MÉDIANE

MÉDIANE
Feminine adjective and noun. Etymology: borrowing from imperial Latin medianus, “from the middle” ; from classical Latin medium, “middle” (source: Antidote).

The MÉDIANE Canada Research Chair in Art , Ecotechnologies of Practice and Climate Change (2020-2025, mediane.uqam.ca; @medianeforestsensing), is led by Dr. Gisèle Trudel with teams of human and more than human actants. A research-creation, it develops “relational zones” for artists, scientists and publics to experience and discuss phenomena in climates that are changing. This approach aims to combine the interests and abilities of each actant by offering space and time for creation and dialogue, to promote the circulation of ideas and actions between collectivities.

This ongoing research-creation proposes "ecotechnologies of practice" (Trudel, 2023) whereby eco and technè are dynamic craftings of relays and responses, that of peoples, machines and trees, from the middling of their encounter. To do this, the Chair explores, artistically and in public space, data from the Smartforests Canada research program led at the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM) by forest ecologist and professor Daniel Kneeshaw, a pan-Canadian scientific network documenting climate variations on the waters, soils and forests across the country. The Chair also collaborates with DOT-lab led by scientist and professor Nicolas Bélanger, director of the Data Science Laboratory of Université TÉLUQ in Montreal, where research activities are centered around the development and use of tools specific to data science.

Concretely, between 2021 and 2024, we have produced four yearly in situ out-of-doors large-scale art installations (bois eau métal, 2021; orée des bois, 2022; devenir-hêtre, 2023; c-six, 2024). Each project convenes data, media art, immersive sound and scaffolding structures, in a type of mini-festival where other artists and scientists present their own work. We have to date produced three cartographies about the installations, with invited guest writers. Further micro-installations and events about trees, art and machines circulate on a bike trailer with a bike team (Station mobile, 2022 - ). These varied and variable structurations are built-with the sharing of practices between the techniques of trees as well as of those of peoples, who are invited to share their experience of the art installations and the actions they can inspire, through semi-directed interviews. Additionally, presentations, events, publications have been produced over the years, enriching dialogues about trees, forests, and creativity in changing climates.

MÉDIANE conducts its research-creation in Tiohtià:ke /Mooniyang /Montreal, unceded Indigenous lands. The Kanien’kehá:ka Nation (Mohawk) are recognized as the custodians of the lands and waters with which we work.

With the generous support from
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)
Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture (FRQSC)
École des arts visuels et médiatiques, Faculté des arts (Université du Québec à Montréal - UQAM)
Hexagram-UQAM
Smartforests Canada
DOT-Lab Université TÉLUQ
Espace pour la vie | Jardin botanique de Montréal 2021
Jardin du Coeur des sciences, UQAM 2022
Fondation Grantham pour l’art et l’environnement 2023
Quai5160 - Maison de la culture de Verdun 2024