What’s next for immersive storytelling? | Mark Grimmer

[00:00:00] TED Audio Collective

[00:00:02] One of my favorite works of art is Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night

[00:00:13] a breathtaking masterpiece that draws you into its swirling colors, rich textures, and boundless imagination

[00:00:21] It's not just a painting

[00:00:23] It's an experience that transports you to another world

[00:00:27] A few years ago, I attended the Van Gogh Immersive Art Exhibit in Miami's Art District

[00:00:33] Inside a sprawling 20,000 square foot warehouse

[00:00:37] Van Gogh's brilliance came to life through projections, light, sound, and virtual reality

[00:00:42] It was a multi-sensory journey that allowed me and millions of others

[00:00:47] to step inside the genius of his work and to fill it in every sense

[00:00:51] And it left me excited about the creative potential of bringing together art and technology

[00:00:59] This is TED Tech, a podcast from the TED Audio Collective

[00:01:03] I'm your host, Sherelle Dorsey

[00:01:05] Our speaker today is writer, filmmaker, and stage production producer, Mark Grimmer

[00:01:12] Mark's work, through his design studio, 59 Productions, uses the power of technology and storytelling

[00:01:19] to immerse us in monumental moments and stories of the past

[00:01:23] Much like my experience at the Van Gogh exhibition

[00:01:26] And in this talk, he shares how he brings these experiences to life

[00:01:32] Before we dive in, a quick break to hear from our sponsors

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[00:02:43] And now, Mark Grimmer takes the TED stage

[00:02:46] A few years before his death in 2016

[00:02:51] Our small and, at the time, slightly scrappy design studio

[00:02:57] Was charged with taking the world-changing body of work created by David Bowie

[00:03:04] And turning it into a museum exhibition that would speak to newcomers and diehard fans alike

[00:03:12] We'd never designed an exhibition before

[00:03:14] We'd made stage shows, we'd worked in live music, we'd made films

[00:03:20] But lacking any direct experience

[00:03:23] We wondered what might happen if we took those genres that we did know

[00:03:28] And mashed them together

[00:03:30] Into a single, immersive audience experience in a museum

[00:03:35] What might happen if forms and ideas were allowed to collide?

[00:03:41] Well, today, we are living in the age of immersion

[00:03:47] But what does that really mean?

[00:03:49] Well, technological advances have always led to new forms of storytelling

[00:03:54] If you think about the amphitheater or the printing press

[00:03:59] Or celluloid or the internet

[00:04:02] But now, new possibilities for storytelling are emerging faster than at any other time in history

[00:04:09] And as they do, they provoke us, as storytellers

[00:04:13] To experiment with new kinds of narrative experience

[00:04:16] Experiences that touch all the senses

[00:04:19] That play with dramatic scale

[00:04:22] Or heightened intimacy

[00:04:24] To help audiences feel more

[00:04:27] Now, many of these experiences are supercharged by technology

[00:04:31] But the very best of them aren't defined by it

[00:04:36] The power of the story

[00:04:38] Rather than the novelty of the hardware

[00:04:41] Remains the key

[00:04:44] Throughout his career

[00:04:46] David Bowie resisted calls to stick to one genre

[00:04:49] Or even one art form

[00:04:51] He was the very embodiment of the collision of ideas

[00:04:56] So in thinking about how to tell his story

[00:04:58] It seemed fitting to look at his work

[00:05:00] Through a kaleidoscopic lens

[00:05:04] Constantly shifting

[00:05:06] Fractured

[00:05:07] But always luminous

[00:05:09] The first thing we did was to abandon any sense of a traditional linear narrative

