On The Weekend: 21 Balançoires

This weekend, I went to see the public art exhibition  21 Balançoires in Montréal.  The public is invited to swing on colourful swing sets.  The swinging action makes music, and with some cooperation with some other swinging friends, you can create some beautiful sounds.

The swings are located in the Quartier des Spectacles, walking distance from Place des Arts.  The swings were set up in groups of three, and were coloured in shades of blues, greens, yellows and purples.   I felt that because the swings were in sets of three, people were allowed an ease of collaboration.  Complete strangers were swinging together to make sounds.  There were many people walking by, listening to the sounds, looking at the swingers, with some eagerly waiting a turn.

I thought that the sounds were like bells, which seemed fitting because there was a church across the street from where I was swinging; the sounds were meditative and soothing.  No matter what way people were swinging, the sounds blended together well. There was definitely and air of child's play to the piece.  A friend and I worked together trying to swing at different speeds, and the sounds changed with how fast, or in what pattern we were swinging in.  Sometimes we would comment on what sounds we liked, but most of the time we got lost in the activity of swinging.  There was something so relaxing about the playful action of swinging and the sounds of chiming bells in the urban center.  

 We walked through Place des Arts, and on such a sunny day we saw lots of people out having picnics, dance groups and musicians on the streets.  We even ran in to a bag pipe troupe!  The ladies in the front of this photo are doing a traditional sword dance, where they dance over swords on the ground; looks dangerous to me!

What were you up to this weekend?