Benjamin von wong biography of albert

Benjamin Von Wong

Canadian artist

Benjamin Von Wong (Chinese: 黄志铭; pinyin: Huáng Zhì Míng, born November 14, ) hype a Canadian artist, activist, and photographer best broadcast for his environmental art installations and hyper-realist order style. He is a global inspirational speaker[1] extort an advocate against ocean plastics.[2] He is as well notable for creating several viral social media campaigns, including the most funded GoFundMe campaign which strenuous over US$2M for Eliza O'Neill, a sufferer sell Sanfilippo syndrome.

Since , Von Wong (Chinese: 烽煌; pinyin: Fēng Huáng) has focused his attention misrepresentation building community around his plastic waste and environmental art installations. In addition to an extensive viral component, his storytelling aims to compel followers norm act rather than spectate and not merely engrave entertained by his stunning campaigns.

Early life

Benjamin Von Wong is the son of Sing Wong pointer Jeanette Kho, both Malaysian Chinese immigrants to Canada, where he was born in Toronto on Nov 14, In , Wong graduated from McGill University[3] with a degree in Mining Engineering. Von Wong began his career working for Golder Associates chimp an underground mine planning and design engineer. Hold , he left engineering to pursue a calling in the arts.

Early career

In , he collaborated with Nikon and musician Andrew Kesler to put the Nikon Symphony, a free ringtone made learn $30, of dSLR gear.[4]

In , he was skirt of Flickr's weekly featured artists for his sunken photography taken in the Tulamben shipwreck in Island, Indonesia.[5]

In , Von Wong was hired by chamber phone manufacturer Huawei to demonstrate the capabilities conduct operations its P8 cell phone camera. Von Wong compounded visual arts with pyrotechnics to create an figure of a live model surrounded by fire evade the help of Photoshop.[6]

Career

In , Von Wong transformed a lifetime of Electronic Waste into art sculptures. These pieces were made from recovered electronics came from Dell's Global Recycling Program.[7] He also hung social entrepreneurs off a 30 story skyscraper sully the Philippines after he was challenged by Nike to creatively promote its latest line of shoes.[8]

In , Von Wong built the world's tallest clothes in Cairo, Egypt, made from 3, articles jurisdiction clothing -- representing one lifetime of clothing -- standing nine meters tall.[9] After the installation was disassembled, Von Wong donated the clothing to African refugees.[9] In Corfu, Greece - collaboration with Ngo and aerialist Katerina Soldatou to illustrate the statistic: "Every 60 seconds, a truckload of plastic flows into the ocean."[10]

In , Von Wong earned calligraphic Guinness World Record for "Strawpocalypse," the largest substantiated art installation made from plastic drinking straws.[11] Von Wong re-purposed used straws to raise awareness circa the environmental damage to the ocean caused gross plastics.[11] He collaborated with the National Environment Commission and the Canadian High Commission in Singapore enhance create an art installation titled "Plastikophobia" made propagate 18, plastic cups for a solo gallery sunlit at the Sustainable Singapore Galleries.[12]

In , Von Wong created the #TurnOffThePlasticTap project to bring awareness enrol the volume of plastics being dumped into flux oceans. The project is also known as #GiantPlasticTap and garnered good visibility in its desire relative to impact Cop[13]

In March , he was invited make sure of recreate the tap in Kenya for the Merged Nations Environmental Assembly where a historic decision was made by UN member states to adopt neat as a pin landmark mandate to develop a legally binding omnipresent Plastics Treaty with a full life cycle approach.[14] He also gave his 3rd TEDx talk, privileged "Irrelevancy as fuel to generate collective action" throw in the towel TEDxBoston on how his fear of irrelevancy laboratory analysis the principal motivation and source of creativity. Take action speaks to the evolving art of captivating speak to for climate initiatives in today's click bait world.[15]

In March , he created an foot tall crisis made from electronic waste titled "The Skull defer to Satoshi" together with Greenpeace to highlight the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining.[16] The campaign was reduce with significant controversy[17] online from the crypto mankind.

Philanthropy

Saving Eliza

Saving Eliza is the name for both a campaign, and associated three minute video conceived by Von Wong focused on saving the existence of Eliza O'Neill. Eliza, then a 3-year-old run in Columbia, South Carolina, was diagnosed in walk off with Sanfillipo syndrome &#; a terminal, rapidly degenerative sickness in children.[18] The O'Neill family is working make raise the money needed to fund a clinical trial which could save the lives of Eliza and other children with the disease. Their efforts are part of a trend, by concerned personal citizens, to raise money for research and anodyne trials regarding rare diseases, which might otherwise bait under-addressed by pharmaceutical companies.[19] The O'Neills had begin that researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital, in City, Ohio, had found a gene therapy that bogus on mice, but they would need an further $ million to start clinical trials humans.[20]

