Art meets science
High on the northwest wall, ground floor of Concordia’s Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex (EV Building) hangs a new art installation alongside a literal fragment from the past.
The latter — two severed stone lintels from the former D’Arcy McGee house — depicts a row of shamrocks, perhaps reflecting the Irish roots of the assassinated father of Confederation. The former — a pair of beautifully patterned textiles — constitutes The Generative Design Project, a collaboration of members of the university’s Faculties of Fine Arts and Engineering and Computer Science.
The long, colourful textiles, called jacquards after the inventor of the Jacquard loom, feature contemporary designs of geometric motifs found in African Kuba textiles and 16th century Islamic Zillij mosaics.
Completed in November 2011, after nine years of research, development and production, the project brings together the work of scientists and artists alike. Spearheaded by Principal Investigator Cheryl Kolak Dudek (Studio Arts) along with Sudhir Mudur (Computer Science), Lydia Sharman (Design), Fred Szabo (Mathematics) and Thomas Fevens (Computer Science), significant contributions were also made by students Eric Hortop (Communication Studies/Mathematics, 2003-07) and Sushil Bhakar (Computer Science, 2004-06), among many others.
FOFA Gallery Director jake moore, who made the selection for the installation, stresses the importance of showing the relationship between engineering and visual arts. “The connection between these arenas of thought exists,’’ says moore. “It need not be manufactured.”
Chosen in response to a request from the Concordia’s Board of Governors to have more art in the public sphere, moore suggested a project that already existed within the confines of the university. Clarence Epstein, director of special projects and cultural affairs in the Office of the President, facilitated the project.
“One of the reasons I chose (the jacquard) is because working with the everyday allows people to have access to it,” says moore, in reference to the positive feedback the artwork has already generated. “People feel comfortable and have access to textiles because they are in our everyday.”
With interwoven patterns of checkerboards, stars and diamonds in a multitude of colours, selected by moore, the textiles are meant to be representative of, and in conversation with the EV Building itself, including the D’Arcy McGee lintels and the existing architecture.
“With jacquard weaving, the image is inherent in its construction,” says moore. “Every part of it is representative of its content, just like this building, which is computation, mathematics, artists and designers.”
In addition to textile programming by Nasim Sedaghat and the actual weaving coordinated by Louise Lemieux Berube, director and founder of the Montreal Centre for Contemporary Textiles, a plethora of Concordia graduate and undergraduate students were also involved in the Generative Design Project during the nine years.
Related Links:
• Unknown Artist - Lintels from the Thomas D’Arcy McGee House
• Concordia’s Public Art Collection
• “Creative Finish to Innovative Series” – NOW, May 3, 2011
• Faculty of Fine Arts
• Faculty of Computer and Engineering Science
• Faculty of Computer and Engineering Science, 3-D Graphics