Water Over Stone No. 2, 2019 – Floor Projection (excerpt)

Running time: 14:50 minutes / HD / colour

Movement of water over a stone in Lake Memphremagog in the Eastern Townships.
From the exhibition As I Walk at Fonderie Darling, Montréal, 2021.


Camera: Sylvia Safdie, Gabrielle Allain

Editting: Patrick Andrew Boivin, Sylvia Safdie
Audio: Silent

While gazing at the currents in Lake Memphremagog, without realizing it, I became captivated by the flow of water over a stone. It was a windy afternoon, and the water kept gushing in rhythms of swirls as it intervened with the stone or was it the stone that intervened with the flow of water. However, it was the stone that I identified with – my body became the stone, and I was enveloped by its folds, wrinkles, and ripples of the water. When I became conscious of the experience I ran to get my video camera.

Since then, I have often returned to the same spot. With the changing of seasons, the level of water is constantly changing, sometimes revealing and sometimes concealing the stone. I have observed and recorded hours of footage, abandoning myself to the life force expressed by the interaction of water and stone. Chance is inherent in nature – it is echoed by change and the unknown that unfolds in the making of art.

This video was exhibited projected onto the floor at the exhibition As I Walk at Fonderie Darling, Montréal, 2021.