Date: Friday, 19 March 2021, 2:00pm-3:00pm
Join us on Friday, March 19 for a talk given by the 2020-2021 receipient of the OCAD University Award for Excellence in Early Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity, Assistant Professor Immony Mèn. Immony Mèn is a multi-disciplinary artist, designer, educator, and community-based researcher. He is the co-director of the Public Visualization Lab (OCADU/York/Ryerson) with Patricio Dávila and Dave Colangelo, where they work alongside communities to represent and communicate concerns around equity, social justice, the environment, and participation. His research projects involve interaction design, installation, experimental video, motion capture, and public projections, exploring themes such as the anthropocene, Asian/South-Asian diasporic experiences, critical practice, and participatory engagement. Immony’s collaborative research practice brings together students, emerging artists and designers, community members, municipal government, cultural organizations, and industry partners.
Dedicated to student experience and training, Immony is a highly regarded educator in both undergraduate and graduate programs. He is also a valued contributor to OCAD U’s community and culture: his events “Postcolonial Hot Ones”, “Dumpling Discourse”, and “Traversal Residency: data, technology, and community” have brought faculty and students together for discussions centered around communal knowledge sharing, intergenerational healing methods, and mobilization plans for marginalized voices. As an artist, Immony has exhibited nationally and internationally and has been awarded municipal, provincial, and federal arts council grants to support his work. Men’s practice includes interactive installations, interdisciplinary performances, social artworks, and ties to his community-based research projects. Men acknowledges that his success as an early career researcher was strongly supported by the guidance and mentorship of Patricio Dávila,
Richard Fung, Will Aitken, Andrea Fatona, Robert Diaz, and Matha Ladly, as well as through research and creative support from April Xie, Jonathan Silveras, Lilian Leung, Luke Garwood, Quinn Shoreman, Preethi Jagadeesh, Maggie Chan, Priya Bandodkar, Jorge Esteves, Jaicyea Smith, and Sharon Cladwell.
Immony was nominated for this award by Associate Professor Patricio Dávila.