Founded in 1994 | Articles by Ron Burnett
Use the links above to find articles on Culture, Communications, Art and Design

Available now:
A Biography of Learning, University of Toronto Press (2025). Read more here.
Heinz Inlander, Il Pittore Perduto: Un memoriale immaginario, Davide Ghaleb Editore (2025).

Most Viewed Articles

Available now: A Biography of Learning

A Biography of Learning explores the history and effectiveness of learning within formal educational practices and details the impact of current technologies on the teaching and learning experience.

Cinema

Hiroshima, Mon Amour

Cinema

Some years ago, I was a Professor of Film and Cultural Studies at McGill University. I taught a class I deeply loved with over six hundred students in it.

Cinema

Documentary Film

Johan van der Keuken: an Interview with Ron Burnett

Documentary Film

Van der Keuken had an illustrious career and was not recognized to the degree that he deserved in North America.

Documentary Film

Roland Barthes and Camera Lucida: Photography and Modernism

The many levels of mediation which go into the production, creation and interpretation of photographs suggest a great deal about how we categorize and make judgements about sight.

Ethnography

The Eyes Don’t have it: Video Images and Ethnography

Ethnography

I will weave through a series of juxtapositions in this essay drawn from a number of experiences which I have had in the "field" of ethnography . . .

Ethnography

Community

Lowcast Media and the Public Sphere

Community

The focal point for many of the activities of the media be they mainstream or alternative can be found in the often different and varied ways in which media practitioners relate to the communities of which they are a part . . .

Community

Emily Carr University

Art Education and the Built Environment

Emily Carr University

From the beginning of 2007 until the summer of 2017…

Emily Carr University

Technology

Scale is a Beautiful Thing in VR

Technology

Edward Madojemu is a third year Media student at Emily Carr…

Technology

Emily Carr University

Gordon Smith: A Personal View

Emily Carr University

I got to know Gordon within a few months of arriving…

Emily Carr University

Interdisciplinarity

Transdisciplinarity: a New Learning Paradigm for the Digital Age?

Interdisciplinarity

I have been an educator, administrator, writer and creative artist for over forty years. During that time, most of the disciplines with which I have been involved have changed.

Interdisciplinarity

Most Viewed Articles

Roland Barthes: Photographs and Images

Most Viewed Articles

The eyes of the emperor’s brother once looked straight into a camera, in this case ‘manned’ by a photographer whose duty it was to take pictures of the rich and powerful.

Most Viewed Articles

Emily Carr University

Common Ground, a Dialogue on Curiosity and Creativity Moderated by Sharad Khare

Emily Carr University

Common ground, a dialogue on curiosity…

Emily Carr University

cinema  •  community  •  design  •  emily carr university  •  ethnography •  interdisciplinarity  •  research  •  science  •  technology

Latest Posts

Cinema

Interview with Atom Egoyan

Cinema

This interview is from the archive of this site which reaches back to the middle of the 1990’s.

Cinema

Images

21st Century Design

Images

A short video speculating on the future of design.

Images

Television

Netflixification

Television

Aside from a few shows, the material available from Netflix ranges from clichéd to super clichéd and this would not matter that much if they were not so dominant in the streaming era.

Television

Culture & Society

Not to Scale

Culture & Society

Not to Scale: How the Small Becomes Large and the Large Becomes Unthinkable and the Unthinkable Becomes Possible by Jamer Hunt (Grand Central Publishing, New York 2020)

Reviewed by Ron Burnett

Culture & Society

Research

Research Notes

Research

In the early 2000’s, I led a design research group which was part of the New Media Innovation Centre in Vancouver. NewMic was one of those brilliant ideas that come along once in a while but are generally rare. The inventory you see below was developed in 2002.

Research

Technology

Humans and Their Machines (2)

Technology

The video and computer game industry has been developing more and more sophisticated models of interactivity to allow us to more fully explore the closeness that we have established with screen-based experiences.

