deep breathers : P.

[kurtilein3]

tossmeacarrot: switzerland isnt that elevated.

if your theory would be correct, then how would people that live in tibet sound like?

;)

[petname]

I think it's because he's nervous talking in a foreign language or something. At least he doesn't seem to do that when he's talking in swiss german.

[namnack]

Christ that heavy panting is very distracting..it's like listening to porn..

[yeldarbo]

Lol I felt out of breathe just listening to it. Like a bad asthma attack

[AuthenticPunkDance]

Very funny, though he does breath very loudly. :)

[stuffisgd]

lol

[hughtub]

I like how it shows modern art for what it is, a mish-mash of chaos and arbitrary placement of random colors. Then the USA flag at the end shows it as it is, 1 single federal govt, since the 50 state powers have all but been taken over by the federal govt's intrusion.

[wizzlewolf]

Oh this is precious! I am an artist. However my day job is teaching. I just have to laugh and laugh. I sit through meetings listening to basically the same kind of collecting DATA B.S. I live this everyday! I guess "tidy" is the thing nowadays. This video shows how ridiculous it is to even try. Some things in our life defy DATA or organization. It is a Yin/Yang world. For every tidy, there is confusion. This is as it should be. Thank you Ursus.

[Truthiness231]

This needs to be said: most of art is bullshit.

I can put a McCain doll in a jar, piss in it, and label it art (yes I'm mocking Piss Christ, a famous work of "art", for those art aficionados out there (BTW I'm not compare McCain to Christ, nor do I give two shits about religion)). I can simply flick paint at a canvas and call it art. With the way modern art is changing, I can even program a robot to do it for me and probably get more per project... it's a racket, folks.

[Truthiness231]

Actually, on second thought, that probably doesn't need to be said: by 4:00 it's quite apparent...

[TigerYoshiki]

Kudos to you, sir.

[Truthiness231]

Sarcasm doesn't translate well on the internet...

If anyone has a logical retort contrary to my position feel free to reply; otherwise it looks like people just can't handle to fact that art is a crock.

Seriously, look at the art pre-20th-century contemporary, which were mostly attempts at drawing scenes as accurately as possible (probably due to lack of cameras...), and after that it's just a bunch of paint randomly thrown on canvas.

[Truthiness231]

By the definition of the word "art" (the products of human creativity), as long as I put some creative thought into the formation of my morning shits, I could classify it as art. Anyone wanna buy it?

[ehsanul]

Hahah.. Well, they did run an investigation on abc's 20/20 about art. What they did was give a whole bunch of three-year-olds some paint and canvases and let them go wild, using their arms and hands to paint. They then took these paintings to curators and modern art critics, and some of these paintings got back amazing reviews, talking about how clever the "artist" was in communicating meaning and whatnot. Was hilarious!

[Truthiness231]

Thanks for that ehsanul, I'll try and find that if at all possible. ^.^

[IAmSatirizingYou]

I agree, symbolism or abstraction is totally stupid. If you have something to say just say it. Or even worse is when art gets more abstract and more than one meaning can be interpreted from it. Some eggheads even say it serves as a provocative stimulus and a launching pad for intellectual or symbolic discussion. Hellooo, we're talking about a few flicks of paint here guys, that's all there is to it and that's the one right answer. Nerd patrol!

[IAmSatirizingYou]

Some egghead may even see symbolism in Piss Christ. In the image, we are not seeing Jesus directly, rather looking through the waste of a man. This may symbolize the institutions that have clouded religious philosophy in pursuit of selfish interests. Another nerd might say that the golden aura around Christ looks majestic and holy, yet the knowledge that it is urine inverts that interpretation. They may see this as a provocative catalyst for intellectual discourse. Boooring!

[awimagic]

one of the funniest and most interesting talk that i heard at TED

[qpwnsall]

I refuse to listen to this.

[ShalloeThought]

Yes , Modern..Conceptual "art" is Fucking Bullshit... Philosophy is bullshit n conceptual artists try to imitate the bullshit of Philosophy withouit resorting to the silly pointless academic word games of Philosophers, in favour of pure Verbiage. The more narrow minded , shallow, arrogant, chatterbox's thrive best as "conceptual" "artists" I much prefer the tidied versions.

[petname]

Swiss people are always apologizing in advance, which I don't think we should do. But it's a funny presentation!

[clannon]

Yeah, Paulson likes to do that too.

[747dog]

...REfreshingly funny...:)

[TigerYoshiki]

Nice, honestly, it's awesome - like a small standup-comedy. That's how you "pimp" your presentation. ^^

[hillsad]

I think this supports my theory that art today is more about communication and commerce than aesthetics.

What or where do you think art is today?

[namnack]

Art is in our heads..where it has always been...it's just an emotion that results in a judgement between kitch and the real thing

[GaddingImp]

and what's the "real thing"?

the truth about art is that it is like everything else... "in our heads".

[namnack]

yes, that's what I said..

[GaddingImp]

not if you read correctly. what is mean is that there is no "real thing" therefore art is as real as anything else, and art is not an emotion. it's a product.

[namnack]

Again, what I meant by 'real thing' is the determination that something is real art by an individual. Art is not a product, art is a subjective attribute given to material and non-material things.

[DieGewerkschaft]

funny guy... :-)

[ILoveGoodFellas]

I always love these