In 2013, Yann Pocreau began developing a process book in connection with the dismantling of H\u00f4pital Saint-Luc and the construction of the new mega-hospital, the Centre hospitalier de l\u2019Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al (CHUM). From the outset, in a context that would normally tend toward sculpture or photography, this ambitious proposal involved a desire for additional, exhibitory deployments. Pocreau therefore developed the formal ramifications of the project in Patrimoines<\/em>, which he presented at Galerie de l\u2019UQAM in 2016. Connecting the individual and the collective, he conceives the hospital as the locus of a symbolic and human legacy of great value \u2014 a heritage building that, seemingly disembodied, turns out to be a custodian and repository of memory(ies).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many voices are to be heard in Patrimoines<\/em>, which inaugurated Pocreau\u2019s interest in the narrative potential of light as an actantial contributor to the sense of place. Engaging each other here are, among others, 772 light bulbs representing the number of rooms at Saint-Luc, some of which come from the building itself(La lumi\u00e8re\/le temps<\/em>); a room reconstructed on a 1:1 scale and composed of various materials (walls, furniture, objects) culled from the building (La chambre<\/em>); and, projected as slides, official and historical shots of the hospital alternating with personal images taken from the photographs and photo album belonging to the artist\u2019s mother, currently a patient in the institution (M\u00e9moires).<\/em> A shedding of collective memorial light works its way into several pieces that were conceived in collaboration. For instance, filmmaker Anna Lupien took part in developing the film Portrait d\u2019Auriette Breton, the one animated human presence that disturbs this \u201csilent\u201d moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Patrimoines<\/em>, Pocreau extracts both material and immaterial elements from a site destined to disappear in order to present its lineaments within an exhibition space. In its very \u201cflesh,\u201d the hospital becomes a field of exploration for the artist, a material that allows him to facilitate an encounter between active subjectivities and historically situated materials, which he remodels so as to bring out the asperities that disguise our connections with that which \u2014 or those who \u2014 disappear(s). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated from the French by Ron Ross<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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