AVEC, Mount Royal, Montreal, Canada

	AVEC Avec founders Emmanuel Fréchette, Patrick Gagné and Hugo Gagnon created this interactive project on the lookout of the chalet on Mount Royal, in Montreal, Canada. Building on the dynamics and symbolism of the transition to the new millennium, Avec built a contemporary interpretation of the seventh day of creation. This new take on the book of Genesis encouraged contemplation of the natural environment, the works of Man, and their inextricable intertwining. The Avec installation offered a reconsideration of the urban landscape - both literally and figuratively - by creating an entirely new relationship between participants, spectators, mountain and city The installation consisted of a long, straight ramp rising from the esplanade between the chalet and the lookout. The participants ascending this runway would experience a feeling of detachment and liberation, a sensation of taking flight. At the top of this artificial promontory, towering above the tops of the trees that normally cut off the view to the east, was a small observation platform with an interactive media set-up. An image of the participant was filmed and projected onto a gigantic screen rising next to his lofty perch, visible to both the subject and the spectators watching from the chalet and the lookout. The result was a powerful self-referential image: the promontory overlooking the promontory, the point of view of the viewpoint, the observer observing himself, watching himself observed and being seen observing. This image provided a contrast of scales ranging from the observer to his hugely magnified image, to the buildings, the city, the mountain, the island, the river and the whole region. Through its high visibility, its creative and playful melding of architecture and technology, its public nature and interactive character, the project created renewed regional and tourist interest in the already unique experience of observing Montreal from the top of Mount Royal. Julie Payette, Montreal