Leading Edge/Trailing Edge
Optica, Montreal and Musée régional de Rimouski, Quebec, Canada, 2018
The work Leading Edge/Trailing Edge (2018) was filmed during an artist residency at the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow, Scotland (2017). It takes place in various sites and seabird colonies across Scotland (Ailsa Craig, Bass Rock, Isle of May, Outer Hebrides, Troup Head) and Eastern Quebec (Parc national de l'Île-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Percé, Parc national Forillon), but also in the scientific collections and Library of the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh, in the special collections of the Glasgow University Library and at the Nature Science Museum in Sherbrooke, Quebec. The project includes a two-channel video installation and an artist’s book.
The terminology Leading Edge/Trailing Edge, specific to aeronautics, evokes the physical characteristics of the wing that allow flight. However, scientific evidence shows that boreal seabirds, despite their mobility, will not leave or change breeding sites, even when climatic and environmental conditions are disrupted. Both the video and the book present a sequence of images showing birds in their natural habitat, specimens from museum collections and representations from historical scientific works. This collection of bird images addresses both the function of museum curation and the issue of biodiversity conservation.
Publication
Photographs: Geneviève Chevalier
Researchers interviewed: Sarah Wanless, Dominique Berteaux, Bob McGowan
Copyediting: Stéphane Gregory, Alexandra Grimanis
Translation: Stéphane Gregory, Alexandra Grimanis
Graphic Design: Studio Principal
Printing: Le Groupe QuadriScan
Photo calibration: Photosynthèse
Printed in Canada
2018
Video
Produced and directed by: Geneviève Chevalier
Researchers interviewed: Dominique Berteaux, Sarah Wanless
Camera, Scotland: Geneviève Chevalier
Camera, Gaspesie, Quebec: Luc Renaud, Geneviève Chevalier
Camera, Sherbrooke, Quebec: Geneviève Chevalier
Sound Recording: Geneviève Chevalier
Editing: Geneviève Chevalier, Alexis Landriault
Colour correction: Alexis Landriault
Sound Editing: Alexis Landriault, Geneviève Chevalier
Audio mastering: Steve Heimbecker
Translation of subtitles: Alexandra Grimanis, Stéphane Gregory
2018
Special Thanks
Conseil des arts du Canada, programme Nouveau Chapitre
Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, programme de résidence d’artistes
Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow
National Museums Scotland
Musée de la nature et des sciences de Sherbrooke
University of Glasgow Library, Special Collections
Main Film