Technology

Humans and their Machines (1)

Technology

“The computer is a trope, a part-for-whole-figure, for a world of actors and actants and not a Thing Acting Alone.” - Donna Haraway

Technology

Writing

Welcome

Writing

This website has been redesigned to mark and illustrate the beginning of a new era. In the past it has been a repository for articles and thoughts by Ron Burnett

Writing

design  •  emily carr university  •  learning communities  •  neuroscience  •  research  •  science

Learning

Emily Carr University

China Art Academy

Emily Carr University

Founded in 1928, the CAA is both traditional and profoundly innovative.

Emily Carr University

FUEL Conference: Vancouver

Emily Carr University

Got a chance to interview Vancouver's arts & culture champion and my old boss at Emly Carr Sir Ron Burnett on the topic of Creative Leadership #FuelVan #thnkVan - with Ron Burnett at Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company.

Emily Carr University

Speech to the 2014 Graduating Class, Emily Carr University

Emily Carr University

To think that we are a university of art and design! And, in being this unique and specialized place we are a rarity.

Emily Carr University

Design

Apple’s Vision of education and computing 1995

Design

Many of the teaching tools described in this video foresaw today's use of technologies in all aspects of our lives. A fascinating time capsule.

Design

Visit to the central academy of Fine art in beijing

Design

A group of Presidents from Art Schools from all over the world attended a meeting in December at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Here are some pictures.

Design

Emily Carr University

Science as art as science

Emily Carr University

Swiss artist and photographer Fabian Oefner is on a mission to make eye-catching art from everyday science.

Emily Carr University

A New campus and a new future for Emily carr university

Emily Carr University

Yesterday, a historic announcement! The BC government will be contributing 113 million dollars to the construction of a new campus for Emily Carr.

Emily Carr University

Notes on Experience and the Tacit

Emily Carr University

Over the course of a year, I receive many proposals from consultants to talk to me about the services they have and how my organization will benefit from using their knowledge

Emily Carr University

Design

Collaborative Design

Design

As Design moves into the mainstream of contemporary thought, collaboration among designers and many other disciplines, but especially Engineering, will be crucial for the future.

Design

Emily Carr University

NAFSA 2011: A Parallel Universe by Sharon Joy Bell

Emily Carr University

Many academic colleagues may be unaware but Vancouver, Canada, has just played host (May 29-June 3) to the largest gathering of higher education practitioners in the world,

Emily Carr University

Research

A Utilitarian World

Research

Over the years (17 to be exact), this web site has turned into a vast enterprise.

Research

Learning Communities

A Utilitarian World (2)

Learning Communities

Imagine a world in which the daily experience of attending school does not exist.

Learning Communities

design  •  emily carr university  •  research  •  science  •  learning communities  •  neuroscience  •  interdisciplinarity  •  communications

Digital Culture

Internet

The Literate Future

Internet

At the conclusion of a short piece on text, literacy and the Internet, Nicholas Carr suggests the following about the digital age: "Writing will survive, but it will survive in a debased form.

Internet

Mobile Phones

Phones and the Unconscious

Mobile Phones

So....I ended up without my phone for two hours during the working day. It needed to have its battery replaced.

Mobile Phones

Media Studies

Post Politics

Media Studies

Social Media are being blamed for the development of closed tribal spaces in this, one of the most challenging political and cultural landscapes I have experienced in my lifetime.

Media Studies

Internet

Snapchat

Internet

There is a detailed analysis of Snapchat in the New York Times today that deserves a read.

Internet

Technology

Critical Approaches in 1995

Technology

Interactivity

New Media and Interactivity

Interactivity

One of the central metaphors at the heart of the activities of New Media, both from the creation and audience side, is “interactivity.”

Interactivity

Technology

Visualization and Digital Media

Technology

I have been thinking a great deal about Stereoscopic 3D cinema over the last number of years.

Technology

3D Printing Test for a House

Technology

Mechanical. Digital. Artistic.

Technology

In 2002, the administrators of the Bettman Archive, which is one of the largest collections of photographs ever assembled . . .

