Passages Insolites - L’abribus (2021)

In this kinetic installation, ten robotic arms with blue cloths and a series of spray bottles clumsily attempt to wipe the glass walls of a Quebec City bus shelter. But this lacklustre contraption seems to only make the shelter dirtier: no matter how hard the mechanical arms struggle, streaks of salt accumulate on the surface and dust flies up from the street. Nature – and dirt – always seems to prevail.

At a time when the hygiene practices in a sterilized city are growing ever more intense and a labour shortage looms, Pascal LeBlanc Lavigne has created an irreverent and ironic attempt to automate the upkeep of urban furniture. By taking a fixture of urban public transit out of commission, The Bus Shelter also draws attention to issues of sustainable public transit.

pascaleleblanclavigne.com

Pascale LeBlanc Lavigne creates kinetic and sound works using precarious assemblages and transitory forms. She holds a BFA and an MFA in visual and media arts from Université Laval and has taken part in electronic arts festivals including Technomancie (Marseille), LAB30 (Augsburg, Germany), Tsonami (Valparaíso, Chile), and Mois Multi (Quebec City). She has shown her work in solo and group exhibitions in Quebec City (VU, Manif d’art and Université Laval’s Galerie des arts visuels), Montreal (Circa, Perte de Signal) and around Quebec (Plein Sud, Longueuil; L’Écart, Rouyn-Noranda; and Centre Bang, Chicoutimi).