Richard Dawkins Opens Saatchi's 2013 New Directors Showcase - Cannes 2013 - Creativity Online
6/20/13 5:30 PM
EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGIST RICHARD DAWKINS OPENS SAATCHI'S 23RD ANNUAL NEW DIRECTORS SHOWCASE
Known for its splashy show intros, Saatchi & Saatchi's New Directors Showcase at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Thursday opened on a curiously heady note. Famed evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins took the stage to give a lecture, of sorts, on the subject of memes, which he introduced in his 1976 book "The Selfish Gene." He spoke on how the transmission of ideas and cultural norms evolve in a way similar to natural selection, and how memes as we know them today are creative, intentional mutations. Things then took a weirder turn when the stage backdrop became a crazy display of memified images, including that of Dawkins himself, accompanied by a song from musician Finn McNicholas and instrument designer Tim Exile. Mr. Dawkins then joined in on the fun and played a solo on an electronic wind instrument. The opener introduced the show's theme of "Just for Hits," conceived by creative team Jonathan Santana and Xander Smith, the pair behind 2012's robotic "Meet Your Creator" opener and 2011's "Hello Future" intro starring electronic musician Jamie Liddell. Marshmallow Laser Feast, who also directed the previous two years' shows, created the http://creativity-online.com/news/richard-dawkins-opens-saatchis-2013-new-directors-showcase/242177
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