Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Long gone are the days where the latest information can be found within the pages of a newspaper. Permanently printed each day, the daily news we read with ink stained fingertips can do nothing but highlight the eve’s accomplishments. Using a mashup of trending online tools, The Real Times is an artistic installation able to tap into each moment’s most popular headline.

Collecting the hottest and most talked about topics from Google Trends, this news box populates its front page with what the Internet community is discussing in the public spheres. Each term is contextualised through Freebase’s digital library. Using Yahoo News to gather relevant articles, text is brought forth explaining each topic. Most prominent above the fold is a video uploaded to YouTube moments before the break of a story.

The Real Times is an innovation in dynamic information dissemination. Automatically sourcing data from online bodies of information generators, including Twitter, Youtube and the press. This digital newspaper frames content in a familiar architecture of a newspaper stand. Peering through the Plexiglas window, onlookers are fascinated by the pace and accuracy of content being harvested.

Collaborative project with : Charles-Antoine Dupont, Gregoire Jololian and Piotr Wielopolski

Download Artist Statement [PDF]

In Freeze, a dancer takes to the snow with sheets of fabric in hand. Her movements, sometimes gracious, sometimes violent, bring the cloth to life for the camera. Through post-production editing techniques, the sheets of coloured cloth are stiffened in mid-air. As the dancer invigorates the prop, more patterns adhere to the video. Together, they form an abstract video artwork reminiscent of a painter working on canvas.

Taking advantage of the detail captured in high-definition format, Freeze reconstructs temporality through the intricacies of fluttering fabric. In order to harmonize each shot with the next as well as with the still cloth pieces, it was necessary to tediously adjust exposure and avoid colour bleeding during the cut-out process. It was important for us to convey a sense of imagination in a whimsical setting. Remembering a toy music box, this dancer is awakened by the wind around her. She agitates the coloured fabric as if performing with a partner, while alone amongst the snowy backdrop.

A light and mysterious theme, composed by Paulo Lourenço, accompanies the performance. Reverberating in the empty space, this audio sets the pace and adds an intriguing flair. Its delicate strikes help shape the memory of a music box in the mind of the viewer. Hushed wisps allow the audience to perceive an invisible force present in the work. Wind carries the fabric in the air and is emphasized in this audio track.

ChooseLocal.ca JachèteQuébec.ca is a mobile application conceptualized in order to make buying local food and produce easier, and more attractive to Montrealers. In collaboration with Charles-Antoine Dupont, Charlotte Fisher, Sahar Homami and Piotr Wielopolski.

We hope to inspire Montrealers to ask questions and to inspect where their food is coming from, and to be conscious of the consequences. Users of the mobile app will have the opportunity to help each other by sharing their information with their community, by simply accepting to share their findings with the application. Their information will be gathered, sorted, and displayed in a way that we hope will show people how convenient buying local produce can be–in turn, with their help, local produce will become more available.

For example, Montrealers will be able to exchange information about where products are insufficiently labeled, and where most of their local products are being purchased. ChooseLocal.ca is both a challenge for the user's local produce consumption and a sharing platform, meant to redistribute geo-availability/scarcity information of local food.

Prototype Available on your mobile device

chooselocal.ca/app

Reversing the structure of a traditional depiction of women in video games, our team proposes an environment where the princess chooses to escape the patriarchal and controlling realm of the castle. This protagonist faces a dark wood, filled with creatures dark and terrifying. In an environment inspired from classic fairy tales, escape is made difficult through elements building fear in troubled spaces. True to form, players can also flee to zones of comfort, where friends may be found. Bringing to light a classic struggle from video game history, our team's game features a male dominated milieu from which escape is crucial.

Throughout the adventure, the princess' decisions will influence the story's outcome. By coming to the rescue and cooperating with the forest creatures, the princess will gain a new respect for this ecosystem and, in turn, herself. On this young woman's quest for independence, narrative will not rely on words or cut scenes. Instead, strong symbolism and metaphoric representation will lead players in understanding the world in which the adventure takes place.

The Shadow Princess; A collaborative project with Ivano Masella, Tom Irvine and Anthony Piazza for CART 498F, Concordia University.

