The installation created for TEDxRoma is an interpretation of the event's central theme: the "Third Self." The structure seamlessly integrates into the space, providing an evocative backdrop for the only true protagonists of the scene: the speaker and their talk.
“Third Self” is the theme at the heart of the seventh edition of TEDxRoma, which took place on Saturday, January 21st, 2023 at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome.
The event welcomed some of the great thinkers and visionaries of our time to address some of the questions that technological progress poses for us every day.
“In a scenario where progress seems to be both the liberation and the condemnation of man, the present asks us: what is changing in our emotions and thoughts? What is becoming new culture and what are we leaving behind? Will our critical thinking – the driving force behind all the changes in human history – be delegated to machines? What will our new weaknesses and aspirations be in this third human dimension?” These are the main topics discussed on the TEDxRoma stage this year.
A free stage, without many obstacles, where the honeycomb cardboard installation assists the speaker and their talk on stage.
The installation created by materieunite for TEDxRoma contributes to the stage setup as an interpreter, visually representing the event’s central theme. The three faces outlined by the cardboard cutouts represent the concept of the “Third Self.”
“The first digital revolution brought man to be connected to machines and to observe a new mode of his mechanical ability to interact with the external world. Man doubled his ability, delegated some functions, but controlled the objects of his technological choices. It was in this context that the ‘Second Self’ was born. But today, the virtual and interconnected world is already widely increasing the prospect of developing a new self,” says event organizer Emilia Garito.
The self-supporting installation is 2 meters high and is made of fire-resistant honeycomb cardboard in Havana color. The outer cutouts are customized through direct UV printing – with the red and white colors characteristic of the TEDx image – while the central cutout is covered with a reflective mirror film.
The aim was to create a structure that through its mere essence would expand the ideas presented by the guests on the Red Dot (the famous red circle of TEDx). The faces – in three different colors – refer to the different moments of the human condition in relation to technological progress, also offering a starting point to stimulate the idea of human multidimensionality that is actually revealed and manifested through interaction with the world of machines in the broadest sense, and therefore, of digital, artificial intelligence, augmented reality.
The installation becomes a stage set that supports the speakers and contributes to making the theme more accessible and understandable.