Art talk

>> The public sounds off on Artcité and what it means to them

by CHRISTINE REDFERN

All around town, the Musée d'Art Contemporain is bringing contemporary art to the office towers and the great outdoors. Part of the Artcité project, they've scattered artworks from their collection across the city where they will stay for the next two months. On assignment for the Mirror, I decided to lurk around various pieces to see whether anyone was paying attention.

First stop: the Sun Life Financial building (1155 Metcalfe) hosts Catherine Widgery's "Silence and Slow Time," a surreal, hypnotic installation of a bathtub floating in an aquarium. I positioned myself near the piece and waited patiently to talk to anyone I saw looking it. After 10 minutes of watching crowds enter the coffee shop and not even glance at the artwork, I stopped two women who worked in the building and asked them what they thought. They both enthusiastically endorsed the art and commented on the movement of the tub. So far, so good.

Next stop was the Oxford Québec: Tour La Maritime building (999 de Maisonneuve W.) to see François Morelli's "Rose," which is made of coat hangers. It's in a perfect setting--a circular passageway that everyone walks through to get to the elevators. The place was deserted so I talked to Terry, the security guard. "Everyone has their own concept of what the sculpture means and people see everything in it," he said. As we spoke I watched a businessman pass by and gently touch it. Terry then started talking about Tony Cragg's "Spiral," made of found objects, located in the entranceway. "It's not a success, I haven't heard one good comment. People make jokes about using their garbage to become artists," he said. On my way out I saw a woman studying "Spiral." "What do you think?" I asked. "I like it," she grinned, proving that the he jury's still out on this one.

As I toured around town, my appreciation for the location of each artwork grew. "Daedalus' Dream" by Andrew Dutkewych sits outside of the Christ Church Cathedral (635 Ste-Catherine W.). The oxidized steel head with the aluminum tower sprouting from its forehead sits well among the skyscrapers and spires. Michèle Waquant's video "Débâcle," showing Quebecers watching a river of ice breaking up, takes on a whole new meaning when viewed in the lobby of Hydro-Québec (75 René-Lévesque W.). And Sylvie Laliberté's ultra-low-budget video Bonbons bijoux is even better when shown by MusiquePlus (355 Ste-Catherine W.), usually the purveyors of slick, commercial stuff.

As I sat in Place des Arts (175 Ste-Catherine W.) gazing at Laurie Walker's "Venus' Flytrap," made of backhoe buckets, a middle-aged man approached, grimaced, turned up his nose and made noises of disgust. I realized then that no matter what you think of the individual pieces, when they are removed on Oct. 8, there will be a real void left in this city. So do yourself a favour and buy the $2 Artcité booklet before you head out. Each of the works in the city is paired with another work at the museum--don't miss it!

Artcité at the MAC and other locations till Oct. 8. Info: 847-6226