Insightful human portraits made from data | R. Luke DuBois

Artist R. Luke DuBois makes unique portraits of presidents, cities, himself and even Britney Spears using data and personality. In this talk, he shares nine projects — from maps of the country built using information taken from millions of dating profiles to a gun that fires a blank every time a shooting is reported in New Orleans. His point: the way we use technology reflects on us and our culture, and we reduce others to data points at our own peril.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.

[Chronomatrix]

Woah what this guy is doing is incredible, he's making art out of meaning rather than the opposite. The gun thing is terrifying and inspiring.

[AudoricArt]

THIS is what modern art should be; a social commentary. not just pretentious drivel.

[grahampalmer]

Awesome! I didn't think I would like this but was blown away by what this guy has achieved as an .. artist.

[latavish]

this started off a little slow for me but by the end i was a little blown away.... good video.

[jackwilliams]

This will go down as one of my favorite Ted talks

[ZakuraHitome]

i went to his exhibition at OCMA last winter and i wish i'd seen this TED talk before i went because i would've appreciated and understood it a lot more.

[samgaze]

Great video! Thanks to Mr DuBois for speaking in an inviting and engaging way about his art. Too many 'modern' artists are insulated from the public and hide the processes of their 'genius' behind opaque terminology to make it sound profound. Mr DuBois demonstrates that art is about revealing human nature in surprising and thought-provoking ways. Profound, but not pretentious. More TED on art please!

[disarmyouwitha]

'Don't get a lot of good TED talks anymore (sorry) but this one was really good. =]

[mixtermuxter]

Cool talk- one of the better ones this year in my opinion.
He really brought art and math together.
Also his way of directing the talk was really interesting.

[kinsmed]

Yes, I was multi-tasking while this was playing and pausing often.
Still it was mesmerizing, amazing, and eerily beautiful.

[andyan]

i love art that doesn't require a person to be good with drawing and painting

[DrrkyHD]

Crazy to me how this guy is so smart AND so creative. Some really cool artwork and it's made from just 0's and 1's basically

[furrane]

Amazing guy, amazing talk. The handwritten email graph was disturbing though.

[MrDami]

"... and I have them all." R. Luke DuBois

[AwesomeCrackDealer]

This guy is half way between impressive and crazy

[paultreviska]

My life has just been enriched. DuBois is genius, probably the first time I've had the pleasure of realising genius in plane sight.

[bobjones]

That's amazing, and so beautiful. My only question is how do you collect all the data for the online dating accounts? Set up a program to do it for you?

[kOaMaster]

awesome ted-talk, very inspiring. could listen to him for hours. I'm fascinated by statistical analysis and data plots.

[DaKussh]

this is highly philosophical and eerie

[chrismcfadden]

Easily the most interesting Ted talk I've ever watched