Author: Lauriane Duval-Bélair

Categories
Arts

Outside of the museum: Part two

The bear statue outside the MUHC is one of the many displays of public art around Montreal. Photo Flickr

Montreal and public art, the final segment of a feature story published in two parts

Last week, part one of this story explained how public art was established in the city of Montreal and the province of Quebec.

When questioned about the importance of investments and politics of public art, Pascal Beaudet, project manager at the Ministry of Culture and Communications, said it enables artists to create imposing works. It gives them unequalled experience, as they are offered a great amount of money to create enormous pieces of art. “You don’t start creating monumental 35-feet pieces of art for your backyard,” said Beaudet.

“It brings many things to many people,” said artist Linda Covit about public art. Public pieces make art accessible, because people don’t have to enter museums or galleries to see works of art. How many times have you been to the Montreal Contemporary Art Museum this year? Probably not that many times, especially when compared to the numbers of times you’ve walked by works of contemporary art in the city.

After the screening of the documentary À Tout Hasard, artists took the time to discuss with the public why public art mattered to them. Artist Jean-Robert Drouillard said, due to a lack of contracts last year, he had to spend six months working for artist Marc-Antoine Côté. Public art allows professional artists to work and contribute to the urban planning, said Laurent Vernet, the commissioner of the Montreal Public Art Bureau.

Public art can prompt positive reactions too. Covit said a citizen once wrote to her about one of her pieces in St-Bruno, expressing how happy he was to walk past it everyday. “It really touched me,” said Covit.

A school in Ville Saint-Laurent even used the name one of artist Michel Saulnier’s sculptures to rename the school. He said he still receives reactions about pieces,  inspired by architecture, that have been installed for 25 years. “The work is living,” said Saulnier.

Public art really aims to integrate into the landscape, giving an identity to the location and becoming part of people’s lives. It makes people think and ask questions. For Johanne Sloan, an art history professor at Concordia University, public art makes art less elitist. “It brings art closer to everyday life,” she said. With time, Vernet said, those works of art become intricately attached to their location, using the example of the Melvin Charley sculpture at the Émilie-Gamelin park. “We can’t imagine those places without those works that define them and that give them their identity,” said Vermet.

The Fourth Plinth Project in Trafalgar Square attempts to draw in more interest from the public with it’s temporary art.
Photo from Flickr

Covit, who also created a monumental piece for the MUHC, said it’s important not to forget that the money invested in public art doesn’t go all into the artists’ wallet. For her MUHC sculpture, Le Havre, she had engineers, technicians, manufacturers, painters, electricians and light creators working with her. Those collaborators, and the materials needed for the sculpture, were paid for through the projects building budget. More than just public critics, some art historians also hold negative positions on the subject. Sloan criticized the one per cent decree because it can result in what she considers “bland art.” According to the professor, artists who want to please the public might create pieces that are not upsetting but that are not exciting either. “The more the artwork is triggering conversation, the more successful it is as public art,” said Sloan. Vernet, on the other hand, believes works of public art usually follow the artist’s line of creation and are not created only to please the public.

For Sloan, permanent public art tends to become like a type of furniture in the landscape, always there, which results in people not paying attention to it. Sloan said that other directions could be taken to make the works more interesting to the public. She said  temporary pieces of public art, which could trigger less anger because of their brief appearances, could encourage very interesting conversations. Trafalgar Square in London, for example, had a project called The Fourth Plinth Project, which offered a space for artists to create temporary contemporary sculptures amongst traditional permanent statues. “I think those projects are much more successful,” said Sloan.

To read the feature from beginning to end in its entirety visit theconcordian.com/section/arts.

Categories
Student Life

A luxury Montreal-based brand gives fur a second life

Mary-Jo Dorval and Cynthia Girard, the duo that makes up Maison Cyma. Photo courtesy of Maison Cyma.

Maison Cyma uses recycled fur to bring awareness to its short life-cycle in fashion

A Montreal-based designer duo is changing how fur is used in the fashion industry, one garment at a time.

