5 video projection brighten up the winter with A 100% Chance of Snow

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Already tired of the cold and snow? Come by the Quartier des spectacles and step inside the colourful – and snowy! – world of Cyrielle Tremblay. Using five façades as larger-than-life screens, her animated illustrations serve up a humorous and sympathetic look at winter. Smiles guaranteed!

We met with the illustrator to talk about her love of groundhogs, snow plows and other delights of winter in the city!

What is your relationship with winter and how did it influence the projections you create?

I love winter, but without the cold! It’s part of our Quebec identity. It’s a great subject to explore, because whether you’re a visiting tourist or a full-time Montrealer, everyone experiences winter in their own way. I thought about my Mexican friends who had come up to visit us in the middle of February and told me that “our nostrils are sticking together. What’s happening?”

So for my illustrations for A 100% Chance of Snow, I thought about funny little anecdotes that have to do with winter. I worked in a team with two animators (Étienne Buteau and Simon Giguère) and one illustrator (Mathieu Labrecque). We set out to create works that lay between humour and something more contemplative. My illustrations are designed for every age group, and everyone has their own interpretation. You don’t need prior experience to be able to understand and appreciate the projections.

What did you want people to feel with A 100% Chance of Snow?

It was important for me to create a contrast with the urban surroundings, which are so often grey or uniformly white, and to draw ultra-colourful works. In winter, when it snows, there’s a sense of calm and nostalgia in the air. I wanted to combine that sensation with something lighter and more fun to brighten things up. I hope that the projections’ warmth will come across. The videos are pretty short, because at -30˚C people won’t stay outside very long!

What were your sources of inspiration?

The illustrations are quite simple, and even voluntarily naïve, in order to maintain a certain organic quality and make passers-by smile. There are geometric shapes, lots of solid colours, that look a little like video game graphics from the 1990s. There’s also a nod to collage. It’s a privilege to be able to speak to people without the language barrier getting in the way.

You also paint a lot of murals. Is this your first time working with projections?

Murals and projections are both ways of making art more accessible. They allow people to enjoy art easily and at no cost, outside the traditional institutions. Projection is a new medium for me. This was the first time I wasn’t working with paint. There are several similarities with mural painting, in the compositions and how you go about putting them together. You have to think about proportions, small- and large-scale effects, and how the space is used.

What are your favourite illustrations in the project?

The little groundhogs living in their underground burrows and the characters in the ice castle playing ping-pong. They’re deliciously nonsensical!