Department of Unusual Certainties (DoUC) (Toronto, ON) operates under a self-imposed public mandate with the aim to create projects that are for a public good. Meaning we expose and experiment with the multiplicity of systems that govern our society, creating results in a way where citizens and non-citizens alike can engage with, reflect on, or react to the information and experiences present in the project. With this approach DoUC seeks to acknowledge the importance of dealing with the formal, social and spatial concerns inherent in each project. Our research finds expression in print graphics, sculptural installations, video installations, and media projects that we present in publications, exhibitions, and as public interventions. Our projects are made for specific places and resonate the strongest in their context. Past subjects include: How migration has shaped Canadian cities, How parks can be shaped by their users and How one can operate a successful small business in Downtown Windsor.
NS Residency: February – March 2014
For Neighbourhood Spaces, Department of Unusual Certainties (DoUC) has a particular interest in exploring the present and future of manufacturing in Windsor, both its physical (tools, cars, baskets, glasses, things) and cultural (knowledge, technology, community) attributes. We will explore the options which concern manufacturing in Windsor, partnering with both international and local organizations and institutions to explore how manufacturing can evolve. Why can’t Automotive plants produce more than cars? Infrastructure can be re-designed to do more than one thing.
Testimonials from Public Places, 2013, Part of the Art Gallery of Mississauga’s Exhibition Roots and Branches. PUBLIC PLACES is a project by DoUC that incorporates the library’s functions as archive and place by facilitating new forms of knowledge exchange in the retail space. Using the pressing present-day issue of youth unemployment in Canada, various objects in the library’s collection that relate to the issue have been selected and brought together in new relational forms.
Learn more about DoUC at: www.departmentofunusualcertainties.com