The Quartier des Spectacles Partnership has announced the finalists in the 2013-14 Luminothérapie, a two-part competition aimed at producing an interactive winter experience for Quartier des Spectacles visitors while also stimulating creativity in Montréal. There were 44 proposals for the competition section aimed at showcasing and enlivening Place des Festivals and the Place des Arts Esplanade; five finalists have been chosen to proceed to the next phase. In the competition section focused on the Design and production of video projection content for nine sets of building façades in Quartier des Spectacles, three finalists have been chosen from the 14 eligible entries.
The winners and jury reports will be made public in early October. The two winning projects will be presented as part of the fourth annual Luminothérapie event, which runs from December 11, 2013 to February 2, 2014.
The finalists are:
PART 1: Showcase and enliven Place des Festivals and the Place des Arts Esplanade
Designers were invited to form multidisciplinary teams to design an installation that would create an island of winter life both day and night, providing a playful, light-oriented experience for the public.
• Atelier CAPS, in collaboration with Thibaut Lefort, CS Design and RWDI
La danse du vent (“wind dance”) proposes a celebration of the formidable force of nature that is the wind by creating a ballet of light and motion. Immense weather vanes dance overhead in winter gusts, in a choreography that reflects light as people walk, creating the overall impression of a flock of birds or a school of fish.
• FLASH! light collective (Carla Jardim and Marga Vicens), Fabienne Cuny, Fernanda Cristina Marques, Lefteris Theodosis and Charles Thivierge
Effet papillon (“butterfly effect”) proposes to draw visitors into a sea of translucent tubes covered in holographic paint, on which sound, light and undulating motions multiply. By day, in natural light, the space becomes an enormous rainbow. By night, the work shifts in response to public interaction: touching one of the tubes triggers a reaction throughout the installation – a response resembling the “butterfly effect.”
• Intégral Jean Beaudoin, in collaboration with Arup and Novalux
500 mille bouteilles à la mer, 500 mille messages à l’hiver proposes to wrap Place des Festivals in a huge frosted coat made of 500,000 bottles, creating a uniquely intimate urban moment. The work’s four outside surfaces form, through the tips of the bottles’ caps, a massive typographical mural. Within, words and quotations provided by visitors via social networks are shown, like so many messages in bottles floating on the sea.
• Kanva, in collaboration with Udo Design, Côté Jardin, Boris Dempsey and Pierre Fournier
Entre les rangs proposes a look back at part of Quebec’s rural history by recreating it in a modern urban setting, turning Place des Festivals into a large field of wheat formed by flexible stalks topped with reflectors that amplify the effects of wind and light. From a distance, the stalks blur into a single large canvas, while on the site a series of paths open for pedestrians to explore.
• MoDe (Victor Hugo Morales Collins and Tania Delage), in collaboration with Lux Populi
Inspiration proposes the creation of an environment evoking shorelines sculpted by water, populated by luminous organic shapes called domes, whose intensity varies based on the movements of passers-by. The project is meant to be an allegory for the formation of foam when river water washes over rocks.
For more information about the competition and to view all entries: mtlunescodesign.com/en/project/2013-Installations-for-public-spaces
PART 2: Design and production of video projections for the façades of Quartier des Spectacles
Designers were asked to create playful, graphically rich, festive projections set to an original soundtrack synchronized with the visuals, with the net result of reaffirming the district’s uniqueness and encouraging people to stop and admire the work even in harsh winter weather.
• Champagne Club Sandwich
Trouve Bob/Find Bob is a game/show that invites the visitor to find Bob’s hiding place in an invented, colourful, psychedelic world inhabited by unusual characters. The animations, which use the architecture of the projection surfaces, become increasingly complex with each scene, like a video game, guaranteeing fun for everyone as they search for Bob.
• Lucion Média
Animaux momentanés is inspired by new possibilities being opened up by science: changing the nature of things, and creating new entities. On the façades, hands assemble creatures by turns human and animal, creating an assortment of faces and anatomies out of unexpected combinations. Set to music by local band Malajube, the different scenarios become a joyful, disorderly and charming parade.
• Playmind
Temps suspendu is a series of surrealistic vignettes combining dance, circus arts and animated graphic design. The characters appear to be suspended, obeying only one law: gravity. Through the bodies’ movements on the façades, the architecture of the present is transformed and gives way to the past architecture of the projection sites.
The video projections will be shown on nine building façades and groups of façades in the Quartier equipped with permanent projection systems: Grande Bibliothèque (BAnQ), UQAM’s Centre de design, Cégep du Vieux Montréal, the UQAM bell tower, UQAM’s Pavillon Président-Kennedy, Hôtel Gouverneur on Place Émilie-Gamelin, Hôtel Zéro 1, Place de la Paix, Théâtre Maisonneuve and the area around Saint-Laurent metro station.
For more information about the competition and to view all entries: mtlunescodesign.com/en/project/2013-Video-Projections
The finalists in both competition sections were selected based on proposals submitted anonymously, in order to ensure transparency and openness to new talents. The next step, the selection of the winners, is centred on a paid presentation to the appropriate jury.
The jury members are:
Part 1
• Brigitte Poupart, director, actor, theatrical director, co-artistic director of Transthéâtre and jury chair
• Gabriel Pontbriand, director of the Environment team, Moment Factory
• Pierre Fortin, executive director, Quartier des Spectacles Partnership
• Michel Gagnon, programming director, Place des Arts
• Hélène Godin, executive creative vice-president, Sid Lee
• Pascal Lefebvre, programming director, Quartier des Spectacles Partnership
• Benoît Lemieux, director of operations, Quartier des Spectacles Partnership
• Eugénie Manseau, industrial designer, Studio Dikini, Phyllis-Lambert Design Montréal grant recipient
• John Zeppetelli, curator, DHC/ART Foundation for Contemporary Art
Part 2
• Olivier Goulet, president, Geodezik (jury chair – replaced for the final stage by Janicke Morissette, designer, Geodezik)
• Lucie Bazzo, lighting designer
for professional dance and theatre productions
• Patrick Doyon, illustrator and animated film director, Doiion
• Pierre Fortin, executive director, Quartier des Spectacles Partnership
• Pascal Lefebvre, programming director, Quartier des Spectacles Partnership