Présences du littéraire dans l’espace public canadien - Exterior

One potato, two potato...it's your life...

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 20 May 2009 00:20:10 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Fernandes, Michael

Artwork creator(s):

Fernandes, Michael

Text author(s):

Fernandes, Michael

Text author(s):

Fernandes, Michael

Installation year:

2007

Remarks on location:

Occupied the space of Galerie du MAI, its windows and its neighbouring streets.

Artwork description

Source: MAI (2007). Michael Fernandes. One potato, two potato...it's you life.... Montréal: MAI

Description:

The artist offered an itinerary in the gallery and outside.

The MAI's eight windows were blocked up to present text fragments in fluorescent lettering.

Posters announcing lost cats were distributed on walls and lampposts throughout the surrounding streets. The poster was touched up by the artist, though he took care of preserving all the information.

On the other side of the large windows, the MAI's exhibition hall was plunged in darkness. Four stations were indicated on the ground. A soundtrack and projection were associated with each one.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Remarks on image:

Photos 1 and 2: Installation in the windows (text). Photos 3 and 4: Installation of a series of posters

Text of the artwork:

While working for different people in the past

Je ne travaillais pas pour le gouvernement

I'm working for my country

Peu importe qui vient

I have not been working for government

Peu importe qui s'en va

whoever comes

whoever goes

ce n'est pas mon problème

if the people are being busy somewhere

Ils ne vont nulle part ailleurs partciper à quelque activité guerrière

si les gens sont occupés quelque part

they are not going anywhere else to some war-like activities

Text theme:

Relationship to work and country

Artwork theme:

Interpenetration of art and life, trade, exchanges, multiple voices, fragmented message

History

History:

Galerie du MAI gave carte blanche to Michael Fernandes, a Canadian artist known for his artwork and his ecclectic body of work. During an artist residency in Montreal, he shot short video, almost too simple little stories. One potato, two potato... is a game, a random game, but it is also a change of roles, a turn of events. This artwork traces a quest for identity in tongue-in-cheek style.

One potato, two potato ... it's your life ...
February 8 to March 31

Event date(s):

2007

Dimensions

Other information

Artist's biography:

Michael Fernandes

Document(s):

Michael Fernandes. One potato, two potato...it's you life...

Michael Fernandes

Lingua Aqua

Marie-Claude Langevin — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 20:51:00 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Cassidy, Melanie; Filimowicz, Michael; Marks, Brady; Pasquier, Philippe

Artwork creator(s):

Cassidy, Melanie

Filimowicz, Michael

Marks, Brady

Pasquier, Philippe

Text author(s):

Quignard, Pascal; Hesse, Hermann; Miller, Casey; Waldo Emerson, Ralph; Sapir, Edward

Text author(s):

Quignard, Pascal

Hesse, Hermann

Miller, Casey

Waldo Emerson, Ralph

Sapir, Edward

Installation year:

2009

Artwork description

Source: Surrey (2009). LinguaAqua. (http://www.surrey.ca/files/40-LinguaAqua2.pdf)

Description:

The structure is a self-enclosed fountain, with rain curtains and a reflective pool that contains a video monitor. The video shows a variety of community members speaking their native languages and employs a range of visual treatments

A mirror in the underside of the roof reflects the pool, the video images and viewers. Glass panels overhanging the roof are engraved with symbols drawn from a number of languages spoken in Surrey. Four support columns each house audio speakers that play a variety of sounds that complement or contrast with the content of the video. The audio component is transmitted through holes in the columns. These perforated designs form Braille texts related to the role of language across various cultures.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

“You live a new life for every new language
you speak. If we spoke a different language,
we would perceive a somewhat different
world. If you know only one language, you
live only once.”
-Compilation of Czech proverbs (anonymous)

2.
“Language is an anonymous, collective and
unconscious art; the result of the creativity of
thousands of generations.”
-Edward Sapir

“Language is a city to the building of which
every human being brought a stone.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

3.
“Our native language is like a second skin,
so much a part of us we resist the idea that
it is constantly changing, constantly being
renewed.”
-Casey Miller

“Everything becomes a little different as soon
as it is spoken out loud.”
-Hermann Hesse

4.
“Language is for the empty mouth what
dreams are for closed eyes.”
-Pascal Quignard (translated from French by Philippe
Pasquier)

“He who loses his language loses his world.”
-Gaelic proverb

“A country without a language is a country
without a soul.”
-Gaelic – Irish proverb

Text theme:

Diversity and similarity of language across cultures

Artwork theme:

Diversity and similarity of language across cultures

The similarities and differences that link us and distinguish us between different cultures.

Dimensions

Other information

Artist's biography:

Michael Filimowicz

Author's biography:

Philippe Pasquier

Document(s):

LinguaAqua

Students’ multimedia art destined for Surrey parks

Surrey Public and Community Art diversity, language and place making

Terra Incognita

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 21:12:27 +0000

Artwork identification

Alternate title:

Earth In Disguise

Artwork creator(s):

Curry, Gwen

Artwork creator(s):

Curry, Gwen

Text author(s):

Butler Yeats, William

Text author(s):

Butler Yeats, William

Installation year:

2001

Artwork description

Source: City of Surrey (2010). Public Art. (http://www.surrey.ca/files/PubArtInsert-Series9.pdf)

Description:

Terra Incognita links the Ocean Park Library with its garden, bringing the garden inside and the library outside. The classical interior architecture of the building lends itself well to the large, clear panels inscribed with flora and fauna on either side of curving windows high above the patrons. The panels have an antiquated style much like old-world etchings with their black and white maps, hawk image and botanical drawings. On the exterior wall facing the garden, delicate script lettering above the windows reads, “Take down this book, and slowly read”.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Take down this book, and slowly read.

