Intentional Landscapes, between poetry and technology

In the winter of 2021, MURAL produced “Intentional Landscapes”, a series of architectural projections on the front of St-Frédéric Basilica in Drummondville. At nightfall, residents were treated to loops of this gorgeous piece by Catherine D’Amours, created in collaboration with Nicolas S. Roy and Hugues Bruyère, and with music by Mister Something, for close to a month.

Catherine D’Amours, the artist behind the projector, describes Intentional Landscapes as “a visual poem combining traditional illustration, volumetric capture and machine learning that seeks to weave a link of hope between the legacy of the past and the possibilities”. Inspired by local fauna and landscapes, religious artifacts from the basilica’s collection, and the history of the region, she paints a vivid picture of Drummondville, its past and its future.

Technology is front and center in Catherine D’Amours’ work, and not only because she is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in digital arts. The landscapes in her piece are in part created using artificial intelligence and machine learning. She also called on Hugues Bruyère, a volumetric capture specialist, to map the inside of the basilica, putting the inside directly into contact with the outside.

In partnership with the city of Drummondville, we celebrated these projections during the Live Jam on December 3rd. Guest DJs Moses Bélanger and Nimbustwokay took over from the original score to make people dance, and artist Dalkhafine paused the projection while she came up with a few spontaneous, live-drawn creations.

As MURAL continues to explore creative avenues at the crossroads of art and technology, this pilot project represents a very interesting step forward for the organization. It’s also a lovely way to captivate and delight people within their own communities, and invite them to connect even further with the world around them.