A collage of images, featuring a radio telescope, a portrait of an artist, a microorganism with many tentacles, and an abstract illustration of planets.

Big news this month: @setiinstitute.bsky.social launched two new projects! We announced six phenomenal artists nominated for the Planetary Futures public art residency, and Cosmic Chronicles, a new literary prize for emerging writers and poets. More in our newsletter: www.seti.org/news/seti-ai...

The artwork "Dreams of Biogenesis" by Jennifer Willet, collage, 2025. This work is a riot of colours. A graphic depiction of cell division spirals outward from a central point in the composition, set on a background of rays mostly in pale blue, teal, and turquoise. Illustrations of deep-sea creatures, corals, and extremophiles provide red and orange accents. In the far background, barely visible in the joyous cacophony of colours, a volcano and a depp-sea vent are visible.

Great @setiinstitute.bsky.social article about how the creation of bioart can help to visualize biogenesis, the study of the origin of life. Read about how artist Jennifer Willet brought the scientific work of Drake Award winners David Deamer and John Baross to life:
www.seti.org/news/dreams-...

A graphic of overlapping red an blue-striped spheres floating on a a starfield

Just launched: @setiinstitute.bsky.social's Planetary Futures, a public art residency that explores planetary science, with a focus on climate research. Six nominees have been invited to submit a project proposal for the SETI AIR Planetary Futures residency:
www.seti.org/news/seti-in...

Nadia Myre A page of Canada’s Indian act, red and white beads replacing the typed text.

A view of one of the exhibition rooms featuring Nadia Myre’s work. A canoe, made of half metal and half wood, sits in the centre of the room. Three large circular photographs of beads at the back wall looks like galaxies.

Bettina, wearing headphones, stands in front of a flatscreen watching Skawennati’s video work They Sustain Us. In the background are mannequins wearing costumes of the virtual characters in the video.

Bettina walks up the stairs to the first floor in the National Gallery of Canada. The photo emphasizes the dramatic architecture of the stairs, walls, and coloured ceiling, with Bettina in the centre of the vanishing lines.

Two powerful solo shows by indigenous women right now at the National Gallery of Canada: Nadia Myre and Skawennati. Reflecting on colonial pasts and projecting into Indigenous Futures. Poignant, lyrical, funny, and uplifting.

Collage of different pictures featuring an artist in an orange touque, a window display of books, an open doorway, an empty easel, the cover of an album entitled "Beneath the Silence of Space: A Sonified Journey" by Cosmic Connect, the movie poster for "Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa" on Netflix, and a painting of a woman in front of a wall sitting on the edge of a pool.

In this edition of SETI AIR News, we feature Julie-Michèle Morin, one of our Cosmic Consciousness Residency recipients, whose technofeminist research into robotics and theatre challenges conventional narratives around machines and performance. 🧪 👩‍🔬 🐡

We much prefer art generated by actual humans. No AI, please.

Dreams of Biogenesis: A Conversation with Artist Jennifer Willet How does life begin? This intriguing question touches on science, philosophy, and the imagination. Artist and INCUBATOR Art Lab Director Jennifer Willet created an artwork that visualizes the theories...

Looking forward to my chat with artist Jennifer Willet about the wonderful animated collage she created that illustrates two opposing theories of biogenesis. How does life begin?
Join me for the next SETI Live this Thursday, July 3, 2025, at 2:30PT / 5:30 ET

www.youtube.com/live/z0Qb62g...

This is a fantastic opportunity for writers and poets interested in the questions of life, intelligence, and consciousness.
Deadline is September 1st, so you can get some writing done over the summer.

Helen's fundraiser for Perley HealthFoundation Help Helen McGurrin raise money to support Perley and Rideau Veterans Health Center Foundation

My friend's mom (and my "quasi-adoptive mom") Helen is running a half-marathon to raise funds for a senior's home.
🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️ Helen is 85 years old - and just unstoppable! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️
If you'd like to support her cause, here's the link:
shorturl.at/GOgPe
She started running marathons - and winning medals - at age 70

Photo of Bettina Forget holding a Jane’s Walk flag, Ottawa’s National Gallery and Louise Bourgeois’ sculpture Maman in the background.

Photo of a group of about 40 people in front of Ottawa’s National Gallery, gathering below Louise Bourgeois’ sculpture Maman.

Photo of a small group of people gathering in front of a sculpture in Ottawa’s National Arts Centre. A young woman is holding a Jane’s Walk flag.

My first Jane’s Walk! And I got roped in to marshal the crowd.
What a wonderful way to honour visionary activist Jane Jacobs, whose ideas about urban planning, liveable cities, and “third spaces” shaped much of contemporary design and architecture.

#janeswalk

Back alley poetry

Photo of the facade of a convenience store. The sign reads Kim’s Convenience, 7 Days a Week.

Look what I found during my stop-over in Toronto: Kim’s Convenience! This is the location where the TV series was filmed. Of course, I went in and bought a few things. Sadly, Mr Kim was not behind the counter. Oh well.
Ok, see you!

Photo of a table covered with small brown paper bags. On the front of each bag a card is attached with red and white striped ribbon. The card has a cartoon rabbit on it wearing a red shirt that says “Elbows Up” in white letters.

A card with a cartoon rabbit on it wearing a red shirt that says “Elbows Up” in white letters.

Every Easter, I make a card and treats for my neighbours in the building, typically with a nod to current events. This year, it’s Elbows Up Bunny.
Chocolate eggs are a decent antidote to news-induced nihilism.

#HappyEaster

This is called artificial artificial intelligence.

Decisions, decisions...