Text theme:

A time for thinking and resting.

Artwork theme:

The unknown, thought, literature

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

Quote from When You are Old by British poet William Butler Yeats:

WHEN you are old and gray and full of sleep
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true;
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face.

And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead,
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

Artist's biography:

Gwen Curry

Author's biography:

William Butler Yeats

Owner(s):

City of Surrey

Document(s):

Public Art : Terra Incognita

Circuit littéraire de Gabrielle Roy

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 19:02:03 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Gaboury, Étienne

Artwork creator(s):

Gaboury, Étienne

Text author(s):

Roy, Gabrielle

Text author(s):

Roy, Gabrielle

Installation year:

2008

Artwork description

Source : Photo transmited by par Marc André Brouillette

Source : Photo transmited by Marc André Brouillette

Description:

The installation consists of stations featuring plates engraved with quotes from Gabrielle Roy. Each monument is installed at the exact location described in the quote. Some sites also feature five chairs resembling the human body, all reminiscent of a classroom or theatrical composition, two fields that were very close to Gabrielle Roy's heart.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

The other baby class was open to all
non-French-speaking children, who were
considered English-speaking though they
weren't really any of English origin, but
rather Russian, Polish, Italian, Spanish,
Irish, Czech, Dutch...

I became very attached to it and very
close to those children, and they taught
me a great deal about the folklore, songs
and dances of their people...

So much so that when Brother Joseph
suggested I move
up to a third or
fourth-year class a few years later, I
begged him to leave me with my little
immigrants.
- Enchantment and Sorrow

At the convent, the nuns fostered feelings
of heroic defence in us. Defying the law,
spending what little free time they had to
give us additional instruction, they
continued to teach us in French...

In my last years at school, spurred on,
steered by the sisters, I snagged all of
the prizes awarded by l'Association des
Canadiens français du Manitoba to the
students who came in first in the French
exams.
- Ma petite rue qui m'a menée
autour du monde

Text theme:

Autobiographical stories, self-discovery, quest for identity

Artwork theme:

Discovery of the author's identity, of a place of significance in her life. Houses inhabited by the author, or sometimes by members of her family, and places that inspired her work.

Text reference:

Ma petite rue qui m'a menée autour du monde

La Détresse et l'enchantement

History

History:

The Gabrielle Roy Literary Circuit is a project initiated by Friends of Gabrielle Roy, produced in association with several partners. It was launched in fall 2008 to commemorate the centenary of Gabrielle Roy's birth, in March 2009.

Event date(s):

2008

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

The Gabrielle Roy Literary Circuit is a multidisciplinary project that aims to spread the work of Gabrielle Roy, making it more accessible in places that have influenced her literary work.

Artist's biography:

Étienne Gaboury

Author's biography:

Gabrielle Roy

Document(s):

Le Circuit littéraire

Sur les traces de Gabrielle Roy

There is no place like home

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 16:01:37 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Lum, Ken

Artwork creator(s):

Lum, Ken

Text author(s):

Lum, Ken

Text author(s):

Lum, Ken

Installation year:

2001

Artwork description

Source: Mois de la photo (2001). THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME. (http://www.moisdelaphoto.com/2001/lieux/fr_bleury.html)

Source: Craddock, Sacha (2001). Ken Lum, There is no place like home. (http://www.mip.at/en/werke/464.html)

Description:

Giant banner featuring portraits of people from various backgrounds along with their personal thoughts.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Je pourrai jamais me
sentir chez moi ici
J'me sens pas chez moi ici

Wow, j'aime vraiment ça ici
J'vais jamais retourner chez moi!

J'suis écoeuré de vos idées
sur les immigrants
C'est aussi chez nous ici

Text theme:

Country of origin, nationality, "internationality", immigration

Artwork theme:

Country of origin, emotions related to immigration and differences between nationalities. Awareness that home (the place that welcomes you) can be anywhere, regardless of nationality or religion.

History

History:

This project was originally produced by the Museum in Progress for the facade of the Kunsthalle in Vienna, in association with the Canadian Embassy and the League for Human Rights. The text was in English.

Event date(s):

2001

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

This Canadian artist presents There is no place like home, designed for the facade of the Kunsthalle in Vienna. This work involves various protagonists, colours and opinions. The aim of the project is to give the public the means to consider the image differently depending on whether it is displayed in a public or private space. More specifically, he is interested in examining the way immigrants reconstruct their identity in their host country.

Artist's biography:

Ken Lum

Document(s):

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Ken Lum, There is no place like home

Monument for East Vancouver

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 18:56:00 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Lum, Ken

Artwork creator(s):

Lum, Ken

Text author(s):

Lum, Ken

Text author(s):

Lum, Ken

Installation year:

2009

Artwork description

Source: Vancouver (2009). Monument for East Vancouver. (http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/cultural/publicart/)

Description:

Neon cross. It contains the words "East" and "Van" intersecting at the letter "A", in the manner of a crossword puzzle.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

East Van

Text theme:

The words serve both as territorial markers and as a revival of an underground symbol of pride and rebellion in East Vancouver.

