Montréal. Amazing city!! With the good
weather, many events occur outdoor... my paradise. Feel so good there! I arrive just during a
big social revolt (wich start 3 months ago with the indignated
students) so the "air" of the street was very electric...
Urgence Law for use of public space have been adopted by the government because very important touristic events as the "Grand prix Formule 1" or "International Jazz festival" happen in the same time. So a lot of restrictions in using the public space without authorization...
Map of legal street art, drawing by some politics...
My eternal life fight...
Intervention in public space make trouble, in worldwide. This is like walking along the boarders and moving on a way drawn, which defined the outline of what is allowed or tolerated.
So I was glad to particpate to an urban intervention with Anne-Marie Ouellet "Secondes zones ". Her experiment had the following interesting focus: Art and public space.
The transformation of public spaces into space of (commercial) shows (here in particular, the "Place des Arts" of Montréal, for many festival as the Jazz festival) bring the questioning of the free use of this space and the edge between "show" and "not show". Our action have been improvised during the festival "Francofolies".
Simple group structure in the space of music concert, "non dramatic" action, trying to transgress the function and the expectations of the audience (and security team) of a space officially dedicated to the entertainment of the crowd.
.jpg)
A warm-up for my next street performance, also questioning about public space and the definition of art...
So let's go in the street!!!
"Passons par ici" is a series of daily performances (4 hours) allowing me to infiltrate the day to day of the walkers at the cross point of rue Laurier and Berri (Laurier Metro station).
During my journey, I used to dance every day everywhere, waiting the bus, the metro, in postal service, train station, anyplace have been for me my Studio. Sometimes people were seeing, watching or witnessing. They were watching the world not art. Reactions were always very positive, and for the people it was very strange to see a girl alone dancing in a public place, without "attending" any public and for free. Art happen, I don't produce art. Instead of bringing the audience to the art why not bring the art to the audience?
I share the same space / time than the audience. In street performance art, the audience who didn't know that they are audience share a very particular and unic moment with the performer. Difference with the formal art, there is no distance with the audience, no stage, no roll, the performer is the subject and the object of the performance. Bringing the audience to relationship closer than in the reality. I love the idea of performing in the day to day life and not staying in an artistic guetto, where the work is only seen by experienced audience.
Meeting of human beings.
With this 1 week performance I really want to experiment it with the same walker-audience ( who are from the neighboors). And playing with this virtual thin line between day to day life & art. The walkers-public have been invited to send me images of me for the production of the video final of our performance (under construction ; ). It has been for me a very important deep experience. Full of surprise, from my personal work and from the walkers.
Short resume:
(you can check a best of' video and the Dylan Gallagher's video, and also a video per day of performance in youtube)
Monday (video). Working on being in the space. Stillness, slow walk, simple movement which mark the limits of my"space". I walk into the space to hear his perpective. I ask this space how to dance in it. I wonder about the physical and emotional connection between the body and its environment. Multiple way of seing and receiving.
No relationship with the walkers; those create some frustration to the audience, and wondering about my mental health. Here seems closer to madness than art!
Here I feel any of my movement, the roll of my eyes and watch are also very strong in my way of being. Very very interested work for me. 4 hours in my bubble, and lilte by litle feeling very confortable in my new "home".
.JPG)
Tuesday (video). I go out of my bubble. I dance, I sing and watch the audience. Here I really want to use the Art in a simple way. I mean I am not a singer, but I sing. I was dancing in a very simple way, going from the walking, waiting to the dancing. Let's desecrate the Arts!
Here the audience recognized me and part are happy and other part are kind of suspicious. Very interesting effect, if they like they watch me being sure than I can't see them or going on walking and offering me a smile or an applause or a toot. The same for taking photo or video, they was afraid that I see them... as if there are in my intimacy or perhaps that I would ask for money??
Wednesday (video). Today, the neigbour say hello.
I add the reading. Khalil Gibran, "le petit prince", the news of the day, the receipt of the apple tart... Reading in a loud voice and sometimes offering to the walkers to read for them. I used also a paper cone to give them the sensation of wispering in distance.
People have been very touched by this initiative. A old man called me the "good moon ambassador". Now the neigbour dare litle by lite to ask me what I am doing here eveyday.
Small crazy anecdote with the pigeons and the squirrel leaving there (they use to eat there): nobody wanted to hear my stories so I sit on the lawn and start reading a story about an eagle and just when I start to speak about the eagle a lot of pigeons (6-8) stop there and listen to me... I am not crazy or yes but it was just amazing...
Thursday (video). Today, I really want to be very generous. Dance, sing, read, offering origami.
At this point, the neighbors have been completly self-confident, and stop their walk to inter-act with me, watch, offer to me some present.
