Cortège - Launch of the digital creation for mobile devices - On the Promenade Fleuve-Montagne

Cortège: noun (from the Italian "corteggio") – A demonstration on a public road, whatever its object (procession, parade, etc.). Translation of the Larousse definition

MONTRÉAL, Oct. 11, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - The Bureau d'art public of the Ville de Montréal and the Projet EVA art collective present Cortège, the first digital creation for mobile devices of the municipal public art collection. Cortège is a smartphone app that encourages citizens to undergo an immersive sound experience and to follow the cues of software that makes them wander throughout downtown as a group. It exclusively works on the walkway of the Promenade Fleuve-Montagne.

This app meets the parameters of the competition launched in 2015 by the Bureau d'art public, which wanted the Promenade to feature a digital creation encouraging people to walk and to create social bonds. Its creators, artists and Projet EVA founders Étienne Grenier and Simon Laroche, drew ideas from the repertoire of participatory performative practices in contemporary art and the immersion associated to the digital arts. They also borrowed some signature patterns of independent video games. Cortège will officially become active starting on October 12 for a period of five years. The creation will be subject to monitoring for a period of three years in order to ensure optimal operation and to allow the occasional addition of new content.

"I invite all Montréalers to make this new public art creation their own. It will help them discover the Promenade Fleuve-Montagne from a unique, accessible, innovative angle. By using an object as familiar as the smartphone, many of us will enjoy an outstanding, collective cultural experience. Here's an original way to experience this important legacy of the 375th of Montréal and to showcase the digital arts, a burgeoning artistic discipline that contributes to making Montréal a smart, digital and cultural metropolis that is dynamic and ground-breaking," says Ms. Chantal Rossi, Montréal executive committee associate advisor for culture, heritage and design.

Two Experimentation Modes

The public is invited to download the free app in advance from the App Store or the Google Play Store. It is important to bring headphones because the app requires the use of sound to communicate with the participants. One should also make sure that their device is fully charged. Once on the Promenade Fleuve-Montagne, two operation modes are offered.

By choosing the exploration mode, participants will discover an electronic soundscape featuring geolocalised synthetic sources along the Promenade. By moving around, they will slowly glide through layers of sound throughout the path. This audio material was produced by combining analog synthesizers and a series of recordings made at the different sites of the Promenade. Mesmerising and mysterious, this soundscape gives the impression that you have access to a previously inaccessible layer of reality.

The most adventurous will choose the mission mode. In addition to playing geolocalised sound content, this mode uses software that can analyse the position of participants and direct them toward each other, or toward specific points of the path. Via visual and audio cues, the app provokes improbable encounters and gradually leads users to "engineered social situations." A synthetic voice suggests making strange gestures that disrupt the daily downtown routine. The app thus aims to create heterogeneous masses of individuals wandering along the Promenade, forming the "cortège" announced by the title of the work.

Credits and useful links:

Original idea, direction and production: Étienne Grenier and Simon Laroche (Projet EVA)
Sound design: Roger Tellier-Craig
Visual design: Devine Lu Linvega
Software development: Turbulent
#cortegemtl
facebook.com/cortegemtl/ 
https://www.instagram.com/cortegemtl/
cortege.ca

About Projet EVA

Made up of Simon Laroche and Étienne Grenier, both artists, interactive media designers and teachers, Projet EVA is a collective that has been producing installations and performances in digital arts worldwide since 2003.

The works of Projet EVA are connected to themes of loss, restriction and focus on problematics related to relationships between individuals, computer systems and their physical extensions. The exploitation of technological means in an attempt to deprogram percepts is central to the works of Projet EVA. The scope of the collective's artistic activities spans over robotics, electronics, video and audio. Projet EVA was born out of a desire to create critical, experimental and transgressive works. http://projet-eva.org/

About the Bureau d'art public

For the last 25 years now, Montréal's Bureau d'art public has been dedicated to the acquisition, conservation and promotion of public works of art.  To date, the city owns a collection of more than 340 public works of art, on display in public spaces and in municipal buildings. To discover the city's public works of art, go to: artpublic.ville.montreal.qc.ca

About Promenade Fleuve-Montagne

Promenade Fleuve-Montagne draws a path between two natural Montréal icons, the St-Lawrence River in the south and Mount Royal in the north. Used both as a guide and a unique walking opportunity, this 3.8 km walkway allows walkers to discover emblematic places located in the heart of Montréal. Learn more about Promenade Fleuve-Montagne at: ville.montreal.qc.ca/fleuve-montagne

About Roger Tellier-Craig

Roger Tellier Craig is an electronic musician and composer based out of Montréal, Canada.  He shares an improvisation trio with Karl Fousek and Devon Hansen and is a founding member of Fly Pan Am, Et Sans (with Alexandre St-Onge), Set Fire To Flames and Le Révélateur (with Sabrina Ratté). These projects have seen him tour extensively in Canada, Europe, the United States and Japan, as well as releasing records with many international labels. He has also composed music for film and dance. He is currently studying electroacoustic composition at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal under Louis Dufort. http://rogertelliercraig.com

À propos de Devine Lu Linvega

Operating under the Neauoire moniker, Devine is a polymath working on a series of experimental tools and applications involving language. http://wiki.xxiivv.com/Home

About Turbulent

Turbulent is a Montréal-based digital production company founded in 2002. The company specializes in software distribution and content monetization for digital audiences in the fields of gaming, media and education. Turbulent has over 70 employees and exports more than 55% of its software solutions and marketing services outside of Québec. Turbulent played a key role in the Star Citizen Game crowdfunding campaign by creating and continuously expanding the platform which was instrumental in raising more than $ 120 million and earned a Guinness record for crowdfunding. http://turbulent.ca/fr

Photos available upon request

SOURCE Ville de Montréal - Cabinet du maire et du comité exécutif

Source: Catherine Maurice, Communications director, Cabinet du maire et du comité exécutif, 514 346-7598; Information: Linda Boutin, Service des communications, [email protected], 514 872-6013; Interview requests: Stéphanie Culakowa - Brigitte Chabot Communications, [email protected], 514 861-7870, poste 223