Technology

Smart 2D to 3D Conversion

Technology

Blowing up across the 3D printing Internet last week was the following video, which demonstrated a software with the ability to convert 2D photographs into complete 3D models

Technology

Elon Musk and the World of 3D

Technology

Elon Musk is amazing and this video portrays the future of interfaces as well as the future of design.

Technology

3D Printing and the Future of Art and Design

Technology

This presentation by MIT Professor, Neri Oxman summarizes some key points for the creative sector and 3D printing

Technology

internet  •  mobile phones  •  media studies  •   technology  •  interactivity  •  cinema  •  images  •  social networks  •  video games

Art & Design

Painting

Henry Inlander (1)

Painting

I have been reflecting with sadness on the challenge of trying to bring…

Painting

Henry Inlander (2)

Painting

Inlander was a brilliant draughtsman. In the early 1950’s renowned art critic and writer…

Painting

Henry Inlander (3)

Painting

Inlander used windows in many of his paintings and from time to time…

Painting

Henry Inlander (4)

Painting

This is one of Inlander’s most famous paintings, a self-portrait…

Painting

Henry Inlander (5)

Painting

Inlander painted many portraits and self-portraits…

Painting

Henry Inlander (6)

Painting

Inlander was fascinated with windows. Many of his paintings use windows to reflect on human vision, how we see and what moves us.

Painting

Henry Inlander (7)

Painting

Inlander was fascinated by debates between abstract expressionism…

Painting

Henry Inlander (8)

Painting

Inlander played with mirrors and reflections in many of his works…

Painting

Henry Inlander (9)

Painting

This painting is characteristic of the later phase of Inlander’s career…

Painting

Henry Inlander (10)

Painting

I will weave through a series of juxtapositions in this short essay drawn…

Painting

Images

An Interpretation of How Images Think by Monique Fouquet

Images

My deepest thanks to Monique Fouquet for this wonderful interpretation of…

Images

Cinema

Johan Van Der Keuken

Cinema

Van der Keuken had an illustrious career and was not recognized to the degree…

Cinema

painting  •  images  •  photography  •  design  •  cinema  •  writing  •  television  •  creativity  •  performance  •  technology  •  architecture  •  music  •  research  •  video  •  craft

Pop Culture

Culture & Society

The Pandemic

Culture & Society

We are in the middle of a very messy period with Covid-19 in Canada…

Culture & Society

Notes from the Far Side of a Pandemic

Culture & Society

A series of thoughts and notes during this time of isolation…

Culture & Society

Consumerism

The Mediocrity of Whole Foods

Consumerism

It struck me as ironic that Amazon bought Whole Foods just as the store was reaching the lowest point in its history and showing how superficial its understanding was of the customers who frequented it.

Consumerism

Entertainment

Pokemon GO

Entertainment

So here is the thing...Pokémon Go is a BIG event in the history of augmented reality…

Entertainment

Culture & Society

The Wall by H.G. Adler

Culture & Society

"The world felt as if it stood behind glass, and I myself felt as if I were made out of glass…

Culture & Society

Rearview Mirrors

Culture & Society

Science is about speculation, investigation and often about results that even in their

Culture & Society

Entertainment

Interstellar and the Genius of Christopher Nolan

Entertainment

Take a moment and close your eyes and picture outer space that is, the space of travel…

Entertainment

Community

Culture and Vancouver

Community

A short talk sponsored by FUEL…

Community

Amanda Palmer and The Art of Asking

Community

A TED talk by Amanda Palmer…

Community

Entertainment

Revisiting and Reviewing Moulin Rouge by Baz Luhrmann

Entertainment

In the first few minutes of Moulin Rouge, the film by director Baz Luhrmann, two major references are made…

Entertainment

Politics

Newtown, Connecticut

Politics

On this day, December, 14 2012, we mourn the victims of a senseless and despicable murder…

Politics

‘The Frontiers of Our Dreams are No Longer the Same’ (1)

Politics

It was an overcast day in 1977 when the great writer and Quebec nationalist, Hubert Aquin, committed suicide

Politics

culture & society  •  consumerism  •  entertainment  •  community  •  politics  •  music  •  law  •  history

About Contact