Présences du littéraire dans l’espace public canadien - Culture

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

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

La forêt

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 20:29:01 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Atelier Pierre Thibault

Artwork creator(s):

Atelier Pierre Thibault

Text author(s):

Dorion, Hélène

Text author(s):

Dorion, Hélène

Collaborator(s):

Pelletier, Guillaume; Février, Virginie

Installation year:

2010

Artwork description

Source : Photo transmited by Marie-Claude Langevin

Description:

Group of five wooden beams with glass panels. Inside the toppled beams, text is written on the glass panels.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

L’arbre, à l’insu de mon
corps, qui respire.
J’écris à travers ses
feintes, au milieu d’un
vent qui protège de
soi-même. De l’arbre,
je te dirai la vie qui s’y
abrite, ce point fragile
entre la force et
l’abandon.

Il n’y a pas de commencement.
L’amour, le silence, la lumière
sont là depuis toujours.
Le commencement est en nous
depuis toujours.

Text theme:

The environment

Artwork theme:

Working in association with the Teknograv glass workshop, Atelier Pierre Thibault presents La forêt, an installation that takes a sensitive and poetic approach to the environment and its exploitation. Here, wood is presented as an element for architectural construction, while glass is used as a medium to capture light and reconstruct words.

Text reference:

D’argile et de souffle

History

History:

From May 18 to October 31, 2010, in the entrance hall of the Grande Bibliothèque, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) will be hosting the exhibition Architectures en vers, which consists in five architectural installations inspired by poetry. These installations were created by collectives of well-known and up-and-coming architects working with glass artists. The exhibition is presented as part of the “Montréal, 2010 City of Glass” program, under the direction of the Board of Montreal Museum Directors.

Event date(s):

2010

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

The chosen verses are from author Hélène Dorion, from the collection D’argile et de souffle, published by Éditions Typo (2002).

Artist's biography:

Atelier Pierre Thibault

Author's biography:

Hélène Dorion

Document(s):

Architecture en vers exhibition at Montreal's Grande Bibliothèque

Architectures en vers, présentée dans le cadre de Montréal, ville de verre 2010

Table-ronde - Exposition “Architectures en vers” à la Grande Bibliothèque

A Thousand Kisses Deep

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 20:23:35 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Pelletier, Éric

Artwork creator(s):

Pelletier, Éric

Text author(s):

Cohen, Leonard

Text author(s):

Cohen, Leonard

Collaborator(s):

Bourgeois, Olivier; Martineau, Annie; Turgeon, Amélie

Installation year:

2010

Artwork description

Source : Photo transmited by Marie-Claude Langevin

Description:

The installation consists of a gigantic glass prism with a rectangular base, which is split in the middle to disclose a silky texture that longs to be touched. The rectangle is covered with letters through which we distinguish the excerpt of a text.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

You the live I’m
Turning you tricks
Odds your ditch are
I’m getting it fixed
Lefethereas toifallit’s
To real stay beat alive

Text theme:

Poetry, Sensual

Artwork theme:

The team from Éric Pelletier, architectes has designed a work of art that is masculine, strong, dark and subtly sensual, a reflection of the poet who inspired it. Leonard Cohen's A Thousand Kisses Deep / Dans les profondeurs de mille baisers evokes thoughts about the man and his poetry, but especially on the depth and mystery of rich artistic production.

History

History:

From May 18 to October 31, 2010, in the entrance hall of the Grande Bibliothèque, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) will be hosting the exhibition Architectures en vers, which consists of five architectural installations inspired by poetry. These installations were created by collectives of well-known and up-and-coming architects working with glass artists. The exhibition is presented as part of the “Montréal, 2010 City of Glass” program, under the direction of the Board of Montreal Museum Directors.