Artwork theme:

Creates multiple references and associations, including ones with religious and irreverent undertones, which can be interpreted as an affirmation of the identity of the East neighborhoods of Vancouver.

Dimensions

Height:

18.2m

Other information

Note(s):

“[The crossword] signifies the identity of those living in the Eastern part of the city and is often accompanied with the word “rules”. [This] is ironic, as traditionally those in the West of the city have held the economic and political power, though the real estate boom more recently has rendered the boundary between East and West more fluid. The piece monumentalizes a rearguard gesture of defiance, protest, and assertion of identity.”
- Ken Lum

City of Vancouver (2009). Monument for East Vancouver.
(http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/cultural/publicart/2010/mm_vaneastmonument.htm)

Artist's biography:

Ken Lum

Owner(s):

City of Vancouver

Document(s):

Ken Lum constructs icon to rule over East Vancouver

Monument to 'East Van' rises near VCC terminal

Monument for East Vancouver

"Mapping and Marking" public art program

Aids Memorial

Marie-Claude Langevin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:23:43 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Wilson, Bruce

Artwork creator(s):

Wilson, Bruce

Text author(s):

Santayana, George

Text author(s):

Santayana, George

Installation year:

2004

Artwork description

Source : Photo transmited by Marc André Brouillette

Description:

Curved wall, like a ribbon. On it, the names of thousands of BC AIDS victims have been cut out in the steel. A poem is written above.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

With you a part of me hath passed away

For in the peopled forest of my mind

A tree made leafless by this wintry wind

Shall never don again its green array.

Chapel and fireside, country road and bay,

Have something of their friendliness resigned;

Another, if I would, I could not find,

And I am grown much older in a day.

But yet I treasure in my memory

Your gift of charity, your mellow ease,

And the dear honour of your amity;

For these once mine, my life is rich with these.

And I scarce know which part may greater be,--

What I keep of you, or you rob of me.

“But the energy that is me will not be lost” Dr Peter

Name of AIDS victim

Text theme:

Presence or absence, as felt by those who have lost loved ones

Artwork theme:

Aids

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

The names have been placed randomly on the Memorial, representing the random nature of the impact of HIV/AIDS.

The poem's title, W.P., refers to Warwick Potter, a friend who died in an 1893 boating accident.

Artist's biography:

Bruce Wilson

Author's biography:

George Santayana

Document(s):

Vancouver Aids Memorial

Public Art in Vancouver. Angels Among Lions

Untitled (It)

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:01:54 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Kruger, Barbara

Artwork creator(s):

Kruger, Barbara

Text author(s):

Kruger, Barbara

Text author(s):

Kruger, Barbara

Installation year:

2010

Remarks on location:

On the facade of the Art Gallery of Ontario

Artwork description

Source: Photo provided by Marie-Claude Langevin

Description:

The artwork consists of a series of found images and statements.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

LOVE IT

SHOVE IT

PRAISE IT

PLEASE IT

DOUBT IT

SHAME IT

BLAME IT

KISS IT

BUY IT

BELIEVE IT

Text theme:

Imperatives imposed on the public by advertisers

Artwork theme:

Explores how photography informs and transforms human behaviour, especially via the medium's connections to mass media, advertising, consumerism and propaganda.

How we are to one another

History

History:

The installation responds to CONTACT’s theme for 2010, “Pervasive Influence,” which considers how photography informs and transforms human behaviour, especially via the medium’s connections to mass media, advertising, consumerism and propaganda.

May 1 - August 30, 2010

Event date(s):

2010

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

“I work with pictures and words because they have the ability to determine who we are and who we aren’t.”

Barbara Kruger

Artist's biography:

Barbara Kruger

Document(s):

American Artist Barbara Kruger to Appropriate AGO Façade

Barbara Kruger - Scotiabank CONTACT

Making a statement

AGO paid to be wrapped in advertising

Questions & Artists: American artist Barbara Kruger shakes things up on the AGO's façade

A Tale of Two Children: A Work for Strathcona

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:20:01 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Lum, Ken

Artwork creator(s):

Lum, Ken

Text author(s):

Lum, Ken

Text author(s):

Lum, Ken

Installation year:

2005

Artwork description

Source : Photo transmited by Marc André Brouillette

Description:

Two large aluminum panels. On one side, an image; on the other, text. One shows an unhappy Caucasian boy. The other, a smiling young Asian girl and an adult woman.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

What an idiot!
What an idiot
you are!
What an utterly
useless idiot
you are!

You so smart.
You make me proud
you so smart.
I so proud
you so smart.

Text theme:

Conjunctions and disjunctions between visual and verbal imagery

Artwork theme:

Parenting
The anecdotal is pitted against stereotypes
Social criticism
The neighborhood

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

The artist grew up two blocks away from the works yard.

Artist's biography:

Ken Lum

Owner(s):

Vancouver

Document(s):

Ken Lum: A Tale of Two Children

Public Art in Vancouver. Angels Among Lions

Les Mots (volet 2)

Marie-Claude Langevin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:07:13 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Faubert, Julie

Artwork creator(s):

Faubert, Julie

Text author(s):

Faubert, Julie

Text author(s):

Faubert, Julie

Dictionnaire / Dictionary

Installation year:

2010

Remarks on location:

Location of the inscriptions, see: Figure 7

Artwork description

Source: Dare-Dare, Julie Faubert (2009). Les Mots. (http://lesmots.dare-dare.org)

Description:

An urban intervention project which comprises some 125 words* written in an ephemeral manner on the sidewalk, along with dates - lost words (1900-2000), new words (1900-2000) and invented words (2010). New words are in black; lost words, in white; and invented words, in pink.

