Colloquium "Ethical Public Art in Canada" — Round table discussion and launch of two publications

Verticale — centre d’artistes is co-hosting the colloquium “Ethical Public Art in Canada.” On the final day of the event, Verticale, along with DARE-DARE and 3e imperial, will host a round-table discussion that will examine the main challenges faced by artist-run centres that operate outside the typical framework of gallery-based programming. This special event provides a rare opportunity to discuss the reality of including art, in its many forms, in the public, community, or domestic sphere.

VCA will also contribute by organizing a double book launch for two artist’s books: L’île, by Anne-Marie Ouellet, and Paysages éphémères by Janie Julien-Fort, both of which were published in response to projects from VCA’s 2017 and 2015 programming. This double launch will highlight some of our previous years’ projects, especially those whose practices evolved into independent publishing.

Double book launch

The book L’île, by Anne-Marie Ouellet, is an illustrated version of her 2017 project Cellule domestique, a performative intervention for a public site in Laval’s future downtown area, which at the time was in the midst of a real estate boom. The publication features an accordion-style binding that unfolds into the trajectory of her performance.

L’île was produced in collaboration with Hermine Ortega during a micropublishing residency at Centre Sagamie in Alma. It was printed in an edition of 50.

Janie Julien-Fort’s publication is presented as a two-volume box set. Paysages éphémères (Ephemeral Landscapes) and Chantiers sous surveillance (Construction Sites Under Surveillance), include texts, poems, and images, with solargraphs from the project Chantiers sous surveillance, co-presented with Dare-Dare in 2015. The solargraph is a photographic process that requires months-long exposures. Attached to fixed elements in the landscape and subjected to the whims of curious passersby and the weather, hundreds of small pinhole cameras scrutinize the outskirts of construction sites.

This publication features texts by Claire Moeder, Christian Roy, and Francis O’Shaughnessy. Produced in collaboration with Centre Sagamie in Alma, in an edition of 250.

MONA

August 27th at 9 a.m. at the Cartier metro station, a day of local exploration began with the MONA project, a free app that lists public artworks across Québec. The journey ends at Verticale around 10:20 a.m., just in time for the start of our day of discussion.