Among this year’s summer long festivities for Quebec city’s 400th anniversary celebration (on this date Samuel de Champlain was believed to have landed and create the first non-native settlement in North America) is a special ode to the history of French Canada’s capitol by none other than a man of many talents, Quebec’s enfant cheri Robert Lepage (The Far Side of the Moon).
Known for his exceptional stage, multimedia and film works, Lepage has spent the better part of the past three years creating a spectacular multimedia project that defies the ordinary. For those who know Lepage, this crazy, artistic endeavor (a multimedia piece that retells the story and history of the city) is out of the ordinary, and almost, to be expected.
Projected onto a huge slab of concrete (an actual mill) in Quebec City’s old port, measuring 600 meters wide and 30 meters in height, the synchronized, Image Mill (Moulin à images) uses 27 high-end projectors, over 200 lighting pieces and audiences can perch around many strategic places in the harbor front to watch the show. The way I picture this exposition is sort of like if a painter had a blank canvas to work with, but the actually canvas helps influence how the borders of the painting will be used.
I attempted to find someone’s caught on camera version on the web, but all I managed to find was this number. While it does a disservice at displaying the ingenious creative scope and quality of the show, it does describe the innate value of the project and its enormity. Anything that an Imax theatre could deliver simply pales in comparison to this project.
The show runs twice daily in the p.m. until the 24th of August.
