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.

Interspecies Communication

Cheryl L’Hirondelle presents the process and ideas behind her new work Nipawiwin Akikodjiwan: Pimizi ohci, shown for the first time as part of our Entanglements exhibition. The work is a immersive AV installation about (and with) the eels and their challenges in the context of our local hydroelectric dam on the Ottawa River. L’Hirondelle discusses how her relationship with the falls evolved as she discovered the existence of eel ladders designed to help the endangered animals on their journey through the river.

Interface: Art + Stability

What is software without hardware? Join us as DEL participant, artist and National Director of the Independent Media Arts Alliance Emmanuel Madan shares his vision for the viability of the Arts ecosystem and what role a union, Artwork_Local404, could play within that system. In this conversation, we discuss the importance of language, authorship, and time when it comes to the development of meaningful work (tools, platforms, initiatives and art).

Flying to Fish

UNHANDED