On my recent road trip to Gaspésie, a region in Eastern Quebec, Canada I discovered duo artists Louis Couturier and Jacky Georges Lafargue through one of their multidisciplinary installations. In the art scene since 1991, their approach consists of searching for relevant forms from recorded images and materials that they discover in isolated or unusual sites. Their study includes an indepth survey, documentation of the environment, meetings with the local community.
Architecture of Objects – Whispers of Stories is a colorful sculptural installation made up of objects that belonged to various people from Carleton-sur-Mer, a picturesque town nestled between the mountains and ocean in southeastern Quebec. Garden funiture, equipment, pots & pans, an ironing board, crutches, a snow sled, a bicycle wheel, a shopping cart – objects, revisited and reanimated, whisper slices of life and inspire imaginary stories. It paints a portrait of this community.
The balsam fir wood native to the region, binds and frames the objects to transforms them into building blocks, parallelepipeds of varying dimensions. These are assembled into an open architecture that allows free movement and a multiplicity of viewing angles. The fluorescent edges create a musicality that is both discreet and conspicuous, giving rhythm and colour to the whiteness of the whole. Here and there, orange, green, pink and yellow reflections appear, moving with the sun’s path and developing into multiple chromatic projections.
The public work speaks of memory, heritage and the importance of knowing how to revive what we no longer consider useful or usable.
This project is supported by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Carleton-sur-Mer, the Avignon RCM and the Boralex Wind Energy Social Commitment Fund.
