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I have put in three days into the site making French version of the forms, making PDF formats, translating content. Found out today that I have to do a 5 minute presentation when I get to Banff. I am feeling a little self conscious of the current state of my site. Though the ideas are strong and I am slowly developing all the interconnected parts, fleshing out my vision, the site looks piecemeal, unsophisticated. Yet I know that it will all come together…
… After seven tries, I fine-tuned my Gaspé itinerary. My habitual self, I was over-ambitious. The first drafts I was starting from Montreal, taking the ferry to Forestville before even starting the Gaspé tongue and going back through the Eastern Townships. Now I take the ferry to Quebec City and concentrate on Gaspé, documenting only 3 lakes and riding an average of 100k/day.
In each town I reserved a place to stay, in most cases B&Bs, hostels and some campsites. I feel more in control and less afraid. I even put up my tent to test it out. It was at the Sculpture Park in Lachine. I showed the downstairs neighbour the way there through St-Henri. Sara. It was dream to set up. Took me less than ten minutes. So many of the people I talked to on the phone were so friendly and sweet. I was completely disarmed by their kind, gravely voices.
Now the emphasis will be on training. Once I feel better, I will try to ride every day. From the sun exposure last weekend, when I did the Défi Métropolitain with Christian, I have developed a quadruple cold sore.
Marie-Christiane Mathieu wrote about Stéphanie Lagueux's Le corps social and my own Tongue Rug project in an article for Espace Sculpture: "Œuvres en processus pour publics en développement".
« Dans Le corps social de Stéphanie Lagueux et Tapis à langues de Julie Lapalme, on retrouve, à des niveaux différents, les préoccupations inhérentes aux œuvres télématiques, soit l’examen de plusieurs lieux et communautés, l’utilisation de stratégies de mise en œuvre pour une participation plus grande du public, un objet latent prêt à prendre forme et un agent d’effectualisation, c’est-à-dire la communauté ciblée agit comme co-auteur mais aussi comme témoin de l’œuvre. […]
Dans le cas du Tapis à langues, nous assistons au déploiement à long terme d’une archive qui grandira avec le temps. […] De ce troisième work-in-progress, Lapalme connaît l’élément de départ, un « patchwork » virtuel inspiré de la fabrication des tapis artisanaux que l’on retrouve dans le folklore suédois et québécois aux XIXe et XXe siècles. Faits de languettes individuelles et libres mais attachées par la base à un canevas, ces ouvrages servaient à l’époque de repères en archivant, par le biais des petites langues, la multitude de récits et d’anecdotes qui constituent l’histoire familiale.
Le Tapis à langues est confectionné dans un tissu d’espaces, de temps et de récits. Il est le fruit d’un ratissage géographique dont la trame se construit sur le réseau des lacs, des rivières et des ruisseaux qui portent les noms Lapalme, Legault et Angerbauer – noms de familles adoptive et biologique de l’artiste. Le site nous présente déjà l’organisation de différentes espaces arpentés en bicyclette par l’artiste en 2002. Elle y remodèle selon des données précises la carte du Québec. Ces représentations numériques des lieux, les tracés de parcours à faire ou déjà faits sont jumelés à autant de récits individuels et collectifs récoltés sur Internet ou directement sur le terrain. Chaque histoire devient dans la fabrication du tapis une petite langue, la voix propre du narrateur qui raconte. Chacune d’elles donne une texture, une couleur et une forme à cet assemblage. Le Tapis à langues prend donc corps, et devient, aux yeux de l’artiste, un engin de recherche, un fureteur d’histoires, le lieu d’échanges entre la communauté des habitants du réseau parcouru et le public qui suit à la trace celle qui le sillonne. Il entre dans la catégorie des tapis traditionnels tels que répertoriés par le Musée de la civilisation sous la rubrique objet de communication. […] »
MATHIEU, Marie-Christiane (2003). "Œuvre en processus pour public en développement, Stéphanie Lagueux et Julie Lapalme", Espace Sculpture, Montreal, Spring 2003, pp. 49-50.
