Ian Carstens is a writer, filmmaker and curator from the occupied land of the Otoe-Missouria, Sioux, Ioway, Sauk and Fox, known also as the Mississippi River Basin. His work explores temporality, non-human aliveness, multiplicity, as well as critiques of the archive, lens-based art forms and cultural institutions. He received his BA in Art Theory and Criticism from Luther College and teaches filmmaking at DMACC. 

Carstens is the lead curator/filmmaker of Glass Breakfast, an ongoing archival project. His work has been exhibited with the Chicago Architecture Biennial, the MSU Broad Art Museum, various festivals and on public television. His arts writing has been published with The Oxford American, Burnaway, Sugarcane, The Pulp, Ruckus Journal, Fugue Literary Journal, Sixty Inches From Center and others.  He is the recipient of grants from the Columbus Museum of Art & Design, the Columbus Area Arts Council, Bloomington Arts Commission, and Iowa Arts Council, as well as being selected participant of the 2023 Tanda program with Chuquimarca.