Designers Mary-Jo Dorval and Cynthia Girard met about 26 years ago, at a time when they were both already creating clothes. A few years later, while Dorval studied fashion design, Girard studied fashion merchandising. As they started out in the workforce, they realized their jobs weren’t right for them, and this lead them to start their own brand, Maison Cyma. The name comes from their first names (CY for Cynthia and MA for Mary-Jo).

Mary-Jo Dorval and Cynthia Girard, the duo that makes up Maison Cyma. Photo courtesy of Maison Cyma.

The first-ever collection by Maison Cyma was showcased on Oct. 9 during the Toronto Startup Fashion Week, a platform for young entrepreneurs in the fashion industry.

Their collection features an elegant mixture of luxurious sweaters, bustiers, vests and pants all in neutral colours with touches of blue. The two designers love working with materials such as recycled fur, fish leather, velvet and net fabric. They like to play with hand smocking, an embroidery technique that gathers fabric together. The way fur is used, however, is important to them.

Photo courtesy of Maison Cyma.

Girard and Dorval said they are interested in ecology and sustainability when it comes to designing garments, particularly with fur. Before Maison Cyma, Girard worked with real fur, but she said it occurred to her that it’s more special than any synthetic fabrics, because it comes from an animal whose life is taken away. She decided to be more conscious about the environmental effects of using it. “People don’t treat fur with enough respect,” said Girard. At Maison Cyma, only recycled fur is used.

Their interest with the sustainability and ecology of fur became the heart of the brand’s mission. On their official website, they said Maison Cyma “seeks to honour and glorify animal life and to give a voice to the creatures whose freedom and skin is taken for the profit of the fur industry,” and “honours the lives of these animals by offering them a second life in the most beautiful way possible.”

They aim not only to create while being respectful of animals, but also to educate. “We want to make people aware of the recycled fur industry,” said Girard. The designers don’t just want to sell their clothing, but to raise awareness about the short life cycle of fur in the fashion. For the two designers, the goal is for the clothes to become part of a lifestyle for their clients.

Out of their entire collection, one of Girard’s favourites is the long white vest made of lace and fur while Dorval’s is a black top with hand smock texture and a long net train. “The pieces adapt to fit our clients’ way of life,” said Girard. Many of Maison Cyma’s pieces are versatile and can be worn in different ways. For example, each fur piece has magnetic attachments in certain areas which can be detached to give a different look.

Photo courtesy of Maison Cyma.

“After I finish creating a piece, I always try it on,” said Dorval, who finds the clothes make her feel more confident. “They give me the desire to stand straight and strong,” she said.  For the designers, it’s not so much about style, but about personality.

The current fashion industry in Montreal is facing some problems, with main brands such as Jacob and Smart Set closing their doors, but the designers are not scared. “We don’t limit ourselves to Montreal,” said Girard. She said a lot of women from France have reached out to them telling the designers that using recycled fur is not something that is often seen. They are considering exporting to France to obtain a broader clientele, but for now, they are focusing on designing their second collection.

Categories
Student Life

Fashion POP struts the new looks of up-and-coming designers

Photo by Lauriane Duval-Bélair.

Music resonated, clothes twirled, heels clattered and all eyes turned to the models as they walked down the runway for Fashion POP, a competition featuring six young designers presenting their first collections. On Wednesday Sept. 25, the Rialto theatre was full of people when a panel of judges chose Christina Julien as the winner of this year’s Fashion POP.

From white dresses and short satin red shorts, to monochrome dresses and big square net suits; the collections presented at Fashion POP were all very different and brought something unique. Native Montreal designer,Madeleine Voizard, took inspiration for her collection from the city and “how people are dressed in the metro or in evening meetings.”

“I like to use silk and jacquard mixed with more modern fabrics such as jean and cotton to create garments,” she said.

“I get my inspirations from the design and architectural world,” said Viviane Labelle, another young participant, citing the urban planning of two different cities she visited, Los Angeles and Portland, as the inspiration behind her menswear collection.

Photo by Lauriane Duval-Bélair.

