At TED2019, as we explored concepts, research findings and insights bigger than us (you see what we did there?), these conference shorts cleansed our mental palettes between TED Talks and helped playfully introduce sessions throughout the week.
Enjoy these hand-picked videos from curators CC Hutten and Jonathan Wells that capture the kaleidoscopic and often humorous perspectives on being human — or a mermaid, or robot …
The short: “Shit in Space.” One astronaut’s um, trash, is another earthling’s treasure.
The creators: Mathias & Matias, Try-Oslo
Shown during: Session 1, Truth
The short: “Like Sugar.” A playfully sweet music video accented with spicy dance moves guaranteed to get you in the mood to groove.
The creators: Kim Gehrig, Diary Records / Universal
Shown during: Session 2, Power
The short: “How to Be a Mermaid.” A brief PSA on what mythology gets wrong about maidens of the sea.
The creator: Nur Casadevall
Shown during: Session 2, Power
The short: “The Dream.” There’s nothing quite like the excitement of saving up for your biggest dreams … even when life throws obstacles in your path.
The creators: Teerapol Suneta, Ogilvy Bangkok
Shown during: Session 3, Knowledge
The short: “Love Train.” Kids all over the US sing and dance with famous artists, musicians and dancers.
The creator: Playing for Change
Shown during: Session 4, Audacity
The short: “Phones are good.” A humorous tour through history that proves life is actually better with smartphones.
The creators: Ian Pons Jewell, Wieden Kennedy London
Shown during: Session 5, Mindshift
The short: “Benches.” How to get the best seat for the greatest show on Earth.
The creator: Daniel Koren
Shown during: Session 5, Mindshift
The short: “Fireplace firefly.” If you love something, you’ve got to let it go.
Shown during: Session 5, Mindshift
The short: “Ari Fararooy: A Video.” Zoom out, zoom in, turn around, glide, rotate, repeat — in stop motion.
The creator: Ari Fararooy
Shown during: Session 6, Imagination
The short: “Furry Alphabet.” What kind of imaginative monsters would you make from A to Z?
The creator: Bernat Casasnovas
Shown during: Session 6, Imagination
The short: “One Breath Around the World.” A otherworldly short film that captures the journey of one man as he explores the great peaks, valleys, cliffs and life of the deep ocean — all in one amazing breath.
The creator: Guillaume Néry
Shown during: Session 7, Possibility
The short: “Hydrophytes.” A mesmerizing choreography of futuristic plants in movement.
The creator: Nicole Hone
Shown during: Session 8, Mystery
The short: “Smart House.” Voice-activated everything seems appealing until that pesky dentist visit.
The creator: Andreas Riiser
Shown during: Session 8, Mystery
The short: “Tony Stands on an Egg.” It seems standing on an egg isn’t all it’s cracked up to be after all.
The creator: Kathleen Docherty
Shown during: Session 8, Mystery
The short: “The Most Complicated Trickshot Ever.” Home is where the heart is … if your heart happens to be Rube Goldberg machine.
The creator: Cree
Shown during: Session 9, Play
The short: “The Lying Robot.” Clever robots come one step closer to world domination.
The creators: UR5 Universal Robot at Ara Institute of Canterbury, repped by ViralHog
Shown during: Session 9, Play
The short: “Father & Son.” Two different perspectives on changes taking place within a small family, discussed in humorous song.
The creators: Flight of the Conchords, performed at Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Shown during: Session 10, Connection
The short: “Absence.” A brief, absurd pondering about what we do in the shadow of absence.
The creator: Alex Goddard
Shown during: Session 10, Connection
The short: “An excerpt from TEDxKakumaCamp.” A behind-the-scenes look at making of a prolific TEDx event.
The creator: TEDx
Shown during: Session 10, Connection
The short: “Influencers.” A bright, geometrically playful imagining of the world, not as we know it, but as it might be.
The creator: Foam Studio
Shown during: Session 11, Wonder
The short: “A Chair at the Beach.” An increasingly existential meditation on what it means to take a seat.
The creator: Bridge Stuart
Shown during: Session 11, Wonder
The short: “Eating Machine.” A cute reimagining of what happens in your mouth when you eat an apple.
The creator: Richie Thompson
Shown during: Session 11, Wonder
The short: “Good Morning.” A catchy ode to early hours of the day and the possibility they bring.
The creators: Miles & AJ, Atlantic Records
Shown during: Session 12, Meaning
The short: “Shotgun.” A summer-y tune that blasts through time, space and place.
The creator: George Ezra, Nelson De Castro and Carlos Lopez Estrada, Sony Music
Shown during: Session 12, Meaning