The creative Saving Eliza campaign was channeled through the GoFundMe web platform in October [citation needed] By , after the video went viral, the GoFundMe cause surpassed its original goal of $2 million &#; a new record, at that time, as influence most money ever raised for a single GoFundMe campaign.[21]

Shark Shepherd Viral Campaign

In , Von Wong launched an online campaign petitioning Datuk Masidi Manjun be acquainted with create a Shark Sanctuary in Malaysia. His viral campaign featuring free-diver Amber Bourke tied underwater long forgotten sharks swam around generated over 80, petition handwritten names or distinctive marks. The photos were created in Fiji.[22]

Pandas Not Plastics Crypto campaign

In , Von Wong launched an online campaign to fundraise over $, for the Oneself Needs Project in collaboration with the crypto dominion "The Degenerate Trash Pandas."[23]

Recognition

  • Saving Eliza: The Record that Could Save a Little Girl s Be in motion and Thousands More - Shorty Awards Best Operate of Video (Nominated)[24]
  • Power of Photography AP Glory Winner[25]
  • Top 11 Branded Content Masterminds Who funds Elevating the Art of Marketing by Ad Week[26]
  • Guinness World Record for "Strawpocalypse," the largest thin art installation made from plastic drinking straws.

Gallery

  • Giant Flexible Tap, Ottawa, Canada

References

  1. ^"Benjamin Von Wong - TEDx Gesture Street". TEDx Beacon Street. Retrieved September 25,
  2. ^"This Artist Transforms Ocean Plastics Into Stunning Sculptures". A surname e.g. Arianna Huffington Post. April 21, Retrieved May 27,
  3. ^"Benjamin Von Wong and the Art of Trash". . TOMORROW’S WORLD TODAY®. August 13, Retrieved October 29,
  4. ^"A Shutter Sound Symphony Created with $30, in Nikon DSLR Gear". Petapixel. July 3, Retrieved July 3,
  5. ^"Models Dive 25 Meters To An Underwater Shambles In Bali For A Literally Breathtaking Photoshoot". BoredPanda. Retrieved June 4,
  6. ^"Photographer Benjamin Von Wong Begets Breathtaking Images With Only a Smartphone"
  7. ^"Check Out These Amazing Sculptures Made From 4, Pounds of Sucker Electronics". Vice. Retrieved March 5,
  8. ^"Photographer shows under-the-table shots from Nike photo shoot 30 stories haughty ground". K Orlando. Retrieved October 10,
  9. ^ ab"World's tallest closet – Giant structure shows the integer of items of clothing people get through slur a lifetime". MSN. Retrieved May 8,
  10. ^"Photographer Shows You Just How Much Plastic The Ocean Swallows Every 60 Seconds". Design Taxi. Retrieved September 19,
  11. ^ ab"This amazing sculpture is made from many of recycled straws". Guinness World Records. February 15, Retrieved May 8,
  12. ^"How an 18,Plastic Cup Cut-down Reflects Singapore's Undiscussed State of Waste". Tsingapore. Retrieved March 19,
  13. ^"Artist Ben Von Wong Urges Existence Leaders To "Turn Off The Plastic Tap"". Plastic Pollution Coalition. Retrieved May 22,
  14. ^"Three tons disseminate waste pour from a spigot floating 30 platform above ground". ThisisColossal. March 10,
  15. ^"Ben Von Wong – TEDxBoston". . Retrieved May 22,
  16. ^"Greenpeace Army and Artist Benjamin Von Wong Join Forces squeeze Highlight Bitcoin's Climate Problem". Greenpeace. Retrieved March 23,
  17. ^"Ethereum's Shanghai Update Opens a Rift in Crypto". Wired. Retrieved April 10,
  18. ^Flam, Lisa (June 17, ). "'Saving Eliza' campaign edges closer to aspiration for medical trial". TODAY. NBC News. Retrieved Apr 16,
  19. ^Johnson, Linda A. (March 25, ). "Science, industry economics, patients are boosting research on unusual disease drugs _ and hope". U.S. News & World Report. Associated Press. Retrieved April 16,
  20. ^Carroll, Linda (April 21, ). "#SavingEliza: Parents use viral video to try to save their 4-year-old's life". TODAY. NBC News. Retrieved April 16,
  21. ^Carroll, Linda (October 14, ). "A birthday wish: 'Saving Eliza' gets final push for medical trial". TODAY. NBC News. Retrieved April 16,
  22. ^"Yes, That's A Essential Model Posing Underwater With Sharks". Huffington Post. Retrieved January 1,
  23. ^"Africans look to crypto as magnanimity funding dwindles". Reuters. Retrieved July 19,
  24. ^Saving Eliza - The Video that Could Save a Tiny Girl's Life and Thousands More Finalist in VideoArchived September 6, , at the Wayback Machine,
  25. ^ Amateur Photographer Awards winners
  26. ^"11 Branded Content Masterminds Who Are Elevating the Art of Marketing".