A Wild Reveal Deep in Quebec’s Poisson Blanc Regional Park
A geometric art installation casts a striking image on an island’s rocky cliff.
If a public art installation is in a remote location, can it still make cultural waves? Yes is the answer firmly given by this unexpected art installation is tucked away in Quebec’s Poisson Blanc Regional Park in the Laurentians. Verdant islands are dotted throughout the park’s 85 square kilometres of lakes, but it is on Island No. 22—in the heart of the reservoir—where Faire le vide has taken up residence.
Accessible only by kayak or canoe, the installation sits high on a rocky cliff, beckoning passing boaters to stop in and explore the island. From the exterior, the form is a towering eight-foot cube with curving cut-outs in two sides. Cedar slats cladding the outside echo the proud stance of the surrounding trees.
As visitors enter the monolith, however, a new story unfolds. Inside, curving edges form a large cradling basin—an unexpected juxtaposition to the sharp edges of the cube. Radial divots from the milling tools seem a continuation of the undulating ripples of the water nearby.
The winning entry by artist and architect Luca Fortin and Atelier mock/up in a design competition, this project is the first in a series of planned public art installations across Poisson Blanc, designed to establish the park as a cultural destination—no easy feat, as it turns out. For Faire le vide, the structure was prefabricated off-site and then painstakingly, piece by piece, boated to the island and carried by hand to the location.
At once alien and perfectly integrated into the landscape, the cube is a playful reminder that art can be found everywhere for those who look for it.
