Conceived at first as part of the project Événement Roc 2 by la Galerie du Nouvel-Ontario (GNO), Élémental meant to concretely express a research on the symbolism of the four elements, through the history of oriental and occidental traditions and mythology. Following the decision to locate the installation at Collège Boréal’s Sudbury Campus, aspects of Élémental were modified, while leaving intact the essence of the artist’s original concept. The site that would give the sculpture a home thus had an impact on the final result.
Élémental is in the heart of Sudbury’s prehistoric elementary rock and at the same time is connected to Collège Boréal’s modern architecture. Home of French language post secondary education in Sudbury, the college with its leading technology is in constant interaction with its six Northern Ontario campuses: Elliot Lake, Hearst, Kapuskasing, New Liskeard, Sturgeon Falls et Timmins. Some of Collège Boréal’s construction materials were offered to the artist and recycled to suit the project’s purpose, resulting in an interesting mix of natural and manufactured elements.
Reminiscent of children’s toys, the six giant pinwheels are installed on posts twelve to fifteen feet high. The pinwheels, facing the four cardinal points, drive the information forward in a constant movement towards and among the campuses. The posts supporting the pinwheels represent the six campuses dissemination knowledge. Only primary colors were used to maintain the elementary concept. These colors identify the different fields of education. The transposition of the colors on each of the six structures – one yellow post with one red pinwheel for example – indicates the interactive relations between campuses. Finally, the transparency of the pinwheels embraces knowledge, unifies the sites and fuses them together.
Large limestone blocks from Manitoulin Island used in the landscape of Collège Boréal, return us to earth’s crust and calls to mind the different geographic sites of the campuses. The base keeps the communities well anchored together, while maintaining their individuality. Engravings on the limestone stemming from several traditions bear witness to the mythology of the elements.
Visible within the posts (Inco super stack, telecommunication towers, hydroelectric transmission lines) Sudbury’s horizon is crossed by dark vertical lines manufactured by man.
The colourful pinwheels are images of children’s wonders as they discover the world. Wonders inherent to the learning process and to the interaction between individuals and communities.
The inception of Élémental was financed by Collège Boréal, which in return, inherited a monumental work of art set up on its permanent site. The sculpture was unveiled Saturday October 4, 1997, as part of Collège Boréal’s Opening Ceremonies.
During the construction phase of this project, the public was invited to visit the GNO to view the wind-mills as well as a series of photographs documenting the work in progress.
Normand Fortin
Normand Fortin is a visual artist. His art is his research, his quest, his questions, his explorations, his discoveries. Normand Fortin is a sculptor, painter and performance and installation artist. His art is his imagined life. It takes imagination to tame the works of Normand Fortin, whose inspiration draws from the various sources of daily life as well as from the slightly more ethereal spheres of his spirituality. The tension of opposites as well as the balances which are essential in this constant duality occupy the vast spaces composing the memory and the profoundly childish and liberating gesture. His themes are multiple: love, parent-child relationships, elements, colour, shape and line. The work is part of the environment, the environment is part of the work. First imagined, it becomes a representation that embraces the environment, occupying the space discreetly and with dignity. From the drawing board until its coming into the world, the work settles permanently in the geography of the moment. The work constitutes a memory as Normand Fortin's instinct possesses a memory, its own history. The place of creation also has its past, its memory and its ancestry. Ditto for the material which also has its memory in situ. The work of the artist will appeal to them. All these combined materials, these probed memories and these revealed stories will constitute the thematic whole of an even greater history, of a greater memory, perhaps better, which can in turn access other values always and endlessly transcendent. A hope.
Artist Profile