BACK TO MICRO_MAPP: THE FRAGILITY OF THE PRESENT THROUGH VIDEO MAPPING

Categorised in:
Oct 17, 2024

Editor : Sarah Renaud

Crédit photo : Yasuko Tadokoro

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Following the new acquisition of the sacristy, the Livart celebrated its inauguration by welcoming MAPP_MTL, for their annual MICRO_MAPP exhibition. To coincide with the 9th edition of its festival, MAPP_MTL presents Perspectives, an exhibition featuring three video mapping artists: Étienne Varin, Dalkhafine and Thaïla Khampo.

Though very different in their approaches, their respective works all bear witness to a rapprochement between humans and their surroundings. Étienne Varin highlights the exhibition theme in a spirit of inner introspection and silence, becoming a spectator rather than an active participant. His work Minuit sans toi fully occupies the space. Sound and projection give it an immersive dimension, transporting the viewer into the work itself. In his practice, Varin is also a stained-glass artisan, often working with mapping in outdoor and public environments. His practice is built around his inspiration for nature, which for him is found “in the beauty of butterfly wings, in the iridescence of oil puddles and in the refraction of water drops.” A poetic dimension emanates from his work. Indeed, his work evokes an imagination tinged with lightness and light, while offering a textuality evocative of memories and inner questionings.

Minuit sans toi – Étienne Varin

Dalkhafine, artiste française établie à Montréal, crée des œuvres qui transportent dans le temps et dans l’imaginaire. Avec l’utilisation de couleurs éclatantes et de symboles emblématiques des années 90, celle-ci nous fait part d’un univers flamboyant bien à elle. Dans le cadre de Perspectives, celle-ci se concentre sur les possibilités de ce qui est à venir et nous le présente sous forme de fenêtres vers le lointain. Contrastant avec l’œuvre d’Étienne Varin, celle-ci nous offre une œuvre haute en couleurs et remplie de dynamisme grâce à son personnage iconique. Dans le cadre de MAPP, elle a aussi exposé au Skatepark Van Horne dans le quartier Rosemont.

Montreal-based artist Thaïla Khampo’s practice takes the form of public murals. Khampo has decided to approach the theme from an angle that touches on the naivety and simplicity of a moment. For him, what he presents is familiar and meant to be recognized. They are small, ephemeral moments that recall the contemplation it is possible to have already experienced. As in Varin’s work, the viewer recognizes himself in the face of it. His work allows the public to anchor themselves in the present, placing them in front of moments that stand out easily in our collective memories. It also means realizing that, in front of the work, we are experiencing the feelings that are visually presented to us, in other words, contemplation.

Art by Thaïla Khampo

In short, the MICRO_MAPP exhibition, open until October 13, 2024 in the Livart sacristy, allows us to rediscover a place by questioning the perspectives of our future and present. In each of the works, video mapping becomes the vehicle for a particular, familiar universe that encourages distinction of the present moment. The place becomes a space of escape and reflection for those who decide to explore it.

MAPP_MTL was founded in 2016 by Thien Vu Dang and has as its main aim the dissemination and visibility of video mapping and its artists. MAPP, like Livart, is a non-profit organization whose mission is to create events to promote this emerging medium. Thien Vu Dang organizes several events in Montreal, as well as in France and Japan. Video mapping is an alternative to traditional video that uses software such as Résolum or Mad Mapper to sculpt video so that it modulates space. This addition gives the work a whole new visual perspective, as it animates the environment in which it is shown, while blending seamlessly into it, creating a more immersive dimension to the video.

In past editions, such as Face au Néant in 2021 and Imaginaire collectif in 2019, MAPP_MTLl has produced collaborative works with artists such as Mistaya hemingway (@mistayahemingway), Ivanie Aubin-Malo (@ivanietaqanan) and Sinhadanse, a contemporary hybrid dance group. Each artist has a different approach, and the MAPP context gave them visibility that was out of the ordinary for their usual practice. Creating works that require active participation, MAPP_MTL encourages the presence of its audiences in various spaces around the city. Indeed, in previous editions and this year’s, the public has access to tablets enabling them to interact with the videos on display. In addition to these large-scale projects carried out every year since 2016, MAPP_MTL, is committed to up-and-coming artists, which is why they have created calls for projects like Minute_MAPP. This initiative, in place since 2013, allows emerging artists to create 60-second animations, sometimes for the first time, and broadcast them in public spaces. In addition to this, MAPP has developed, in true Montreal fashion, a projector bike that allows the works to move around the island and be discovered by a wider public.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Since the start of MAPP, they’ve been taking over the public space of the Van Horne Skatepark for a period of time to showcase the main works of the edition, and organizing collateral activities: skateboarding initiations, DJ sets, and the Station de l’Avenir, which allows youngsters to take part in a mapping work and add their own creative interventions.