Programming

Les seins ballants, je m’en vais au vent is a micro-series of nomadic artist’s books that explores the tension between the call of the open sea and the demands of daily life, between dream and disillusionment.

Designed to circulate freely, from hand to hand, this reimagined logbook gathers fragments of wandering: conversations, photographs, jotted thoughts, and artifacts gathered along the way. Intended to be read, altered, and then passed on to the next person—like a message in a bottle—these journals are entrusted to the chance of chance encounters, so that they may never be confined to a library and that one day, they may return, happy and transformed.

The work begins with an existential inquiry but expands into a broader question: are there alternatives to a sedentary lifestyle? A quest that proves more turbulent than anticipated in a world shaken by mass tourism, climate crises, and borders inherited from colonialism.

To fuel these reflections, I wandered, here and elsewhere, with a camera, a tape recorder, and a journal. This work was born during these journeys and wanderings, between inner wandering and exploration of the real world. It bears witness to the discoveries that marked this journey, but above all to an inner journey: that of the decolonization of my gaze. Little by little, the grand Western narratives of male adventure that shaped my imagination have faded away, giving way to the voices of women, the forgotten, the marginalized, and the “elsewheres.” 

A NOMADIC BOOK LAUNCH

On June 20, the book will be launched during a three-part event at La HALTE, starting at 1 p.m.

During this event, the artist will present her project and read a few excerpts from it. The audience will then be invited to engage with the works and enrich them by slipping a personal contribution into the book boxes. A poem, a drawing, a photo, a confession, a memory, a joke? Anything goes. These precious contributions will become an integral part of the work and will travel with it.

The books will then be distributed at random. For a year, they will travel from hand to hand, before being reunited and exhibited again at Dare-Dare in June 2027. Like bustards in spring, they will return enriched by their stories, transformed by their journey.

Will they be lost, transformed, forgotten, or rediscovered? Will they cross unexpected borders? The works deliberately expose themselves to loss, metamorphosis, the unforeseen events of the journey, and happy accidents! 

This project is an initiative of the Critical thinking committee. 

Andréanne Martin

Andréanne (Dédé) Martin is an artist, filmmaker, and explorer of the boundaries between documentary filmmaking and visual arts. With a bachelor's degree in visual and media arts (UQAM), she refined her approach while pursuing a master's degree in experimental media (UQAM). Wandering, vagrancy, and hitchhiking are themes that run through her work, as well as methods for catalyzing chance and unlikely encounters. Armed with her camera, tape recorder, and journal, she travels the roads, margins, and social microcosms. The journal occupies a central place in her work, serving both as a field companion and a creative matrix that she reinvents in various forms: filmed journal, artist's book, and other forms yet to be imagined. Her works have been presented and supported by festivals, artist centers, and institutions, both here and elsewhere.