Education
2024 Doctoral Student, Computational Media Design, University of Calgary. Expected completion in 2024.
2018 Master of Fine Art, Department of Art, University of Calgary. Graduation scheduled for November, 2018. Specialization: Media Art and Technology.
2011 MKTG 205 (Single Course), SAIT Polytechnic. Spring 2011.
2009 BFA (Honours) in Visual Art. Graduated November, 2009. University of British Columbia. Areas of Interest: Sculpture, Installation, Digital Art
Exhibitions and Wearable Technology Shows
2024 Kathryn Blair. The Neural Net [Participatory Installation]. Taylor Institute of Teaching and Learning Gallery Space. February 2 – 16, 2024. Upcoming.
2023 Kathryn Blair, Zach McKendrick. Entanglements [Online interactive narrative art experience]. From September 2023. https://kblair.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/entanglements/
Kathryn Blair. Algorithmic Rituals [In-Person Participatory Movement Experience]. Part of Beakerhead 2023, in concert with the University of Calgary. Friday September 15 2023. Calgary, AB.
2022 Algorithmic Rituals [participatory movement session] as part of the TEI 2022 Art Exhibition, February 14, 2022. Online / Daejeon, South Korea.
2021 Algorithmic Rituals [participatory movement session] presented in collaboration with EMMEDIA. July 7, 9, 10 2021. Online / Calgary, AB.
2019 Affective Modulation System [Fashion Technology / Wearable Art]. Part of Make Fashion, September 22 2018. Calgary, AB. Kathryn Blair: Artist, Designer, Technologist. Victoria Ip: Construction and Garment Design Assistance.
Logical Conclusion 3.0 [Participatory Installation]. At ElastiCi-ty: A PSi Theme Park—Collaboration Station, part of the Performance Studies International 25 Conference. Calgary, AB. July 7, 2019.
Logical Conclusion 2.5 [Participatory Installation]. At the Body In Space Art Party by Swallow a Bicycle, part of the 2018 Fluid Movement Art Festival presented by Springboard Performance. CSpace. Calgary, AB. October 26 and 27, 2018
2018 Logical Conclusion 2.0 [Participatory Installation]. At the Body in Space Art Party, part of the Fluid Festival by Springboard Performance. CSpace. Calgary, AB. October 26 and 27, 2018
Tune [Fashion Technology / Wearable Art]. Part of Make Fashion, September 22 2018. Calgary, AB. Kathryn Blair: Artist, Designer, Technologist
Logical Conclusion [Participatory Installation]. Master of Fine Art thesis exhibition. EMMEDIA, June 1– 29, 2018. Steel, blackboard paint, screen printing, laser-cut wood, workbook. Calgary, AB.
Logical Conclusion [Participatory Installation]. Little Gallery, University of Calgary, March 12 – 16 2018. Steel, blackboard paint, screen printing, laser-cut wood, zine, tablets, electronics. Calgary, AB.
2017 Autonomous [Installation]. Gallery 621, University of Calgary, December 4 – 8, 2017. Packing tape, pallet wrap, yarn, paper, tags, electronics. Calgary, AB.
Persephone’s Bedroom [Installation]. Part of Mars 112 with Gina Freeman (project lead), Nick Taylor, Andrew Sayer, Julia MacGregor, Steven Duggins, Cody Kupper, Stephen Holman and Ashley & Lauren Voisin.Part of Beakerhead, September 13–17, 2017. Calgary, AB.
We’re Happy to See You [Installation], University of Calgary +15 Window, Arts Commons. May – June 2017. Calgary, AB.
Custom Emoji [Installation]. The Little Gallery, University of Calgary Department of Art. April 3–7 2017. Calgary, AB.
Automata [Fashion Technology / Wearable Art]. Part of Make Fashion, April 1 2017. Calgary, AB. Kathryn Blair: Artist, Designer, Technologist. Ryan Blair: Mechanical Engineering, CAD.
Encountering Algorithms 1.0 [Projection]. Part of group exhibition with Avril Lopez, “The Nature of Interactions”. Gallery 621, University of Calgary Department of Art. January 16–20 2017. Calgary, AB.
2016 Experiment: Connect [Projection]. Gallery 621, University of Calgary Department of Art. October 31 – November 4 2016. Calgary, AB.
to:gether [Fashion Technology / Wearable Art] at Make Fashion Gala, April 2, 2016. Set of two garments created with fashion designer Scatha Allison (missvelvetcream). Calgary, AB.
2015 Positive Feedback [Fashion Technology / Wearable Art]. Make Fashion Gala, March 28, 2015. Party dress that gets fancier while being worn. Calgary, AB.
