Calliope Gazetas, Masters Student, Interdisciplinary Masters of Art, Media and Design, Ontario College of Art and Design
Presentation Summary
My current research examines how human/coyote interactions in urban and suburban Canada is representative of larger issues surrounding our relationship to nature and non-humans. I have created a body of work that responds to a set of limited cultural perceptions of coyotes through exploring, engaging and observing those perceptions. This work is informed by the collection of data from online surveys, interviews, participatory and observational research, and photographs from wildlife cameras. As a designer and artist looking to understand my role working as an interdisciplinary mediator between science and humanities, my work supports my investigations on a sensitive and often polarizing issue.
Bio
Calliope is a recent graduate of OCADU’s Interdisciplinary Masters of Art, Media and Design,where she studied post-humanist and ecological theory, coyote biology, drawing, wildlife photography and design frameworks. She has a previous Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia where she studied photography and printmaking, and a Bachelor of Communications Design from Emily Carr University where she studied interaction, print design and typography. Calliope has been a designer and artist for the last eleven years. Before she came to Toronto to attend OCADU, she lived in San Francisco for four years where she worked as a freelance designer and web developer. During her time at OCADU, Calliope was a research assistant at the Social Body Lab, an OCADU research lab which focuses on wearable technology. For the summer of 2014, she will be participating in an apprenticeship farming program on Vancouver Island, where she will study food security and community supported agriculture.