Event date(s):

2010

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

A Thousand Kisses Deep
The ponies run, the girls are young,
The odds are there to beat.
You win a while, and then it’s done –
Your little winning streak.
And summoned now to deal
With your invincible defeat,
You live your life as if it’s real,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.
I’m turning tricks, I’m getting fixed,
I’m back on Boogie Street.
You lose your grip, and then you slip
Into the Masterpiece.
And maybe I had miles to drive,
And promises to keep:
You ditch it all to stay alive,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.
And sometimes when the night is slow,
The wretched and the meek,
We gather up our hearts and go,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.
Confined to sex, we pressed against
The limits of the sea:
I saw there were no oceans left
For scavengers like me.
I made it to the forward deck.
I blessed our remnant fleet –
And then consented to be wrecked,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.
I’m turning tricks, I’m getting fixed,
I’m back on Boogie Street.
I guess they won’t exchange the gifts
That you were meant to keep.
And quiet is the thought of you,
The file on you complete,
Except what we forgot to do,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.
And sometimes when the night is slow,
The wretched and the meek,
We gather up our hearts and go,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.
The ponies run, the girls are young,
The odds are there to beat…

Artist's biography:

Éric Pelletier

Author's biography:

Leonard Cohen

Document(s):

Architecture en vers exhibition at Montreal's Grande Bibliothèque

Architectures en vers, présentée dans le cadre de Montréal, ville de verre 2010

Table-ronde - Exposition “Architectures en vers” à la Grande Bibliothèque

Rencontre au confluent

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 20:06:30 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Bergeron, Suzanne

Artwork creator(s):

Bergeron, Suzanne

Text author(s):

Laferrière, Dany

Text author(s):

Laferrière, Dany

Installation year:

2010

Artwork description

Source : Photo transmited by Marie-Claude Langevin

Description:

Group of glass panels with a concrete block. On the vertical panel, we can see the text and a path created with 1 ¢ coins. On the horizontal panel, the artist has inlaid wooden wafers and a recycled cardboard lattice.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

J’ai toujours pensé que c’était le livre qui franchissait les siècles pour parvenir jusqu’à nous.
Jusqu’à ce que je comprenne en voyant cet homme que c’est le lecteur qui fait le déplacement.

Text theme:

Litérature

Artwork theme:

Rencontre au confluent is a glass book that opens onto the world and artistic creation – both architectural and literary. Here, the designer is not inspired by the poet, but rather pays tribute to him. The viewer is invited to make a connection with Dany Laferrière’s novel L’énigme du retour (2009 Médicis prize), published by Éditions du Boréal.

Text reference:

L'énigme du retour

History

History:

From May 18 to October 31, 2010, in the entrance hall of the Grande Bibliothèque, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) will be hosting the exhibition Architectures en vers, which consists of five architectural installations inspired by poetry. These installations were created by collectives of well-known and up-and-coming architects working with glass artists. The exhibition is presented as part of the “Montréal, 2010 City of Glass” program, under the direction of the Board of Montreal Museum Directors.

Event date(s):

2010

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

Suzanne Bergeron of Amiot Bergeron architectes reveals her deepest thoughts in a work of shadow and glass that is highly moving in its simplicity.

Author's biography:

Dany Laferrière

Document(s):

Architecture en vers exhibition at Montreal's Grande Bibliothèque

Architectures en vers, présentée dans le cadre de Montréal, ville de verre 2010

Table-ronde - Exposition “Architectures en vers” à la Grande Bibliothèque

Murmures dans la main du temps

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 19:50:04 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Collectif C-M-R

Artwork creator(s):

Collectif C-M-R

Text author(s):

Vigneault, Gilles

Text author(s):

Vigneault, Gilles

Collaborator(s):

Cousineau, Florent; Montero, Alejandro; Rheault, Cindy Diane

Installation year:

2010

Artwork description

Source : Photo transmited by Marie-Claude Langevin

Description:

Murmures dans la main du temps is a spiral sculpture. Its labyrinthine structure of woven raw material evokes movement, inviting the viewer to stroll along, carried by the words of the poet from Natashquan. All words are stained yellow, except for the word "rouge" (red), which is red.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Un jour je ferai mon grand cerf-volant
Un côté rouge, un côté blanc
Un jour je ferai mon grand cerf-volant
Un côté rouge, un côté blanc
Un côté tendre
Un jour je ferai mon grand cerf-volant
J’y ferai monter vos cent mille enfants
Ils vont m’entendre
Je les vois venir du soleil levant

