AIM Lab member Emery Vanderburgh has been awarded two Canada Council for the Arts Research and Creation Grants under the Explore and Create component. For “Depression in Translation,” a collaborative sci-art textile project, created with Amanda Brown and Dimitri Copper, and for “Deconstructions,” an individual project about speculative accessible design.
Depression in Translation is a continued collaboration with Amanda Brown and Dimitri Copper, based on Amanda’s research on the epigenetic relationship between early-life adversity and depression and suicidality. The two-year grant funding allows for explorations in textiles with the aim of creating six custom dresses, in projection mapping to stage a home environment, and in community consultation to design a multi-media exhibition that demystifies resilience genes and environmental factors for the public.
Deconstructions is a one-year participatory research project which will create concept art for speculative accessible design and fashion aesthetics. This research and creation phase of the project will result in a website of 3D-modeled spaces and assistive equipment created in collaboration with the disability community. The project centers the concept of fantasy as a form of resistance, where marginalized communities don’t have to limit or adapt their vision of systemic change based on current societal structures; rather, they can create utopic visions to articulate innovative templates for inclusivity.