* The dates represent the year in which each word appeared in a dictionary or disappeared from it (the dictionary being, as it changed name throughout the century, the Petit Larousse illustré, the Nouveau Petit Larousse illustré, the Petit Larousse and the Larousse illustré).

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

LOST WORDS

aérivore 1951

aéromancie 1959

bancocratie 1924

barbariser 1959

biophilie 1924

brouillement 1981

civilisable 1998

corporalité 1951

défeuiller 1998

demi-monde 1998

dentellerie 1968

désaveugler 1951

échappade 1959

emmiellure 1952

épuise-volante 1935

essuie-plume 1981

galantiser 1951

hausse-pieds 1968

ignorantisme 1959

illimitable 1959

immesurable 1958

impresse 1959

incalculablement 1952

inconquis 1951

indisciplinable 1981

indomptabilité 1959

inobéissance 1959

intégrisme 1959

journoyer 1951

juste-milieu 1984

libertiner 1959

magisme 1959

malséance 1981

météoromancie 1988

monarchiser 1959

monopode 1951

mugueter 1968

néophobe 1959

nonchaloir 1968

oisivement 1998

oublieur 1953

pantouflerie 1959

recontinuer 1959

redormir 1959

reniflerie 1959

rhabilleur 1998

robeuse 1977

s’entre-baiser 1952

servilisme 1959

sous-jupe 1981

tantet 1959

tortuosité 1981

traînasse 1959

trifouiller 2006

tue-vent 1959

vaguesse 1924

vacillation 1981

végéto-animal 1959

INVENTED WORDS

amouriste 2010

anamour 2010

aquoiboniste 2010

choubouler 2010

criminogène 2010

euphorienne 2010

madamour 2010

outremonde 2010

NEW WORDS

applaudimètre 1985

archiver 1959

assoiffer 1981

budgéter 1989

calculatrice 1952

cash 1952

catégoriser 1981

civilisé 1959

classable 1981

compartimenter 1935

compétitif 1959

comportement 1951

comptabiliser 1941

concurrentiel 1959

conformisme 1952

contrôlabilité 1981

cosmos 1952

créativité 1968

effeuilleuse 1981

errance 1951

espace-temps 1968

esthétisme 1951

états-unien 1989

éveilleur 1989

exproprié 1989

extraterrestre 1980

extrémisme 1935

fantasme 1959

fric 1951

giga 1959

gratte-ciel 1924

gratte-pieds 1951

hermétisme 1951

homogénéiser 1906

incompréhension 1935

intégrisme 1959

inuktitut 1993

invivable 1959

linéarité 1981

made in 1981

méthodologie 1952

miniaturiser 1952

minijupe 1968

minoritaire 1935

misandre 199?

multimillionnaire 1941

nano 1959

normaliser 1935

normalité 1959

onirique 1959

optimal 1959

orgasme 1959

orthogonalité 1981

performant 1977

post-it 1998

privatiser 1981

pur-sang 1951

quantifiable 1981

racisme 1948

rentabiliser 1971

semi-liberté 1981

s’entre-baiser 1952

sous-humanité 1981

standard 1924

sud-américain 1959

suralimenté 1991

surréel 1959

surexploiter 1981

surproduire 1951

unijambiste 1951

Text theme:

The artist divided the words into series: hunger, feet, capital, power, order and control, America, art, morals, lost floating, measurement.

Artwork theme:

The project uses city space as a space for collective thought about the words we use. The lines of the Quartier des Faubourgs's sidewalks become reading surfaces that flow to the rhythm of passers-by. The act of walking becomes a play on words, a constellation of ideas and of whimsical, critical, perhaps even cynical word associations.

History

History:

The intervention is carried out in two stages:
Action 1: December 3, 2009
Action 2: June-July 2010
As part of Dare-Dare's regular programming

Event date(s):

2010

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

"Je porte un regard critique sur les mots qui nous permettent (ou non) de penser, les mots que l’on ne malmène pas assez, les mots qui, pour être vraiment exacts, devraient eux aussi être inventés constamment. Quelles sont ces vagues – apparition et disparition de mots – qui, à travers les siècles, nous forgent une pensée particulière? Ces mots qui entrent et sortent de nos bouches, apparaissent un jour, on ne sait trop pourquoi et se collent à nous pour quelque temps : qu’est-ce qu’ils trimbalent avec eux? [Ce] projet utilise l’espace de la ville comme espace collectif de réflexion sur les mots que nous employons." – Julie Faubert

Source: Julie Faubert (2010). Les Mots – Projet. <http://lesmots.dare-dare.org/projet>

Artist's biography:

Julie Faubert

Source:

lautrechatnoir@live.fr

Document(s):

Entre les murs des galeries

Les Mots

Naissance, envol et vie... un cycle

Marie-Claude Langevin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:17:13 +0000

Artwork identification

Alternate title:

Pour la suite du monde

Artwork creator(s):

Leblanc, Pierre

Artwork creator(s):

Leblanc, Pierre

Text author(s):

Einstein, Albert

Text author(s):

Einstein, Albert

Installation year:

2009

Artwork description

Source: Page Facebook of Pierre Leblanc

Description:

The artwork is divided into two locations. The outdoor site consists of rectangular shapes displaying various signs (tree, samara, quote). The indoor site consists of representations of trees and roots on the walls. The phrase Pour la suite du monde appears on these representations.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

La connaissance est limitée, tandis que l'imagination englobe le monde entier, stimule le progrès, suscite l'évolution.