Puis j’attellerai les chevaux du vent
Un cheval rouge, un cheval blanc
Puis j’attellerai les chevaux du vent
Un cheval rouge, un cheval blanc
Un cheval pie
Puis j’attellerai les chevaux du vent
Puis nous irons voir tous les océans
S’ils sont en vie
Si les océans sont toujours vivants

Par-dessus les bois, par-dessus les champs
Un oiseau rouge, un oiseau blanc
Par-dessus les bois, par-dessus les champs
Un oiseau rouge, un oiseau blanc
Un oiseau-lyre
Par-dessus les bois, par-dessus les champs
Qui nous mènera chez le Mal méchant
Pour le détruire
Bombe de silence et couteau d’argent

Nous mettrons le mal à feu et à sang
Un soleil rouge, un soleil blanc
Nous mettrons le mal à feu et à sang
Un soleil rouge, un soleil blanc
Un soleil sombre
Nous mettrons le mal à feu et à sang
Un nuage monte, un autre descend
Un jour sans ombre
Puis nous raserons la ville en passant

Quand nous reviendrons, le coeur triomphant
Un côté rouge, un côté blanc
Quand nous reviendrons, le coeur triomphant
Un côté rouge, un côté blanc
Un côté homme
Quand nous reviendrons, le coeur triomphant
Alors vous direz ; ce sont nos enfants
Quel est cet homme
Qui les a menés loin de leurs parents ?

Je remonterai sur mon cerf-volant
Un matin rouge, un matin blanc
Je remonterai sur mon cerf-volant
Un matin rouge, un matin blanc
Un matin blême
Je remonterai sur mon cerf-volant
Et vous laisserez vos cent mille enfants
Chargés d’eux-mêmes
Pour jeter les dés dans la main du temps

Pour jeter les dés dans la main du temps

Text theme:

Evokes childhood, idealism, the willingness to go higher

Artwork theme:

Evokes childhood, Earth and hopes for a better world.

Text reference:

Le grand cerf-volant

History

History:

From May 18 to October 31, 2010, in the entrance hall of the Grande Bibliothèque, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) will be hosting the exhibition Architectures en vers, which consists of five architectural installations inspired by poetry. These installations were created by collectives of well-known and up-and-coming architects working with glass artists. The exhibition is presented as part of the “Montréal, 2010 City of Glass” program, under the direction of the Board of Montreal Museum Directors.

Event date(s):

2010

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

The C-M-R collective, which brings together a multidisciplinary artist (Florent Cousineau), a graduate architect (Alejandro Montero, Tergos ecological architecture and building) and a photographer (Cindy Diane Rheault, images ECOterre), was inspired by Le Grand cerf-volant (Éditions le vent qui vire, 1982) by Gilles Vigneault, to design a sculpture that evokes childhood, Earth, and hopes for a better world.

Author's biography:

Gilles Vigneault

Document(s):

Architecture en vers exhibition at Montreal's Grande Bibliothèque

Architectures en vers, présentée dans le cadre de Montréal, ville de verre 2010

Table-ronde - Exposition “Architectures en vers” à la Grande Bibliothèque

Vers tissés serré

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 19:38:15 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

The Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux Team

Artwork creator(s):

L'équipe Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux / The Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux Team

Text author(s):

Beaulieu, Michel; Beausoleil, Claude; Brault, Jacques; Melançon, Robert; Brossard, Jacques; Caccia, Fulvio; Chamberland, Paul; D'amour, Stéphane; Miron, Gaston; Monette, Hélène; Nepveu, Pierre; Plourde, Danny; Théoret, France

Text author(s):

Beaulieu, Michel

Beausoleil, Claude

Brault, Jacques

Melançon, Robert

Brossard, Jacques

Caccia, Fulvio

Chamberland, Paul

D'amour, Stéphane

Miron, Gaston

Monette, Hélène

Nepveu, Pierre

Plourde, Danny

Théoret, France

Collaborator(s):

