The presence of this artwork in Saint-Louis Square institutes a striking contrast among urban landscape, nature, and industry. On a base made of wood beams is placed a rough, irregularly shaped, ramified mass of iron.

In the middle of an urban park, the raw, abstract mineral volume bears the trace of a fabrication process emblematic of Vaillancourt’s artistic approach. Preferring industrial materials and techniques to traditional sculpture, the iconoclastic artist used a technique uncommon at the time, consisting of assembling carved and broken pieces of Styrofoam to create the cast for the piece.

The different textures produced by this method of casting iron invite viewers to have a tactile experience of the sculpture. Direct contact with the artwork – in contrast to limits prescribed in museums – was in fact the central theme of the event for which the work was installed in this site.

The work was displayed for the first time at the event Fête de l’œil et de la main. This outdoor exhibition of paintings and sculptures was organized in the summer of 1972, at Saint-Louis Square, by neighbourhood residents who wanted to encourage the “cultural enhancement of the population.” 1 1. “Fête de l’œil et de la main,” La Presse, 1972 (our translation).