TED Community » Tim Holmes

Sign in to send Tim an email »

About Me

Tim Holmes is an American filmmaker and artist and filmmaker working in the outskirts of social evolution, trying to help envision a more equitable future for all. He has worked with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, designed the UN Women's Peace Prize and was the first American artist ever exhibited solo in the world's largest art museum, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia, where his sculptures remain on permanent exhibit. His work has gained notice among some of the world's peacemakers, from the Chinese dissident students of Tiananmen Square to the Physicians for Social Responsibility. President Jimmy Carter, President Vaclav Havel, and Coretta Scott King are among Holmes' best-known collectors.

In his work with Archbishop Desmond Tutu he helped create an international peace center on Robben Island, the gulag where President Nelson Mandela and thousands of others were imprisoned during the dark apartheid years. He also designed the sculpture for the bid for the Olympics by Cape Town, South Africa.

Though Holmes is most well known for sculpture he has worked in a variety of media from museum installations to film. His award-winning series of short Body Psalms films focuses on the value of the body and often appears at special screenings– frequently in social settings outside the art world– in the US and Europe.

Location:
United States, Helena, MT
Gender:
Male
I am:
Activist, Artist, Brainstormer, Change Agent, Christian, Filmmaker, Global soul, Idea generator, Performer
Languages:
German, English
My website links:
Tim Holmes Studio, Universal Conscience
Universities:
Sir John Cass School of Art, London, Rocky Mountain College, Wesley Theological Seminary
Member Picture Member Picture

More About Me

I'm passionate about

I believe that art can transform the human soul in ways impossible through any other human activity.

Art is the footprints into the journey of aliveness in an endlessly terrifying and erotic world.

An idea worth spreading

Toward a Universal Conscience- What if there were a way for the entire human family to sit down together to forge a future beyond the divisions of religion, politics, education and economic disparity? It may sound too good to be true but for the first time in history this vision is within our grasp. Nearly every person on the planet– regardless of origin– learned the same rules for cooperating for the greater good of all. We all learned it as kids– by growing up in a family. Those basic values can help us realize the long-envisioned dream of world cooperation. This has suddenly become a reality because of the internet– a tool that will transform everything we do, but more importantly, the way we think.

Universal Conscience is a model for creating a global ethic that bridges all cultures, nations and religions to find a shared sense of right and wrong, a wiki that can be influenced and accessed by anyone on the planet to increase cooperation and diminish evil everywhere.

Comments

  • TEDCred score: +0.50 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

  • A comment on Talk: Jamie Drummond: Let's crowdsource the world's goals

    Jul 19 2012: This is a marvelous idea! The unfounded fears surrounding the dangers of people being allowed to run their own affairs date back longer than the inception of democracy. Of course people are caring enough all over the world to address the most crucial issues, many of which are too complex for the old institutions to respond to, as we are seeing with the recent global conferences mentioned. In a egalitarian world only the people are fit to respond to their own problems. We only need a mechanism for organization, cooperation and dialog, as demonstrated in the Arab Spring. The internet is that tool.

    Here's an idea– We've been putting together a vision for an open-source Democratic Globe which is viewable here: Please send us your thoughts!
    https://sites.google.com/site/democraticglobe/
  • +4

    A comment on Conversation: Will or Can "Open Hardware" replace Capitalism, or at least be the leading drive for people to continue living instead of making just money?

    Jul 14 2012: Another great idea from this talk is putting profits last. One thing future generations will take seriously is that quality of life is worth more than money. Happiness indexes affirm what I have found personally– that moving into a life of creativity and service produces a drastic cut in pay, greater happiness and a more meaningful life. What it doesn't account for is what happens to the social environment. As demonstrated in Harada's talk, when one concentrates on creating ideas for a better world, EVERYONE benefits. What could possibly mean more to one lying on their deathbed than to know that one has contributed to the betterment of the planet?

    This kind of attitude emanates from a vision of a world of abundance rather than one of scarcity. When we are afraid of losing what we have we become cornered animals locked in protection mode. But when we are confident of a world of abundance, sharing, a characteristic that separates civilization from natural tribalism, becomes much more important than hoarding.

    One day we will all share in a great creative flurry at the roundtable of social evolution. Until then it will be a very few individuals who drive evolution by selflessly giving of their talents and ideas for the benefit not of a higher standard of living but of a higher quality of life. And I think we will find them to be among the happiest people in the world!

    I think we can do the same thing with democracy itself:
    https://sites.google.com/site/democraticglobe/
  • +1

    A comment on Conversation: Who will help me design the human-powered community?

    Feb 27 2012: It's not just a matter of energy, but one of keeping humans central to the power structure (rather than corporations.) I've been hammering together a vision for a response to what seems a rapidly approaching post-state world, where it's people against corporations. I envision a democratic system that is essentially global in scale and undefilable by corporate powers or other systems, called Democratic Globe. See what you think:
    https://sites.google.com/site/democraticglobe/home

    -Tim Holmes

Favorite talks

This member doesn't have any favorite talks yet.