Cynthia Hammond

Cynthia Hammond teaches architectural history, studio art, and interdisciplinary practice at Concordia University. She has exhibited her drawings and paintings since the early 1990s. Cynthia often works collaboratively to create community-based artworks that prioritize the politics of memory and the right to the city.

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Le Possible (2014)
Installation

Le Possible is a collaborative intervention on a protected urban landscape in Montreal called Le Champ des possibles (the Field of Possibilities) by Cynthia Hammond, Camille Bédard, Shauna Janssen, Roger Latour, and Itai Peleg.

In October 2014 the Canadian-Pacific Railway Company bulldozed a section of this field; this art project responds to this situation by inviting gallery visitors to take a seedling home and care for it over the winter. In spring 2015, the final phase of the project will take the form of a group planting event in the razed lot to help restore the lost flora and its associated fauna.

Now a substantial portion of Le Champ lies barren, toxic soil once more brought to the surface. Le Possible is a three-part art project that reflects upon but also responds to the special characteristics of this “friche urbaine.” For this exhibition, artist and urban landscape historian Cynthia Hammond is collaborating with naturalist Roger Latour, an expert on the biodiversity of Le Champ, to gather and present 60-100 specimens of plant life that are crucial to Le Champ’s biodiversity. Visitors to Studio XX may take a seedling home, and care for it over the winter. In addition, Hammond has invited short written reflections on Le Champ, the recent loss of its plant life, and the meaning of this unique green space for its many users and advocates. These texts are a collective contribution to the digital publication that accompanies this exhibition. In spring 2015, the final phase ofLe Possible will take the form of a group planting event in the razed lot, to help restore the lost flora and its associated fauna, and add to the visibility of this important piece of Montreal’s urban life and sustainability.