Jean-Maxime Dufresne: La Fabrique

October 20 – October 29, 2011
Opening on Thursday October 20, 5pm-9pm

Project Description

A Centre Turbine project presented in collaboration with Centre des arts actuels Skol.

In the fall of 2011, La Fabrique set up its activities in the Rheaume Pavillion of the Monseigneur-Richard High School in Verdun: a fascinating indoor world shaped by brutalist concrete architecture, typically found in Quebec school constructions of the 1970s. La Fabrique initially raised questions: How can one breathe life into this environment and architecture devoted to pedagogy? How can artistic action foster reflection about this space?

What followed was a dissemination of graphic manifestos and printed quotes by participating students in which they reflected on their built environment and its social ramifications. This acted as a catalyst for the artist and two groups of students to dedicate themselves to a core production of unusual furniture, created from obsolete equipment found in the school’s storage spaces: an “armada” of hybrid objects was gradually inserted into the school to enhance its public dimension, and to foster the emergence of social interaction spaces within it. These unexpected actions questioned the students’ relationship with their school microcosm and, by extension, that of their own city.

At Skol, the project will conclude with the production of a journal and a photographic documentation. An opportunity to reflect on the adventure of juggling between the openness of the creative process and the often demanding cycles of the school calendar: a learning situation for all involved, where working rhythms adapt to each other, where the flexibilities of artistic autonomy and pedagogical action are mutually put to the test, and the unknown becomes a project’s essential ally.

This residency project was developed with the participation of students of Monseigneur Richard High School, with the support of the Libres comme l’art program of the Conseil des Arts de Montréal (CAM), the Conférence régionale des élus de Montréal (CRÉ) et du ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (Programme de soutien à l’école montréalaise).

Keys

1. TURBINE Centre de création pédagogique: centreturbine.org