Paperology: A Reading and Activity Group on Knowing and Being with Paper

During the 2020-21 academic term, Aleksandra Kaminska, Juliette De Maeyer, Ghislain Thibault and Myself will be convening the Paperology Reading and Activity Group in association with Artefact Lab and Atelier -30-

The Paperology RAG will be engaging with paper as material through a variety of literatures that consider how paper is made, how it is used, and the practices it affords. This includes thinking through an assortment of paper-based artefacts with texts from various disciplines. As a way to start, we offer the following questions: What exactly is paper? What experiences are unique to paper? In what ways is paper valuable? Why paper now? Is paper still a relevant technology? How has paper in its various permutations given rise to specific things, systems, and cultures, including certain formats and genres  (e.g. the pocket book, the file, the greetings card), artefacts (e.g. the rolodex, the paper shredder), and activities (e.g. paperwork, burning, scrapbooking, marbling)? As we move through the readings, questions such as these will serve as signposts to foster a space for exploration, for engaging with novel ways of thinking paper, and for formulating new questions around media and materiality.

See the Artefact Lab website for more information.