For our Digital Economies Lab, Artengine brought together a diverse group of artists, designers and other creatives to rethink the infrastructure of cultural production in the 21st century.
The DEL asked, how do we foster artistic prosperity in a world increasingly dominated by digital technologies? Are there more challenges than opportunities in the current landscape of cultural production? How can we make a viable and sustainable space for artists, creatives and culture in general, in the digital context of Canada and the world?
We collaborated with HOLO.MG to produce the DIGITAL ECONOMIES READER. Check out the DER on their website to dig deep into the ideas and people involved in the project.
With digital technologies taking up an ever larger space in our lives, Artengine set up the DEL to think through the infrastructure of the creative world in a new way.
The project began with an in-person strategy session in early 2020. This opening session was a key interrogation and collective reflection on the challenges facing the cultural community, and a wide range of project ideas were developed in this time. Smaller working groups formed working on a number of key themes including resource access, resource sharing, care and worker solidarity.
The challenges of 2020 exacerbated the already precarious position of artists. The lived reality of our DEL participants pushed the conversation beyond a technologically innovative frame and into a more structural one.
The DEL produced many project ideas with a few of these being developed into their early form during the lab.
Local_404 was a speculative design project which attempted to sketch out how digital technologies could be used to create greater labour solidarity in the creative sector.
The Artist’s Almanac focused on how to coordinate access to resources and care for artists of color and Indigenous artist. This project emerged from the lab through Suzanne Kite and is now being further developed with the Feminist Media Lab at Concordia University.
The Offer Need Machine led by Kofi Oduro, Macy Siu and Julie Gendron, moved through two stages of preliminary research and secured further funding for its current stage of prototyping, and Artengine is excited to continue to partner with ONM on the project development.
Digital Economies Reader
To share insights from the lab, we partnered with HOLO.MG who produce the DIGITAL ECONOMIES READER. This expansive reader includes interviews with participants at different stages of the project, pitches, critical context, resources and writing by the projects lead writer, Matthew Braga.
Check out the DER on their website to dig deep into the ideas and people involved in the project.
DEL Participants
Macy Sui, Tim Maughan, Julie Gendron, Kalli Retzepi, Kofi Oduro, Swintak, Lee Jones, Jerrold McGrath, Michèle Champagne, Emmanuel Madan, Izzie Colpitts-Campbell, Suzanne Kite, Aaron Casey
This project was generously supported through the Canada Council for the Arts: Digital Strategy Fund.
We want to thank Jeremy Bailey for his generosity in helping this project with their wonderful insight, ideas and inspiration!
Team Members
Artengine: Ryan Stec (Artistic Director), Remco Volmer (Managing Director), Kseniya Tsoy (Project Coordinator)
Programming Committee
Jeremy Bailey (Famous New Media Artist and Lean Artist Founder – Toronto)
Sarah Brin (Strategic Partnerships at Meowolf – Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Jen Hunter (Consultant and Facilitator at Deloitte Greenhouse – Ottawa)
Communication Partner
HOLO Team: Alexander Scholz, Greg J Smith and Filip Visnjic
