Monument to Smile, 2010

Agnès Winter - Paris, France

Video Installation

Monument to Smile is a giant projection by the artist Agnès Winter in partnership with students from the photography program of OCAD University.

Asking “can you smile for me?” The students photographed several hundred smiling portraits in the different streets and neighbourhoods of the city in partnership with the artist over some weeks. On the night of Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, 250 photographs of smiling faces of Torontonians will transform the façade of the Holt Renfrew Centre into a mosaic of portraits transmitted by 3 video projectors positioned in front of the building. The setting of the mosaic will occur every 20 minutes and will be accompanied by the musical theme Smile, written by Charlie Chaplin for Modern Times.

Agnès Winter currently lives and works in Paris. In recent years, Agnes Winter has been working in multi-disciplinary artistic projects. These projects have brought her to Rio de Janeiro where she lived for several years. She has realized several public art projects throughout the world such as a giant projection of Brazil’s Corcovado monument displayed on the façade of the Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris. Most recently, Monument to Smile was presented at Rockefeller Center in New York City.

Suitable for all ages

In association with students from the photography program of OCAD University.