Butterfly Weight
2000
kinetic sculpture
steel, aluminum, wind sock
7 x 5.2 x 5.2 m
documentation: – photo & video©Diane Landry
- D'un millénaire à l'autre, Doris-Lussier park, organized by the City of Montreal, Montreal (Quebec, Canada)
- Émergence 2000, L'Îlot Fleurie, Quebec City (Quebec, Canada)
“There's an element of domestic furniture in the work. The sculpture is the fruit of a merger between two common practices in contemporary art: furniture design and clothing design. A metal framework is at once architecture and clothing. The gazebo in the garden has lost its protective function, its mosquito netting now covering the blouse turning in the wind. At the peak of the gazebo, to complete the sculpture, Landry has placed an oversized blouse whose sleeves flap in the wind, an accessory that transforms the initial structure into a petticoat for a whale. The fabric evokes pennants, useful for indicating the direction of the wind, as well as butterfly nets.
The sleeves trap the wind, which promptly escapes. Thus the blouse performs a disjointed choreography, subject to the temper of the weather. The work, then, is a barometer of the whims of the god Aeolus; the monumental scale of the structure, traditionally reserved for commemoration, is held back to leave room for this strange ballet.”
Bernard Lamarche, “Danser avec le vent” (excerpt), Le Devoir, Montreal, August 23, 2000
