Continuum

Through the lens of his video camera, Pierre Tremblay invites us into his neighbourhood on the shores of Lake Ontario. As we follow lively trails on foot or bicycle, representation evolves into abstraction.

Before our eyes, Scarborough’s urban landscape is transformed. Images are cut and pasted, cropped and superimposed in a way that gives each visual sequence its particular geometry, movement and luminosity. As these images stream by, we are reminded of the eternal ebb and flow of seasons and the incessant renewal of space. Soundscapes, ambient and distinctive, blend into the images: breezes and birdsongs, the trickling of water, the currents of street traffic, the crunch of bicycle wheels on gravel.

Though fleeting and fast-paced, these sequences impart a meditative quality to the work. Here, the intimate becomes universal. Like a mantra in a prayer wheel, the image at the heart of this work endlessly revolves and radiates its inner energy into its surroundings. Extracted from their context, Pierre Tremblay’s familiar landscapes, acquire unexpected aesthetic energies. This work resonates ever more widely with each successive showing.

Since 2004, Continuum has continued to evolve. New sequences emerge so that in every new showing and for every new wave of spectators, the installation is never what is was before. In Sudbury, Continuum is presented as a 20-minute video work with six variations screened onto approximately 30 television sets scrounged in the community.