Animation is overtaking the streets of downtown Montreal’s entertainment district, the Quartier des Spectacles. In collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada, the city of Montreal is presenting McLaren Wall to Wall, seven original video artworks inspired by the films of legendary experimental animator Norman McLaren. These works, three of which are interactive, are projected onto the facades of buildings in the district. The display runs through the end of May, and is in celebration of McLaren’s centennial, which is tomorrow, April 11th. (1914 was a good year for animation, bringing into the world McLaren, John Hubley, Joy Batchelor, and Ward Kimball.)
The interactive works, by Montreal-based artists and companies, are Phonophotopia, by Kid Koala and the technology firm Hololabs, inspired by McLaren’s film Dots (1940); McLarena, by the design studio Daily tous les jours, inspired by McLaren’s Canon (1964); and Diagonales by Theodore Ushev and the design firm Iregular, which draws on three McLaren films, Lines Horizontal (1960), Lines Vertical (1962) and Synchromy (1971).
