TED Talks Daily - The fire-breathing dragon-horse sparking wonder in a city near you | Frédette Lampre

Episode Date: July 1, 2025

How does a city change when its art doesn’t hang on museum walls but instead roams the streets? Artist Frédette Lampre of the production company La Machine shares how their towering, handcrafted mechanical creations transform urban spaces into living theaters, creating unforgettable experiences that reconnect people with their cities and each other.Want to help shape TED’s shows going forward? Fill out our survey!Learn more about TED Next at ted.com/futureyouFor the Idea Search application, go to ted.com/ideasearch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hugh. The most influential puppets in my life are actually Muppets, you know, from Sesame Street or Kermit and Miss Piggy and their whole Jim Henson puppet universe. They evoke all kinds of feelings and nostalgia of childhood. In this talk, artist and designer Frédéte Lamp, who is part of the French street theater collective La Machine, reflects on what it means to create and build giant moving machines

from fire-breathing sea dragons to slumbering minotaurs and why the kind of puppets she makes go way beyond entertainment. They can help reshape how people see their cities and one another. What's better than a well marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper and delivered to your door. A well marbled ribeye you ordered without even leaving the kiddie pool. Whatever groceries your summer calls for, Instacart has you covered.

Download the Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over deliver. This episode is sponsored by PWC. AI, climate change, and geopolitical shifts are reconfiguring the global economy. That's why industry leaders turn to PWC to help turn disruption into opportunity. PWC unites expertise and tech so you can outthink, outpace, and outperform. So you can stay ahead. So you can protect what you build.

So you can create new value. Visit pwc.com to learn more. That's pwc.com. PWC refers to the PWC network and or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. This episode is brought to you by TurboTax Canada. Business tax season can feel like learning a whole new language. That's why I was excited to hear about TurboTax Business, a new way for Canadian small business

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He's half male, half bull. His skin is made of wood. He is walking, galloping, rearing up. He opens and closes his windows. His skin is made of wood. He is walking, galloping, rearing up. He opens and closes his blue eyes. He breathes. He cries. He growls.

His arms can fend off traffic lights. And now, he's asleep in front of the city hall, and people are immersed in his world. Thirty years ago, my colleague, François de la Rosière, a designer, art performer, founded La Machine Company. His aim was to create large theater experiences in cities, how? With huge animated machines. Since then, François' extraordinary machines appeared in cities, how? With huge animated machines. Since then,

François' extraordinary machines appeared in streets, boulevards, avenues, all over the world. These machines have no practical function at all. They tell stories for cities and their citizens, and they bring all communities together to create perhaps a new common ground.

In 2016, the French port of Calais commissioned us a permanent art project. Two years later, the Sea Dragon appeared on the beach. He has two giant red rings and a long blue tail. And he started his delightful promenade around the historic streets of Calais. Spitting fire, smoke coming out of his body. The Sea Dragon is now the new image of the city. I could say that he belongs to the city,

and he's loved by everyone. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. La Machine is based in Nantes, a French city on the Atlantic coast of France, and our workshop is in a former shipyard, where we now build the great elephant,

the giant spider, the dragon horse, the minotaur, the sea dragon and others. It's a permanent beehive with over 100 different trades and crafts involved. In our staff, we have welders, musicians, mechanics, comedians, sculptors, engineers, roboticists and so on.

Perhaps you would like to know how we make it. First, a drawing. Then, a model. The model is scanned to generate a digital wireframe. Then, we made wooden shelves for the skin of the animal, a metal structure for the skeleton, including hydraulic and electrical systems to bring the machine to life.