Campeau, Sylvain; La Maison de la poésie de Montréal

Installation year:

2010

Artwork description

Source : Photo transmited by Marie-Claude Langevin

Description:

Created by assembling hundreds of glass jars, the installation Vers tissés serré sends visitors on a poetic journey through Montreal, with help from words by Gaston Miron, Pierre Nepveu, Jacques Brault, Claude Beausoleil, Hélène Monette, Stéphane D’Amours, Paul Chamberland, Fulvio Caccia, Michel Beaulieu, Nicole Brossard, France Théoret and Danny Plourde. Each element distinguishes itself through the poetry it displays.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Excerpt:

Montréal tu me perds Montréal c'est bien toi

dans ces rues dénudées dans des blocs de verre

ces images et des livres te contant des histoires

les faux sans fond d'une ruelle où nul ne va

plus loin c'est encore toi plus avant dans le vide

tu bâtis pauvre ville pauvre enfance infinie

Text theme:

Poetic Montreal journey, city

Artwork theme:

Urban density. The city.

Text reference:

Variables

Sans fin Montréal

Montréal, tu t'en vas

Il n'y a plus de chemin

Au petit matin

Montréal

Vue du mont

Dans l'abstraction proliférance urbaine

Le mal du pays

Temps linéaire

Mi-juillet

Villeray

Monologue de l'aliénation délirante

La femme qui dort dans le métro

Vers quelque (sommes nombreux à être seul)

History

History:

From May 18 to October 31, 2010, in the entrance hall of the Grande Bibliothèque, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) will be hosting the exhibition Architectures en vers, which consists of five architectural installations inspired by poetry. These installations were created by collectives of well-known and up-and-coming architects working with glass artists. The exhibition is presented as part of the “Montréal, 2010 City of Glass” program, under the direction of the Board of Montreal Museum Directors.

Event date(s):

2010

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

The Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux Team (architects) is concerned with the issue of urban density. The city, when it shows true density, is a viable alternative to urban sprawl and can be perceived from the perspective of sustainable development.

Document(s):

Architecture en vers exhibition at Montreal's Grande Bibliothèque

Architectures en vers, présentée dans le cadre de Montréal, ville de verre 2010

Table-ronde - Exposition “Architectures en vers” à la Grande Bibliothèque

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

Tree of Knowledge, fragments

Marie-Claude Langevin — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 02:02:52 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Chew, Nancy; Metz, Jacqueline

Artwork creator(s):

Chew, Nancy

Metz, Jacqueline

Text author(s):

Various: Salinger, Jerome David; Aristotle

Text author(s):

Salinger, Jerome David

Aristotle

Installation year:

2008

Artwork description

Source: Photo provided by Nancy Chew & Jacqueline Metz

Description:

Engraved images carved into bluestone suggest fragments of a magnificent tree, shadows of the Tree of Knowledge. Dappled amongst the imagery are literary quotes personally selected by library donors. Each piece contributes to the whole, while remaining individual.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Incomplete

The woman I am
Is not what you see
Move over love
Make room for me

The energy of the mind is the essence of life
Aristotle (selected by Sophie, Tony, Sienna Salcito)

I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot
J.D. Salinger (selected by Michael Mok)

Text theme:

Literature

Artwork theme:

The imprint of the community on the plaza

Dimensions

Other information

Artist's biography:

Metz & Chew

Owner(s):

North Vancouver City Library

Unlimited Growth Increases The Divide

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 17:15:57 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Walter, Kathryn

Artwork creator(s):

Walter, Kathryn

Text author(s):

Walter, Kathryn

Text author(s):

Walter, Kathryn

Installation year:

1990

Artwork description

Source : Photo transmited by Marc André Brouillette

Description:

The text consists of 7" copper letters installed above the entrance to the gallery.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Unlimited Growth Increases The Divide

Text theme:

Political Statement

History

History:

For about a decade, starting in 1981, British Columbia's power company, BC Hydro, had owned most of the block where they planned to build their new office tower. The Del Mar Hotel, owned by George Riste, occupied the only piece of land missing from their property. The Del Mar is a small, unassuming building providing clean, affordable housing to the poor. Despite all the weight brought to bear by the Hydro Goliath, including what must have been enormous amounts of money, Riste refused to sell. BC Hydro eventually had to redesign its tower and build around the hotel.

