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The Bipolar Giant, a Living Legend! – Part One

Picture of a man standing on a stage, in front of a mike, telling a story. In the background, two spectators and a woman holding a guitar.

Guillaume Beaulieu performing.

In order to offer a panoramic view of the magnitude of the interrelationships between Man and his environment, his physical changes and transformations attributed to occupying the territory, allow yourself to be captivated by “la légende du Géant bipolaire” (The Legend of the Bipolar Giant), immerse yourself in the imagination and poetics of storyteller Guillaume Beaulieu, a script created for this exhibition and inspired by these major topics.

Structures of irregular geometric shapes blossoming from a central point, all of which is dominated by green shades with white, orange and yellow dots on a violet and brown background.

Space Rhapsody. Mixed techniques. By Laimon Mitris, 1978.

—The Legend of the Bipolar Giant—
—Part one—

Allow Guillaume Beaulieu to recount his legend in his own words and in its original language by clicking the link below.
Take note that the written and oral version of the tale is different! It is a natural adaptation of the tradition of this genre. Good listening!
View the full transcript in English here.
Picture of an ancient book opened at the title page.

Candide, by Voltaire

In «A Few Acres of Snow» of the North, a giant pushes his rock. A dense mass comprised of rock and ice, pushed by 1000 tones of muscle and sheer willpower. The plan is clear: clear the earth of this cold white facade to create a livable environment. Even if it takes 2000 years. With the speed of an aging tortoise, he gains ground, and the sun soon joins in on the effort until the glacier begins to evaporate and eventually fades into nothing. Small fresh creeks of water gently snake their way through the ice and begin to touch the ground, pulverizing stones into a sandy greyish-brown clay. The thick-skinned giant barely has time to put on his rain boots and wipe off his forehead, that he is quickly flooded to the waste in muddy waters. So much so that it is said: «that God has never provided a nation with such a great gift of clay».

Black and white picture : official portrait of a man in clergyman clothing, wearing glasses.

Félix-Antoine Savard

From the drowning of giants, which is greatly mentioned by the Scandinavians, our imposing character is young, big and strong, but often alone. Cast onto this path by his father, who lives more to the south, he goes, without a doubt, that his work will not only strip naked the terrain in an immodest way, but he will change it considerably. His massive clubfeet are so heavy that the earth’s crust crumbles beneath their weight. The glacier scraps so profoundly into the terrain that it shreds through mountains. Water is so massive and powerful that it doesn’t only completely blanket the landscape up to the giant’s waist, but it has also left behind at the very bottom of its waters, rich treasures of filtered eskers that will make ¾ of the world’s population envious.

View from a foggy landscape. In the centre, the village from which we can see a few buildings, crossed by a road.

D’Alembert in Abitibi, in the late 70s.

 

Living on the Land The Bipolar Giant, a Living Legend! – Part Two