25-04-14
Reading time - Temps de lecture: 5 minutes
In 2023, I was the teaching assistant for a papermaking class in the Fibre & Material Practices department in Studio Arts, during that time I assisted the professor, Sarah Bertrand-Hamel, to prepare and lead a workshop to build an archival portfolio for the class. The portfolio contains handmade paper works created by the students, each participant produces an edition of 20 paper works accompanied by a description sheet. Each student creates their paper sheets in an edition of 20 and the class exchanges their works and assembles them into a handmade portfolio box. Each portfolio contains 16 to 18 sheets depending on the number of students in the class. The goal is to build a paper samples’ library expanding over the years and becoming a precious reference for future papermaking students, faculties, and scholars at Concordia University.
Image 1: The original project takes form in a double tray clamshell box that essentially requires materials to have two 3-walled trays glued onto the cover boards.
The major problem I witnessed during my TA-ship is the knowledge gap and hidden labour of executing the project. These students have no prior experience in box-making, which is a technique used mostly in Print Media, and therefore require extensive assistance from the professor in preparing and instructing the creation process. Most of the materials were prepared by the professor and myself outside of class time, which we did not have sufficient contract hours to do. Despite the students being very excited about the project, many of them were not able to complete the box within class time, and never did after either. This archival project was established in 2022, but was already facing suspension two years later as it is not sustainable for both the professor and the students in the labour and knowledge aspects. Sarah has been searching for internal funding to redesign this project since 2024, but with the budget cuts in Fine Arts there wasn’t any funding available. The LEADS internship program became a great opportunity to save this project, where I could contribute my skills and knowledge to redesign this project into a more sustainable and autonomous fashion.
My goal of this internship is to establish a new structure for this project that is more organised, easy-to-follow, and more sustainable in terms of materials and human resources. The most important part of the internship is to simplify the preparation and production processes for making the box into a manageable time range within a 4 hour class time, and provide clear instructions future students can refer to despite their level of skills and knowledge in box-making. The redesigning of this project is broken into a few phrases: 1) redesign the box, 2) document the creation process, 3) creating reusable digital templates, and 4) provide a list of resources.
Image 2: The new box design (bottom) is a single 3-wall tray with a simple locking mechanism attached on the tray that will lock into place with the slot on the cover. This simplified design reduces a lot of materials and time required to produce it.)
After many hours of research and prototyping, my supervisor and I agreed on a new design that would reduce a good amount of materials and time used in production. The preparation process will be handled by the Digital Fabrication Shop (part of the Core Technical Centre in Studio Arts), where they can cut the materials for us using the laser machine. This technology greatly reduces the manual labour and preparation time outside of class time (it took me 5 hours to cut the materials by hand before), and also eliminates human errors in the process. I create reusable digital files to be used for the laser cutting processes as well as for printing the information sheets, all files are flight-ready and can be directly sent to Digifab and a print shop.
Image 3: Laser engraving/cutting machines from the CTC can cut all the boards for future editions. Image from the CTC Digital Fabrication Shop website.
We documented the step by step process of making the box with images and text descriptions, which students can refer to as an asset complimenting in-class demonstration. The instruction document also has a list of related resources and references, including suppliers of required materials, bibliography of useful books, and list of available services. A total of four boxes were made for documentation and design refinement, using 4 to 5 different types of locally sourced handmade papers. These boxes are also a physical archive of this research, as they contain all the tangible copies of the documents mentioned above, as well as paper samples from a local supplier. Students will be able to feel and compare different textured papers as reference to choosing their own. These boxes will be stored in the papermaking studio and are accessible to future students, as both a tactile reference and collective knowledge of the project.
Image 4: We documented the box-making process step by step with photos and written instructions. Photo taken by Sarah Bertrand-Hamel.
This internship experience made it very clear to me that it is as important to make a project sustain itself on the knowledge aspect alongside with the material and resource fronts. With the newly designed box and instructions, this project will be able to be sustained by the professor and future students because it is now manageable within the course curriculum. This archive becomes more autonomous for future editions: new professors and new students will always be able to follow the exact structure with the collective knowledge. Ever since my TA-ship, I really admire this project and I truly want it to continue expanding. This is a very satisfying result to me knowing that this archive can continue to build on its own and be passed down to generations of future students. Even though I am no longer the TA for this class, I am still assisting future students in their process. Every box we created is different but they are also the same in a way.
This annual archive portfolio box will continue to grow in the collections within the Fibre Department, the Fine Arts Reading Room, the BaNQ, and the papermaking studio, from 2022 and for many years to come.
Image 5: The four boxes made for documentation and refinement process will be used as part of the 2025 edition and be deposited into the archive collections mentioned above.
Summary: Redesigning a paper archival project that can continue to grow in a more sustainable and autonomous fashion, which future students and faculties can follow this collective knowledge put together during this internship
Keywords: book arts, archives, collective knowledge
Hei Lam Ng is a recent MFA graduate of the Studio Arts Program (Print Media) at Concordia University, whose works explore diversity in cultural and material references, crossing disciplines in print media, photography, book arts, and text-based arts. Her MFA research centres in materialising the concept of a book into various mediums and forms differ from the traditional bound object.