Artwork

L'escabeau de papier / The Paper Ladder

653 Ogilvy, Park Extension,
Montreal, October 2007.

This participatory installation was created especially for children and took place in a former furniture store. Viewers were invited to reach inside the drawers, unwrap the contents, move objects along a pulley system, try on paper clothes, invent games&hellip The only rule was that after they finished playing, they had to put things away in the numbered drawers. The focus on numbers was a way of communicating without using words (since Park Extension is multi-lingual it would have been strange to use French/English, and many children would be too young to read anyway). The numbers also referenced time (nonsensical time), systems of measurement, and the idea of archiving things from the past. My intention was to create a space that intersected many senses; to experience through vision, touch, smell, sound, as well as exchanging with one another. It was important to me that the work's meaning was not prescribed, but rather children were encouraged to activate the space through their own discoveries.

Materials: paper, cardboard, found objects (such as buttons, beans, soap, socks…).