PUBLIC ART / La débâcle

Starting in the 1980s, Astri Reusch received a number of commissions for public artworks for several locations in Montreal, elsewhere in Quebec and beyond. These works explore themes that relate to both the specificities of the sites and her own artistic concerns.

In 1988, she created the monumental environmental sculpture, La Débâcle, for the inauguration of the new Musée de la Civilisation in Quebec City. The building, designed by the world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie, is located in the Lower Town of the Old City of Quebec, on the original shoreline of the St. Lawrence River.

The sculpture constitutes the centrepiece of the main entrance hall, creating a powerful presence within the architectural space. It evokes in sculptural terms the impressive natural spectacle of the annual spring break-up of the ice floes (la Débâcle, in French) on the St. Lawrence River, situated directly in front of the Museum.

This recurring natural event is a powerful emotional symbol with a special connection to the site of the museum on the Quebec City waterfront and to the location of the sculpture within the museum: in a water basin framed by the original stone quay of the city, which was unearthed during construction of the museum and integrated into the sculptural and architectural ensemble.

During the annual débâcle, the huge slabs and blocks of ice that float down the St. Lawrence collide and smash against one another as the river narrows at Quebec City, pushing themselves above the surface of the water in an impressive sculptural manifestation of the forces of nature that is particular to this locale. According to Ms. Reusch, the site of the sculpture inspired her to create a work in which the evocation of the forces of nature also recalls the fact that it was a crossroads for the comings and goings of diverse populations over the centuries: Indigenous peoples, French, English and later immigrants.

The sculpture measures 30m long, 13m wide and 8m high and is situated in a series of water basins located on different levels and linked by waterfalls. The sculpture is constructed of specially formulated white concrete, incorporating crystalline calcite aggregate with glass bead surface treatment. It also includes atmospheric effects such as fog mist and submersed lighting.

The entire sculptural complex represents one of the most successful examples in recent years of the integration of monumental art in relation to its context: the architecture of the building and the specificities of the site – visually, historically and geographically.

Other public realizations by Ms. Reusch are at InTelSat Headquarters in Washington DC, Parc Kelso in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, the Centre Idola-St-Jean in Laval and the Côte-des-Neiges Cultural Center in Montreal among others.