Manon Brigitte Thibault studied art and visual semiology at the Université du Québec à Montréal. In 1985, she began working on a four-part installation entitled Les Grimoires de Pandore (“Pandora’s book of spells”). As its name suggests, the work was inspired by the Greek myth of Pandora’s Box, in which Zeus, seeking revenge on Prometheus, tempts an unwitting Pandora into unleashing all of the world’s calamities. Made from found objects placed in an assortment of boxes, some of which are perched atop tall columns, the installation weaves a kind of contemporary mythology and provokes reflection upon the precarious balance between order and chaos. Rictus pour une goutte d’eau (“rictus for a drop of water”; 1996-1998) differs formally, but draws upon the same notion of letting go of mnemic traces and focusing on the present as it unfolds. The piece constitutes a place of passage, inviting viewers to wander through various artifacts – at times enclosed in Plexiglas, particularly in the case of manuscripts – as well as projected photographs that blur the lines between reality and invention, materiality and immateriality.
SEE:
« Manon B. Thibault : La Cité des cathédrales intérieures » by Jacques Duchesneau & Kristine Noël, ESPACE #18, p. 48.
« Manon B. Thibault : Correspondance [mai-août 1998] » by Nycole Paquin, ESPACE #46, p. 40.
