Nicolas Nova was a fine explorer of the "infra-ordinaire" that emerged in his home city of Geneva, during his trips worldwide as well as his "butinages" online. In his book Exercises d'observation he descripted his field observation practices inspired from writers, anthropologists, ethnographers, designers ou artists.
He would share the world he captured being situations, words, or rituals on his Flickr account and his blog Pasta & Vinegar and well as in his newsletter Lagniappe.
He had research blogs for specific topics. For instance:
- Desalpes reported on a (gonzo-)ethnography of the Alpine space of today/tomorrow. It’s a compilation of weak signals and marginal practices, intriguing places, objects, architectures and infrastructures about the Alps. Beyond the standard cliché about the pristine nature of this area, Desalpes explores how it is constantly recombined, modified, restructured by human and non-human activities. This work inspired the creation of Glaciers ardents, an informal collective that organizes gatherings at Alpine glaciers to share experiences and stories about these endangered landscapes.
- Machine Mirabilia explores the wondrous entities found in digital machinery. From computer viruses to AI-driven software agents, from digital monsters à la Pokémon to smartphone bugs, this anthropology research project investigates what it means to live alongside such a diversity of creatures, and the sense of wonder and enchantment they carry. Rooted in tales and stories that have crossed time, it asks how an ancient folklore, long part of humanity's shared imagination, persists and resurfaces in a world of machines.
- Outsigns offers an analysis of material culture with appropriation of objects, ergonomic issues, everyday accidents, and curious configurations.
His seminal project Curious Rituals exemplified this approach by documenting the gestural interactions people develop with digital technologies in everyday life. Similarly, he collected tracks and notes about the hybridization of reggae-dub with digital culture (glitch, 8bits, video-game aesthetic) that led to the publication of his book 8-bit Reggae: Collision and Creolization.