ABSTRACT
Studying is a practice with spatial and temporal dimensions of social importance. We can trace spaces of study back to monastic practices: small devotional spaces or “cells” set aside for religious inquiry and scholarship. Where and how is the habit of study practiced today? Is it reflected in our smartphone handset, our laptop, or our headphones? Is it present in a third place such as a coffee shop, subway commute, or other informal spaces where ubiquitous computing overlays space and a person can be solitary, yet in public, and simultaneously fall into a pocket of time for inquiry, reflection, learning, or expressing on a device? A person without a proper place to study cannot acquire the requisite skills for public life. This inquiry, conducted through making, played out during the 2022–2023 academic year, resulting in a series of surrealist assemblages that explore interiority and study across time—where history, memory, and contemporary conditions relate complexly.
