Papineau Metro, Montreal
It’s the end of my fourth day in Montreal and I’m writing this entry from my new ‘home’ for the next eight weeks or so, Papineau. It’s a fairly quiet part of the city, in the north-east, and is only a few stops from downtown. I’m staying in a flat (called a 2 1/2, although not entirely sure what this means) in what was once a 19th-century hotel. It’s dated but should do the job! I now have a monthly metro pass, food in the fridge and I’ve just about worked out how to cross a road at an intersection.
In terms of fieldwork, I have met up with Xin Wei, the director of the Topological Media Lab (TML), to discuss what I hope to do while I am here and what materials we might be able to generate together. It’s exciting to be here and meet people whose work resonates with that I have been thinking about. Here’s my provisional schedule for the rest of the week: Harry Smoak has invited me along to his lecture tomorrow on the ‘Architecture that happens’ , there’s a reading group for a project on ‘Memory and Place’ on Thursday and then a two-week event combining music and Frankenstein (more details to follow!) will kick off on Friday. I’m also due to introduce my work to the lab tomorrow late afternoon…