Read full article on érudit.
I finally feel settled into my routine now that I have started work on my project. I worked a good two solid days, two weeks in a row and got a good headway. Most of it was online research, grabbing screen shots and manipulating them. I am now ready to make vector maps of both Quebec and Sweden.
Sweden is a new addition. I wanted to tie the Tongue Rug to Sweden and of course, I have always wanted to go there. I found many place names with the “ange” prefix. I found out that “äng” means meadow and that “ånger” is pronounced like (ong-err) meaning repentance; “äng” is pronounced (ehng). Because “angel” is pronounced like (ehng-ayl) then “anger” would be (ehng-ayr). So Angerbauer is either (ong-err-bauer) or (ehng-ayr-bauer).
I narrowed my search to two Ängesån Rivers and Ången Lake with perhaps the Ange municipality. I can’t tell if I am being realistic – stretching my project out of proportion – or if it is a natural progression…
Using Mapquest, the National Atlas of Sweden and The Living Earth® satellite imagery as a guide, I created the first draft of an interactive map illustrating all of the waypoints. This was more of a visualization tool for myself because the spreadsheet data did not give me a spatial sense of the waypoints. Also made printable versions (PDF) of each of the waypoint forms to distribute on my travels.
Six finalists presented their interactive Web projects at CYBERPITCH 2.0: Forum des Nouvelles Écritures, at the Montreal International Festival of New Cinema and New Media (FCMM), in collaboration with MindAvenue, and the Bell Fund. The Tongue Rug project tied for the Bell Fund Award with Chia-Yi Tung's project.
Was chosen as one of the finalists for CYBERPITCH 2.0. Made several QTVRs, a 3-D prototype of the Tongue Rug with Axel 3-D modeling software and a Flash version of the Paths Map: Phase 3. I started to explore how the various components would start interacting with each other.
Used to making things with my hands, it was a challenge working with 3-D modeling software. When creating object with the software, I kept trying to draw things in perspective. It was a high learning curve and I was unable to fully integrate my ideas in such a short time span. Also, I would have had to update my computer to get higher processing power and speed. Realized that it was not the right medium for the Tongue Rug project, though I did appreciate the chance to experiment with it.
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This was one of the better trips simply for the fact that the destination was closer: I did not have to cycle so fast. I could take breaks and explore more. Left Montreal towards Dorval taking the CN Rail shortcut. Soon I was on the lake shore path. I had done this route before with two cyclists in 2001, camping along the Ottawa river, and with Randonnée Aventure. Yet I was still anxious as I was not sure if I could remember the way off of the island.
There are two major bridges and a ferry ride to get to Oka. On one of the bridges I got on, I realized by the traffic flow that I was a major highway. And then I noticed other cyclists on the other side of the bridge. So I backtracked hoping that the drivers could see me, and started over. That is what I am learning. To watch – to spy on other cyclists – and see what they do.
Cycling on the West Island is so relaxing. There is ample space and sometimes there is even a designated path passing through Lachine, Dorval, Pointe-Claire, Beaconsfield, Baie d’Urfé and Sainte-Anne de Bellevue. Much of the West Island is anglophone and so the character of the towns are singular. They remind me of the South Shore in Nova Scotia. There is the whole gamut: big, beautiful mansions or estates, to little bungalows and even cabins by the water. You can smell the fish in the air at some points from what I first considered to be the fleuve Saint-Laurent but is actually called Lac St-Louis. You see a lot of people fishing.
There is a bike path across the first bridge onto L’Île Perrot and another onto the ‘mainland’. Then there is a route along the lake which leads to Hudson where there is a ferry. Again this route reminds me of the Maritimes. There are lots of sailboats and heron, ducks and geese in the water on one side of the road and on the other, bright ochre fields with red barns. The ferry across is quite fascinating. It is actually a barge – with cars and passengers intermixed – that is pulled quite effectively by a boat. There are about four crossings an hour and there are three boats. So there is never a long wait. And the crossing itself is a relaxing twenty minutes of watching the shores and water.
