‘Citing the World: Points of Interreference’
Artist Talk presented by Raymond Boisjoly
September 17, 2026
On September 17, faculty Raymond Boisjoly gave an artist talk at Plug In ICA referencing his work in photography which engages diverse forms of production including writing and craft-based approaches, as part of the theme of this year’s Fall Institute.
Plug In ICA’s Fall Institute is part of its educational programs open to artists, writers, thinkers and various cultural workers from all backgrounds. It is a critical pedagogical context for communal learning, collaboration, and exchange.
The Fall Institute was led by Raymond Boisjoly from September 14 to September 26, 2026.
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.”
- Philip K. Dick
The 2026 Fall Institute concerned the idea of interreference in considering art not as a practice of representation, but as a practice of citation.
To cite is to establish a relation between varied phenomena. Forms of knowledge do not emerge in isolation from one another. They develop through encounters with things which already exist. This program explores interreference by staging encounters between distinct bodies of knowledge that generate new forms of understanding. When a distinct practice frames an encounter with the material world, what is being cited is both the world itself and the work which provides access to it. Moving beyond questions of representation, it considers how art establishes correspondences between disparate histories, materials, concepts, disciplines, and traditions. Rather than asking what an artwork stands for, the program asks how it connects, translates, transforms, and reconfigures existing forms of knowledge.
Through research, discussion, experimentation, and sustained engagement with specialized fields of practice, participants will consider art as a method of citing the world. Particular attention will be given to the ways knowledge travels between contexts, how methods developed in one realm may be made useful in another, and how new conceptual possibilities emerge through unforeseen encounters. The program approaches the artwork not a representation of something beyond itself, but as a singular point through which diverse forms of knowledge converge and acquire new significance.
Rather than treating worlds as pre-existing objects awaiting depiction, the program approaches them as relational constructions assembled through acts of citation, collection, and invention.
The 2026 Fall Institute was made possible through a generous contribution from Heritage Canada’s Canada Arts Training Fund and the Johnston Group.
Raymond Boisjoly is an artist and Haida citizen. His work is derived from his training in photography and engages diverse forms of production including writing and craft-based approaches. He uses various machines and equipment related to output and construction to capture technological processes interwoven with subject matter centered on cultural propriety, humour, and poetic-prophetic texts of mysterious origins.
Boisjoly has been included in numerous exhibitions nationally and internationally. In 2026, he was awarded a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Boisjoly is an Associate Professor at the School for the Contemporary Arts at SFU. He is represented by Catriona Jeffries.
Plug In ICA is located on Treaty 1 Territory; the ancestral homelands of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and the National homeland of the Red River Métis. We are grateful for the water that is sourced from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation. Plug In ICA is committed to reconciliation by eliminating barriers for artists, allowing them to share their work in connection with community and reconstructing institutional practices guided by diverse perspectives.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank our generous donors, valued members, and dedicated volunteers. We acknowledge the sustaining support of our Director’s Circle. You all make a difference.
Community support enables Plug In ICA to remain free and accessible to all, allowing us to continue presenting excellent programs. Please consider becoming a member of Plug In ICA and a donor at https://plugin.org/support or by contacting Nadja Pelkey, Director/Curator at executivedirector@plugin.org
For more information on public programming and exhibitions contact info@plugin.org or call 1.204.942.1043