Pour la suite du monde

Text theme:

Imagination is more important than knowledge

Artwork theme:

Life, Birth

The outdoor site is based on the Carnac stone alignments (Brittany) and on megaliths.

Dimensions

Height:

5.6m

Width:

15.2m

Depth:

12.1 m

Other information

Note(s):

"Comment parler de médecine et de santé, sans aborder au préalable la notion de naissance, car cet état premier est ici intimement lié au lieu. C'est donc en abordant cette facette propre à la vie que mon projet prend place." – Pierre Leblanc

Artist's biography:

Pierre Leblanc

Author's biography:

Albert Einstein

Owner(s):

Université Laval

Rosace, feuille d’acanthe, colonnes, tête d’enfant, une histoire, un lieu

Marie-Claude Langevin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 01:24:10 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Leblanc, Pierre

Artwork creator(s):

Leblanc, Pierre

Text author(s):

Lelièvre, Sylvain

Text author(s):

Lelièvre, Sylvain

Installation year:

2009

Artwork description

Source: Page Facebook of Pierre Leblanc

Description:

Sculptural grouping of columns and benches. An acanthus leaf, a church façade and a child's head appear on the columns. The text is written on the benches.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

J'habite au cœur des cordes à linge où les oiseaux viennent quand même chanter.

Artwork theme:

Light, architectural elements: the façade of the Limoilou church and the child's head echo the Art Deco architecture of the Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus located just across the street.

Dimensions

Height:

4.35m

Width:

8.55m

Depth:

6.4 m

Other information

Artist's biography:

Pierre Leblanc

Author's biography:

Sylvain Lelièvre

Owner(s):

CHSLD / CLSC de Saint-Charles de Limoilou

Lieu de force

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:12:39 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Leblanc, Pierre

Artwork creator(s):

Leblanc, Pierre

Text author(s):

Miron, Gaston

Text author(s):

Miron, Gaston

Installation year:

2002

Remarks on location:

Between the CHSLD's parking lot and main entrance

Artwork description

Source: MCCCQ (2010). Fiches d'inventaire. Québec: MCCCQ

Description:

Sculptural grouping consisting in four small components on which architectural motifs appear - volutes, banister, railing. Two larger components are also installed. A leafy tree and a samara are embedded, respectively, in the first one, shaped like a rectangular prism, and in the other, shaped like a column.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Cette terre dans mes épaules, cette branche qui dans ma voix bruit, c'est déjà et encore l'hiver.

Le gris, l'agacé, le brun, le farouche, tu craques dans la beauté fantôme du froid dans les marées de bouleaux, les confréries d'épinettes, de sapins et autres compères.

Text theme:

The place: Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts

Artwork theme:

Pays tribute to the larger than life men and women who imagined and built the Northern country.

Pays tribute to Gaston Miron.

Dimensions

Height:

5.5m

Width:

4.25m

Depth:

8.53 m

Other information

Artist's biography:

Pierre Leblanc

Owner(s):

Hôpital Laurentien

Time Cones

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:40:25 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Golden, Brad; Eichenberg, Lynne

Artwork creator(s):

Golden, Brad

Eichenberg, Lynne

Text author(s):

Dewdney, Christopher

Text author(s):

Dewdney, Christopher

Installation year:

1996

Artwork description

Source : Photo transmited by Marc André Brouillette

Description:

Time Cones mark the entrance plaza of this office tower. Incised into the spiral ribbon of the large cone and the top ring of the planter cones, a text by poet Christopher Dewdney describes the geological strata of the site.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

PRECAMBRIAN ERA

PHANEROZOIC ERA

PALAEOZOIC ERA

CENOZOIC ERA

QUATERNARY EPOCH

HOLOCENE AGE

SCARBOROUGH TILL
POTTERY ROAD TILL
SUNNYBROOK TILL
THORNCLIFFE TILL
SEMINARY TILL
MEADOWCLIFFE TILL
HALTON TILL
LAKE IROQUOIS SAND

PLEISTOCENE AGE
STRATIGRAPHY OF THE ILLINOIAN GLACIATION

YORK TILL
DON

1.8 BILLION YEARS BC HELIKIAN SEA

440 MILLION YEARS BC IAPETUS OCEAN (Ordovician Period)

100 THOUSAND YEARS BC LAKE COLEMAN

70 THOUSAND YEARS BC LAKE SCARBOROUGH

30 THOUSAND YEARS BC LAKE THORNCLIFFE

11 THOUSAND YEARS BC LAKE PEEL

Text theme:

Describes the geological strata of the site and lists the glacial lakes which once covered the local landscape.

Artwork theme:

Suggesting the upward movement of time.

Time Cones act as both urban landmark and garden element, participating in the relationship between landscape, art, and architecture.

