DENIS LESSARD

Denis Lessard is influenced by the authors Rousseau and Thoreau, who have dealt with the relationship between walking and nature and who share an association with music.  He would like to investigate conceptual elements such as the relationship of an aimless walk and walking with a purpose, the dichotomy of solitude and silence and company and sound, and including a possible connection between walking with musical performance.  Mr. Lessard would like to produce a creative essay based the performative quality of procedural activities such as hiking, bird watching and plant observation and develop performative elements through documented video and audio material.  Based on his research, Mr. Lessard intends to facilitate a public performance in the form of a performative talk (which may include flute playing) and a detailed structure of a creative essay.

Artist biography: Denis Lessard lives and works in Montreal.  Since 1982, he has presented his visual work and performances in Canada, the United States, France and the Netherlands. He has an art history degree from the University of Montreal (1985).  He has worked as an art critic, guest curator, translator and art history lecturer.  His artist book La Relique was published in 2005 by Editions S. Danis.  The Canada Arts Council and Conseil des arts et letters du Quebec have supported production of his practice through grants and awards since 1985.  Mr. Lessard has participated in a number of residencies since 1987 developing themes of memory, history, related communities and places.  Currently, he is learning the baroque transverse flute from Francis Colpron who is the director of the Montreal-based ensemble Les Boréades.