After two years of absence and transformation of the space on Ottawa Street, Fonderie Darling is pleased to mark the return of punctual events on Place Publique with a first cycle of performances titled Écho d'une présence. 

Several years ago, in his book of the same name, Bruno Latour posed the question "Where to land?", calling attention to our dependence on this Earth. With a desire to explore this question through the senses and the flesh, Écho d'une présence is a way of looking for a place to land, an attempt to cultivate a sense of belonging and stability in a fast-changing world. While solutions to the major challenges of the 21st century rely heavily on the development of extraordinary technological strategies, such as the colonization of Mars, the modification of solar radiation (SRM) or the creation of virtual worlds - metaverses -  it can be argued that current responses to climate and ecological crises favour a technology-centric approach. However, this approach risks distracting us from the reality of our presence and dependence on this Earth. Without pitting the organic world against the technological,  the performances that make up Écho d'une présence attempts to explore and reaffirm the importance of embodying ourselves as earthlings - of connecting with the living by weaving together the existing links within our wired and organic bodies. Rather than nurturing a desire to "take off" or pour ourselves into a trance, Écho d'une présence wishes to extend the idea of "landing" somewhere (to use Latour's words) in order to connect using our bodies to feel and perceive. Écho d'une présence is an evocative formulation that opens up questions about the challenges and possibilities of the contemporary world, as well as its responsibilities.

This is how artists Laetitia de Coninck and Pilar Escobar came to be at the heart of these reflections. With the development of this new, perfected concrete outdoor space, it quickly became clear that there was a sincere need to experience this environment in pairs, both as a "terrain de vie" (Latour) that reflects the interdependencies of species on Earth, and as a space open to free play. Performative interventions, conceived as relay work, cooperation and mutual aid, are set to intertwine, mutualize and spread out over a three-hour period, while taking into account a shared horizon. In Dynamique des sols, Laetitia de Coninck will focus on the ground and the experience of horizontality. While the urban landscape is typically marked by axes of progress and verticality, de Coninck is interested in the ground beneath our feet, perceived as an open space that holds multiple ramifications and connections. This approach is likely to shed light on the geological processes shaped by the symbolic forces of human activity. Pilar Escobar's performance Jugamos? is a frank attempt to establish direct, honest contact with the living, to embrace and let ourselves be moved  by different species, human and non-human. While it would be possible to speculate on the deadly effects of political and environmental catastrophes on our lives, Escobar seeks to inhabit us, in the manner of an event, through movement, voice and breath.

Laurie Cotton Pigeon, Guest Curator

LAETITIA DE CONINCK

As a multidisciplinary artist, Laetitia de Coninck reflects on the living in a way that is geopoetic, relational and collaborative. Since 2020, she has been living and working on a vegetable farm in the Lanaudière region, and is particularly interested in the relationship between the human and plant bodies in a practice that includes participatory performances, in situ workshops and hybrid environments that invite us to co-presence with the plant other. A Master's candidate in visual and media arts at UQAM, Laetitia is also coordinator of the Groupe de recherche interdisciplinaire pour le végétal et l'environnement (GRIVE). Recipient of the Reconnect avec le vegétal (ReVe) 2022 excellence scholarship, Laetitia is a finalist for the Grantham Foundation for Art and the Environment 2023 graduate scholarship in visual arts.

PILAR ESCOBAR

Born in Medellín, Colombia, Pilar Escobar grew up surrounded by artists and musicians. Her studies in music, textiles, hairdressing and dance have fostered the hybridity of her creations. Pilar holds a bachelor's degree in fashion design from the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana de Medellín and a bachelor's degree in visual and media arts from UQAM, and is currently pursuing a master's degree at the latter institution. Having presented her work in Canada and Malaysia, Pilar was awarded the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Master's Scholarship and the UQAM School of Visual and Media Arts Professors' Scholarship in 2022.

LAURIE COTTON PIGEON 

Laurie Cotton Pigeon holds a master's degree in art history from UQÀM, and her research interests include cyberfeminism, technological utopias, video games and web art. She is an independent curator and high school art teacher. Recent collaborations include the 11th edition of RIPA (Rencontre interuniversitaire de performance actuelle) and the 13th edition of Place Publique, Circuits allégoriques pour logiciels humains (Fonderie Darling, 2020). She has been awarded several prizes and bursaries from academic and artistic circles.