The internet is the connection between data hosted in real physical buildings across the globe. In this case, this website is hosted by Green Geeks, also in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal and powered by renewable resources, the energy of the sun and air. This is where Concordia is located and I live here too. I would like to take the time to express my gratitude to these lands, the water, the air and the energy which is located on unceded Indigenous lands. The Kanien’kehá:ka Nation is recognized as their custodian. Tiohtià:ke/Montréal is historically known as a gathering place for many First Nations. Today, it is home to a diverse population of Indigenous and other peoples. We respect the continued connections with the past, present and future in our ongoing relationships with Indigenous and other peoples within the Montreal community.
To me, the territorial acknowledgement is also about rethinking how we think about property and knowledge itself. These lands are their own. How we imagine ourselves in relation to them, such as custodians or as owners, has real consequences on all of our lives.
I am indebted to the park of Mont-Royal, Jean-Drapeau, Ile St-Hélène and the surrounding waters since these places have stilled my mind throughout my degree. I would also like to thank the stars that remind us that most of this universe is dust and gas, that this blue speck is weird.
I could not have undertaken this journey without my thesis supervisor and fan Luigi Allemano who was quick to get the gist of what I was doing, was generous and available to offer a balanced level of criticism and boundless enthusiasm.
I would like to thank my defence committee members Cheryl Simon, Marianna Milhorat and Tamar Tembeck.
I would like to extend my sincere thanks to my teachers throughout these four years that shared their knowledge and expertise Cheryl Simon, who gets double thanks, Tracy Zhang, Guylaine Dionne, Tammer El-Sheikh in socks, Stéphane Calce, Richard Kerr, Sky Gooden, Laurie Milner, Marielle Nitoslawska, Michael Yarochevsky, Jean-Claude Bustros, Antoine Bustros and Guillaume Pelletier.
I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the covert teachers and aides that line the walls of Concordia and do much of the heavy lifting, Oswaldo Toledano, Phil Hawes, Chris Ready, Martin Leger, Mark Sherman and all the lovely people at CDA, Maureen Kennedy, Scott Osborne, Charlie Lessard-Berger, Kaneesha, Pamela Caussy, and any other unofficial co-worker at VCR, Marcus von Holtzendorff, Andrew Lima, Elyse Murphy and many more helpful hands running the show.
This endeavour would not have been possible without my fun and hands-on cohort Anna Iunes, Camille Salvetti, Ali Ghaedi, Peter Hostak, Simon O’Reilly, Marjan Ansari and Pierre-Luc Junet.
I am also grateful for the many open-minded students such as Karina Garcia Casanova, Cecilia McKinnon, Vania Ryan, AM Devito, Paul Ballerini, Allison Moore, Christopher Johnstone, Daniel Crawford, Iso Setel, Nakitta Correa and so many more that created a environment for going deep in ideas and moving out of our comfort zone.
A quick shout-out to Elizabeth Giroux who played the cello in Masticating Whorl, which has no credit roll.
To my family who have offered material and emotional support, Bentley MacLeod, Raisa MacLeod, Nick Szabo, River MacLeod, Ben MacLeod, and Janet Currie.
To my friends, who have been there through thick and thin, Rana Achkar, Carolyn Hass, Olivier Bastien, Katia Belkhodja, Éric Vignola, Benedicte Mellet, Jean-Gabriel, Shelagh Rowan-Legg, Simon Lapierre, Elza Klephart, Alizé Thiercelin, Simon Chaput, Eduardo Alvarado, Flavie Choinière, Ode Morin, Rémi Fréchette, Iphigénie Frey and Olivier Bonenfant.
To my communities, the slackliners, Atelier Culture Vélo, BQAM and Fantasia, that let me take a mental break while the unconscious did its thing.