The fox, which way will it gallop

About The fox, which way will it gallop

Smooth looping and folding rectangular tubes in curvilinear aluminum, Pierre Bourgault was inspired by traditional Inuit string games. This sculpture is a monumentalized string game. Originally realized in two parts for corporate commission, "The Fox, which way will it Gallop", 2008.

This series of sculptures was inspired by Inuit Indigenous String Games. String figures and games have been found and collected from all over the world. No one really knows how they started or who started developing these complex patterns with string. The Inuit created some of the most complicated and beautiful string figures. This activity was seen as a hobby and as a form of art, however it also was used to help develop stories that were told by the fire. The depth and rich history has inspired Bourgault for decades.

Dimensions, 23' x 16' x 9' feet consists of a free-standing sculpture in aluminum and a Corten wall text.

The St. Lawrence River, nature, and the immensity of the territory, this is where the essence of the work of Pierre Bourgault has been drawn, who has been transposing their poetry into his artistic installations for more than 50 years. More than sources of inspiration, these creative partners have also shaped his life. A Navigator and committed artist, Bourgault is strongly rooted in his community of Saint-Jean-Port-Joli (Province of QC), where he was born and still lives, and the sculptor celebrates the importance of anchoring in the territory. However, for Bourgault, anchoring does not mean closing off from the world and withdrawing into oneself, quite the contrary. According to him, art does not have to be constrained by borders, "culture and poetry are for everyone".
The text on the wall is in three different languages, Inuktitut, English, and French and contains the instructions for how to make this sculpture, but in a string of course.

The text reads: In which direction is the fox going to bolt?
Bring both hands close together, with the right palm
facing down and the left palm facing up.
Using the palm of the left index, take the thread that
runs from the right index to the right thumb, then close
the index back on the palm.
Move hands away from each other, with both thumb
and index of the right hand fully extended, then release
the left thumb.
From the distal side, insert the loop on the right index
into the loop on the right thumb and grasp it from the
proximal side using the right thumb while releasing the
other loop.
Grasp the loop on the left index using the left thumb
from the distal side.