Client: Laurentide Elementary School

Location: Montreal, QC, Canada

Completion date: 2018

Artwork budget: $80,000

Project Team

Artist

Pascale Girardin

Collections Girardin inc.

Industry Resource

Hugo Lasalle

Lasco Concept

Client

Melanie Belleau

Comission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys

Overview

Comprised of 77 blue and white aluminium disks that are suspended at different heights, Parcelles d'azur – Azure Moieties is set in a place that fosters relaxation and daily chats. Whether standing for a moment, unmoving, beneath its breadth, or moving from one end of the room to the other, Parcelles d'azur – Azure Moieties is apprehended according to each person's personal perspective and reveals itself gradually with the passing of days.

Goals

Eyes toward the sky, this sculpture evokes small cumuli, those pretty white puffy clouds characteristic of sunny days. As with the clouds, this work is open to various interpretations and questionings – in particular its form, which at first seems abstract, or its blue hues which seem to have been removed from the azure. Such as a window to the sky, this representation invites aerial nature into the room. Metaphorically, the small cumuli are a never-ending source of images and creativity. Recognised by all, unifying and evocative, cumuli are generally found in young children’s first drawings. They are not only associated with leisure, daydreams and journeys into our imagination, but also with Montreal and all its open spaces.

The arrangement of the disks allows the form to evolve according to the viewer’s path. Both ludic and stimulating, the work puts into practice the notion of point of view and its direct influence on the way a form is perceived before it is recognised. From each position, the child’s view of the sculpture changes to reveal familiar configurations that inspire evasion from the confines of the mind.

Additional Information

The École primaire Laurentide multipurpose room is a place of transition, passage and movement. In the manner of a town square, this space is traversed on a daily basis and is conducive to encounters and exchanges. This multifunctional room inspires recreation or relaxation and togetherness. Designed for pupils, it is unique in that it can also be looked into by teaching staff from the offices above. The space is thus apprehended from different heights and angles. Its luminosity and large windows create an opening to the outside world, like a breath in the center of the school’s activities.