Photo taken on a sidewalk, with a parking meter in the foreground that has a sticker on it. The sticker reads: Creativity is not a to do list. Creativity is a wild god.

Words of wisdom spotted on a parking meter

SETI AIR Newsletter - March 2025 */ /*-->*/ Greetings

The latest @setiinstitute.bsky.social Artist in Residence program newsletter is out!

www.seti.org/seti-air-new...

Nasa drops plan to land first woman and first person of color on the moon Promise was central plank to space agency’s Artemis program, which is scheduled to return humans to the lunar surface in 2027

The irony is, that only selecting from a talent pool of white men is positive discrimination.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Photo of a woman (that's me) in a blank leather jacket wearing a lilac coloured t-shirt. The cartoon on the t-shirt shows a black line drawing of four rotund men in tophats tied to a giant firecracker with a lit fuse. The hand-lettering at the bottom of the drawing reads "Billionaires in Space"

Billionaires in Space!
Loving my new t-shirt.

I've been a fan of Icelandic cartoonist Hugleikur Dagsson ever since I spent a month in Olafsfjordir for an art residency. His humor is pretty dark, and I find myself laughing despite my better judgment...

Congratulations, Domenica!
The Beyond Silos STEAM Education residency is now officially launched.
This residency aims to disrupt disciplinary silos and create meaningful learning situations that foster innovation, risk-taking, and creative problem solving.

#STEAMEducation #ArtEd #sciart

The banners feature noteworthy women who significantly contributed to society, like Marie Curie, Jane Austen, Caroline Herschel, Joan of Arc. The collection also includes buttons and medals for hunger strikes. It was an incredibly moving experience.
I'd love to see these marches resurrected!

Suffragette banner dedicated to author Jane Austen. The name Jane Austen is on the top of the banner in capital letters, her dates 1775 - 1817 below. An icon of an open book and a writing quill are at the bottom. The banner is about 1m x 2m, coral red and beige striped fabric, with a gold fringe at the bottom.

Suffragette banner dedicated to astronomer and mathematician Mary Somerville. Her name is printed in white capital letters on a dark blue background. In the center of the image is the icon of a golden armillary sphere. Her dates, 1780 - 1872, are at the bottom of the banner.

Suffragette banner dedicated to doctor Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to earn a medical degree in the USA. The name, Elizabeth Blackwell MD, and her birthdate, 1849, are stitched in large gold capital letters onto an olive-green silk fabric. At the bottom of the banner is an icon of a chalice with a snake wound around its stem.

Suffragette banner dedicated to astronomer Caroline Herschel. Visible in the photo is her name, embroidered in capital letters, onto a striped white and core background. Just visible below is a depiction of a circular star chart.

Happy International Women's Day!
A few years ago, I got a guided tour of the Women’s Library of the London School of Economics. The curator showed me original banners from the Suffragette movement, dating back to 1907 - 1917, that women carried during the Women’s marches.

Photo of the interior of a music theatre in darkness, the stage bathed in red light. The circular Thievery Corporation logo is projected behind the band. Percussionists and guitarists are on the stage.

Photo of the interior of a music theatre, focusing on the stage. An upside-down US flag is projected behind the band. Three guitarists and two percussionists are seated in a semi-circle on the stage.

Photo of the interior of a music theatre, the stage bathed in pink light. The Flamingosis logo superimposed on a colourful illustration of a car is projected behind the artist, who is standing behind his DJ station.

Phenomenal set by the Thievery Corporation last night in Montreal. They are on tour - my recommendation is to grab tickets if they show anywhere near you!
Also loved Flamingosis' opening set, especially the (all too brief) dance number he threw in.
thieverycorporation.com/tour/

"Anyone, anyone" teacher from Ferris Bueller's Day Off YouTube video by pmw8000

Anyone? Anyone?

youtu.be/uhiCFdWeQfA?...

#tariffs

Screenshot from Audible's "Let us know why you canceled" page. I ticked "other reason" and wrote "Mr. Trump's appalling 25% tariffs on Canada and his "51st state" annexation threats. I'm boycotting all US goods and services.

Screeshot of the Libro.fm webpage shoting the Libro.fm logo and the Drawn & Quarterly Bookstore logo

Goodbye Audible, Hello Libro.fm!
I love supporting local bookstores, and @dandq.bsky.social is one of my faves. Should have made the switch earlier...

And to mark the occasion, I left a snarky comment on Audible's feedback page. For what good it'll do. But hey, I feel better.

Take that, #tariffs.

A special treat at Montreal’s Nuit Blanche: a free Philip Glass concert by the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. My friends had their young kids with them, and they were absolutely hypnotized. What a fantastic way to introduce contemporary classical music to new audiences.

#Montreal #Canada

It’s “tire” time: pour maple syrup onto fresh snow, let it solidify a bit, and then roll it up to make an extremely deciduous snack!
One of the highlights of last night’s Nuit Blanche in Montreal.
The sugar rush helped me fight the cold while partying outside in winter at -15*C 🍭❄️🍭❄️🍭❄️

#Canada

Such a great conversation with Martin! My favourite remark of his was “Consciousness is a spectrum.” This was in relation to AI and the bilateral analysis between him and ChatGPT.

A cartoon showing Darth Vader pointing at Princess Leia. The two speech bubbles from Darth Vader read "Why aren't you grateful?" and "Why aren't you wearing a suit?"

Always stand up to bullies.

#slavaukraini

I'm "protest shopping" Canadian goods today. I've been boycotting US-made products since February 4th already. If we all stick together in this economic push-back, we can help make a difference.