[00:05:14] And instead we collaged together a whirlwind

[00:05:18] Of objects, costume, props, music and image

[00:05:23] To create a form that felt true to Bowie's magpie-like mentality

[00:05:28] That celebrated the collision of ideas

[00:05:31] Now, the exhibition was a kind of promenade

[00:05:34] Through a cubist portrait of the artist

[00:05:38] Leading to a finale of live performance

[00:05:41] That we hoped might somehow

[00:05:43] Capture some of that intangible magic

[00:05:45] That truly great performers can cast on their audiences

[00:05:49] Now, we couldn't literally recreate a Bowie gig

[00:05:52] And we didn't really want to either

[00:05:54] So instead we set out to conjure the energy and emotion of one

[00:05:59] Oh no love, you're not alone

[00:06:08] Bowie sang in this

[00:06:10] His last ever performance of Ziggy Stardust

[00:06:12] And 40 years later

[00:06:14] For a few brief moments

[00:06:17] We weren't alone

[00:06:19] It felt like he'd returned to Earth

[00:06:45] From a star man of one kind

[00:06:48] To star men of another

[00:06:50] In 2019, we were asked to help mark

[00:06:54] The 50th anniversary of one of humankind's greatest achievements

[00:06:58] The Apollo 11 moon landings

[00:07:00] But what format might allow us to evoke the scale

[00:07:05] And the spectacle of the Apollo 11 mission

[00:07:07] But also to immerse audiences in the barely believable story

[00:07:12] Of the 400,000 women and men

[00:07:14] Who'd helped put humans on the moon

[00:07:17] And how, at a time of real division and pain

[00:07:23] How might we bring people together

[00:07:24] In much the same way that the crowds had gathered

[00:07:27] To watch the rocket launch

[00:07:28] Back in that red-hot summer of 1969

[00:07:32] It had to be big

[00:07:34] It had to be audacious

[00:07:35] Bordering on the impossible

[00:07:37] As the mission itself was

[00:07:40] In conversation with our colleagues

[00:07:42] At the Smithsonian Museum

[00:07:44] An outrageous idea emerged

[00:07:47] The Washington Monument

[00:07:49] The world's tallest obelisk

[00:07:52] Which stands at the foot of the mall in D.C.

[00:07:54] Is, it turns out

[00:07:56] Almost the exact height

[00:07:58] Of the Saturn V rocket

[00:08:01] An act of Congress

[00:08:02] Was required for the project to go ahead

[00:08:04] And permission from the White House

[00:08:07] Didn't arrive until the day before

[00:08:09] Rehearsals were due to start

[00:08:10] But, against all the odds

[00:08:13] Over two sweltering nights

[00:08:16] 500,000 people gathered to watch

[00:08:19] As 100,000 tons of marble

[00:08:21] Appeared to blast off into the night sky

[00:08:24] Captivated not only by the spectacle

[00:08:27] But also by the story

[00:08:29] Of how, through the collision of science

[00:08:32] Technology, curiosity and courage

[00:08:34] Humankind had achieved the impossible

[00:08:38] Sending three men

[00:08:39] A quarter of a million miles to the moon

[00:08:42] And bringing them safely home again

[00:09:10] The collision of ideas

[00:09:12] Behind shows like

[00:09:14] David Bowie is

[00:09:15] And Go for the Moon

[00:09:16] Allowed us to tell other people's stories

[00:09:19] In novel ways

[00:09:21] But what might happen

[00:09:22] If one created

[00:09:24] A new kind of hybrid storytelling experience

[00:09:26] That had at its heart

[00:09:28] A true collaboration

[00:09:29] With a living, working artist

[00:09:32] Might that kind of collision

[00:09:34] Lead to a new art form?

