Sin Le’s Garden
Sans domicile fixe (No Fixed Abode), 10th Biennale internationale du lin de Portneuf (BILP), Vieux presbytère de Deschambault, June 18 to October 1, 2023
This project was prompted in 2022 by an article by Émilie Bilodeau in the newspaper La Presse in 2012 about the creation of a vegetable garden in downtown Montreal by a homeless man of Vietnamese origin. By exploring the Google Street View archives from 2012 to 2022, I was able to investigate the evolution of this underground garden, unexpectedly discovering Sin Le in the midst of its activities. The result of this process is a digital print on linen fabric, composed of 17 Street View photos selected for their significant elements. These include the location of the garden on a city map, the gardener’s water source, his sleeping bag under an overpass, his presence, the passing train, surrounding urban activities, the construction of new high-rise buildings, the handmade stake, and finally urban works in the garden area.
