JR’s Wish: Together We Turn the World INSIDE OUT

Last year I was blown away by this first video I saw about the French Artist JR’s 28 millimetres, Face2Face and Women Are Heroes projects. I made sure EVERYONE I came into contact with saw this inspirational interview. I’ve probably watched it at least 30 times and counting. The images of the eyes on the train lining up with the portraits on the hillside gives me the chills every time, and those chills lead me to a big smile.

This past March JR was awarded the 2011 TEDPrize. Every year a new TEDPrize visionary is given funds to act upon his or her "One Wish to Change the World." If you haven’t heard of TED or TEDTalks, please, please, please listen up. TEDTalks will enlighten your mind and change your life. We here at creativeLIVE believe in the democratization of creative education. With a likeminded goal, TED brings "ideas worth sharing" to the world on nearly any topic you could imagine through free TEDTalks. In his TEDTalk in March, JR unveiled his TEDPrize wish "to use art to turn the world inside out."

JR describes INSIDE OUT as "a large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work." Here’s the trailer that brings JR’s concept to life.

The INSIDE OUT Project website explains how simple it is to participate in JR’s wish:
Take a portrait. Upload it. Tell your story. -> Receive your poster in the mail. -> Go out and paste your poster in public. -> Share it with the world through pictures & videos. -> Ready? Set? Get Started Here!

In the first episode of the INSIDE OUT web series shown below, a Tunisian boy says of the portraits, "True, we don’t have the same face or the same character, but we are all human beings... It’s not the same face but it’s the same people." This is so touching to me. Yes JR – your wish is coming true. Art can change the way people perceive the world and can thereby inspire people to change the world in their own unique way.

creativeLIVE is a global community. INSIDE OUT is a global movement with nearly 11,500 photos uploaded to date. I’d LOVE to know if we are crossing global paths – which of YOU creativeLIVErs has participated in the INSIDE OUT Project? Let us know in the comments & send us a link to your details! Better yet, who is now inspired to sign up and become part of the INSIDE OUT Project? I know I am! Let's do this!

~Kenna Klosterman