I was interested in the concept of "donation/gift". Sometimes people didn't enjoy my donation because they were convinced that after I will ask for something back. So I wrote a story of Khalil Gibran :
Les grenades
Il y avait un homme qui possédait de nombreux grenadiers dans son verger. Et chaque automne, pendant longtemps, il mit ses grenades sur des plateaux d’argent à l’extérieur de son domicile, et sur les plateaux il mit des pancartes qu’il avait écrites lui-même :
« Prenez-en librement, vous êtes bienvenu. »
Mais les gens passaient et personne ne prenait de fruits.
Alors l’homme se concerta, et un automne il ne mit aucune grenade sur les plateaux d’argent à l’extérieur de son domicile, mais il dressa une pancarte avec de grandes lettres :
« Ici nous avons les meilleures grenades du pays, mais nous les vendons plus cher qu’ailleurs. »Et alors, tous les hommes et les femmes du voisinage se précipitèrent pour les lui acheter.
I let on the floor a silver plate full of very good apricots. Only few people accept the gift and took the fruits... Hey folks! deep braith, and let's receive, let's give...
Friday (video). Today the idea is to let a mark on our space.
I come sooner to create a structure with the help of Voix Off. Surprise: a group of workers start to work there, next Monday they will cut the street and change all "our space"!!!! No comment
A witness structure, from where everybody could also be witness of the art of the day to day life of the neighbourhood. Of course, I invite all my new friends to the clausure aperitif.
A gift day, very good feed back. I learnt so much and received so much love... When I started I didn't expect anything, I was improvising something which born organically with the help of walkers audience. Many people thanks me to change the dynamic of their regular route, other to change their view of art (a woman told me that she start to dance again, a guy told me that I inspire him to draw...). Gilles spoke with me only the last day, he was very suspicious, he loved it and have been very involved in my next project Presence & Absence...
.jpg)
Nice surprise, when a neighbour, Alexandra, decided to plant some seed of beans and pumpkin in "our" place...
The same night I found a surprise in the structure, heart made with bread crouton (food of my dear friends of the week: pigeons and squirrel)
The next Monday they started the works there... Why did I make this project there? why at this moment? Intuition?
Some months ago (nov 2013), a friend mine from Montréal sent me some picture of this place and wrote me the following: "Oh ya, I am not sure if you have made it back to montreal lately but the laurier metro were you did your performance has gone through quite a facelift, it is now an amazing gathering area and a lot of really creative and social awareness activities happen there daily, its really great to see."
Special thanks to Dylan Gallagher, Voix Off and "Le Réacteur".
Urgence Law for use of public space have been adopted by the government because very important touristic events as the "Grand prix Formule 1" or "International Jazz festival" happen in the same time. So a lot of restrictions in using the public space without authorization...
Map of legal street art, drawing by some politics...
My eternal life fight...
Intervention in public space make trouble, in worldwide. This is like walking along the boarders and moving on a way drawn, which defined the outline of what is allowed or tolerated.
So I was glad to particpate to an urban intervention with Anne-Marie Ouellet "Secondes zones ". Her experiment had the following interesting focus: Art and public space.
The transformation of public spaces into space of (commercial) shows (here in particular, the "Place des Arts" of Montréal, for many festival as the Jazz festival) bring the questioning of the free use of this space and the edge between "show" and "not show". Our action have been improvised during the festival "Francofolies".
Simple group structure in the space of music concert, "non dramatic" action, trying to transgress the function and the expectations of the audience (and security team) of a space officially dedicated to the entertainment of the crowd.
.jpg)
So let's go in the street!!!
"Passons par ici" is a series of daily performances (4 hours) allowing me to infiltrate the day to day of the walkers at the cross point of rue Laurier and Berri (Laurier Metro station).
During my journey, I used to dance every day everywhere, waiting the bus, the metro, in postal service, train station, anyplace have been for me my Studio. Sometimes people were seeing, watching or witnessing. They were watching the world not art. Reactions were always very positive, and for the people it was very strange to see a girl alone dancing in a public place, without "attending" any public and for free. Art happen, I don't produce art. Instead of bringing the audience to the art why not bring the art to the audience?
I share the same space / time than the audience. In street performance art, the audience who didn't know that they are audience share a very particular and unic moment with the performer. Difference with the formal art, there is no distance with the audience, no stage, no roll, the performer is the subject and the object of the performance. Bringing the audience to relationship closer than in the reality. I love the idea of performing in the day to day life and not staying in an artistic guetto, where the work is only seen by experienced audience.
Meeting of human beings.