Dimensions

Width:

2.13m

Other information

Note(s):

"The strategy behind "Unlimited Growth..." is direct. It is directed at those who operate our free-market economy in their own interests, while excluding those interests that would be 'responsive to the needs of the community'. The subtext to "Unlimited Growth..." relates to several aspects of public art, including the need to address the use of site-specific work as a way of intervening in local issues, and in this instance, acting as a marker of resistance by the economically marginalized, as represented by a parallel gallery and a hotel providing affordable housing. Walter raises questions related to the systems underlying the transactions and power-plays that constitute normal business in the world of real estate development. In Walter's art the museum without walls is also a museum OF walls, walls new and old, as well as those walls that perpetuate economic class distinctions. Her text on the façade of the Del-Mar Hotel will stand as a witness to the various power-plays, including the threat to move B.C. Hydro's head office to the suburb of Burnaby, that led to the development surrounding 553-555 Hamilton Street."

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

http://vancouver.ca/publicart_wac/publicart.exe/indiv_artwork?pnRegistry_No=358

Document(s):

Public Art in Vancouver. Angels Among Lions

Symbols of the Cuneiforms

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:44:29 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Thomas, Lionel; Thomas, Patricia; Lachnit, F.

Artwork creator(s):

Thomas, Lionel

Thomas, Patricia

Lachnit, F.

Text author(s):

Thomas, Lionel; Thomas, Patricia; Lachnit, F.

Text author(s):

Thomas, Lionel

Thomas, Patricia

Lachnit, F.

Installation year:

1960

Artwork description

Source: Photo provided by Marc André Brouillette

Description:

This artwork is a delicate metal bas-relief with plexiglas inserts. The white sections light up at night.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Cuneiform writing

Text theme:

Cuneiform writing was developed in Mesopotamia

Artwork theme:

Writing

History

History:

The piece was saved during the conversion of the old library in the mid-1990s.

Dimensions

Other information

Artist's biography:

Lionel Thomas

Owner(s):

City of Vancouver

Document(s):

Public Art in Vancouver. Angels Among Lions

All Our Knowledge Has its Origins in Our Perceptions

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 03:16:03 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Baxter, Brain; Olynyk, Markian

Artwork creator(s):

Baxter, Brain

Olynyk, Markian

Text author(s):

Da Vinci, Leonardo

Text author(s):

Da Vinci, Leonardo

Installation year:

1995

Artwork description

Source : Photo transmited by Marc André Brouillette

Description:

Abstract mural made of three circles and several geometric forms. A quote from Leonardo da Vinci appears at the top.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

All Our Knowledge Has Its Origins In Our Perceptions

Text theme:

Our perception is defined as the process by which the sensory stimulation gained through sight, sound, smell, taste, feel and movement is translated into an understandable experience.

Artwork theme:

Challenges the viewer's perceptions by making references to the mysteries of the mind and of the universe, and to the search for truth.

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

"A library is an ordered resource for accessing information to further one's knowledge and to enhance one's learning. The route taken to that information can guide the thought process and determine the end conclusions. Leonardo realized this a few centuries ago; Our concept is to challenge users of the facility to rethink their thought processes. The most opportune time to accomplish this is before entering the Library - confronting the viewer by having them walk through the piece - and perhaps encouraging them to leave their previous perceptions at the door. The format in presenting the concept is another Leonardo da Vinci exercise - a geometric discovery of form, mathematics and order. Our interpretation of the exercise challenges the viewer's perceptions: first, by engaging the individual in a visual puzzle that defines the various elements of the geometry in a manner that also juggles their perceptions; and secondly, by making visual references to the cosmos that will take the viewer beyond the physical piece to consider the mysteries of the mind, universe, and of course, the search for truth. In locating the piece at, and as the entrance, it emphasizes Public Art as a functioning component of life and architecture - the concept challenging one's thought process and the physical statement aiding in the flow and function of the ordered architecture."

