Directions № 2

DNA project is a research by creation project. For the duration of the project, we took the time and the means to explore what would the concept of the object become in the future, as they evolve into intelligent objects, as humans start to grasp their environmental impact, and as we start questioning our role as consumers in an object oriented society. This contemplation eventually lead us to write a manifesto, that inspired an interactive exhibition named: DNA, the future life of objects. In this project, my colleague Hugues Rivest and I have worked on 3 distinct interactive experiences for this exhibition.

In the future, objects will reveal their anatomy lets you experience the difference of two objects that share the same function, but that are created differently.

In the future, objects will declare their impacts lets you experience the impact of, again, two objects that share the same function, but have a contrasting environmental impact.

In the future, objects will express their emotions is a playful experiment that gives a personality and a voice to common objects. These objects react in a surprising way to the way we interact with them.

This project was directed by: Martin Racine and Philippe Lalande, with the collaboration of: Alexandre Joyce, Hugues Rivest, Elio Bidinost, Mark Unterberger, Jahon Torbati, Émile Lemay-Racine, Edward Nyamenkum, Samuel Tissot-Jobin, Cecilia Lico and Mario Miranda Luévano.

The Accra tro tro network map visualizes data collected by riding the transit system called tro tro in Accra, Ghana. The data collected a large amount of GPS points covering the entire Accra territory. This visualization was created as a proof of concept for ways to use this data. Leading this project was Zachary Patterson, professor and researcher in Geography studies at Concordia University. The data was cleaned and organized by Natalie Wiseman before I started schematizing and drawing the colourful network map. The map is aligned to a hexagonal map inspired by the dataset itself.

Julien Hébert, fondateur du design moderne au Québec is a book written by Martin Racine, designer and professor for Concordia University in Montréal. This book shines a light on the life and vision of Julien Hébert using a monumental collection of industrial design pieces, works of art and graphic design. You should read the book. This book was printed in black and orange, as most available photos were in tones of greys. The Pantone color creates a conducting thread throughout the pages, most notably to anchor the book's navigation system. This book was designed in collaboration with Edward Nyamenkum, and the active participation from the author.

A year after heading into a non-specific direction, here is the second edition. Graduated from a BFA in design and computation arts, I can only notice how the thing that I create are fragile. This fragility is only amplified with time. Things degrade and then we forget. When I say time, I am referring to the tools that evolve and become obsolete, broken. When I say degradation, I think of all my paper projects piled up in a cardboard box, but also the ones that I left on a server, somewhere on the Web. When I say that we forget, I think of all the digital files that I methodically organize and store safely, just to never modify them again.

In Issue 2 of Directions, I begin pondering on the future of my digital productions. As I also begin a Master in museum studies, I try to give answers to this specific problem, but I do not have the answers.

If I don't have any answers, I can still show some of my most recent productions. These represent in time my largest achievements as a designer. The Metadna Project certainly led me to museum studies. This research by creation project for which I spent no less than 4 years reflecting, experimenting and creating. The resulting exhibition ended up being presented in different spaces and contexts, and continuing to travel around. The second introduced me to the world of geography and map making. The Accra Trotro network map was a challenging, but important design project that re-emphasized the role of design for geography research. The third, a book, was a phenomenal early accomplishment that I was able to share with a good friend, and allowed me to leave a very little contribution in the world of book design. Together, I find these productions all have a different future, in very different domains: exhibition design, geography and the library.