VISU 1311 Post #10

David Blane’s Ted Talk was fascinating to say the least. I never really paid attention to his work or even really knew who he was until watching this Ted Talk. He definitely is inspiration in terms of dedication to his craft and to accomplishing his goals as a magician. He talks about his experience of experimenting and training to hold his breath for seventeen minutes for the entirety of the Ted Talk. Hearing him talk about his training and seeing the several pictures he showed astonished me. To think that someone would dedicate months to just seventeen minutes of holding his breath was insane to me. Risking his own life and health to achieve his goal made me admire his courage and determination. I, myself, would never do that, but I respect him greatly for what he did and does. Seeing the videos of his two attempts were unnerving and stressful to watch. Especially his first attempt where he had to be removed and you could see him convulsing. This talk also opened my eyes to the ridiculous demands of the TV industry, but also to the amount of flexibility Blane has in performing. I liked his message: that anyone can achieve what he does through practice, training, and experimenting. I think this is a good attitude to have as a student and out in the professional world. We truly can achieve anything if we do as Blane suggests. If we as art students are to evolve and get better at our craft we must practice, train, and experiment.