Guillaume Lachapelle earned his bachelor’s degree in visual arts at the Université du Québec à Montréal in 1998. Since then, a number of his exhibitions have been well received by the critics, including En pure perte (2009) and Machinations (2010). Lachapelle is also a props master and set sculptor for television, movie, and stage productions. He produced L’attente, his first work of public art, in 2009.
Artwork description
The artwork is situated inside Bibliothèque Père-Ambroise, on a low wall that separates the adults’ reading room from the stacks. It is a miniature architecture inspired by the characteristic style of buildings in the neighbourhood. On the façades portrayed, however, the bricks of the buildings have been replaced by books. The work sits on a scaffolding that continues behind the facades. Protected by a Plexiglas box, the work is entirely white in colour. It was produced in nylon through 3D modelling.
The fantastical architecture offered by the artwork brings together familiar elements in a playful form. Between permanence and impermanence, as scaffoldings are generally temporary structures, the artwork symbolizes the transformation and constant updating of knowledge. The motif of the façade is also associated with a space of passage.
“Placed like bricks, the books become elements that compose the façade of this set, as if its very reality were composed of the content of the books. Both repository of knowledge and metaphor for a passageway, the façade is revealed as a threshold for access to other realities.”
– Guillaume Lachapelle