Towering /Trissements

Foreman Art Gallery of Bishop’s University (curated by Gentiane Bélanger), Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, 2022

In this residency project, Geneviève Chevalier uses a combined approach involving the Université Laval collection of avian skins and Sherbrooke-area farms to probe the status of certain Québec bird species like the swallow. Towering/Trissements, her work-in-progress, mainly takes the form of a video projection consisting of random photo/video combinations that are generated based on selected scientific and aesthetic criteria. These fleeting juxtapositions, some of which only exist for the moment of their display, explore the hermetic world of natural history collecting by moving it virtually into the habitat of the targeted species. An accompanying virtual reality component immerses viewers in the outdoor sites, letting them see the birds, many of whom feed on insects while in flight, in their natural environment.

This research is part of a broader initiative entitled Mirement/Towering, a sailing term referring to the refraction effect that causes distant objects to appear more vertically elongated than they actually are. Dazibao, the Foreman Art Gallery and Galerie UQO have come together to offer Chevalier a unique opportunity to present this ambitious project in three standalone segments. The artist uses video, photographic and VR installations to explore the field of natural history, her primary interest, along with its multiple social and political ramifications. The project opened at Dazibao in September 2021 to move onto the Foreman as part of the gallery’s 2021–22 ArtLab residency before ending in May 2023 at Galerie UQO. A publication covering the entire project will be available in 2023.

PDF of the booklet

Printed and digital editions of the book Geneviève Chevalier - Mirement/Towering (2023), coedited by Dazibao, Foreman Art Gallery of Bishop’s University and Galerie UQO.