[00:09:37] Well, the artist we dreamed of working with

[00:09:39] Was David Hockney

[00:09:39] So in 2019

[00:09:41] I wrote him an email

[00:09:42] And within a few weeks

[00:09:44] We were together

[00:09:45] In this farmhouse in Normandy

[00:09:47] And for a few days

[00:09:49] We chatted

[00:09:51] And he smoked

[00:09:53] Boy, did he smoke

[00:09:58] You know someone's a keen smoker

[00:10:00] When they've got at least two cigarettes

[00:10:02] On the go at any one time

[00:10:05] Sitting in his studio

[00:10:06] We spent several hours

[00:10:08] Leafing through the sumo-sized book

[00:10:10] Of his paintings

[00:10:11] And as we did

[00:10:13] David talked about his work

[00:10:15] With the undimmed pride

[00:10:18] Of a child

[00:10:19] Showing their parents

[00:10:20] A crayon drawing

[00:10:21] And he agreed

[00:10:23] That maybe there was something

[00:10:24] In this new form

[00:10:25] We were discussing

[00:10:25] Part exhibition

[00:10:27] Part theatre show

[00:10:28] Part documentary

[00:10:30] That might lead him

[00:10:31] To something interesting

[00:10:32] Something new

[00:10:34] In 2020

[00:10:36] In February

[00:10:37] Just before the pandemic lockdown

[00:10:39] David joined us

[00:10:41] In a freezing cold warehouse

[00:10:42] On the outskirts of East London

[00:10:44] To look at some of his work

[00:10:45] Projected at scale

[00:10:46] And he was thrilled

[00:10:48] By the size

[00:10:49] But also by the colour

[00:10:51] The brightness

[00:10:52] The vivid hues

[00:10:54] And as we flesh through

[00:10:55] A selection of his work

[00:10:56] Projected 50 feet tall

[00:10:58] On the bare brick walls

[00:10:59] David talked about his process

[00:11:02] About the decisions he'd made

[00:11:04] In composing the paintings

[00:11:05] About how hard it is

[00:11:07] To make memorable pictures

[00:11:10] And that was when

[00:11:11] The idea for the show

[00:11:12] Emerged

[00:11:13] What if we could recreate

[00:11:15] This moment

[00:11:16] David Hockney

[00:11:17] Sitting next to you

[00:11:19] Talking in his warm

[00:11:21] Mischievous Yorkshire lilt

[00:11:23] About a life of making art

[00:11:25] As his work unfolds

[00:11:27] Before your eyes

[00:11:30] When I arrived here

[00:11:31] I couldn't drive at all

[00:11:33] And within a week

[00:11:36] I'd got a driving licence

[00:11:37] I'd bought a car

[00:11:39] I'd got a studio

[00:11:40] I thought

[00:11:41] Oh this is the place

[00:11:43] For me

[00:11:44] The only voice

[00:11:45] That you hear

[00:11:46] In the hour-long

[00:11:47] Immersive show

[00:11:48] Is David

[00:11:48] But that might be

[00:11:50] David speaking in 1968

[00:11:52] About the quality

[00:11:53] Of the light

[00:11:54] In Los Angeles

[00:11:54] Or David in 2007

[00:11:57] Talking about

[00:11:57] The challenge

[00:11:58] Of painting his

[00:11:59] Giant Yorkshire landscapes

[00:12:01] The young David

[00:12:02] In conversation

[00:12:03] With his older self

[00:12:05] You're invited to listen

[00:12:07] As well as to watch

[00:12:08] As images appear

[00:12:10] All around you

[00:12:12] And we worked closely

[00:12:15] With David

[00:12:16] For almost three years

[00:12:17] During which time

[00:12:19] He came to think

[00:12:21] Of the show

[00:12:21] As a work of art

[00:12:23] In its own right

[00:12:24] By him

[00:12:25] It was

[00:12:26] A Hockney

[00:12:28] Together

[00:12:29] We'd found an approach

[00:12:31] That allowed him

[00:12:32] To reach new audiences

[00:12:34] To share his process

[00:12:36] In new ways

[00:12:37] And to give people

[00:12:37] Unparalleled access

[00:12:39] To his creative process

[00:12:41] In the show

[00:12:43] Thirty projectors

[00:12:45] And a cutting-edge

[00:12:46] Sound system

[00:12:46] Fill the space

[00:12:48] With image and sound

[00:12:49] And hundreds of David's

[00:12:50] Paintings

[00:12:51] Drawings

[00:12:52] Sketches

[00:12:53] Operatic set designs

[00:12:54] And photographic works

[00:12:55] Are woven together

[00:12:57] With voiceover

[00:12:59] Music

[00:13:00] And sound design

[00:13:01] To create a

[00:13:03] Guided tour

[00:13:04] Led by the artist himself

[00:13:06] Through six decades

[00:13:08] Spent looking closely

[00:13:10] At the world

[00:13:10] And enjoying

[00:13:12] Every moment of it

[00:13:13] Oh wow

[00:13:15] I've painted for

[00:13:17] Sixty years now

[00:13:20] I'm still painting

[00:13:22] And I'm still enjoying

[00:13:27] It enormously

[00:13:29] Yes

[00:13:37] So what does the future

[00:13:43] Of immersive entertainment

[00:13:44] Look like?

[00:13:45] Is it VR?

[00:13:47] AR?

[00:13:48] XR?

[00:13:50] AI?

[00:13:52] The truth is that

[00:13:53] None of us know

[00:13:54] But those technologies

[00:13:56] That might otherwise

[00:13:57] Threaten to isolate us

[00:13:59] Can actually be harnessed

[00:14:01] To bring us together

[00:14:02] And not just as audience members

[00:14:04] But also as creators

[00:14:07] Because making immersive work

[00:14:09] Calls for a richly

[00:14:10] Multidisciplinary approach

[00:14:12] One that creates

[00:14:14] The conditions necessary

[00:14:15] For the collision of ideas

[00:14:17] To take place

[00:14:18] An approach in which

[00:14:20] Architects and animators

[00:14:22] Directors and designers

[00:14:24] Writers and technologists

[00:14:25] Are brought together

[00:14:26] As if in a kind of

[00:14:29] Cultural

[00:14:30] Large hadron collider

[00:14:32] A machine

[00:14:34] In which multiple disciplines

[00:14:36] Can be accelerated

[00:14:38] Towards one another

[00:14:39] In the hope that

[00:14:40] The resulting collision

[00:14:42] Might release something new

[00:14:45] Something energetic

[00:14:47] Something that has the power

[00:14:49] To change the direction

[00:14:52] Of the bodies involved

[00:14:54] Thank you

[00:14:59] That was Mark Grimmer

[00:15:08] At TED 2024

[00:15:10] And that's it for today

[00:15:15] TED Tech is part of

[00:15:16] The TED Audio Collective

[00:15:18] This episode was produced

[00:15:19] By Nina Bird Lawrence

[00:15:20] Edited by Alejandra Salazar

[00:15:23] And fact check

[00:15:24] By Julia Dickerson

[00:15:25] Special thanks to

[00:15:26] Maria Latias

[00:15:27] Fer de Grange

[00:15:28] Daniela Belarezo

[00:15:29] And Roxanne Highlash

[00:15:31] I'm Cheryl Dorsey

[00:15:32] Thanks for listening

[00:15:34] Thanks for listening

[00:15:34] Thanks for listening

[00:15:34] Thanks for listening

[00:15:34] Thanks for listening

[00:15:34] See you next time