Digital Mirrors
Digital Mirrors of Materiality
with Katherine Behar, Nick Benson*, Hideo Mabuchi*, and Camille Utterback*
Moderated by Vanessa Chang
November 4, 3:30-5:20PM
Denning Family Resource Center, Anderson Collection
Reception to follow
5:30-6:30PM at the McMurtry Building Courtyard
We are all in some way navigating widespread futureshock over paradigm-breaking growth in the ambit of computation and robotics. Stepping back from the most expansive societal stakes to seek grounding at personal scale, expressive making offers a rich context within which to reflect upon what craft does for the maker, and what is lost or gained when we augment or supplant embodied engagement with digital technologies. If our goal is not just to produce but to make as a way of being at home in the world, what could we possibly want from the leverage of fabulous machines? Can traditional craft assimilate the expansiveness of the digital? How does this historical moment call for us to affirm the value of practicing heirloom modes of creativity?
Photo by Marianne M. Kim
Katherine Behar
Photo by David-Hanson
Nick Benson
"Material and Digital Symbolism in Performance"
Photo by Rewa Bush
Hideo Mabuchi
Photo by LiPo Ching/Stanford University
Camille Utterback
Vanessa Chang
This event made possible by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Funding Good Chaos, Stanford Arts Institute (SAI), the Department of Art and Art History and the Office of the Vice President for the Arts.
This moment calls for creative courage. For 45 years, MacArthur Fellows have expanded the boundaries of possibility by questioning conventions, crossing disciplines, and driving collective progress. Throughout 2026, the Foundation is celebrating the ground-breaking work of the Fellows and inspiring public dialogue through a series of nationwide events and conversations.
Learn more at macfound.org/fellows-45.
Contact:
Stanford Arts Institute
artsinstitute@stanford.edu

















