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How drawing can set you free

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    So here we are.
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    I'm at home, as I'm sure
    many of you are, too.
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    And we've all begun to understand
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    how our relationship with ourselves,
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    with each other
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    and the spaces we exist in
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    can deeply impact
    our sense of identity and purpose.
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    So much has dramatically changed.
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    There's a sense of distance now
    unlike ever before.
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    But what if I told you
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    that you could find a way
    from your heart to your hand
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    to reconnect again,
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    and that through this practice
    and embracing this cause,
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    I could help you to recalibrate your mind
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    so that you could explore
    this new reality with joy,
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    enthusiasm, imagination and hope?
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    And all it would take is a simple pen.
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    To get you there,
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    let's go back to the beginning.
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    As a kid growing up in a council estate
    in Southeast London,
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    I was an outsider.
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    I'm the oldest of six kids,
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    and all of my siblings look very English:
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    blond hair, blue eyes, very cute.
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    And then there was me:
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    half Nigerian, brown, with an Afro.
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    So what happens when you look different
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    and you feel different,
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    and in many ways,
    start to think differently
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    from everyone and everything around you?
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    How do you find your way
    out of a dark, racist, homophobic
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    and very lonely place?
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    This is where the pen comes in.
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    I started to draw.
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    So as you can see, I've got this pen,
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    and it knows where it's going.
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    And I've learned very well
    how to follow it.
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    And the first thing I did is
    I followed this line,
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    and I drew myself out of a culture
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    that was only telling me
    what I couldn't do.
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    I trusted my pen,
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    and it led me to Central Saint Martin's,
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    a very fancy art school in London,
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    where I graduated top of my year.
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    However, I soon realized
    there wasn't a place for me in London,
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    because whether you wish
    to believe it or not,
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    England is still a country
    that is rooted and functions within
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    the class system.
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    And as a young, black, gay female artist
    from a working-class family,
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    I didn't stand a chance.
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    So I left London and I moved to Japan,
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    where I didn't experience
    people asking me where I was really from.
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    I was just another gaijin,
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    which, ironically, means "outsider."
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    I was immersed in a culture
    that honors both making and craft,
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    where people perfect their craft
    over generations.
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    It's a culture that masters
    both time and space,
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    so that artists can truly
    create with freedom.
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    And what I discovered
    was a place I wasn't angry with.
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    Tokyo hadn't wronged me in any way.
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    I could no longer create with anger
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    or out of pain.
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    I had to bravely allow myself
    to create from a different place.
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    And what I found is this incredible tool
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    transcended a line on paper.
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    I found this thing
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    that connected my head to my heart
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    and my hand to everything.
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    I could see the world in new ways.
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    I found connections in corners
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    and the solutions to problems
    I never knew existed.
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    It's like the world with all its
    positive and negative spaces
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    could now be seen.
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    And just by seeing it,
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    there was no longer any fear.
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    It's like my pen was a flashlight,
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    and the unknown was still there,
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    but it wasn't scary.
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    After five years of living in Japan
    and focusing on my craft,
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    I felt like I needed a new challenge.
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    So I moved to New York,
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    because that's what you do
    as an artist, right?
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    You move to the greatest
    city in the world
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    that has the ability
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    to make you feel
    completely and utterly invisible.
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    This is when I began to truly ask myself,
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    "Who are you?"
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    I would wake up in the morning,
    and before I began my day,
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    I would meditate on this.
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    And with this question in mind,
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    I kept drawing.
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    I followed the line.
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    I let it lead the way.
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    The process of picking up a pen,
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    something everyone has access to,
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    the act of giving myself
    permission to let go
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    of all thoughts, all fears,
    insecurities --
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    anything that would get in the way
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    of allowing myself to be completely me --
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    that became my way
    of experiencing freedom.
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    When I got to New York,
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    I didn't want to play by the rules
    of the art world.
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    I continued my practice as an outsider.
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    I kept drawing.
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    Curiosity became the ink for my pen,
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    and I continued to dive deeper.
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    Over time, I began to create
    a bold, confident space for myself,
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    a space that was all my own.
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    Initially, it was just my bedroom.
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    But that bedroom ended up
    in "The New York Times,"
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    and suddenly, I was being seen and known
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    for this world I had created.
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    Since then,
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    I've created and collaborated
    with some of the most unique artists,
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    institutions and spaces,
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    from the screens of Times Square,
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    to the New York City Ballet
    for their incredible artist series,
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    where I interviewed a number of dancers.
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    Their stories and words
    became the foundation
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    of over 30 drawings and artworks,
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    which took over the promenade walls,
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    windows and floors.
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    For a long time,
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    I wanted to create a space
    for contemplation and poetry.
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    And in 2019,
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    I was given the opportunity
    to do just that
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    by the Trust of Governor's Island.
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    They provided me with the perfect canvas
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    in the form of a former military chapel.
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    Meet "The May Room."
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    With drawings on the exterior
    inspired by the history of the island,
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    you walk inside, you take your shoes off,
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    and there's a drawing on the floor
    in the form of a maze
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    that brings you back to you.
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    It's an invitation to become calm.
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    And this allows you
    to see phrases on the wall.
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    "May you be wise."
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    "May you sleep soundly at night."
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    "May we save trees."
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    "May you," "may you," "may we."
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    And these phrases seem
    like they're rising from you
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    or falling into you.
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    I've let my lines
    become much like a language,
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    a language that has unfolded
    much like life.
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    And when there has been silence,
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    I've sought connection
    through conversation,
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    asking questions to push
    through the discomfort.
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    Drawing has taught me
    how to create my own rules.
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    It has taught me to open my eyes
    to see not only what is,
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    but what can be.
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    And where there are broken systems,
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    we can create new ones
    that actually function and benefit all,
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    instead of just a select few.
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    Drawing has taught me
    how to fully engage with the world.
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    And what I've come to realize
    through this language of lines
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    is not the importance of being seen,
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    but rather the gift of seeing
    that we give to others
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    and how true freedom
    is the ability to see.
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    And I don't mean that literally,
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    because sight is only one way
    in which one can see.
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    But what I mean is to experience
    the world in its entirety,
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    maybe even more so
    during the most challenging moments
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    like the one we face today.
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    I'm Shantell Martin.
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    I draw.
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    And I invite you to pick up a pen
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    and see where it takes you.
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    (Music)
Title:
How drawing can set you free
Speaker:
Shantell Martin
Description:

Who are you? To answer this question, artist Shantell Martin followed her pen. In this brilliantly visual talk featuring her signature freestyle line work -- drawn across everything from the screens of Times Square to the bodies of New York City Ballet dancers -- Martin shares how she found freedom and a new perspective through art. See how drawing can connect your hand to your heart and deepen your connection with the world.

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Video Language:
English
Team:
closed TED
Project:
TEDTalks
Duration:
07:47
Erin Gregory approved English subtitles for How drawing can set you free Jun 15, 2020, 7:45 PM
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for How drawing can set you free Jun 15, 2020, 7:45 PM
Camille Martínez accepted English subtitles for How drawing can set you free Jun 15, 2020, 6:31 PM
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for How drawing can set you free Jun 15, 2020, 6:31 PM
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for How drawing can set you free Jun 15, 2020, 6:29 PM
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for How drawing can set you free Jun 12, 2020, 7:56 PM
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for How drawing can set you free Jun 12, 2020, 7:53 PM

English subtitles

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  • Revision 5 Edited
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