When Elie Daher looks out the window of his Pointe-Claire home, the view of the city’s historic Stewart Hall and its sprawling green lawn is normally appealing.
Now, it looks like the building’s stone façade is completely under siege by orange construction cones.
“I don’t find it pretty—but I don’t mind it being there for the whole summer,” Daher told CTV news.
In addition to cones that were set up for legitimate and practical purposes, the museum has added what Pointe-Claire residents call an “interesting” piece of art— for lack of a better word.
Pylons, usually a ubiquitous symbol of detours and traffic problems in the Montreal-area, are now part of an experimental art installation highlighting Canada’s 150th anniversary.
Quebec City artist Giorgia Volpe wanted to represent the country’s identity, which even after a century and a half is still considered to be “under construction.”
Volpe, born in Brazil, writes on her website that she is inspired by everyday “domestic” objects.
Ten columns of orange cones, stacked end to end, are spread out on the museum’s front lawn. Another 11 columns are expected to be added to the display sometime before October.
On close examination, one can see that images representing “cultural identity” were stenciled onto the cones: among them are what appear to be tribal patterns, lizards, and other representations of nature.
While residents have expressed some doubt about the cones, Morris Trudeau, the mayor of Pointe-Claire has seen the sculpture and acknowledges that it’s “different.”
“One person can view it as a piece of art; another person might say ‘hey, what is that?’” Trudeau explained. “It’s hard—art is art.”
Trudeau pointed out that this isn’t the first art piece that’s been met with some hesitation by residents and amateur art connoisseurs.
A sculpture that’s stood in the Pointe-Claire City Hall for 20 years was once referred to by a former mayor as a “rusty engine block.”
Today, its presence has been accepted by the people who pass through, Trudeau said.
