JR’s TED Prize Wish

Palestinian or Israeli?

JR’s project of turning the world inside out is a worthy cause. He’s intent on changing the world by showing the world what the world looks like. He believes that art has the power to not necessarily change the practical things in the world as much as it’s able to change perception. If he can go around the world and show people who need to be shown that there is a different way of seeing life, then he believes that can spark an interest within a person to make a positive change. Most people, especially those in countries where life is considerably “harder” than 1st world nations, can’t see things beyond their own problems. It seems as though life shrinks to fit only the spectrum that encompasses their personal issues. JR uses his art to show that people are capable of seeing past their issues. See life in a different light. He states that “art has the ability to make you forget your problems” and can be used as a medium to tell your story. With it you can reach people you never thought possible to communicate with (as he did in the favelas of Rio). It can act as a bridge from one person to the next, without the need for common ground or language. Who’s Israeli? Who’s Palestinian? Who cares? Aren’t they the same people? JR opens the eyes of sworn enemies to show that the problem is not the human form as much it is the emotion within that form. We need to turn ourselves “inside out” to create a change. This is his wish.