Public Artwork

L’Inversion du monde

Richard Purdy, L’inversion du monde, 1989
Richard Purdy, L’inversion du monde, 1989
Richard Purdy, L’inversion du monde, 1989
Location:
Productions Éloize (formerly the National Circus School), 417 Berri street, Montréal, QC, H2Y 3E1, Canada
Artwork creator(s): 
Purdy, Richard
Text author(s): 
Purdy, Richard
Collaborator(s): 
Hébert, François (assistant) ; Lebel, Jean (technical assistance)
Installation year: 
1989
Remarks on location: 

The installation is located in the lobby, under the rotunda.

Description: 

Sculptural and environmental installation featuring a floor mosaic, a suspended sculpture and a high relief affixed to the ceiling of the rotunda. First, a polychromic mosaic on the ground represents a gridded map of the world, where continents are shown as aquatic masses and the oceans as continents. Second, brass words are inlaid into the mosaic - Pacifica, Atlantica, Indica, Arctica. Third, suspended to the ceiling, a mirror crescent moon reflects the image of the Earth and hides a globe in its upper section. Last, a star protruding from the rotunda completes the composition.

Text of the artwork: 

Pacifica Atlantica Indica Arctica

Text theme: 
The world
Artwork theme: 
The art work as a whole evokes "imaginative thinking" by presenting a "world in reverse."
History: 
The work was created from January to April 1989.

Dimensions:

Diameter: 
4.8m
Propriétaire(s): 
Productions Éloize
Document(s): 

Le principe d’inversion chez Richard Purdy

Fry, Jacqueline (1990).  Le principe d’inversion chez Richard Purdy. Parachute. no. 58 (Avril - Mai) , p. 16-23