Do

Objective

Explore the extended interpretation of databases as the structures that influence our lives.

Motivation

Concern for future generation's education in a digital age devoid of direct physical contact and manipulation of information.

Know

Solution

Write and illustrate a children's book, printed and archived for generations to come.

Result

The book is itself a perfect representation of databases in our lives. In infinite recursion, the book, its pages, its text and meaning depict our information age.

Feel

Experience

Taking hold of a tangible representation of databases, readers are reminded of the change in medium taking place.

Tools

• Photoshop
• InDesign

Do

Objective

Design an easily adaptable Real Estate database able to generate buyer and seller reports as well as marketing material.

Motivation

In an effort to reduce dependence on external resources and costs, an adaptable software system helps make a small business sustainable.

Know

Solution

Use Microsoft Access to provide an easy to use and customize experience while storing all necessary data.

Result

The client is able to print relevant reports as well as produce unique high quality marketing material with ease. The software's automatic report generation helped increase office efficiency.

Feel

Experience

After implementing the solution, it is possible for the coordinator to adapt the software to the business' changing needs.

Tools

• Microsoft Access
• InDesign

Do

Objective

Simplify a complex computational model on the web. Increase the user's sensorial experience when interacting in virtual space.

Motivation

Embracing technology, I find myself familiar with the medium's intricacies. In this work, I hope to familiarize users with what takes place behind the screen.

Know

Solution

Using the traceroute function as a seed, the endless network of computers that make up the internet is manifested through the playback of an echo generated dynamically with Action Script 3.

Result

The project website allows users to gauge their distance from the destination web server through an audible echo.

Feel

Experience

While technical aspects remain hidden from visitors, the resonating echo unmasks the instantaneous character of the internet. The interaction begins to emphasize the medium's scale.

Tools

• PHP
• CSS
• Traceroute
• ActionScript 3 

Do

Objective

Allow participants to become members of an at-hoc electroacoustic orchestra. Create a unique arrangement incorporating each element of sound theory.

Motivation

Simplify the instrument learning process while keeping in mind each of the 9 parameters required to produce interesting sound.

Know

Solution

A Max patch is programmed to generate audio according to the participants behaviour. Each button affect the sound's quality as well as the effect of the other players' button.

Result

Sounds melt through the piece's layers, changing infinitely. Participants experiment with a new music genre without requiring extensive musical expertise.

Feel

Experience

In an enjoyable atmosphere, audience becomes performer in an ensemble anyone can join.

Tools

• MAX MSP
• Arduino Open Hardware Platform
• Spectrum Amplitude Frequency Space Rhythm Layering Gesture Structure and Concept

Do

Objective

Blur the boundary of public and private spaces by combining voyeuristic desires to modern communications systems.

Motivation

Make use of vintage film-making equipment and the latest IP telephony systems. 

Know

Solution

Program an Arduino micro controller to communicate with an open-source telephony interface and activate a reel to reel film projector.

Result

Users presented with the opportunity to view footage from a cemetery try to reach the projectionist. The call is transferred to a local phone number, chosen at random. The call duration is subsequently transformed into film viewing time.

Feel

Experience

By encouraging participants to use technology they carry as an interface to their surrounding community, the disconnect between public and private is made explicit.

Tools

• Arduino Open Hardware Platform
• PHP
• Asterisk IP Phone System
• 8mm Camera & Projector

Do

Objective

Create a strong visual link between the formal graphical elements of typed text and its audible reading.

Motivation

Beyond adjectives and superlatives, the text that crosses my eyes daily never fails to polish away the natural characteristics of speech, whether vocal or visual.

Know

Solution

An interactive Action Script 3 interface allows the user's mouse clicks to be translated into text manipulation which determines the text's playback.

Result

The words' size and shape distortion combined with their playback demonstrates speech's finer qualities and the inability of digitized text to relay its subtleties.

Feel

Experience

Initiating users to a new method to manipulate text helps put in question current technology's means of communication.

Tools

• Flash
• ActionScript 3
• Logic Pro