Entre Les Rangs by KANVA

07

Jan

Entre Les Rangs by KANVA

By Zoe Spiliotis
No Comments

Back in October of 2013 the Monument-National, the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership announced the two winners of the fourth annual Luminothérapie competition. The two works will enhance the Quartier des Spectacles experience for visitors and Montrealers from December 11, 2013 to February 2, 2014.

“The Quartier des spectacles inspires local creative and talented artists who showcase original and daring works as part of design competitions such as Luminothérapie. Luminothérapie helps to promote Montréal’s international reputation as a UNESCO City of Design, by proposing new ways to occupy and use public spaces, and by promoting Montréal know-how in the field of cultural entertainment. I invite Montrealers to discover new talents in the Quartier des spectacles this winter and to marvel at the imagination of the Montréal creative force,” said Élaine Ayotte, member of the Montréal Executive Committee, responsible for culture, heritage and design.

One of the winners was an installation composed of flexible plastic tubs and reflectors, entitled Entre Les Rangs. This installation was designed by a multidisciplinary team led by the KANVA architecture firm. We were lucky enough to stumble upon it in real life. Founded in 2003, Kanva is a multidisciplinary architecture firm that combines architectural design, construction projects and art installations. It approaches every project as an opportunity to tell a story, improve the built environment and broaden the reach of art and architecture.

As a large scale urban metaphor for the traditional wheat fields of rural Quebec it creates an instant dialogue between Quebec’s agricultural history and its current urban reality. Wandering through Entre Les Rangs’ thousands of flexible stems you can’t help but feel a childlike awe and fascination similar to the feelings of being completely engulfed in a wide open, timeless space. You find yourself as part of new type of field, one where everything is man-made, but for a moment you forget they are mass produced plastic sticks and somehow you forget it is winter and -4 degrees. In all honesty, I was actually transported, not something installations usually accomplish which is why Entre Les Rangs is so successful. I actually had a flashback to standing in the tall grass fields outside Denton, Texas watching my dogs run through the stalks, bright blue skies, hot sun and a breeze swaying over the grass making it dance. However here I was in a sea of plastic, in more layers than I could count and surrounded by tall buildings and a grey, yet really bright sky. At night I watched the reflectors from my hotel room, sparkle from the lights nearby and delight other visitors to installation. And I felt that same feeling again.