Common Experience [Fashion Technology / Wearable Art] at Port Moody Wearable Art Awards, February 26-March 19, 2015. Port Moody Visual Arts Centre, Port Moody, BC.
2014 Common Experience [Fashion Technology / Wearable Art]at Maker Faire Bay Area with Make Fashion. May 17-18, 2014. San Mateo, CA.
2013 Somatic System [Fashion Technology / Wearable Art], coat with temperature and pulse sensors to extrapolate mood of wearer and respond with light and sound. Part of Make Fashion 2013. Fashion show January 25, 2013. Calgary, AB.
2012 Whelming [Sculpture], Window Galleries, EPCOR Centre, Apr – Jun, 2012. Calgary, AB.
2011 Subject-Abject [Spray paint on aluminum]. Untitled Art Society +15 Window, EPCOR Centre. Jun 8 – Jul 31, 2011.
Publications
2022 Kathryn Blair, Miriam Sturdee, Lindsay MacDonald Vermeulen, and Lora Oehlberg. (2022). Art is Not Research. Research is not Art. In Extended Abstracts of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 4, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1145/3491101.3516391
2022 Alexander Ivanov, Tim Au Yeung, Kathryn Blair, Kurtis Danyluk, Georgina Freeman, Marcus Friedel, Carmen Hull, Michael Yuk-Shing Hung, Sydney Pratte, and Wesley Willett. (2022). One Week in the Future: Previs Design Futuring for HCI Research. In Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 542, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3517584
2022 Tia Halliday, Kathryn Blair. “Bridging Disciplines and Skillsets: Distributed Constructionism During Covid-19, Teaching Wearable Design and Mental Health”. (2022). A Focus On Pedagogy AMPS Proceedings Series 28.2. AMPS, University of Kassel, Ball State University, Beaconhouse National University, and the University of Pretoria. 20-22 April, 2022.
2022 Kathryn Blair, Pil Hansen, Bruce Barton, Lora Oehlberg. “Algorithmic Rituals: Participatory and Embodied Explorations of Algorithmic Decision-Making”. In Sixteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI ’22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 83, 1–4. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1145/3490149.3507786
2021 Kathryn Blair, Bruce Barton, Pil Hansen, and Lora Oehlberg. “Algorithmic Rituals: Embodied Explorations of Algorithmic Decision-Making”. (2019). Green Revisited: Encountering Emerging Naturecultures in Art and Research. Acoustic Space (19 / 4). Conference Date: 2021/9.
2019 Kathryn Blair, Jean-Rene Leblanc, Lora Oehlberg. “Exploring Public Engagement with the Social Impact of Algorithms” In the Companion Publication of the ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS 2019). ACM, New York, NY, USA: pp.129-133. doi: 10.1145/3301019.3323897
2018 Kathryn Blair. “A Research-Creation Process for Interactive Works” Acoustic Space (17). Open Fields: Virtualities and Realities. Conference Date: 2017/10. Available May 31, 2018.
Kathryn Blair. Logical Conclusion. Master of Fine Arts Thesis Support Paper. 2018. https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/107553
2018 Kathryn Blair. “Games for Disruptive Improvisation.” Position Paper for ACM CHI 2-018 Workshop on Disruptive Improvisation. Montreal, CA. 2018. Read submission at https://disruptiveimprovisation.wordpress.com/2018/04/01/games-for-disruptive-improvisation/
Community Involvement
2023 President, Board of Directors, EMMedia, October 2023 – Present. Calgary, AB. Board member since 2018.
2016 Board of Directors and Communications Committee, The New Gallery, June 2011 – June 2016. Calgary, AB.
Conference Presentations, Guest Lectures, Public Speaking
2023 Tia Halliday, Kathryn Blair, Sage Cannon. “Using Multi-Modal Artifacts of Experiential Learning Online to Enable Critical Reflection, Collaboration and Evaluation in a Transdisciplinary Undergraduate Course”. University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching. April 26 – 28, 2023. Calgary, AB / Online. April 27, 2023.
