Garnet Hertz

Garnet Hertz is an Associate Professor at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, holding the Canada Research Chair in Design and Media Arts. His work bridges critical making, electronic art, and interdisciplinary design research through the Studio for Critical Making. With a global presence in venues like Ars Electronica, SIGGRAPH, and DEAF, Hertz has shaped discourse on DIY culture and sociotechnical critique since the 2000s.

• Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Design and Media Arts
• Director of Studio for Critical Making (Room C4246)
• Teaching at Emily Carr since 2014 with 0/1 teaching load

His research establishes critical making as a framework for material inquiry through projects like Slow Game (2018 CHI paper), Disobedient Electronics (2017), and Art + DIY Electronics (MIT Press, 2023). This work interrogates technological temporality, corporate blackboxing, and post-optimal design across 15+ countries.

Recent collaborations include doctoral advising at RMIT (School of Design), RPI (Electronic Arts), and committee roles at Technical University of Berlin. His 2008 Oscar Signorini Award in robotic art recognizes technical-artistic innovation, while publications in Current, INC Readers, and Aarhus Conference Proceedings establish theoretical foundations for material speculation in design research.

Studio activities at Emily Carr include:

• Graduate Design Studio III (GSMD 600) - 2025
• Critical Making (DESN211) - 2016
• Open Studio events - Speculative Design (2018), Post-Optimal (2016)