{"id":1247,"date":"2020-10-27T15:58:14","date_gmt":"2020-10-27T15:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hexagram.uqam.ca\/laser-9-forests-drawing-close-eng\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T16:29:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T21:29:14","slug":"laser-9-forests-drawing-close-eng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hexagram.ca\/en\/laser-9-forests-drawing-close-eng\/","title":{"rendered":"LASER 9 \u2014 Forests Drawing Close"},"content":{"rendered":"

LASER 9 Hexagram Montr\u00e9al<\/em>
Co-Chairs Nina Czegledy and Gis\u00e8le Trudel<\/em><\/p>\n

Wednesday, November 11th, 7pm – 8:30 pm
Tiohti\u00e0:ke | Montreal
Free online video conferencing via Hexagram\u2019s YouTube Channel<\/a> or directly on Hexagram’s Interdisciplinary Summit<\/em><\/a> \u00a0<\/em>Web platform.<\/p>\n

In English
Free<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

With<\/p>\n

David Howes (Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Concordia University, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Law, McGill University, Montreal ; Hexagram Research member)
Jehov\u00e1 Louren\u00e7o Jr (Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo, Brazil ; Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre d\u2019\u00e9tude de la for\u00eat, UQAM)
Jorge Zavagno (Masters candidate, Studio Arts Department, Concordia University)
Leila Sujir (Professor, Studio Arts Department, Concordia University)<\/p>\n

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This edition of the LASER series proposes to build on current artistic, anthropological, architectural and scientific research about forest ecosystems for enriching discussions about biodiversity and creativity. Forest agencies of humans and more-than-humans point to manifold affordances, combining their inner and outer workings to inhabit convergent worlds. The speakers will discuss the following topics : visualizing respect and memory of old-growth forests with high-definition video and stereoscopic technologies (Sujir and Zavagno), deciphering the inner network of tree sap flow functions with 3D microscopic imagery in periods of drought (Louren\u00e7o) as well as recent trends in architectural designs in Finland pointing to the resurgence of wood, a qualitative housing endeavour to kindle the senses (Howes).<\/p>\n

Through the interplay of sensing bodies and technologies, Forests Drawing Close<\/em> will be an encounter with conditions of proximity about tree relations, up close and afar.<\/p>\n

This LASER edition is presented in the context of Hexagram\u2019s 1st Interdisciplinary Summit Web Platform entitled Sympoietics : The Sharing of Agency and Autonomy<\/em>. (https:\/\/rencontres.hexagram.ca\/<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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\"LASER9Invading Forests<\/em><\/p>\n

David Howes<\/strong> will discuss the implications of Finnish architect Juhanni Pallasmaa’s work – most notably The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses (1996) – for the recent re-valorization, by architects and designers, of wood as a building material (formerly dismissed as a fire hazard and constructions made of it deemed \u201cvernacular\u201d). For a long time, humanity sought to domesticate or \u201cmanage\u201d forests. Might this new trend in wooden architecture be a sign of forests drawing closer and sylvanizing us? This presentation complements Howes\u2019 essay on Whole-Body Sensing: Encountering the Forest with Henry David Thoreau <\/a>on Hexagram\u2019s Sympo\u00ef\u00e9tiques<\/em> Web platform.<\/p>\n

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Hydraulic Architecture of Trees: Adjusting to Survive in a Changing World<\/em><\/p>\n

Jehov\u00e1 Louren\u00e7o Jr<\/strong> will present the use of novel approaches such as laser microscopy for 3D imaging of cell structures and trait-based ecology in understanding how trees adjust their hydraulic architecture to cope with environmental constraints through time. Recent studies conducted with Jack Pine trees on cell-level adjustments and their effects on the safety and efficiency of water transport allow us to understand the outstanding growth performance of this species and its ability to withstand drought.<\/p>\n

Walking in 3D Stereoscopic Forest Spaces (2016-ongoing)<\/em><\/p>\n

Leila Sujir<\/strong> and Jorge Zavagno<\/strong> will talk about the development of a series of video projects focusing on the old-growth forests, collaboration with the community in their practice, and the possibilities brought by considering walking rather than seated viewers. The monumental scale of the video projections and the \u201celastic depth\u201d of the 3D images render the work immersive, integrating the spectators’ corporal movements into its reception.<\/p>\n\n\n

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