Dimensions

Other information

Artist's biography:

Brad Golden; Lynne Eichenberg

Author's biography:

Christopher Dewdney

Owner(s):

Direct Energy

Angles d'incidence

Marie-Claude Langevin — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 21:30:53 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Cotton, Claudine

Artwork creator(s):

Cotton, Claudine

Text author(s):

Hopkins, Gerard Manley

Text author(s):

Hopkins, Gerard Manley

Installation year:

1998

Remarks on location:

Ground floor and lobby

Artwork description

Source: MCCCQ (1999). Intégration des arts à l’architecture et à l’environnement. Bilan 1998-1999. Québec: MCCCQ

Source : Photo transmited by Nathalie Villeneuve

Source: MCCCQ (1999). Intégration des arts à l’architecture et à l’environnement. Bilan 1998-1999. Québec: MCCCQ

Source : Photo transmited by Nathalie Villeneuve

Description:

The artwork consists of a sculptural installation with one part located inside the building and another part, outside.

Inside, a large white panel is installed on a black painted wall. It creates a triangle on the wall, as if the wall was being toppled over by the metallic lever installed on the floor.

The outdoor unit, which consists of a triangular metallic sculpture, is installed in continuity with the white panel.

On the ground, the lever consists of a metallic bar; its fulcrum is a bronze arm. On the black face, there are 20 small embossed trumpets and 5 embossed folded arms. On the edge of the white panel, there is a strip of cloth on which an inscription is written. In the window, two metal-framed, quartered glass circles are installed. In the upper one, there are metallic filaments; in the lower one, honey that has crystallized over time. There are also 57 embossed glass mouth shapes scattered all over the window. Lastly, on the ground, there is another glass quartered circle, this one the colour of honey, which extends all the way to the elevator

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

LE CERVEAU A SES MONTAGNES, SES FALAISES VERTIGINEUSES QUE NUL N'A JAMAIS TOTALEMENT SONDÉES

Text theme:

Committed thinking as a driving force

Artwork theme:

Enabling knowledge and the energy of committed thinking

The importance of knowing how to enable knowledge and thought processes, as tangible sources of energy

Dimensions

Height:

Width:

Other information

Note(s):

Activated by the lever, in which drops of sweat are enclosed, an imposing section of wall is toppled over and propelled outside.

On the plate:

Angles d'incidence propose la pensée engagée comme essence primordiale au
fonctionnement du lieu et lui accorde des positions stratégiques. Ainsi
cette force agissante, poétisée par la présence de "coudées franches" et de sueur de
penseurs, devient, à l'image d'un levier, capable de soulever les structures et de
les maintenir dans une position d'ouverture.
Cet exercice perpétuel qui invite à la construction et à l'audace, nous engage.

Author's biography:

Gerard Manley Hopkins

Architect(s):

Brassard, André

Document(s):

Intégration des arts à l’architecture et à l’environnement. Bilan 1998-1999

Convergence

Marie-Claude Langevin — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 17:58:49 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Leblanc, Pierre

Artwork creator(s):

Leblanc, Pierre

Text author(s):

Einstein, Albert

Text author(s):

Einstein, Albert

Installation year:

2007

Remarks on location:

Near the entrance and the student parking lot

Artwork description

Source: MCCCQ (2010). Fiches d'inventaire. Québec: MCCCQ

Description:

The artwork consists of two bas-reliefs and a sculpture mounted directly onto a concrete wall. On the narrow side of the wall, the literal bas-relief appears vertically, offering an Einstein quote. The other bas-relief consists of a spiral, displayed on the wide side of the wall. The sculpture, which represents a sun, a moon and a metal structure, is installed above that bas-relief, on top of the wall.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

La connaissance est limitée, tandis que l'imagination englobe le monde entier, stimule le progrès, suscite l'évolution. Albert Einstein.

Text theme:

Imagination is more important than knowledge

Artwork theme:

The convergence of signs and, consequently, of the three components of the CFP des Moulins, i.e. the place, its teachings and its students.

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

The oven represents both the place (i.e. the center) as the crucible and its teachings, as illustrated by the fire and flames.

An ancient sign borrowed from prehistory, the spiral extends into an arrow. The ascending movement of this arrow highlights the impact of the encounter with the other elements, thus examplifying the convergence.

Artist's biography:

Pierre Leblanc

Author's biography:

Albert Einstein

Owner(s):

Centre de formation professionnelle des Moulins

Source:

MCCCQ

Ce toit tranquille où marchent des petits oiseaux

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 26 May 2010 19:23:23 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Purdy, Richard

Artwork creator(s):

Purdy, Richard

Text author(s):

Savard, Félix-Antoine

Text author(s):

Savard, Félix-Antoine

Collaborator(s):

Atelier Silex

Installation year:

2004

Artwork description

Source: Richard Purdy (2010). Richard Purdy oeuvres. (http://www.richardpurdy.ca/index2.php?lang=en)

Description:

A sculpture in the shape of roofs with little bronze birds. Text is written on the glass of the dormer windows, as if someone had scribbled something with their finger on the frosty glass.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Inscription 1:

Ville des soirs anciens

Ville des soirs anciens, paisible ville,
Décente, recueillie, causant à demi voix,
À l'heure où dans la nef et l'or des soirs tranquilles
Semblaient se replier sur eux-mêmes les toits!

