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Crédits

Text: Michel Lefebvre
August 2011

Photos:  Lorraine Beaulieu

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Lorraine Beaulieu
Câble Alcan

Lorraine Beaulieu

Cultivating a Sense of Community

Lorraine Beaulieu has long been interested in the possibilities of creative projects in the workplace. Spurred by Culture pour tous’s Art at Work program, she approached the management of Alcan Cable’s Saint-Maurice Works in early 2011 with a proposal for an art project to be carried out in collaboration with its employees.

Established in Shawinigan 25 years ago, Alcan Cable’s Saint-Maurice Works manufactures a full range of aluminum conductor cables and aluminum rod and strip for a variety of purposes. The manufacturing process results in a great deal of aluminum waste, which the plant compresses into bales for remelting.

Inspired by these aluminum bales during a exploratory tour of the plant, Lorraine proposed using them to create an inukshuk, a sculpture in the form of a human figure traditionally made of stones. The artist explained that, just as the Aboriginal people of the Far North used inukshuks as landmarks, erecting an aluminum inukshuk in front of the plant would mark its territory and reflect its roots in the region.

To handle, shape, cut and assemble the aluminum bales, Lorraine called on the expertise of the plant workers, who are familiar with the material and carry out these various operations with the help of power tools and even sledgehammers.

The art of communicating for comprehension

Lorraine Beaulieu says that a great deal of preparatory communications were required at all levels of the plant’s hierarchy to ensure that the context of the artistic creation would be well understood. She met with the head of each department to explain the project and elicit their support. She ate in the plant’s cafeteria so she could talk with the employees. She explained what she does and brainstormed with them about different possibilities for handling and treating the aluminum bales and other materials that could be used in the sculpture. She wanted the workers on the floor to feel that they could contribute to its creation, that they had the necessary skills and the support of their bosses.

When asked what qualities are required for a cultural mediator, Lorraine replies that to carry out a project like this, “you really have to like people and enjoy interacting with them, and you have to have a talent for communicating.” The artist has to respect the organization’s hierarchy, understand the work environment and take production constraints and all the different priorities into account. She says, “I’m in their space, so it’s up to me to adapt to their situation and their way of doing things. And the workers should feel that they have an important role in the project. What I find most exciting about this type of collaborative creation is that it encourages a sense of community. In my work, I like reaching out to people who aren’t involved in art in their day-to-day lives.”

Haro sur la rivière

Lorraine Beaulieu is well known in the Mauricie region, particularly for her environmental art installation Haro sur la rivière, which she created in collaboration with Dominique Roy in 2002-03. The project was her introduction to community art. Haro sur la rivière celebrated the end of the log drive on the St. Maurice River and the resulting improvement in water quality and quality of life for those living along its banks. For this collaborative project, the artists asked the citizens of Shawinigan, Grand-Mère and Trois-Rivières to contribute empty water bottles to be used in the creation of four sculptures. Made from 30,000 plastic bottles, these “logs” floated on the river for three weeks before being hauled away for recycling, thus completing the material’s temporarily interrupted life cycle. An ephemeral, engaged artwork, done in collaboration with the community, it was the perfect merging of Lorraine’s artistic interests and environmental concerns.

“In the Mauricie region, the river is a significant part of the local identity,” says Lorraine Beaulieu. “For a collaborative art project to work, it must be meaningful to the people and reflect their culture.”

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