Making Talk

How do we talk about making in the 21st century?

This discussion brings together artist, scholar and Director of Creating Knowing and Sharing: The Arts and Cultures of First Nations at the Canada Council for the Arts, Steven Loft; craft historian Sandra Alfoldy; architect Tom Bessai; and fashion designer, Valerie Lamontagne, to consider the way we talk about making.

Which terms do you we use to describe what is done now? Some reach back to claim connection to European traditions of craft while others search for new broadly inclusive language. What is important in staking a claim on terms and definitions? How do we facilitate constructive and inclusive conversations about making?

Read more from Steven Loft and others in the book he edited with Kerry Swanson

Coded Territories: Tracing Indigenous Pathways in New Media Art

Tom Bessai’s work can partially be found at:

Denegri Bessai Studio

Here is the late Valérie Lamontagne’s PhD Dissertation.

Performative Wearables: Bodies, Fashion and Technology

In grateful memory of our dear friends and colleagues Dr. Sandra Alfoldy (1969–2019) and Dr. Valérie Lamontagne (1968-2019).

This discussion was part of Unhanded: Making Under the Influence of Digitalism

September 17th, 2016

The Unhanded Symposium brought together a range of perspectives from different disciplines to discuss, debate and interrogate what it means to make objects in the 21st century. Through a series of four panel discussions we explored ideas around language, materials, mistakes, challenges and opportunities when working at the intersection of digital and physical technologies.

How Does Culture Shape Sound?

What does it mean to speak of “aural culture?” What does listening offer, as a tool or technique for understanding our world, that visual perception cannot? The sounds that fill our lives are dense with information about the interwoven cultures to which we belong, and approaches to their investigation can take similarly varied routes. For Linda-Ruth Salter, language is a primary element of culture. Expressed aloud it is a richly coded meaning system, but it can also speak volumes when forced into silence.

Body Mind Machine

An engaging panel with Kristin Anne Carlson, Davide Rokeby and Chris Salter, moderated by Nell Tenhaff which delves into different relationships artists are cultivating with machines.

Networked Urbanism

Tracey Lauriault provides a dynamic introduction to the relationship between data and the city at the Future Cities Forum. This talk delves into the social and technological infrastructure and frames a new more open and democratic version of a data centered city.