Au grand dam
Au grand dam
Montréal (Québec), Québec

Public art as sculpture and landscape at parc des Rapides

Manifesting the unique strengths of artist Jacques Bilodeau and landscape architects Claude Cormier + Associés, the public art piece at parc des Rapides is an amalgam of sculpture and landscape that embodies the specificity of the site, recalling the presence of a former dam and the spectacular Lachine Rapids nearby.

Paradoxically chaotic and coherent, Au Grand Dam evokes the drama of the rapids as well as the compression and folding of the river’s ice floes. Shifting strata of white marble and precast concrete capture a dynamic moment on the park horizon, amplified through a discrete array of LED lighting that cut and amplify the presence of the seemingly unstable forms.

This work of public art is distinguished by the interplay of form and experience. Bilodeau’s work is characterized by an exploration of the oblique (based on the work of Claude Parent and Paul Virilio in the 1960s), where inclined planes destabilize the body through a play of gravity and tension that intensifies perception and invokes a critical engagement. More than a minimalist sculpture, there is an open-ended performative quality where dynamic engagement complements the contemplation of the work’s materiality, content, and context.

Client
Ville de Montréal - Arrondissement LaSalle

Collaboration
Jacques Bilodeau

Area
47 lin. m

Awards

Winning team – Competition for a public art project at the Rapids Park 2014

Year
2013-2015

Status
Built

Categories
Heritage
Installation
Institutional
Park
Photo, Yves Lacombe
Au Grand Dam - Installation at Parc des Rapides in Montreal, CC+A
Photo - detail of the model, Guillaume Paradis (CC+A)
Au Grand Dam - Installation at Parc des Rapides in Montreal, CC+A
Detail - Au Grand Dam - Installation at Parc des Rapides in Montreal, CC+A
Plan, CC+A
Au Grand Dam - Construction Phase - Installation at Parc des Rapides in Montreal, CC+A
Material Selection for Au Grand Dam installation at Parc des Rapides in Montreal, CC+A
Material Selection for Au Grand Dam installation at Parc des Rapides in Montreal, CC+A
1927 - Hydraulic dam and the Lachine rapids, Fonds Ministère des Terres et Forêts
Looking north, CC+A
Longitudinal view, CC+A
Working model, Jacques Bilodeau
Looking West, CC+A
Diagrams - luminescence of white marble / light intensification of the oblique at night, CC+A
Photo - model, Guillaume Paradis (CC+A)
Photo - detail of the model, Guillaume Paradis (CC+A)
Photo - detail of the model, Guillaume Paradis (CC+A)
Photo - detail of the model, Guillaume Paradis (CC+A)
Looking East, CC+A
Looking south from Boulevard LaSalle, CC+A