A cube, a three-dimensional block of ice, a shimmering structure that changes colour at the whims of programmed lighting and leaves the inside visible in a way that sparks the imagination by combining it with magic, creating a fantastical dream world.

The work takes its name from the famous verses of the poet Émile Nelligan. It immediately conveys the idea of the imagination as a guide to another realm awaiting discovery, to a secret space that we imagine as a place of perfect happiness. It hides a useful (but unaesthetic) piece of machinery from direct view without obliterating it completely, and redefines the space as one of dreams, where everything is magical and grand, and anything is possible.

Positioned higher up, the work turns your view inside out, allowing you to see the inside as magic, rather than the outside. The twisted cord that holds and orients this large surface is made of colours characterizing sports and signifying belonging to a group, while compelling these individualized colours to come together to create coherent wholes.

In the evening, the inner walls take on the same colours, coming alive and offering an ever-changing spectacle before your very eyes. When the rain or snow falls and the water tower – the heart of the space – creates steam, a column of light rises up and disappears.

Le jardin de givre is a place of perpetual motion where we lay our dreams.

Source: Ministère de la Culture et des Communications (free translation of the French)

Bibliography

• Ministère de la Culture et des Communications
• michelgoulet.ca/fr/index.htm

Factsheet of the work

• Relief artwork – three facades of the screen around the water tower
• Anodized aluminum
• Each panel measures 2.44 m long x 0.92 m wide
• Year: 2015