Empreintes

(Fingerprints)

2013

Permanent mural made of paper documents salvaged from the Centre culture et environnement Frédéric-Back in Quebec City, aluminum, brushed steel, adhesive, wood. 50 X 500 9 cm.

The Centre culture et environnement Frédéric-Back in Quebec City brings together, under the same (green) roof, over 30 organizations working in environment, rights advocacy, and culture. To make this interior permanent work, I invited the organizations to offer their recycled paper and other paper materials to be salvaged; this paper forms the raw material of the work Fingerprints. Installed on the wall of a multifunctional room in the Centre, the work offers an aesthetic experience to those who use this communal space. The forms evoke water drops, cells, or tree leaves. The rolled paper transforms into fingerprints of mineral strata or wood fibre.

Developed with a functional and acoustic aim as well, the mural complements the ceiling of acoustic tiles, thus helping to improve the quality of the sound environment by limiting reverberation and echo. The acoustic fingerprint of the room is modulated by its presence.