Fountain Mastodo, a work by sculptor Charles Daudelin, should be back in Square Viger next fall. The City of Montreal has launched a call for tenders for its restoration. But for safety reasons, the bronze dome, designed to tip over when filled with water, will be immobilized. This is one of the compromises that the sculptor’s family had to accept to allow the return of the work to the public space.
Mastodo was part ofAgoraa development designed by Charles Daudelin in Square Viger and inaugurated in 1983. At the time, around twenty concrete kiosk occupied the square, which also had water curtains, basins and the fountain-sculpture Mastodo. This work of 10 tons was equipped with a bronze basin which, when filled with water, poured its contents at regular intervals into a basin.
However, the fountain only worked for a few months due to a breakage. Having remained there for more than three decades, the work has somewhat fallen into oblivion. Until 2015, when the administration of Denis Coderre announced thatAgora, which had become a haunt of homeless people and marginalized people, would be destroyed to allow the complete redevelopment of Square Viger. The case had sparked an outcry in the arts community and among defenders of the work of Charles Daudelin, who died in 2001.
After months of controversy, the Coderre administration had finally presented a new version of the project which rallied the Daudelin family. The project preserved a dozen pergolas and provided for the restoration of Mastodo.
A fixed fountain
The redevelopment of Square Viger is almost complete. It cost 66 million — including the development of border streets and the Réseau express vélo (REV) — but Mastodo is still not there and is sleeping in a municipal warehouse. Twice, the City of Montreal unsuccessfully launched calls for tenders to restore the work. A new call for tenders was launched on December 13 and bids can be received by February 9 at the latest.
However, contrary to the original concept, the 6.75 ton bronze basin will no longer tip over. The tender documents specify that in order to make the work fixed, modifications will have to be made to the pivot axis. The successful bidder must also design a “security system with a lock to hold the work in its position at an angle of 15°”.
In interview at To have toCharles Daudelin’s son, Éric Daudelin, said he was disappointed that Mastodo be condemned to immobility. He has also not forgotten the painful discussions with the City of Montreal in 2015 to prevent the destruction ofAgora and preserve Mastodo. “I had to compromise throughout the process,” he recalls. I also had to accept that Mastodo be moved and elevated. »
A danger ?
Former municipal councilor Richard Bergeron, responsible for the Square Viger file under the Coderre administration, maintains that he had pleaded at the time in favor of a mobile fountain respectful of the original concept. “I was an ardent supporter of the conservation of movement, because I said that the essence of this sculpture is movement”, he explains today. He says that the cultural community considered the movement of the water more important and recommended that the fountain be still.
Richard Bergeron recognizes, however, that the rocking movement, which dropped a large mass of water at regular intervals, could represent a danger for the public. “It’s downright a killing machine of the world,” he says. It was a nice concept, but the movement wasn’t controlled, which was a big mistake that showed up in multiple ways, including the fact that Mastodo has been damaged. We forced it to stop and everyone forgot about it. »
As the work was located above the Ville-Marie highway, the Ministry of Transport had demanded that it be stopped at the time, fearing that its repetitive “bumps” would weaken the highway structure, says the former elected.
Richard Bergeron points out that the tilting movement would have had to be controlled with a hydraulic system if the City had opted to respect the original concept. But he is surprised that Mastodo still not in place. “As it is fixed, all you have to do is resolder the basin and put it back in place. The water supply is ready. There is nothing more to do. »
Éric Daudelin maintains for his part that the breach of Mastodo, a few months after its installation in the 1980s, is not attributable to a design defect. The work had been checked by engineers. It indicates that a deformation of the bronze occurred after the cooling of the basin. The problem not having been corrected, the basin, weakened, finally cracked, which led to the immobilization of the fountain.
A distorted site
An art historian specializing in public art, Danielle Doucet deplores the fate reserved for Agora and to Mastodo. “It is no longer the work of Daudelin,” she says about the redevelopment of Square Viger. “The large concrete circles have nothing to do with his production. It was a very octagonal work. Everything was at right angles. It’s sad. It’s so distorted. »
And, according to her, the fountain-sculpture, without its movement, loses part of its soul. “As an art historian, I find it distressing that a kinetic sculpture, which moved, is fixed. »
Éric Daudelin also agrees that the layout of Square Viger has little to do with his father’s work. “During the summer of negotiations preceding the delivery of the final plans, we were constantly forced to put water in our wine to save part of the original project, he says. Too bad the roofs of the pergolas were removed, but it would have been even sadder if the pergolas were completely razed. We had to keep them. Call it a duty of memory. »
Éric Daudelin even asked the City to stop using the name Agora to designate the new developments in Square Viger. He is, however, delighted with the presence of a restaurant on the site, although he would have preferred to see it in one of the pergolas, as the original plans wanted.
Born in Granby in 1920, Charles Daudelin is a pioneer of modern sculpture and its integration into architecture. He died in April 2001.