M / Aya
2019
Jul · 2024
Aya Mehta.
A working library at the corner of words, code, and quiet decisions — catalogued by hand, stamped by hand, returned to circulation on time.
A working library at the corner of words, code, and quiet decisions — catalogued by hand, stamped by hand, returned to circulation on time.
A book of fourteen essays about waiting — at counters, at desks, in queues, at hospital reception. Edited and self-published by the studio. Long-listed for the Crossword Award (Non-Fiction). Reprinted twice, the second run with a corrected colophon.
A reading utility that strips clutter from the modern web and reflows long-form articles into a fixed-width, paginated reader. Used quietly by ~14,000 readers a month. The studio maintains the binary; the web version is community-run.
A short film about the women who run the small-parcel counter at the Bangalore Central post office. Shot on a single Canon C70 over fourteen mornings. Premiered at MAMI 2023. Subtitled in Kannada, Tamil, and English; held in the BFI viewing library.
A two-room exhibition of working catalogues, finding aids, and accession registers from twelve South Indian institutions. Curated with the BBL team; ran for sixty-one days; printed catalogue available on the back-issue shelf.
Co-authored research paper on community refusal as an editorial protocol in small-language digital archives. Published in the Journal of Cultural Informatics, vol. 9, issue 2. Runner-up for the JCI Best Paper, 2022.
The studio's house style guide. Three sections (typography, captions, captions-of-captions), one appendix (notes on errata). Sold quietly to seven other small studios at cost; the eighth printed copy lives at the desk.
For commissioning, residencies, talks, and quiet collaborations — the desk is open. Letters answered within five working days. Shorter notes are read first.