L’arrivée: Digital Art Enters Everyday Life

Over the past three weeks, I must have walked at least 15 times through the famouscorridor at Place des Arts. Always rushing toward the metro, I never took the

time to

stop and observe my surroundings, except one day. I stopped in the corridor, almost unconsciously, to answer a text message.

I turned to my right and saw the wall move. I did not understand what

was happening. Despite all the times I had taken that route, I had never noticed this work of art. Hidden yet omnipresent, a mosaic of screens occupies a

huge space in the Georges-Émile-Lapalme cultural area at Place des Arts. Made of 35 screens, this projectionshows how digital art can subtly integrate into everyday life. Four students from UQAM’s École des arts visuels et médiatiques and the École européenne supérieure de l’image

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present a magnificent work, L’arrivée, combining archival images with personal videos of daily life. Technological and

artistic innovation, image consumption and the representation of accomplishment in all its forms are central to the staging. Fanny Huard explains that the concept of universality allowed the team to explore personal areas in which everyone can recognize

themselves. Design and production took place on two continents: Joan Berthiaume and Fanny Huard worked from Montréal, while Ève Martin and Arsène Prat worked from France. They divided tasks according to their strengths, and social media greatly contributed

to the work. For them, arrival meant accomplishment: the end of a journey, a process, or personal or social work,

as well as innovation, technological or artistic.Many hours went into editing, soundtrack creation and more during the

six-month project. The artists note that mashups can easily become

anything, so discipline was essential. This temporary public artwork is installed in a shared public space. It is discreet

while asserting its original conceptual features. Site-specific and in harmony

with its environment, L’arrivée is free and intended for everyone. It makes visible the invisibility of everyday life, which we often

take for granted. Through initiatives like this, Place des Arts integrates digital art into public spaces. Next

time you pass through the corridor, stop for even 30 seconds and admire the colossal, impressive work of these four artists, presented sporadically.