La joute de l'éphémère

The work La joute de l'éphémère was created for the Center Dave-Keon, IAMGOLD Arena as part of the integration of art and architecture program. 

Artist : Jacques Baril 

Mediums : Aluminum et copper 

Dimensions : 152 feet x 4 feet x 20 inches

Year : 2013

Spreading along the IAMGOLD Arena, the work consists of a large longitudinal sculpture made of aluminum and copper. Overall, this EPHEMERAL JOUST represents a skating rink on a river on a spring day. Here, spring has once again come too soon. The skate tracks are fading. The ice, cracked by the movement of the water, is now an abandoned playground. Through the patches of ice, we can see grassy mounds announcing the change of season. This grass is also the valve of a network of pipes reminding us of water, essential to life on earth.

Early springs make us happy, but they are also synonymous with global warming. These climate changes threaten the environment as we know it. The artist wants to emphasize the immense force generated by the movement of ice and water, which symbolizes the unshakeable power of nature and its capacity for mutation that allows it to adapt to climate variations. But will man be able to adapt? Is it still possible to change things? The ephemeral joust is a reflection through the symbolic representation of a timeline marked by the light and ephemeral trace of humans on the earth.

Jacques Baril has been pursuing an artistic career for more than twenty-seven years that has taken him all over the world. A self-taught sculptor, has participated in numerous exhibitions and symposiums, both in Canada and abroad (Japan, Switzerland, Italy, etc.). He has received a large number of grants and awards for his work: more than thirty awards in snow sculpture, five Prima Hydro-Québec awards, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue award, several creation grants, etc. He has carried out several projects integrating art and architecture. For the past ten years, the artist has offered snow sculpture workshops that have been very successful in the community. In fifteen years, Jacques Baril has had the opportunity to give more than 1,700 workshops in schools and to share his passion for creation in the ephemeral with more than 40,000 students throughout Quebec.

Website : jacdegall.ca

Photo credit : JoMigno