Grimanesa Amorós
Interdisciplinary artist
The work of Grimenesa Amorós finds unexpected continuities between ancient culture, landscapes and 21st-century technology.
When it was unveiled at Issey Miyake headquarters in New York in 2011, people referred to Uros as “the bubbles.” It was an unusually apt nickname for Peruvian artist Grimanesa Amorós’ pulsating installation piece. Built from translucent plastic diffusion material illuminated by carefully wired and sequenced LED arrays, the work features flowing hemispheres that evoke the floating islands built by the Uros people of Lake Titicaca. Crafted from reeds, these islands floated on the gas bubbles released as their submerged portion decomposed.
In her subsequent work, Amorós returned often to the theme of the Uros islands, with installation in places such as Time Square in New York and the Venice Biennale, playing with the connection between science and culture, and between technology and the past.
2014 October in Rio de Janeiro, TEDGlobal celebrated the outpouring of innovation, dynamism and creativity taking place all over South America and the global South. At this weeklong conference, we looked at the large ideas underlying today’s news and events — the currents that drive the world.
