In his compelling stage works, Hetain Patel uses powerful imagery and storytelling to examine questions of identity.
Why you should listen
"What determines our identities anyway?" asks Hetain Patel. As a child, Patel wanted to be like Spider-Man or Bruce Lee; later, he aimed to be more like his father, who displays a much different kind of bravery. From these ambitions, Patel's new show Be Like Water examines shifting identities of all kinds, using dance and bold imagery to power a story of self-examination and self-creation.
As a conceptual artist, Patel has used photography, sculpture, installation and performance to challenge cultural identity. For his work, he has grown a mustache exactly like the one his father wore when he emigrated from India to the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and remixed the practice henna tattooing to incorporate English words and comics books. Patel's conclusion about identity: that it is an ever-shifting game of imitation.
Hetain Patel’s TED Talk
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Arts + Design
A sculptural love letter to Spider-Man
January 27, 2015
Take a closer look at a new sculpture by artist Hetain Patel which involves a fiberglass Spider-Man suit and a very fervent thank you letter.
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A Ford Fiesta becomes a Transformer: A look at Hetain Patel’s latest work
October 18, 2013
Today’s talk isn’t so much a “talk” as a hilarious topsy-turvy performance by Hetain Patel that reflects on an identity forged as much from Spider-Man comics and Bruce Lee movies as by a father who emigrated from India to the United Kingdom in the 1960s. An excerpt from his latest stage work, Be Like Water, […]
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Playing with identity and authenticity: Hetain Patel at TEDGlobal 2013
June 12, 2013
“I don’t know how to introduce this, so I’ll just say, ‘Hetain Patel,'” says TED curator Chris Anderson. So no one knows what to expect, and that’s as may be, because this is some crazy right here. Patel walks onstage and crouches in a chair next to the dancer Yuyu Rau. He speaks a few […]
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