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

http://vancouver.ca/publicart_wac/publicart.exe/indiv_artwork?pnRegistry_No=204

Artist's biography:

Markian Olynyk

Author's biography:

Leonardo da Vinci

Owner(s):

City of Vancouver

Architect(s):

Roger Hughes and Partners

Document(s):

Public Art in Vancouver. Angels Among Lions

THE WORDS DON'T FIT THE PICTURE

Marie-Claude Langevin — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 15:31:59 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Terada, Ron

Artwork creator(s):

Terada, Ron

Text author(s):

Terada, Ron

Text author(s):

Terada, Ron

Installation year:

2010

Artwork description

Source: City of Vancouver (2010). Public Art. (http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/cultural/publicart/2010/lg_thewords.htm)

Description:

The work takes the form of a large freestanding sign that sits in front of the library, just off the southern entrance of the building, by heavy pedestrian traffic.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

THE WORDS DON'T FIT THE PICTURE

Text theme:

Reference to the past

Artwork theme:

Using a typography that is at once familiar and accessible, the artwork is a reference to Vancouver’s neon past, when the famous BOW-MAC sign and legendary Woodward’s W reigned over the city’s skyline.

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

“The sign takes its cues from an era of signage when signs were seen as celebratory, grand and iconic – in effect, as landmarks in their own right, a kind of symbolic architecture… Taken within the context of a public library, the work touches upon – in a very poetic way – the use of words and language as boundless and imaginative, as a catalyst for a multiplicity of meanings.”

Ron Terada

Source: City of Vancouver (2010). Public Art.

http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/cultural/publicart/2010/lg_thewords.htm

Artist's biography:

Ron Terada

Document(s):

"Mapping and Marking" public art program

Arboreus, after Rodchenko

Marie-Claude Langevin — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 02:21:22 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Metz, Jacqueline; Chew, Nancy

Artwork creator(s):

Metz, Jacqueline

Chew, Nancy

Text author(s):

Luis Borges, Jorge

Text author(s):

Luis Borges, Jorge

Installation year:

2008

Artwork description

Source: Photo provided by Jacqueline Metz & Nancy Chew

Description:

A 43’ high glass and glulam installation marks a public plaza and is visible from the library and all approaches. The glass has an abstracted, lifesize image of a cedar tree. Framed by this sculpture, and set on the concrete wall behind, is a text installation which interprets the meaning of the imagery - the two are read together.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

The original is unfaithful to the translation.
Jorge Luis Borges

Text theme:

Expression of the idea that culture and language evolve, always in reference to an earlier version, always becoming something else.

Artwork theme:

Arboreus is informed by the imagery of a giant cedar - a reference to the tree of knowledge, the historic logging industry of Lynn Valley, and the local forested landscape.

Dimensions

Height:

13.1m

Other information

Note(s):

Although the image appears to be a magnificent old grown cedar, lifesize, it is an abstraction, transformed in various ways (including scale, digital manipulation, media, transparency, sitting within an urban context) of an iconic historical photo: Pine Tree, Alexander Rodchenko, 1925.

A further use of text is the latin phrase layered over the image: the scientific name for the Western Red Cedar, Cupressaceae Thuja plicata - a mislabelling.

Artist's biography:

Metz & Chew

Author's biography:

Jorge Luis Borges

Document(s):

Art for art's sake

Apparaître/disparaître : LES MOTS

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:28:56 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Faubert, Julie

Artwork creator(s):

Faubert, Julie

Text author(s):

Faubert, Julie

Text author(s):

Faubert, Julie

Installation year:

2009

Artwork description

SOURCE : Centre Dare-Dare (2009). Dare-Dare.Apparaître/disparaître : les mots. (http://www.dare-dare.org/faubert)

Description:

Art intervention with light. Words with the dates on which they appeared or disappeared from the dictionary are mounted onto people. Words in red have been lost; words in blue were new additions to the dictionary.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Biophilie (1919)

Assurance-vie (2001)

Suralimenté (1990)

Aérivore (1948)

Inuktitut (1994)

Désaveugler (1959)

Cash (1959) Fric (1952) Pognon (1952)

Bancocratie (1919)

Orgasme (1959)

Culpabiliser (1972)

Conformisme (1959)

Esthétiser (1990)

Text theme:

A critical look at words that allow us to think (or not), words that we do not mistreat quite enough as well as words that, to be truly accurate, should also be constantly invented.

