23 Apr 2021
“These mirrors of montreality, gathered here, are expressions of a meridian city that is neither here nor there. Where invention requires it and feeling follows, it manifests at the meeting point of elsewhere and elsewhen.” – Daniel Canty, Writer
On Thursday, April 22, the Collectif des Createurs Canadiens (CCC) will unveil FICTIONS, an immersive virtual experience showcasing new and exclusive works by a group of eight Canadian designers, both established and up-and-coming: Atelier Zebulon Perron, Claste Collection, David Umemoto, Lambert & Fils, Loïc Bard, Pascale Girardin, SSSVLL and Yannick Pouliot. The exhibition is the CCC’s inaugural initiative and collaboration with acclaimed contemporary curator, design specialist, and architect Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte, himself a Montreal native.
An atypical love letter to the northern city, FICTIONS is a freeform exploration of shape, materiality, and function. Set in a nondescript post-apocalyptic environment in the heart of Montreal, the thirteen pieces await with poise for the viewer’s gaze. Familiar in their appearance, these fictions of mutated furniture blur the lines of design and art, and question who the user might be, what purpose they are meant to inhabit.
“Fictions takes visitors on an intriguing and mysterious journey, featuring eight designers and artists who pay tribute to the fabric of Montreal. How did these elegant and majestic pieces end up here, in this forbidden space?
Rich in textures of light and sound, the exhibition is discovered slowly, almost secretively – but its legacy, and its Montreal spirit, remain with the viewer long after they have left the premises.” – Laurence Gelinas, Executive Director of CCC.
For the duration of one week, viewers are invited to visit www.cccollective.org/fictions where
they will be prompted to immerse themselves into the exhibition by choosing one of four different camera angles: floor view, bird’s eye, detail, overall view. This voyeuristic setting, reminiscent of 70s sci-fi and surveillance cameras, will marry imagery and video footage by Pierre-Alexandre Guay and Director of Photography Alex Lesage (Anniversary Magazine) to an original soundscape by composer Philippe Brault. Viewers are strongly encouraged to periodically return to the exhibition as the lighting changes throughout the day – a discrete signifier of the passing of time – and how it livens up the inanimate objects.
As a companion to FICTIONS, writer Daniel Canty imagined “A Line of Light,” a short essay and user manual to what he calls Montreality : that common denominator or “palpable energy” that radiates through the city’s enrapturing “general stylistic disorder,” furthered here by the CCC’s installation.
“Fiction, in other words, is an artifice that makes up facts. It makes artefacts.” – Daniel Canty, Writer