Heather Campbell, the coordinator of the event, said that Fashion POP was first initiated seven years ago to extend the POP Montreal festival to the fashion community.Both Voizard and Labelle agree that the competition is an opportunity for them to get visibility and experience and, just maybe, a way for them to achieve their dreams. Voizard would like to have her own clothing enterprise in Montreal. She sees herself designing as well as managing the business aspect of a clothing line. Labelle would like to have a shop where she designs mens clothes as well as furniture and other objects.

“The main objective is to give new designers a platform to show their work outside of school,” said Campbell. “Fashion POP gives the opportunity to young designers to present their work to an audience without having to care about the business aspect of fashion.”

The competition is open to any young designers, but Campbell has personally approached and encouraged many of this year’s participants, having become familiar with their work through their school portfolios.

Fashion POP can be a great opportunity for designers who have just finished school. For instance, Natasha Thomas and Angie Johnson, two previous winners, are now running their own fashion lines in Montreal.

 

 

photo cutline 1: Runway model showing off young and upcoming designers

photo cutline 2: Fashion Pop hosted at Montreal’s Rialto Theatre

 

Categories
Arts

A multidisciplinary show, made just for you

Body Slam will take place Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. at MAI located at 3680 Jeanne-Mance St. Photo by Andréa de Keijzer.

Mouths ready to recite poetry; legs angled to dance; fingers poised to play music; minds itching to improvise. Together, Body Slam artists will perform on Sept. 28 at MAI (Montreal, arts interculturels). Body Slam is a collective of dancers, musicians, poets and circus artists who explore human nature, through live improvised performances. Gregory Selinger, a former Concordia contemporary dance student, is the artistic director of this collective.

Body Slam will take place Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. at MAI located at 3680 Jeanne-Mance St. Photo by Andréa de Keijzer.

The idea of creating Body Slam came to Selinger when he was picked to perform six shows at the Montreal Fringe Festival in 2011, the first of many subsequent performances. He had planned to perform with friends, but a few days before their performance, Selinger realized that his partners would not have time to do it. At that moment, the idea of live improvisation arose.

“It seemed like the best bet was to kind of let people present what they wanted to present,” said Selinger.

The show became easier to organize because different artists could just drop in, and they didn’t have to do all of the six performances. Some performers could only be there for one or two shows.

Attending a Body Slam allows you to “get to be part of a moment where artists are taking real risks,” Selinger explained. They create their performances in front of the audience. According to Selinger, it makes each show very different than that created in studios. Every performance is unique – sometimes they plan a little what they want to do, sometimes not, but they always try to get inspiration from the public.

During one of their first big improvisations, for example, the artists were stuck and could not find an idea. Then a cell phone rang amongst the audience and the performers simply started improvising off of the ringtone. Artists also once asked audience members, before the performance, to write a suggested title for the show. They randomly picked out three of those suggestions and improvised from them.

Body Slam has changed across time. At its onset, small groups of artists would create unrelated short pieces. Some of them were prepared before the performance. They had a stage manager who determined whose turn it was to be on stage. When the stage manager could not make it to one of the shows, the structure of the organization changed. They started improvising the entire show together and stopped presenting unrelated short parts.

“I felt that there was more coherence to it,” added Selinger.

The recruitment process to find artists is a “little all over the place,” said Selinger. He met the 20 artists he is working with from Concordia, from the Montreal dance scene and from a little bit of everywhere. He even recruits artists he meets on the street. Just a couple of days ago, the artistic director told The Concordian, that he invited a girl who was playing the piano near Guy-Concordia metro to join them on their project.

There is still some preparation that goes into creating the shows, however. Though the “ideal is just to jump on stage…to completely be in the moment and not have rules to follow,” Selinger says he has to be careful and still keep a little bit of structure so it doesn’t become chaotic. They now have weekly practices for artists to get to know each other and to practice structures and exercises of improvisation so that they feel more secure on stage.

Body Slam will take place Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. at MAI located at 3680 Jeanne-Mance St.

Exit mobile version