Grad students Ann Lewis and Viraj Mithani, undergrad Yuqing Liu and recent alumna Elizabeth Meiklejohn use SPUR funding to conduct research in the US and abroad.
Inaugural TEDxRISD Speaker Series Explores Themes of Unraveling
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“When brainstorming the theme of the conference [with my fellow organizers Michael J. Farris BArch 23 and Aanya Arora BArch 24],” says Victoria Liang 23 ID, “we wanted our speakers to work backward—to disentangle their unique, complex journeys.” From stories about dropping out of college and becoming a farmhand to navigating life as a nonbinary Jew to illustrating scientific discoveries in the field of astrophysics, the first-ever TEDxRISD speaker series offered wide-ranging explorations of the theme of unraveling.
The trio organized the early spring event using RISD’s standard critique process to brainstorm ideas for the theme. “As upper-level students at RISD,” they say, “we were yearning to bring back an experience that resembled the diversity of thought from a Foundation-year studio. Seeing, listening and being inspired by students, faculty and staff from across departments was the goal of this event.”
Furniture Design faculty member, podcaster and Emmy Award-winning television personality Amy Devers MFA 01 FD (pictured in top photo) hosted the event. “The value of disentangling,” she says, “is in reanimating complexity and restoring the flow of imagination.”
“The value of disentangling is in reanimating complexity and restoring the flow of imagination.”
Nellie Geraghty MFA 24 IL kicked off the talks with a story about how a series of unexpected life challenges led her to become a farmhand. She encouraged audience members to explore what makes their “hearts sing. Life is about having the unwavering confidence that you got out of bed with the rising sun, did the best you could and lived the fuck out of your day,” she says. Geraghty is now using her experience as a farmhand to illustrate a book about the intricacies of small-scale, biodiverse agriculture.
While Geraghty spoke about her intimate connection with the earth, faculty member Jack Madden MFA 22 DM zoomed out with a discussion of his career in astrophysics. In his research-based art, Madden works to break down scientific discoveries for the general public. “To make a real difference in scientists, you need artists,” he says. “I became a scientist to understand the universe around me, and I’m doing the same as an artist.”
Manini Banerjee 23 ID is working to bridge an equally important gap—the one between technological advancement and evolutionary biology. “My practice speculates on a biological symbiosis between us and the technology that we interact with every day,” she explains. Inspired by her parents’ professions in zoology and electrical engineering, Banerjee explores her passions for the biological and technological through integrated robotic design and bio-hybrid sculptural and robotic research.
Moving into the realm of the philosophical, Theory and History of Art and Design faculty member Peter Nulton delivered a thought-provoking talk about the colonial misunderstandings of Plato’s Atlantis and the harm it has done to humanity over the years. “Nazis believed that they descended from the blood of Atlantis and used this to justify their notion of racial superiority,” he explains. “Atlantis had gone from what was originally a parable to part of the intellectual framework used to support genocide.”
In contrast to Nulton’s philosophical lecture, Assistant Professor of Industrial Design Hillel O’Leary 11 IL told a heartbreaking story about their experience with violence and oppression as a nonbinary Jewish person. O’Leary discussed how they leaned into toxic masculinity as a form of camouflage until they lost their sense of self. “[My identity] was hollow, and there’s a crisis in that—something I needed to start reflecting on,” they say. “So I started making work that directly addressed where I had been and what I thought was happening.”
“Trying to hold onto your inner child is not child’s play at all. It’s a very adult game of strategy.”
Ruchika Nambiar MA 24 GAC ended the night with a lighthearted and motivating talk about connecting with her inner child to weave creativity, magic and empowerment back into her work. “Trying to hold onto your inner child is not child’s play at all,” she says. “It’s a very adult game of strategy.” Her Dollhouse Project was featured in Architectural Digest and offers a parallel universe for a miniature version of herself.
Nambiar advised those listening to pursue their interests and, “do it messily, do it sloppily, do it the way a child would do it. What comes first must always be play and wonder and whimsy,” she says. “Because the more you give into that whimsy, the more you begin to slowly unravel and untangle yourself from the web that’s called your discipline.”
—Isabel Roberts / event photos by Bartlomiej Saminski 23 FAV/ID
Watch the recorded talks filmed and edited by Rob Ranney
April 6, 2023
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