With this 1 week performance I really want to experiment it with the same walker-audience ( who are from the neighboors). And playing with this virtual thin line between day to day life & art. The walkers-public have been invited to send me images of me for the production of the video final of our performance (under construction ; ). It has been for me a very important deep experience. Full of surprise, from my personal work and from the walkers.
Short resume:
(you can check a best of' video and the Dylan Gallagher's video, and also a video per day of performance in youtube)
Monday (video). Working on being in the space. Stillness, slow walk, simple movement which mark the limits of my"space". I walk into the space to hear his perpective. I ask this space how to dance in it. I wonder about the physical and emotional connection between the body and its environment. Multiple way of seing and receiving.
No relationship with the walkers; those create some frustration to the audience, and wondering about my mental health. Here seems closer to madness than art!
Here I feel any of my movement, the roll of my eyes and watch are also very strong in my way of being. Very very interested work for me. 4 hours in my bubble, and lilte by litle feeling very confortable in my new "home".
.JPG)
Tuesday (video). I go out of my bubble. I dance, I sing and watch the audience. Here I really want to use the Art in a simple way. I mean I am not a singer, but I sing. I was dancing in a very simple way, going from the walking, waiting to the dancing. Let's desecrate the Arts!
Here the audience recognized me and part are happy and other part are kind of suspicious. Very interesting effect, if they like they watch me being sure than I can't see them or going on walking and offering me a smile or an applause or a toot. The same for taking photo or video, they was afraid that I see them... as if there are in my intimacy or perhaps that I would ask for money??
Wednesday (video). Today, the neigbour say hello.
I add the reading. Khalil Gibran, "le petit prince", the news of the day, the receipt of the apple tart... Reading in a loud voice and sometimes offering to the walkers to read for them. I used also a paper cone to give them the sensation of wispering in distance.
People have been very touched by this initiative. A old man called me the "good moon ambassador". Now the neigbour dare litle by lite to ask me what I am doing here eveyday.
Small crazy anecdote with the pigeons and the squirrel leaving there (they use to eat there): nobody wanted to hear my stories so I sit on the lawn and start reading a story about an eagle and just when I start to speak about the eagle a lot of pigeons (6-8) stop there and listen to me... I am not crazy or yes but it was just amazing...
Thursday (video). Today, I really want to be very generous. Dance, sing, read, offering origami.
At this point, the neighbors have been completly self-confident, and stop their walk to inter-act with me, watch, offer to me some present.
I was interested in the concept of "donation/gift". Sometimes people didn't enjoy my donation because they were convinced that after I will ask for something back. So I wrote a story of Khalil Gibran :
Les grenades
Il y avait un homme qui possédait de nombreux grenadiers dans son verger. Et chaque automne, pendant longtemps, il mit ses grenades sur des plateaux d’argent à l’extérieur de son domicile, et sur les plateaux il mit des pancartes qu’il avait écrites lui-même :
« Prenez-en librement, vous êtes bienvenu. »
Mais les gens passaient et personne ne prenait de fruits.
Alors l’homme se concerta, et un automne il ne mit aucune grenade sur les plateaux d’argent à l’extérieur de son domicile, mais il dressa une pancarte avec de grandes lettres :
« Ici nous avons les meilleures grenades du pays, mais nous les vendons plus cher qu’ailleurs. »Et alors, tous les hommes et les femmes du voisinage se précipitèrent pour les lui acheter.
I let on the floor a silver plate full of very good apricots. Only few people accept the gift and took the fruits... Hey folks! deep braith, and let's receive, let's give...
Friday (video). Today the idea is to let a mark on our space.
I come sooner to create a structure with the help of Voix Off. Surprise: a group of workers start to work there, next Monday they will cut the street and change all "our space"!!!! No comment
A witness structure, from where everybody could also be witness of the art of the day to day life of the neighbourhood. Of course, I invite all my new friends to the clausure aperitif.
A gift day, very good feed back. I learnt so much and received so much love... When I started I didn't expect anything, I was improvising something which born organically with the help of walkers audience. Many people thanks me to change the dynamic of their regular route, other to change their view of art (a woman told me that she start to dance again, a guy told me that I inspire him to draw...). Gilles spoke with me only the last day, he was very suspicious, he loved it and have been very involved in my next project Presence & Absence...
of course people were welcome to participate in the creation of our witness coin...
I enjoy to dance inside...
.jpg)
Some months ago (nov 2013), a friend mine from Montréal sent me some picture of this place and wrote me the following: "Oh ya, I am not sure if you have made it back to montreal lately but the laurier metro were you did your performance has gone through quite a facelift, it is now an amazing gathering area and a lot of really creative and social awareness activities happen there daily, its really great to see."
Special thanks to Dylan Gallagher, Voix Off and "Le Réacteur".
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