Ayant tinté le glas d'un autre jour enfui,
Quelques cloches, au deuil entremêlant l'espoir,
Parlaient alors à l'âme apeurée par la nuit
De choses par delà l'or brunissant du soir

Inscription 2:

Et bientôt tout entrait dans un calme pareil
À quelque consolante et lointaine harmonie
Tandis que, sans troubler le rythme du sommeil,
De beaux songes passaient sur ma ville endormie,
Ville de mon enfance, aux si douces musiques,
Vers ce même or des soirs paisibles d'autrefois,
On entend de partout monter des chants lubriques.

Inscription 3:

Si calme, ce lac!

si pures, ces eaux!

si neufs, ces bords!

où, durant mon sommeil,

Dieu

a purifié, restauré

toute chose.

Inscription 4:

Ce
toit
tranquille
où marchent des
petits oiseaux

Text theme:

Birds, roofs, stillness and tranquillity

Artwork theme:

The project is invested with a memory of the original houses. The installation forms a dialogue with the inhabited houses surrounding the retirement home, allowing the residents to truly feel at home. Making optimal use of the numerous viewpoints onto the neighbourhood, the sculpture creates a link between the environment of the retirement home (interior) and that of its neighbourhood (exterior), in ways that are at once metaphorical, symbolic, spiritual and emotional.

Dimensions

Height:

2.74m

Width:

2.75m

Depth:

1.27 m

Other information

Note(s):

The artist found a handwritten copy of the poem and it was reproduced as is in the artwork, a perfect imitation of Félix-Antoine Savard's handwriting.

Text from Le choix de Félix-Antoine Savard, Aux marges du silence

Artist's biography:

Richard Purdy

Author's biography:

Félix-Antoine Savard

Owner(s):

Foyer du Clermont

Document(s):

Richard Purdy- art public 2000-2009

Lulu, A Memory Garden

Marie-Claude Langevin — Thu, 13 May 2010 16:50:13 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Metz, Jacqueline; Chew, Nancy

Artwork creator(s):

Metz, Jacqueline

Chew, Nancy

Text author(s):

Palmer Secondary Poetry Club; Paulik Family; Ohler Family

Text author(s):

Palmer Secondary Poetry Club

Familles Paulik et Ohler / Paulik Family and Ohler Family

Installation year:

2009

Artwork description

Source: Photo provided by Nancy Chew & Jacqueline Metz

Source: Photo provided by Jacqueline Metz & Nancy Chew

Description:

The art project consists of two parts: large pavers cut from pillars featuring text and placed at various locations throughout the park; a centre piece of large etched black stone paver slabs placed in a radial pattern incorporating the drawings of horticultural images.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Dad,

What can you see from your poplar tree,
looking back through the wind and wheat?
A Fraser River ebbing high, whose
banks yearn for your feet?

Where is it you are looking,
from your branches up above
the fish ponds that your Father built
and the sleeping Holland bulbs?

Are you looking to the sunny East,
where you first began your climb -
the East where you are still a child
with pockets filled with time?

Are you looking to the Southern warmth,
where trees are always in bloom -
the South that fills your lungs with love
as your children keep the child within you?

Are you looking to the dusky West,
where the day seeps toward the sea -
the West where life reminds us
of what all we’ve witnessed means?

Away on in the treetops,
keep your compass poplar green.
But as you search for where you’re going
hold close the places you have been.

Spending all these hours
Alone by pretty flowers
Beside these towers

Through the field of grass
Buildings grow by the mass
Nature falls fast

Sweet scent in the air
Flowing vividly the hair
Perfect math, the stare

Trading on the soil
Untainted by war’s recoil
To rich and royal

Enjoying cool pond
Together, forever bond
Destiny not wronged

Together
let’s walk hand in hand
and leave reality
in the shadow

With these hands
I mended a broken heart
and grew it into
a garden

A symphony of flowers
singing a new tune
with each step upon the staff

My heart fell
but the wind brought it back
and with it came
a new fragrance

Step in,
indulge yourself
and become
the creator
of your own story

Here,
I can fly,
laugh,
sing,
dance . . .
here,
I am free

Words cannot explain
the beauty of this sight
and the smell of this new beginning

and yet again
I am in love
with the sight
sound
and smell
of the flowers

Someone has painted
this picture
with a spade and all the
colours of the natural earth

Island plantings,
green grass tides lap
at the edges
of blue flower reefs

In the seed I truly live
and with open hands I give

Between these trees, the
ferns grow,
along this path, I go

A hundred shades of green
are enough
but still,
the glorious afterthought of flowers

The trees tick to the
flowers tock:
from fade to beauty,
this giant clock.

These evergreen buttresses,
these cloistered ferns,
these windows of stained life,
are built for you.

The crow calls the gardener
to his bed,
but leaves him tired,
aching, fed.

Gardener, have you left space
for the next plant,
the one I can’t yet imagine
that will make this place
complete?

Oh crow! What does
the tree give you in return
for all that good advice?

I the flower, you the eye.
I am rooted, you pass by.
Come the winter, we will part,
But in the Spring,
O, let us start!

The bird calls to the branch
and so
then next, to my heart
the bright notes go.

Beneath your feet
this garden’s genius lies:
Roots touching in the dark,
seeds most sly.

A cloud dances past
the sun, and for a moment
this can all be seen.

bountiful flowers
dutiful trees
Awe struck by
the beauty.

