This action is my response to the toppling of the Vendôme Column. The 44 metre tall monument was dismantled during the Paris Commune. Photographs from the time show scaffolding, cables, and a large mound of dirt placed to cushion the column when it fell. These records of construction and destruction remind me of iconic photos of loggers felling old growth trees, and of the current and ongoing re-development of our cities. The action is a little like the childhood game of playing with blocks, piling them up only to knock them down again.
The physical material of our monuments are recycled and reused from time to time for different purposes. The facade of the Vendôme Column was made of re-cast bronze from captured cannons. The statue atop was replaced several times, with the Emperor clothed in various costumes. My action attempts to overlook the political functions of the monument, and to mock its material status, by simplifying its form and shrinking it in size.
Bio:
Pippa Lattey works with sculpture, movement, sound and place. She is artist-in-residence at the The Blue Cabin Floating Artist Residency in Jan-March 2021. She has exhibited in BC, Saskatchewan and Washington State. Outdoor projects include Gestures of Birds (2018) in New Westminster, and Banana Installation outside the Vancouver Art Gallery with ISEA (2015, in collaboration with Thomas Evdokimoff). Collaborative and curatorial projects include Parking Spot Projects, and Vending Machine Experiment.
Pippa gratefully lives and works on the unceded, traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. She studied at Emily Carr University of Art and Design (BFA 2016), Langara College (Diploma 2013), and the University of Victoria (BSc 2003). Awards include the Langara College Sculpture Studio Award, First Capital Realty Sculpture Competition, BC Arts Council Early Career Development, and Canada Council Research and Creation.