Then the construction can begin. The carpenters lead the way and other trades follow on. It takes around two years from the design to the completion. And then we are ready to operate a machine. An average of 18 operators drive the machine with joystick and exoskeletons. One person per arm and per leg. One operator for the head, one operator for the head, another one for the neck,

one person for the wings, one person for special effects, one person for the tail, one pilot for the truck, one guide and a director of operation. He is the soul of the machine. He gives technical but also emotional indications. All operators are connected to him with mics

to make a realistic movement. Long ma. Long ma means dragon host in Chinese. Perhaps it's my favorite machines. Long ma was commissioned by Beijing. And then, with this machine, Perhaps it's my favorite machines. Longma was commissioned by Beijing. And then, with this machine, we performed in several cities in the world.

In Ottawa, Longma was joined by a giant spider that would settle on the roof of the cathedral. Ottawa, the administrative capital of Canada, had a slogan at that time. Ottawa is not boring. Ah! Of course not.

Seven hundred thousand people came to see Longma and discovered the giant spider. And my god, they love it. Death shows are free. No tickets, no fences. It makes the city creative and inclusive. For people experiencing a giant moving machine in their neighborhood, it can change the way they see their own city. La Machine is not only about street performances.

We also developed large-scale spaces for ongoing moving exhibitions. In Nantes, our home city, we created Les Machines de Lille. Les Machines de Lille is a cultural facility to support the urban regeneration program of the city, to make Nantes more attractive, both for inhabitants and visitors. The cultural facility includes the great elephant, who is walking every day on the old dock Esplanade,

and next to it, the carousel of the sea world, who is a living testimony to Jules Verne, who was born and grew up in Nantes. the carousel of the sea world, who is a living testimony to Jules Verne, who was born and grew up in Nantes. Why these machines are so special? Les machines are movement. Les machines are not just art, not just entertainment.

They tell stories, but also they bring motion and emotions together in every person from spaces and times. Our machines are poetic figures, and poetry has no business plan. But even if our shows are free, they generate great benefits for shops, cafes, restaurants and huge free media coverage for cities.

In Liverpool, one day, a giant spider appeared magically on a building in front of the main train station. Hundreds of thousands of people discovered the new face of Liverpool, and this image went around the world. Some cities with the machine wished to improve their image, like Ottawa, Calais or Liverpool. Others chose urban planning issues,

like Nantes or Toulouse. Toulouse is in the south of France, and we presented to the mayor of Toulouse in 2013 the Minotaur. Toulouse is the home of heros, like Seattle is the home for Boeing. And we presented to the leader of aeronautics in Europe an old and antique figure, crazy. Toulouse is an ancient city

where myths and stories of bulls are central. And this city is like a labyrinth. The Minotaur made the link between the past and the future. Last October, we created a new character, the Guardian of Darkness, for the second part of the gigantic street opera. The Guardian of Darkness is both a woman and a scorpion, and she is the alter ego of the minotaur.

In La Machine, we don't really use artificial intelligence, but we definitely use artistic intelligence to reimagine humanity. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That was Fredette Lomp at TED 2025. If you're curious about TED's curation, find out more at TED.com slash curation guidelines. And that's it for today's show.

TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Green, Lucy Little, Alejandra Salazar, and Tansika Sarmarnivon. It was mixed by Christopher Fazy-Bogan, additional support from Emma Tobner and Daniela Ballerezo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening. This episode is sponsored by PWC. AI, climate change, and geopolitical shifts are reconfiguring the global economy. That's why industry leaders turn to PWC to help turn disruption into opportunity.

PWC unites expertise and tech so you can outthink, outpace outperform so you can stay ahead so you can protect what you build so you can create new value visit pwc.com to learn more that's pwc.com pwc refers to the pwc network and or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. even spiritually. We deserve those moments. That's where Sell Off Vacations comes in. For over 30 years they've been helping Canadians travel happy, whether it's a sun-soaked getaway, a cruise through the Mediterranean, or a local escape right here at home. Their community of travel experts have actually been to the places you're dreaming about, and they're ready to help you plan your perfect trip, no matter your budget. Because happy travels start with Sell Off Vacations, and when you're ready to book, their best price promise means they won't just match a lower price, they'll beat it.

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