Artwork theme:

The project uses city space as a space for collective thinking about words we use.

History

History:

This artistic intervention had two components:

Intervention #1: December 3, 2009

Intervention #2: May 2010

Dimensions

Other information

Artist's biography:

Julie Faubert

Document(s):

Entre les murs des galeries

Les Mots

I Said No

Marie-Claude Langevin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:41:51 +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:

2010

Remarks on location:

In the gallery's bay window.

Artwork description

Source : Audain Gallery (2010). Coming Soon. (http://sfuwoodwards.ca/audain.html)

Description:

Bay window displaying different ways of saying "no".

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

NO! no No No! Hell

no I NO

no Said

I No No No NO NO! No

said way way NO! bloddy

no José way

Text theme:

Variations on the ability and the capacity to say "no", both as a civic and social right.

Artwork theme:

Addresses Vancouver's past and present.

History

History:

As the initial public art project for the new Audain Gallery in the downtown campus of Simon Fraser University Woodward's, four visual artists who are SFU alumni were commissioned to create site-specific public art works for a series entitled Coming Soon.
These provocative works address the qualities of the neighbourhood and the context of the new location of SFU's School for the Contemporary Arts. Coming Soon highlights the Audain Gallery's commitment to art in the public sphere that addresses the present and history of Vancouver.

Event: Coming Soon

Event date(s):

2010

Dimensions

Other information

Document(s):

Coming Soon at Audain Gallery

Six to See: Vancouver’s Olympic Art Roundup

À peine vient-elle de naître que déjà elle raconte à qui veut bien voir

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:59:42 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Pelletier, Annie

Artwork creator(s):

Pelletier, Annie

Text author(s):

Pelletier, Annie

Text author(s):

Pelletier, Annie

Installation year:

2007

Remarks on location:

Installed on a wall and extends above the stairs

Artwork description

Source : Photo transmited by Annie Pelletier

Description:

Five sentences, seemingly handwritten, cross the wall, cling to it, lift away and then fly off. The sentences are repeated several times.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

permettre l’invention.

créer le devenir.

construire pour exalter l’imaginaire.

provoquer la rencontre.

capter le moment puis voir apparaître.

Text theme:

Creation

Artwork theme:

"Playing with the idea of draft work taking shape, coming to life and materializing, the proposed work, À PEINE VIENT-ELLE DE NAÎTRE…, takes hold of the installation space as if it were taking flight. First on the wall – as two-dimensional space - the elements composing the work come forth and tell their tale. Further away, the few sentences seem to get away from this white surface to conquer the space facing it, thus becoming three-dimensional.

Five sentences, seemingly handwritten, run up the wall, cling to it, leave it and fly away. Text becomes material pretext and the letters that shape it are nothing more than a trace that spins in space, evoking suspended matter. Five sentences are repeated over and over, one after the other, spinning into a core, a unit, an image of creation. Five simple sentences. Five sentences that tell the story of creation."

CONVERSATION with the ARTIST, August 24, 2009

History

History:

As a production and research space, Atelier Silex is a place that promotes the idea of free contemporary artistic creation, that benefits from sustained support. Not only devoted to sculpture anymore, in the traditional sense, Atelier Silex has become a space that is receptive to a form of blooming creativity, one that goes well beyond this discipline. By allowing for invention and artistic encounters, in a context where imagination explodes and expands, Atelier Silex has become a place of pure creation.

Creation is thus at the heart of this project, whether in terms of the action required to put it together or to organize a thing that did not exist before or simply of the intention that precedes action, the story that is told here reveals the premises of an emerging creation."