Text theme:

History, Memory, Poetry, Cultural History

Artwork theme:

The park’s past and people’s experience of gardens

History

History:

Paulik Gardens Neighbourhood Park was formerly the home of two families and contained the large ornamental gardens, woodlot, blueberry farm and bog of the Paulik family, and the Lulu Island Water Gardens of the Ohler family. Today, traces of the water gardens can still be seen, and the former Paulik property is a lush, expansive garden.

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

Fragments of personal stories are overlaid everywhere in the park - phrases taken from interviews with the remaining familiy members who owned the land and from poems by the members of the Palmer Secondary School's poetry club.

Artist's biography:

Jacqueline Metz & Nancy Chew

Source:

museatelier@shaw.ca

Document(s):

Public Art in the City

Lulu, a Memory Garden

Right to the City

Marie-Claude Langevin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 19:54:14 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Forkert, Kirsten

Artwork creator(s):

Forkert, Kirsten

Text author(s):

Forkert, Kirsten

Text author(s):

Forkert, Kirsten

Installation year:

2004

Artwork description

Source: Photo provided by Marc André Brouillette

Source : Photo transmited by Marc André Brouillette

Source: Photo provided by Marc André Brouillette

Description:

"Right to the City" involves three elements:

1) Ten resin capsules imbedded in the ground along the pathway at Nanaimo and 41^stAvenue. The capsules contain paraphernalia that might be found in someone's purse or pocket.

2) Six metal door and window frames placed in a rectangle to evoke the structure of a house. The doors and windows are made of HSS tubular steel, painted white. The frames also have plates with possessive pronouns cut out of them: ours, yours, his, hers, mine, theirs.

3) Two weathervanes located on the Southeast and Northwest corners of Clarendon and 45^thAvenue. They are comprised of a bearing assembly, a shaft and a rectangular sign that turns in the wind with the words "yours" and "ours" cut out.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Ours

Yours

His

Hers

Mine

Theirs

Text theme:

Notion of community, place, citizen, city, sense of duty

Artwork theme:

The elements in this project explore the contradictions and ambiguities of public and private space.

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

"Before this tract of land became part of the Ridgeway, there was a simple beaten path crossing the space. We see this aspect of our project as a ghost-like trace of an ephemeral, unplanned path - memorializing something that is so much a part of everyday life that it almost escapes notice…" "We have marked out this path with ten clear resin capsules with objects cast into them. The objects are things you would normally carry in your pockets: notes, bus tickets, loose change, etc." About the door and window frames: Our intention is to raise questions around ideas of ownership of and entitlement to the city: whose city? Do we feel the city belongs to us because it is 'public'? Or do we think of entitlement in terms of private property: what we own or don't own?" Regarding the weathervanes: "The turning of the signs in the wind functions as metaphor for shifting notions of community, place, and a sense of entitlement we feel as citizens." "The title "Right to the City" comes from the urban theorist Henri Lefebvre's text by the same name which calls for a different envisioning of the city: for it to be organized for, and belong to, its inhabitants, rather than organized for profit. The elements in this project explore the contradictions and ambiguities of public and private space. Although we can identify in general with Vancouver as 'our city', as belonging to the public, space in the city is clearly delineated: either it belong to you or id doesn't. The space along Nanaimo is technically public space, and unlike the neighbouring yards, anyone can go on this space. However, in the larger scheme of things, do we feel entitled to it as a space? We're interested in drawing attention to the public nature of this space and the claims made on the city. Related to these ideas, this artwork addresses the ephemeral, shifting nature of the site, both in terms of the physical environment and cultural priorities. This area was once a vacant lot and is now a small park. We hope the work will open up a space for contemplation and reconsideration on the meaning of these transitions. This is a chance to look at the neighbourhood in another way, and by extension, the city."

Source: City of Vancouver (2008). Public Art Registry.

http://vancouver.ca/PublicArt_Net/ArtworkDetails.aspx?ArtworkID=429

Document(s):

Public Art in Vancouver. Angels Among Lions

Everything is going to be alright

Marie-Claude Langevin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:32:26 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Creed, Martin

Artwork creator(s):

Creed, Martin

Text author(s):

Creed, Martin

Text author(s):

Creed, Martin

Installation year:

2009

Remarks on location:

On a façade of the Wing Sang Building in Chinatown.

Artwork description

Source: Martin Creed (2009). Planètecastor. (http://canada.grandquebec.com/vancouver-2010-jeux-olympiques/patrimoine-vancouver)

Source: The Canadian Design resource (2009). Martin Creed. (http://www.canadiandesignresource.ca/officialgallery/urban/)

Description:

On a façade of the Wing Sang Building in Chinatown (the oldest building in the neighborhood), we can read the words "Everything is going to be alright." The neon letters are visible from the Georgia Street viaduct.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Everything is going to be alright

Text theme:

An ironic warning

History

History:

Martin Creed's work has been exhibited in various forms and in several locations around the world: Alberto Peola Arte Contemporanea, Turin, Italy (1999); The Portico, London, UK (1999); 42ndStreet, New York, USA (December 1999/January 2000); etc.

Dimensions

Height:

22.86m

Width:

0.91m

Other information

Note(s):

This neon artwork is installed on a façade of the Wing Sang Building in Vancouver's Chinatown. The artwork and the building are owned by art collector and real estate mogul Bob Rennie. He asked artist Martin Creed to install this artwork on his building. Rennie made "Everything is going to be alright" his philosophy for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.

Artist's biography:

Martin Creed

Owner(s):

Bob Rennie

Document(s):

Everything is going to be alright