Sweet stuff

by Christine Redfern

This is a busy summer for Sylvie Laliberté. Starting tomorrow, her video Bonbons bijoux (Candy Jewels) can be seen in the window of MusiquePlus and next Wednesday, Aug. 15 she will perform in their studio as part of the Musée d'art contemporain's city-wide exhibition Artcité. At the end of the month her installation, Polite Art, opens at the MAC and her drawings will be at the Galerie Christiane Chassay.

"Bonbons is my first video. I explain the transition from bonbons--childhood--to bijoux--womanhood," Laliberté says. Her work has been described as naïve, spontaneous, concerned with the lesser truths. So is she playing the role of the idiot savant?

"In the video I sing the words 'I'm so naïve that I'm almost decorative.' I sing it like a shampoo ad," she says. "I want us not to be naïve. Yet at the same time I am certainly naïve--I'm making art." And though there is a lot of humour in her work, she doesn't consider herself a comedian. "I'm having fun, but I don't work toward a punch line or want everyone to laugh at the same place," she asserts. "Polite Art will look like a 'projet de décoration.' I find that very funny. I'm telling you, I'm doing everything to lose my credibility." Bonbons bijoux is at MusiquePlus (355 Ste-Catherine W.), Aug 10-Oct 8, with a performance Aug. 15, 4 p.m. Artcité at the MAC (185 Ste-Catherine W.) and other locations. Info: 847-6226.

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