Béchard Hudon The Wandering Monuments #2
© Béchard Hudon, still from the video The Wandering Monuments #2, 2024
Catherine Béchard’s and Sabin Hudon’s project began with a visit to Newfoundland in June 2023, during which they travelled from west to east, following the route of icebergs, these wandering monuments. Faced with the immensity—of the terrain, the landscapes, the great masses of ice floating in the ocean—their aim was to capture traces of the journey through image and sound. By exploring the extraordinary acoustic and material diversity of these floating masses and their environment, the field research attempts to reflect their temporality: the time of floating, the time of displacement, the time of transformation.
The exhibition unveils icebergs that have been metamorphosed and fantasized from in situ observation, revealing their sculptural forms and their temporal and spatial strangeness. This transformation strategy makes an expression of their immensity possible. Abstraction thus leads to an immersion in imaginary landscapes and a monumental wandering. Icebergs are transformed into figurative creatures with erratic movements, navigating an uncertain terrain disrupted by climate change. Through a manipulation and colorization of the image, the natural object becomes a rather abstract form. Although anchored in reality, thanks to the presence of a flying bird or a piece of the ship’s engine on the screen, it is the monumentality of the subject and form that makes the whole seem chimerical. - Marie-Hélène Leblanc, translated by Oana Avasilichioaei
The artists would like to thank Marié-Hélène Leblanc for her complicity, boat captain Ferg Penton for his invaluable expertise during their journey at sea, the Atelier Clark team for making the wooden modules, Point d’Impression Numérique for the printing of the images and the Canada Council for the Arts for its financial support. The artists also thank the OBORO team for the invitation and for their enthusiasm for the project.
© Béchard Hudon, still from the video The Wandering Monuments #2, 2024
The collaborative practice of Catherine Béchard and Sabin Hudon probes the in-between spaces linked to inhabited territories, as well as the alternative or parallel temporalities of all living beings’ activities. Attentive listening along with what escapes our immediate perceptions of the world is at the center of their practice. By scrutinizing the space-time of places inhabited by living things, they invite us to push back our perceptive limits and reassess our understanding of the environment as a whole. Their research and creations take the form of installations, sculptures, sound works, videos and occasionally photography.
Their work has been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Their recent solo exhibitions include: Invariable Variations, Centre d’art Jacques-et-Michel-Auger, Canada (2023), The Underneath & The River I et II, Mois Multi, Canada (2023) Configurations du sensible, Salle Alfred Pellan de la Maison des arts de Laval, Canada (2022). Béchard Hudon have participated in numerous group exhibitions in Canada, in Germany, in the United States, in China and in Brasil.
They live and work in Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyang / Montréal, Québec, Canada.
© Béchard Hudon, view from the exhibition The Wandering Monuments #2, from September 21 to November 2, 2024. Photo: Michael Patten @labelleprovenance
© Béchard Hudon, view from the exhibition The Wandering Monuments #2, from September 21 to November 2, 2024. Photo: Michael Patten @labelleprovenance
© Béchard Hudon, view from the exhibition The Wandering Monuments #2, from September 21 to November 2, 2024. Photo: Michael Patten @labelleprovenance
© Béchard Hudon, view from the exhibition The Wandering Monuments #2, from September 21 to November 2, 2024. Photo: Michael Patten @labelleprovenance
© Béchard Hudon, view from the exhibition The Wandering Monuments #2, from September 21 to November 2, 2024. Photo: Michael Patten @labelleprovenance
© Béchard Hudon, view from the exhibition The Wandering Monuments #2, from September 21 to November 2, 2024. Photo: Michael Patten @labelleprovenance
© Béchard Hudon, view from the exhibition The Wandering Monuments #2, from September 21 to November 2, 2024. Photo: Michael Patten @labelleprovenance
© Béchard Hudon, view from the exhibition The Wandering Monuments #2, from September 21 to November 2, 2024. Photo: Michael Patten @labelleprovenance
© Béchard Hudon, view from the exhibition The Wandering Monuments #2, from September 21 to November 2, 2024. Photo: Michael Patten @labelleprovenance
© Béchard Hudon, view from the exhibition The Wandering Monuments #2, from September 21 to November 2, 2024. Photo: Michael Patten @labelleprovenance
© Béchard Hudon, view from the exhibition The Wandering Monuments #2, from September 21 to November 2, 2024. Photo: Michael Patten @labelleprovenance
© Béchard Hudon, view from the exhibition The Wandering Monuments #2, from September 21 to November 2, 2024. Photo: Michael Patten @labelleprovenance
© Béchard Hudon, view from the exhibition The Wandering Monuments #2, from September 21 to November 2, 2024. Photo: Michael Patten @labelleprovenance
© Béchard Hudon, view from the exhibition The Wandering Monuments #2, from September 21 to November 2, 2024. Photo: Michael Patten @labelleprovenance