Once in Oka, I cycled past La Trappe. This is where you find the Abbaye Cistercienne d’Oka that sells the famous cheese. I passed this time. Could you imagine what would happen to the said cheese after two days in a sweaty enclosure? I also passed the Parc québécois d’Oka where you can swim and camp. Tempting but my destination was uphill to Oka-sur-la-montagne towards Legault Stream/Ruisseau Legault. This was total countryside, passing cabbage fields, cornfields and even a ‘vignoble’.
The river flowed between Saint-Benoit and Saint-Hermas. I ended up taking pictures of a creek I thought was my waypoint until I came to a bridge a few meters further up. There was a huge tractor that was trimming the weeds in the ditches and so I was rushing so that I was not in this way. We did a little dance where I would pass him and then he would pass me as I took photos and then I would pass him again so that he could pass me again taking the second set of photos. The sunlight was warm and reflecting on the water in a beautiful way.
I then biked to Saint-Placide and passed through Kanesetake (Mohawk territory) where I saw about three vans with the $20 cartons of cigarettes signs that I have been hearing about on the news. I am not sure why, maybe the long stretches of road are attractive: I have never seen so many bikers. I mean motorbikes, traveling in groups of 4 – 6 people. As this is part of Quebec’s Route verte, there was also many pods of cyclists.
Stayed at a B&B in downtown Oka and ate at the Marina which looked out on the boats and the water. Bought a paper and could hardly stay up to read it.
The next day I took the same way back except this time I took the scenic route around Île Perrot, following the lake shore, and stopped to dip my feet in the water. It was a hot humid day with lots of flies. I was hoping it would rain, but the sky only managed to force out a few drops before giving up.
I stopped at the Quinn farm for lunch. Fresh rhubarb pie. This is a farm where you can pick your own berries. I had been there before with Randonnée Aventure. The farm has passed on to Quinns through generations. I chatted with Mr. Quinn outside as I ‘unholstered my horse’ as he put it. Had an interesting conversation about theft.
I also stopped at a yard sale in Sainte-Anne de Bellevue. Got home early and had time to relax before going to work on Monday. This, I decided, was the way to go. The first day was 100 km but the second day was only 70 km so I was not burnt out afterward. Pleasant Sunday stroll.
| Time | Location | Trip Odometer | Moving Time | Stopped | Max Speed | Moving Average |
9:15
|
Waypoint Beaconsfield Legault Street |
9 km
|
||||
| Stop: 12:15 Stop: 1:35 Depart: 3:30 Arrive 5:14 |
Île Perrot Oka Ferry LE-9 |
33.4 km 46.5 km |
||||
| Stop: 6:15 Arrive: 6:50 N 45°267'794" W 74°05'213" |
St-Placide | 88.4 km 101 km |
6:50 | 1:05 | 50.4/h | 14.8/h |
| Time | Location | Trip Odometer | Moving Time | Stopped | Max Speed | Moving Average |
| 10:30 Stop: 11:53 |
Quinn Farm N 45°21'489" W 73°55'471" |
14.5 km | 53 min | |||
| Depart: 12:45 Arrive: 4:30 |
Décarie | 70.9 km | 3:52 | 47 min | 36.2/h | 18.3/h |
Traveled to and documented LE-9 Legault Stream. (Mirabel, Laurentians, Quebec, CA)
LE-9 ( map l path )
Mirabel, Laurentians, Québec, CA
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Traveled to and documented LA-6 Lapalme Stream. (Sainte-Cécile-de-Milton, La Haute Yamaska, Montérégie, Quebec, CA)
LA-6 ( map l path )
Sainte-Cécile-de-Milton, La Haute Yamaska, Montérégie, Québec, CA
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