Es Devlin is one of the world’s most visionary artists and stage designers - the creative mind behind some of the most iconic cultural moments of our time, from Beyoncé and Adele’s performances to the London Olympics and Conference of the Trees at COP26 in Glasgow.
In this episode of Visionaries, Alice Aedy sits down with Es to explore the imagination as a tool for connection and change. They discuss how awe can shift behaviour more than fear, what it means to design for both human and non-human audiences, and how art can help us see, and build, a more hopeful future.
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Chapters
00:00:00 Introduction: The Power of Seeing Through Others
00:03:16 Finding Comfort Zones and Trusting Instinct
00:05:28 Early Memory: Nearly Drowning and the Influence of Light
00:07:24 An Atlas of Collaboration: The Monograph as Lens
00:10:06 Following Instinct: Choosing Theatre Over the White Room
00:15:40 From Wire to Beyoncé: The Evolution of Concert Design
00:18:40 Conference of the Trees: Art Meets Climate Action
00:21:27 Congregation: Portraits of Displacement and Belonging
00:24:03 Come Home Again: More Than Human Londoners
00:26:01 Left Brain, Right Brain: The Architecture of Attention
00:31:25 The Art of Scale: Models, Giants, and Human Perception
00:33:09 First Awe: The Staircase Built 25 Times Bigger
00:35:34 The Oddity of Theatre: Stillness and Shared Attention
00:37:28 Advice for Young Visionaries: Finding Common Ground
00:43:25 Legacy and Being a Good Ancestor
Visionaries with Alice Aedy
Producer - Chloe Puttock
Art Director - Liliana Saldanha
Director - Issey Rider
Camera Operator - Stephan Knight + Sam Mulvey
Lighting - Al Rice
Editor - Tom Forsey + Paolina Stefani
Colour Grade - Jasper Brown
Music by the talented Jon Hopkins
