Ashley Bedet is an interdisciplinary artist residing in Calgary, Alberta. In 2014 she got her BFA in Intermedia from NSCAD University and has since been looking at, talking about and making art. Primarily she has been focused on researching how it is a person can be an artist and what the benefit of art could be outside of a rigid academic setting. She likes to make videos, games, installations, and printed matter. Below are some recent work relevant to her collaboration with Connie, and more information can be found on her website:

Below are some examples of previous work.

Are + Be is a game. It is only a game as far and as fun as introspection is. The internet is not a idle pastor for people to graze and wander through ideas and data, it is a place where casual sacrifices of self and identity contribute to a larger systemic problems -- too overwhelming to battle in one go. This game doesn’t collect your data, and it won’t have a customized fix for whatever is wrong with you. Are + Be will only offer back what you give it. In a hinter-internet-world parallel to the physical, security and privacy are inextricably linked, Are + Be is intended to act as an offering of amnesty from surveillances’ sanction.

Why? Because politics are personal, and intention is a part of identity.

The game can be played

Human Trap, Public Installation Commission, 2013.
I have been cautioned several times against walking alone or otherwise through the Commons at night. Most people have. This piece is focused on pointing out that safety is in part something created within the individual, but also the greater community. What determines safety within a particular time and space is reliant on gender, class, and race. The intention of the piece is to illuminate the transaction each person makes for their own comfort and safety. It acts as a reminder that it is a choice made individually and communally, by both our discussion and silence on the topic.
There is an othering that happens continually in communities. To be a part of a community, a person must abide and hold certain moral and social beliefs. If a person does not subscribe to the particular ideologies of the community, they are excluded, and may be labelled a threat. Othering can take many forms: the otherness of night, and of public domain is a strong example. Part of feeling safe is feeling like you belong. It is hoping, but also assuming that no harm will happen to you if you continue to be as you are. That is a right we should all have, and this art piece will be implemented as a reminder of that for our public and communal spaces.

Ashley Bedet