The Maker REU – Developing Creative Technologies within Material Practices

The Maker REU – Developing Creative Technologies within Material Practices

Justin Ginsberg

While a core advantage of technology is automation and abstraction, it has also contributed to removing practitioners from directly interacting with materials. These material-based interactions are central to how experiential knowledge develops and are core contributors of creative cognition. Justin Ginsberg will share how creative technologies could instead enhance our relationship with physical materials. Funded by the National Science Foundation, this presentation shares the positive results of collaborative art and technology Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU). From making smart punty rods and analyzing sensor feeds of expert and amateur glassblowers, measuring the cooling rates of glass while in the hotshop, and creating haptic feedback models for bending tubes in neon, Justin will share how these research activities strengthened maker competencies through experiential learning; and improved feelings of inclusion within communities.

Artist Bio: Justin Ginsberg is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, educator, and curator based in the United States. Since 2013, he has been the Head of the Glass Area and is now an Associate Professor and Assistant Chair of the Art and Art History Department at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Justin exhibitions include solo exhibitions at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Berlin Glas eV., S12 Gallery, and Traver Gallery. Justin has been selected for New Glass Review eight times and completed residencies at CMOG, the Tacoma Museum of Glass, Wheaton Arts, S12 Norway, Berlin Glas, and the Toyama Institute of Glass.