Erin Manning

Erin Manning is a cultural theorist working at the intersections of philosophy, aesthetics, and politics, with a distinct focus on alter-pedagogical and alter-economic practices. As a Canada Research Chair in Speculative Pragmatism, Art, and Pedagogy at Concordia University in Montreal, she integrates pedagogical experiments into her work, fostering innovative approaches to teaching and learning.

Manning is the author of The Minor Gesture (2016), For a Pragmatics of the Useless (2020) andOut of the Clear (2022). Her work urges readers to perceive life from new, often oblique, perspectives. As a practicing artist, Manning creates textile-based, relationally-oriented works that invite participation and sensory exploration. Her art plays synesthetically with touch, drawing inspiration from the ProTactile movement for DeafBlind culture and language. Utilizing diverse tools and techniques such as tufting, hooking, knotting, and weaving, she creates large-scale tactile propositions that engage viewers in a profound material dialogue.

Manning’s current research, encapsulated in the 3ecologies project, investigates the transversality of three ecologies—the social, environmental, and conceptual. This project includes a land-based initiative north of Montreal, where experimental living and learning practices take place. Influenced by the legacies of SenseLab, 3ecologies examines how connectivity can be crafted through more-than-human encounters, fostering worlds in the making.