A “machine for making the future” — François Jacob

Strange Tools Research Lab

Arts-based interventions for an uncertain future.

The Strange Tools Research Lab (STRL) uses art inquiry, design, and scientific research to address complex problems in the fields of public health, ecology, and community engagement. Through encounters between diverse disciplines, perspectives, and technologies, we render familiar scenarios strange, opening up a space of possibilities in which novel, scalable solutions can emerge.

--> what are strange tools?
Arts-Based Research projects
Dr. Kristopher Holland



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Veteran Communities projects
Dr. Kristopher Holland



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Sensorium projects
Dr. Anthony Chemero



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BioDesign projects
Dr. Whitney Gaskins and Nandita Baxi Sheth



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Neuroaesthetics projects
 Dr. Kristopher Holland and Dr. Ilya Vilinsky


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Speculative Design projects
Dr. Kristopher Holland & Nandita Sheth



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“An experimental system in which a scientific object gathers contours and becomes stabilized, at the same time must open windows for the emergence of unprecedented events” — Hans-Jörg Rheinberger







Dr. Anthony Chemero

Dr. Kristopher Holland
Dr. Whitney Gaskins
Nandita Baxi Sheth
Dr. Ilya Vilinsky
latest STRL publication:

“Scalar symmetries and strange tools: Learning Analytics and Embodied Design as techno-cultural confluence”
Tim Elmo Feiten, Kristopher Holland, and Anthony Chemero

International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcci.2021.100452
Strange Tools Research Lab (STRL), Cincinnati, OH
Running on Cargo