Rebâtir le ciel : objets en révolution
Created in collaboration with Michel Lemelin, this exhibition/sale took place at Arprim , in Montréal, to mark the first anniversary of Rebâtir le ciel’s release. Seeking to replicate the atmosphere of the publication, Michel and I inhabited the small space by connecting the project with other elements from the same world.
Just as we have been able to completely change our understanding of the sky, over the past few centuries, we must now reform the way we read, hear, see, and accept human identities, genders, and desires. They must no longer be bound, rejected, nor oppressed by any restrictive or binary views—the time has come to reshape the sky. By celebrating human diversity as well as by shedding light on its suffering and redefining its outlines, this work invites us all to gently recognize and to ultimately understand ourselves and each other.
Rebâtir le ciel is a multifaceted creation, both literary and photographic, but eschewing definition by one or the other. Rather, it is an iconoclastic and adventurous work of art, open and useful, all at once documentary and invention. It should be experienced as a work of beauty and pain, the result of patient and transformative listening on the part of its two creators. Rebâtir le ciel opens all sorts of possibilities to those who agree to open its pages—we hope it generates an uproar and sparks a great revolution.
2021
From right to left
Rebâtir le ciel, Simon Emond and Michel Lemelin, 2020
64 pages 16×12″+ 32 interspersed pages 14×6″
Digital photographs
Offset black and white printing
Texts in French, Atikamekw, and Nehlueun
Saddle stich binding
Screen-printed plastic packaging
Spreads of Rebâtir le ciel
Digital photographs
Offset black and white printing on 160m paper
24×16″
Rebâtir le ciel 09, Simon Emond, 2019
Digital photographs
Inkjet print on cotton paper
44×30″
Rebâtir le ciel 18, Simon Emond, 2020
Digital photographs
Inkjet print on cotton paper
From the patron edition of Rebâtir le ciel
15×11″
Brooklyn, Michel Lemelin, 2020
Debossed text on Neenah Letterpress
From the patron edition of Rebâtir le ciel
11×15″
Scenography : Simon Emond
