Created for TEDx Sydney’s 10th anniversary, the titles explore the theme of Legacy: wherein the past is preserved and gifted to the future.

We store the knowledge of humankind in libraries. We conserve our art in museums and galleries. We hoard the genes of plants and seeds in the Svalbard vault, and record and reproduce our lives digitally. If a legacy is something valuable to be passed down, we should be well on our way to the ultimate gift.

When orbital construction commenced on the ISS Legacy X in 2019, it was the natural extension to these ideas. A safeguard. An archive. A collection that preserves and juxtaposes humankind’s achievements and the diversity of the natural world, and asks us to confront the complex relationship between the two.

Though valuable beyond measure, humankind’s true hope for the Legacy X remains that we need never use it.

Director’s Statement

After continuous year-on-year growth, TEDx are celebrating 10 years in Sydney. They’re now the largest TEDx in the southern hemisphere and one of the largest in the world. For the anniversary event and building on our ongoing collaborative relationship with TEDx, we were again tasked with creating the opening animation, this year with the theme of “Legacy”.

We were free to take this in any direction (subject to approval), with something “epic” desired by the TEDx team. Given TED’s belief in “the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world”, we wanted to touch on serious issues, celebrating past achievements and simultaneously cautioning future restraint.

As a solution to this, we chose to represent the legacy of humankind through the creation of the ultimate Ark: the orbital space vessel ISS Legacy X. A repository of everything most valuable to us, the ISS Legacy is designed as an untouchable safeguard. A collection that preserves and juxtaposes humankind’s achievements and the diversity of the natural world, and asks us to confront the complex relationship between the two.

This would not have been possible without the incredible team of artists who joined us for this project, based at all points around the globe. Also a special thanks to Michael Yezerski for the original composition of the music.

Directed and produced by Scott Geersen
3D / Lighting / Shading: Rich Nosworthy, Rory McLean, Dan Cowan, Nemanja Ivanovic, Jesus Suarez, Scott Geersen, Ezequiel Grand, Aaron Covrett, Jason Poley
Edit: Joe Morris
Original Music: Michael Yezerski
Sound Design: Dave Robertson