INTERDIT

Lately I've been thinking a lot about this city I'll be departing from soon, and how wonderfully it has treated me.  One aspect of Montreal that has left an impression on me from day one is the metro system.  Each metro station has artwork either incorporated into the architecture or placed within the space (depending on when it was built.  Newer stations incorporated the artwork into the design).  I love how every station has a personality of it's own, unlike some other cities where the designs are streamlined to be almost identical at each stop (ahem - Vancouver).

When I first moved here for art school, my first Fibres project was an homage to marginalized populations in the city with the use of a metro station as my main tool.  It was actually my first time using the rubbing technique that I became so fond of.  Sadly I never photographed the project, partly because it is actually illegal to photograph Montreal's metro system.  This is unfortunate because not only was I unable to complete my art piece, but it means that I cannot take the time to take meaningful photos of this great space before I move away.  I tried once and got stopped by metro police.  I also had a metro operator jump out of the car and scold me while I was making this stop-motion video (which meant I could complete my vision of it - arg!).

This brings me to a new project which I'm calling Interdit, which translates to Forbidden or Prohibited.  The photos (and perhaps video and audio) I'll share are not necessarily finished artworks.  As per usual I just want to share the process.

PS here is a detail photo of one metro station over at CDR