Présences du littéraire dans l’espace public canadien - Various objects

Fortune’s Folly

Marie-Claude Langevin — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:28:25 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Newman, Holly

Artwork creator(s):

Newman, Holly

Text author(s):

Newman, Holly

Text author(s):

Newman, Holly

Installation year:

2008

Artwork description

Source: Photo provided by Holly Newman

Description:

Text and objects are hung around a tree.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Gather roses while ye may,

before the frightful winter

fades her promises away.

Grab tightly

this little green glimmer of hope,

perhaps today's the day

when luck should come your way.

Four and forty blue birds

nestled in this tree,

above the rattle of traffic

songs of happiness

for one and all to hear.

Hidden by the city lights

stars still chance to shine.

Alas, now's the time

wish, wish, wish.

(ode to a dandelion)

Oh little yellow flower

why so sad,

surely someone knows

your beauty to be had?

A warm round stone

held in the left hand

brings the promise

of a new found love,

or so I have heard.

The simple white daisy is not

a fortune-teller as claimed

for he may love you

or he may not.

How could she know

something he does not.

Fairy rings circle my lawn

with promises concerning

a land of magical potential.

A white butterfly,

like a changeling in the night

knows not the promises

that keep her secret safe.

A jar sits on my stoop,

gathering more dust

than moonbeams

but one day,

I'll be better off

than I am.

A rabbit wandered in my garden

brushing the bushes with

a bit of soft-footed luckiness.

A few crumbs of bread

help pass the time,

while the wily crow

gathers her promised

tale of darkness.

Artwork theme:

Nature, wildlife

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

"The text became of greater importance, reflecting a subtle and somewhat ironic tone for the project. I realize that this project comes very close to the line of 'writer' but I must emphasize that I strongly see my work as a visual product, the material and placement in the urban landscape is crucial to understanding my motivation. Placing these works in the streets, inviting the passerby to become an incidental viewer strongly colors the text."

- From a conservation with the artist, April 2009

Artist's biography:

Holly Newman

Owner(s):

Holly Newman

Source:

Holly Newman11215 - 96 StreetEdmonton, AlbertaCanada T5G 1T(780) 474 - 8034hknewman@telus.net

Document(s):

Fortune's Folly, 2008

Le Jardin secret

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:05:04 +0000

Artwork identification

Alternate title:

The Secret Garden

Artwork creator(s):

Larivée, Francine

Artwork creator(s):

Larivée, Francine

Text author(s):

Larivée, Francine

Text author(s):

Larivée, Francine

Installation year:

2000

Artwork description

Source: Montréal (2006). Cuture Montréal. (http://www.culturemontreal.ca/mtl_cultures/041001p7_artsilencieux.htm)

Description:

Sculptural installation looking like a huge filing cabinet with a cover and 64 drawers that can opened, based on the Yi-King. Divided into two numerically equivalent series and installed over eight rows, the drawers hold groups of objects that represent the 64 hexagrams of the Book of Transformations, each identified by its name and each contained in a small linden box protected by tempered glass. The eight rows evoke geological strata - rocks, fossils, bones, algae and seashells roots and moss, seeds and barks, flowers and other "human" artefacts. A chameleon-like iris and the three horsetail stems have been modelled in the rond and leave the cover partly open.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

In each drawer, the title of the represented hexagram:

Le créateur / Le réceptif / La difficulté initiale / La folie juvénile / L’attente / Le conflit / L’armée / La solidarité (l’union) / Le pouvoir d’apprivoisement du petit / La marche / La paix / L’insondable, l’eau / Communauté avec les hommes / Le grand avoir / L’humilité / L’enthousiasme / La suite / Le travail sur ce qui est corrompu / L’approche / La contemplation (la vue) / Mordre au travers / La grâce / L'éclatement / Le retour / L’innocence / Le pouvoir d’apprivoisement du grand / La commissure des lèvres / La prépondérence du grand / L’accablement, l’épuisement / Ce qui s’attache (le feu) / L’influence / La durée / La retraite / La puissance du grand / Le progrès / L’obscurcissement de la lumière / La famille / L’opposition / L’obstacle / La libération / La diminution / L’augmentation / La percée (la résolution) / Venir à la rencontre / Le rassemblement (le recueillement) / La poussée vers le haut / L’accablement, l’épuissement / Le puits / La révolution, la mue / Le chaudron / L’éveilleur, l’ébranlement, le tonnerre / L’immobilisation, la montagne / Le développement / L’épousée / L’abondance, la plénitude / Le voyageur / Le doux / Le serein, le joyeux, le lac / La dissolution (la dispersion) / La limitation / La vérité intérieure / La prépondérance du petit / Après l’accomplissement / Avant l’accomplissement

Artwork theme:

The idea of archiving and the idea of fertility

History

History:

Since May 2000, the artwork has been installed in the inner courtyard linking all the buildings of the Centre d'archives de Montréal, located in the former HEC-Montréal.

Dimensions

Other information

Artist's biography:

Francine Larivée

Owner(s):

Archives nationales du Québec; Centre d'archives de Montréal

Architect(s):

Hanganu, Dan (architect); Provencher, Roy et associés (architects)

Document(s):

50 ans d'intégration à l'architecture

Francine Larivée : Le jardin (The Secret Garden)

NNNEEESSSSOOONN

Marie-Claude Langevin — Sun, 18 May 2008 22:12:32 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Bourgault, Pierre

Artwork creator(s):

Bourgault, Pierre

Text author(s):

Bourgault, Pierre

Text author(s):

Bourgault, Pierre

Installation year:

2001

Artwork description

Source: Daigneault, Gilles (2001). Artefact 2001 sculptures urbaines. Montréal: Centre de diffusion 3D/Centre d'art public

Description:

A container with the letters "NNNEEESSSSSOONN" painted on its sides is found floating in the canal.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

NNNEEESSSSSOOONN

History

History:

Artefact 2001 asked artists to momentarily imagine a part of the Lachine Canal (which is still in a "state of hibernation", so to speak, for a few months) like a large found object - an artefact, to be exact. The artists are to occupy and transform a part of the canal, taking into account its physical aspects such as the banks, the water, the bridges and walkways spanning it, the buildings bordering it, its long history and also the archaeology of this kind of infrastructure. In any case, they had to find an original way to create and integrate a poetic installation within the canal's complex restoration.

Event date(s):

2001

Dimensions

Height:

2.75m

Width:

9.15m

Depth:

11 m

Other information

Artist's biography:

Pierre Bourgault

Source:

http://www.espace-sculpture.com/Artefact/artefact2001/introduction.html

Document(s):

Le sorcier de Saint-Jean