2022 Kathryn Blair, Miriam Sturdee, Lindsay MacDonald Vermeulen, and Lora Oehlberg. “Art is Not Research. Research is not Art¿. 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’22) Online/New Orleans, USA. May 4, 2022. (Oral presentation)
Tia Halliday, Kathryn Blair. “Bridging Disciplines and Skillsets: Distributed Constructionism During Covid-19, Teaching Wearable Design and Mental Health. A Focus on Pedagogy Conference. AMPS, University of Kassel, Ball State University, Beaconhouse National University and the University of Pretoria. 20-22 April, 2022. Online. April 20, 2022. (Oral presentation)
2021 Kathryn Blair (presenter), Bruce Barton, Pil Hansen, and Lora Oehlberg. “Algorithmic Rituals: Participatory and Embodied Explorations of Algorithmic Decision-Making” Sixteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI ’22) (Online). February 14, 2022. (Oral presentation)
Kathryn Blair (presenter), Pil Hansen and Lora Oehlberg. “Algorithmic Rituals: Embodied Explorations of Algorithmic Decision-Making” Postsensorium RIXC Art Science Festival 2021 (Online). September 25, 2021. (Oral presentation)
Kathryn Blair (presenter), Pil Hansen, and Lora Oehlberg. “Participatory Art for Public Exploration of Algorithmic Decision-Making”. Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) ‘21 Doctoral Consortium. July 1, 2021 (Online). (Oral presentation)
Kathryn Blair. January 25 – “Decisions in an Encoded World” part of the University of Calgary Department of Computer Science AI Connect Series presented at the Calgary Public Library (Online).
2020 Emma Towlson, Kathryn Blair. September 23 – “When Brains Meet Circuits” part of the University of Calgary Science Takeover at the Calgary Public Library (Online).
2019 Kathryn Blair. October 26 – “Using Fiction to Shape the Future” talk at Universities Art Association of Canada Conference. Based on work by Kathryn Blair, Claire Mikalauskas, Lora Oehlberg. On panel entitled “Using Fiction to Shape the Future: Methods in Design and Art”
2019 Kathryn Blair. March 6 – “Developing Experiments”. Designing Thinking guest lecture for Dr. Catherine Pearl, Mount Royal University, part of Social Innovation 4401.
2018 September 14 – “Logical Conclusion: An Analog Method for Exploring Algorithms”. Presentation at Open Fields: Global Control Conference, RIXC Art Science Festival. Riga, Latvia.
2018 April 18 – Speaker at Chic Geek Hack Night on Internet of Things. Presented by Chic Geek. Calgary, AB.
March 17 – “Getting Started with WordPress + Blogging”. Workshop leader for Canada Learning Code, Calgary AB.
2017 October 19 – “A Research Creation Process for Interactive Works”. Presentation at Open Fields Conference, Virtualities and Realities RIXC Art Science Festival. Riga, Latvia.
2016 May 28 – CyberMentor Lit Thundercloud Umbrella workshop with girls in grades 6-12. Presented by Beakerhead. Calgary, AB.
May 22 – “Moving Things With Your Mind” at Maker Faire Bay Area, Make: Show and Tell Stage. San Mateo, CA.
2015 September 19 – Girls Learning Code Wearable Tech Workshop. Calgary, AB.
July 25 – CyberMentor Lit Jellyfish Umbrella workshop with girls in grades 6-12. Presented by Beakerhead. Calgary, AB.
Teaching and Course Facilitation
2024 Graduate Assistant (Research), Wearable Design for Mental Health Project, University of Calgary Department of Art. April 2020-present.
2022 Instructor of Record, ART 311.14 Interactive Storytelling, University of Calgary Department of Art. July-August, 2022.
Teaching assistant for Dr. Lora Oehlberg, CPSC 599.88 – Special Topics in Computer Science (Physical and Tangible HCI). January–April 2022.
2021 Instructor of Record, ART 311.14 Interactive Storytelling, University of Calgary Department of Art. May-June, 2021.
2019 Instructor of Record, ART 241, University of Calgary Department of Art. July-August, 2019.
Teaching assistant for Sydney Pratte. CPSC 581 – Human Computer Interaction II. January- April 2019. University of Calgary, Department of Computer Science. Calgary, AB.
2017 Teaching assistant for Dr. Jean-René Leblanc. ART 313 – Video Art. January 2017. University of Calgary, Department of Art. Calgary, AB.
Teaching assistant for Dr. James Parker. ART 321 – Net Art – Theory and Practice. January- April 2017. University of Calgary, Department of Art. Calgary, AB.
2009 Practical Experiments in Contemporary Art. January – April 2009. Student Directed Seminar at the University of British Columbia – Facilitator.
Awards and Honours
2022 Award for Graduate Assistants (Teaching), University of Calgary Teaching and Learning Awards
2021 Art Impact AI AI&Art Prize (2nd)
2020 Izaak Walton Killam Doctoral Scholarship
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Postgraduate Scholarships – Doctoral )
2019 Alberta Innovates Graduate Student Scholarships
Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship (AGES) – Doctoral Research
2018 Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship, University of Calgary, Calgary AB.
2017 Alberta Arts Graduate Scholarship, Government of Alberta.
Graduate Scholarships in the Department of Art, Alberta Foundation for the Arts.
2016 Queen Elizabeth II Graduate (Master’s) Scholarship. University of Calgary, Calgary AB.
2015 Light Category Award, Port Moody Wearable Art Awards. For Positive
Feedback make fashion piece.