May 12, 16:00-18:00
Research Station
Wijnhaven 61 3011 TP Rotterdam
For this edition, we invited two Artist Scholars from Concordia University, Montreal Canada, share their interdisciplinary research and practice.
Dr Miranda Smitheram (Kāi Tahu, Pākehā) Associate Professor of Material Futures, Dept of Design and Computation Art; Director of MaSH Lab, and co-director of Textiles and Materiality Research Cluster, Milieux Institute of Arts, Culture and Technology, Concordia University; co-investigator Hexagram Réseau de recherche-création en arts, cultures et technologies.
Dr Miranda Smitheram (Kāi Tahu, Pākehā) is an artist, design researcher and educator, who develops hybrid materials to contribute to sustainable, relational and postcolonial futures centring an approach to crafting with the environment. This is explored through digital, physical and hybrid materialities. Miranda’s current research investigates ontologies of kinship through invasive species, and she applies this to decolonial design approaches, rematerializing invasive plant species into soft surface, bio-composite and textile applications. Dr Smitheram is co-director of the Textiles and Materiality Research Cluster, and director of MaSH lab, at Milieux Institute of Arts, Culture and Technology at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.
Miranada will host also host a workshop in the Living Lab on May 13: Ontologies of Kinship: Weaving Relations with Invasive Plants and Contested Landscapes
Fieldwork, Kinship Assemblages and Material-Aesthetic Activations
Reflecting on past and present research-creation projects and artworks that all respond to and engage with making-with the ecosystem, Dr Smitheram considers time and temporality, deep collaborations, the lifeforce of things, embodied knowledge and slowing down to the speed of seasons, within artistic research that centres place-making, place-keeping and kaitiakitanga (care-taking, guardianship of environment).
Kevin Yuen Kit Lo Assistant Professor of Communication Design and Visual Culture, Department of Design and Computation Arts, Concordia University
Member of Dark Opacities Lab // Founder and Designer, LOKI
Kevin Yuen Kit Lo is an Assistant Professor of Communication Design and Visual Culture in the Department of Design and Computation Arts, working at the intersection of graphic design, cultural production, and social change with a focus on publication practices and social movements. His research explores tensions between material and relational approaches to design to support greater social and political autonomy. In 2014, he founded the graphic design studio LOKI, collaborating with community organizations, non-profits, unions, artists, and activist groups on projects ranging from anti-racist campaigns and protest graphics to platforms for critical journalism and publications supporting marginalized voices. He holds an MA in Typographic Design from the London College of Printing (UAL), has a background in interactive design, advertising, and fashion, and is a member of the Memefest network and the Justseeds artist co-operative, as well as the author of Design Against Design: Cause and Consequence of a Dissident Graphic Practice (2024).The second printing of his book Design Against Design: Cause and consequence of a dissident graphic practice (2024, Set Margins’ Press) will be launched May 14 at KIOSK Rotterdam. lokidesign.net.
Matter vs. Spirit: On publishing to find comrades
A presentation of various small insights, methodologies, questions, and outputs from the Matter vs. Spirit research-creation project investigating publishing as a material practice in relationship with contemporary counter-cultural production and social movement studies.
For those who cannot attend in person, the session will be live streamed and accessible for later viewing through Concordia 4TH SPACE
Research in Perspective hosts conversations about research in practice at the WdKA-Piet Zwart Institute. It is a forum for connecting, sharing information and insights, and acknowledging, questioning, and honoring the diversity of approaches, methods, and practices involved in the research we undertake. Research in Perspective invites guests and welcomes proposals for sessions. Convened by Miriam Rasch, Vivian Sky Rehberg and Renée Turner, coordinated via the Research Station and Research Center.