Was able to squeeze in quick visit to the excellent Bank of England museum during my trip to London in December to gather material for my next book on high-tech paper and security aesthetics. Here’s a very small preview of some of the more design/production focused stations.  

For the past few years I have been working with artists and scientists to explore optics and substrates at the nano scale. The project is called Nano-Verses. Working with with web designers in Montreal, we then produced an accompanying website that brings it all together. There are a few elements to fix here and there, but for the most part it’s ready for show. Works best on Chrome, a desktop, and with the sound on 🙂 >> https://nano-verses.com/  Here is a longer blurb on the partnership and the web project: Nano-Verses is an ongoing project working across disciplines to explore optics and substrates at the nano scale. The team of researchers and artists has been working together since 2015 to produce nano-optical objects based on the principles of structural colour to display unprecedented interactions between light and matter. Originally inspired by the nano scale structures that produce the iridescent blue of morpho butterfly wings, nano-optical devices have been primarily developed and used as an authenticating feature by the black-boxed security industry. Working from a desire …

I’m working on my high-tech paper book this summer, and took some time to go to the national archives in Ottawa and see what I could glean from historical documents. Considering the secretive nature of security printing, I had no idea what to expect in terms of what would even be available, but it turned out there was a lot of full of useful info in the form of correspondence, agreements, requests for tenders, and other such materials, which provided clues on the production of money, banknotes and bonds, passports, and stamps.

Archive/Counter-Archive: Activating Canada’s Moving Image Heritage brings together over 25 co-investigators, a dozen collaborators, and a network of Partners from across Canada to research and remediate audiovisual archives created by women, Indigenous Peoples, the LGBTQ2+ community, and immigrant communities. I’m a co-applicant (SSHRC Partnership Grant) and part of the Education and Outreach working group. Political, resistant, and community-based, A/CA creatively engages with archives through its dynamic network of Canadian archives, artist-run centers, community organizations, and Universities. Together, the goal is to create best practices and lay the foundation for innovative cultural policy. You can visit the website to sign up for the newsletter or to follow the activities on social media.

The Artefact Lab is new space for research and exploration in the field of media studies in the Department of Communication at the UdeM. Privileging a reflection on media materialities across scales, time periods, cultures, and practices, the activities of the lab are located at the intersection of the following research axes: Media archaeology and history Technical and biological materials and matters of mediation Imaginaries, representations and cultural dimensions of the technical universe Practices and aesthetics at the crossroads of art and technology, including electronic, media and bio arts Digital infrastructures and emerging technologies Media spaces, environments and milieux Philosophy and epistemology of the arts, science and technology The lab is organized and directed in collaboration with my colleague Ghislain Thibault. It will host monthly meetings of its members and graduate students, reading groups, invited speakers, and other special events. Website