Transcriber: Reiko Bovee Reviewer: Denise RQ
Good day.
Earlier this month one of my longtime dreams came true,
designing and directing a live collaboration
with the orbiting astronauts on the International Space Station.
Commander Koichi Wakata
played an ancient Japanese instrument called the sho.
I was at NASA in Houston playing the violin live in synchronous
with Wakata San orbiting at 400 kilometers above the Earth.
Tenri University donated the sho,
and we trained Wakata San to play this instrument,
and he did an amazing job with just a few days of practice in space.
Tenri Gagaku performed live in Japan in synchronous as well.
This ancient instrument, when played, is meant to tune the cosmos,
and the fact that Wakata San was playing this instrument literally in space
had a great and deep meaning.
I may look like I play the violin, but is actually very little of what I do.
I am a director and a producer
and my relationship with astronauts actually goes quite far back.
Mike Fincke, a NASA astronaut who lived on the Space Station
for over a year.
When I met him I asked him,
"What is it that changed when you went to space?"
He replied and told me the story of how,
when he first time looked out the window and saw our Earth,
this living, glowing, blue bubble of life in the blackness of space
he had this complete transformation
the first time he saw the Earth from space.
He came back to Earth
with a much greater appreciation for our planet that sustains us.
I was so inspired by Mike's story; it got me thinking,
how could I bring this experience of seeing the Earth from space
to those of us who cannot yet go to space?
This was the birth of BELLA GAIA, which means "beautiful Earth".
I began taking data and static maps from UN and NASA,
turning them into engaging, beautiful,
immersive, and emotional data visualizations.
How do we deliver the message that the Earth is alive and breathing
without saying a single word, without text?
This is the methodology and language of BELLA GAIA.
Just recently, more than 50% of humans now live in cities and urban places.
How do we, as a human species, reconnect with the natural world?
[BELLA GAIA -- BEAUTIFUL EARTH]
(Music)
(Violin playing)
[EARTH HABITABLE]
[THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION -- ISS]
(Astronaut) The view of the Earth is a beautiful, beautiful view,
with predominantly blue background, and very, very beautiful.
[VANCOUVER ISLAND]
[SIERRA MOUNTAINS]
[SAN FRANCISCO BAY]
[BIOSPHERE PULSE]
[TOKYO]
[JAPAN ENERGY USE]
(Vladimir Kovalyonok, Russia) After and orange cloud formed
as a result of a dust storm over the Sahara
and caught up by air currents,
reached the Philippines and settled there with rain.
I understood that we're all sailing in the same boat.
[THE CARIBBEAN]
[AFRICA: HYDROGRAPHY (WATER FLOWS, RIVERS)]
[SAHARAN UNDERGROUND WATER]
[WATER BALANCE -- HIGH -- LOW]
[HOPESPOT: 1989: REGULATIONS BAN OZONE DEPLETING SUBSTANCES]
[DECREASING OZONE DEPLETING SUBSTANCES OZONE HOLE 1989-1998]
[OZONE HOLE EXPECTED TO RECOVER FULLY BY 2050 -- OZONE HOLE 2007]
[AIR TRAFFIC]
[24:00 -- 6:00 -- 12:00]
[BLACK CARBON (DIESEL, COAL)]
[CO2 EMISSIONS -- EUROPE -- AFRICA]
[CO2 EMISSIONS]
[INDIA]
[CHINA]
[USA]
[Monthly Carbon Dioxide Concentration 2013: 400 PPM]
[HOTSPOTS: ACTIVE FIRES]
[CURRENT FORESTS AS % OF ORIGINAL FOREST SPAIN 15% -- DR CONGO 60% -- NAMIBIA 95%]
[PROTECTED AREA AS % OF TOTAL LAND
ZAMBIA 40% --TANZANIA 36% -- SAUDI ARABIA 42%]
[RUSSIA 68% -- JAPAN 58% -- CHINA 21% -- INDIA 20%]
RUSSIA 7% -- INDIA 5% -- JAPAN 9% -- CHINA 15%]
[HOPESPOT: SOLAR & WIND ENERGY INCREASING OUTPUT]
[MAJOR SOLAR & WIND FARMS]
[GERMANY -- ITALY -- SPAIN SOLAR ENERGY OUTPUT]
[GERMANY -- SPAIN -- INDIA -- CHINA WIND ENERGY OUTPUT]
[CHINA -- INDIA -- SOLAR ENERGY OUTPUT]
[MAJOR SOLAR & WIND FARMS]
[SOLAR ENERGY OUTPUT -- AUSTRALIA]
[WIND ENERGY OUTPUT -- USA]
[MAJOR SOLAR & WIND FARMS]
[SOLAR ENERGY OUTPUT -- USA]
[THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA OCEAN CURRENTS]
[SPAIN]
[OCEAN CURRENTS AND TEMPERATURE]
[THE PACIFIC OCEAN]
[THE AMAZON DELTA]
[Planet Earth is the only place known so far to harbor life.]
[There is no other place which we may call home.]
(Music ends)
(Applause)
So, what you just saw is a 8-minute short sample
of a 80-minute theatrical show with dancers and live musicians;
it's a real spectacle; we tour this around the world,
really getting deeper into the human and nature relationship,
and tour to the full-down theaters.
But the bottom line is, is this all working?
Several astronauts have seen BELLA GAIA,
and they all say it brings them right back to space;
I've converted climate skeptics.
NASA founded education programs for youth showing some amazing results:
90% conversion of a greater understanding of our Earth
and a more personal relationship with the Earth in their personal lives.
So this nexus of art and science is extreme interesting
and is really the cutting edge of evolution,
and I encourage all artists and scientists to work together.
I want to thank Commander Wakata for being a part of that.
Thank you all so much.
(Applause)