- From a conversation with the artist, August 24, 2009

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

The steel words were handwritten by the artist, directly onto a table, then reproduced into steel.

Artist's biography:

Annie Pelletier

Owner(s):

L'Atelier Silex

The Metal Drummer and the Walldog

Marie-Claude Langevin — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:37:02 +0000

Artwork identification

Alternate title:

Billboard Project

Artwork creator(s):

Howes, Hadley; Stevens, Maxwell (Hadley+Maxwell)

Artwork creator(s):

Howes, Hadley

Stevens, Maxwell

Text author(s):

Howes, Hadley; Stevens, Maxwell (Hadley+Maxwell)

Text author(s):

Howes, Hadley

Stevens, Maxwell

Collaborator(s):

Dave Smith

Installation year:

2009

Remarks on location:

Billboard on the façade of the building

Artwork description

Source : Aka Gallery (2009). Hadley & Maxwell. (http://www.akagallery.org/archives/2009/h+m.html)

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Remarks on image:

Installation view, overview. Front of AKA Gallery.

Text of the artwork:

Lexie Miller

Metal Drummer Looking for

Metal Band!

Text theme:

Job search, music

Artwork theme:

Music, advertising

History

History:

Exhibition Billboard Project for The Metal Drummer and the Walldog. Panels of AKA Gallery and Paved Art Gallery's billboard, Saskatchewan.

Date: June 15-September 1, 2009.

Event date(s):

2009

Dimensions

Height:

4.26m

Width:

15.24m

Other information

Note(s):

Lexie Miller’s ad was re-designed to fit AKA’s public billboard, where it was hand-painted by local sign-painter Dave Smith. Recent post by drummer Lexie Miller from a public bulletin site in Saskatoon. The text is taken directly from an original ad found in a public bulletin binder at Long & McQuade (musical equipment sales and rentals) in Saskatoon. The original ad was photographed on June 2, 2009. The text is the same, except for the phone number that was changed for an email address.

Source:

AKA Gallery 424 20th St W, Saskatoon, SK S7M 0X4 nt/f: 306 652 0044 comm.aka@sasktel.net

Document(s):

Billboard Project: Hadley + Maxwell. June 15-September 1, 2009. The Metal Drummer and the Walldog

Palimpsest

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:40:32 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Dextras, Nicole

Artwork creator(s):

Dextras, Nicole

Text author(s):

Dextras, Nicole

Text author(s):

Dextras, Nicole

Installation year:

2006

Artwork description

Source: Nicole Dextras (2009). Nicole Dextras: Ephemeral Art. (http://www.nicoledextras.com/ephemeralart/artres/01.html)

Description:

Block of ice with text, frozen onto trees

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Palimpsest

Text theme:

Parchment manuscript on which text has been erased to write another. The ephemeral.

History

History:

This series of cast ice installations was created during an art residency at the Banff Art Center during the winter of 2005 and 2006.

Dimensions

Height:

10.97m

Width:

5.48m

Depth:

0.91 m

Other information

Artist's biography:

Nicole Dextras

Document(s):

Nicole Dextras: Ephemeral Art: Art Residencies

In Flux

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:19:08 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Dextras, Nicole

Artwork creator(s):

Dextras, Nicole

Text author(s):

Dextras, Nicole

Text author(s):

Dextras, Nicole

Installation year:

2006

Artwork description

Source: Nicole Dextras (2009). Nicole Dextras: Ephemeral Art. (http://www.nicoledextras.com/ephemeralart/artres/02.html)

Description:

Block of ice with text

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Remarks on image:

Image 1: Detail Image 2: Ensemble

Text of the artwork:

IN FLUX

History

History:

This series of cast ice installations was created during an art residency at the Banff Art Center during the winter of 2005 and 2006.

Dimensions

Height:

10.97m

Width:

10.97m

Depth:

0.91 m

Other information

Artist's biography:

Nicole Dextras

Document(s):

Nicole Dextras: Ephemeral Art: Art Residencies