So much for sleeping early. I called her briefly at 2 because I already was irresponsible and stayed up, and then I got carried away and here we are. This is my fault, not hers – but wow I’m stupid.

Kapitalist In C ; LeLoPo Mild

Daar drijft nog een teloorgegane kapitalist op de golven in zee hij is morsdood maar drijft daar natuurlijk niet meer mee hij had gehoord dat gouden bergen lagen in het ons omringende water de vruchtbaarste aller appelgaarden voor zijn lange of gelukkige later met deze info keek hij opeens met een set andere ogen naar dat sop sindsdien borrelden er vele grote en wilde ideeën op in zijn kop hij zag grote rivieren en diepe meren als de bron van zijn inkomen het managen van water werd de allerbeste van zijn vele rijke dromen hij keek met name anders dan anders naar de immer woelige zee dit werd op de tekentafel zijn wijk van koophuizen aan zee in spe

In zijn hoofd vormde de zee een vriendelijk klotsend goud reservoir een alsmaar rijkelijk vloeiend offer voor zijn zeer behoeftige altaar het was duidelijk dat de geld zee zijn kant op moest gaan stromen en deze water goud opslag zou hem daar zeker rijkelijk voor belonen hij vroeg gaten aan in alle dijken zodat het water hem kon bereiken de ambtenaren moesten zo'n geval altijd eerst even zo en zo bekijken maar als hun rekening werd gespekt verdwenen alle mogelijke bezwaren het opkomende voorval kan ik namelijk op geen andere wijze verklaren

De man kreeg toestemming om in dijken dikdoende deuren te zetten voor graven van geulen opdat niks zijn stroom het stromen kon beletten linea recta moest het vloeien naar al zijn geld als water opslag percelen wanden er omheen omdat je vanzelfsprekend rijkdom niet gaat delen zo werkt dat immers niet dan kun je net zo goed meteen stamppot eten rijkdom komt over je en dan wordt je er compleet vrijwillig door bezeten vooraf had hij alles op papier staan elke natte druppel in valuta omgezet overal altijd op alle mogelijke gevaren voor stelen en eerlijk delen gelet de zee kwam op, belde aan, de deuren gingen open en zo is het gegaan het land inclusief de manager kwam wederom onder het woelige water te staan

Einde

mirando los últimos destellos del atardecer pensó que disolvería este universo de temores y sin extenderse más creó un campo de tréboles

RobSTR is going on NOSTR – the uncensorable social network.

I am tired of the algorithms; tired of the tracking; tired of the lack of control.

I am taking control back. I can’t be stopped, except by NOSTR. It’s a quirky protocol, a little slow and awkward. But it seems solid and needs people using it to improve it and grow. I will do that.

Join me if you dare.

(AKA I need to to stop doom scrolling)

WARNING: I get a little vulnerable here in the beginning here. You have been warned.

I’m sure I’ve said something to this effect in the past, even on this very blog. But I think its time I start to re-evalutate my relationship with Tech and the Internet.

2025 has been rough for a few reasons. I can just gesture at “The Horrors” that’s been making me more anxious for months now, when hurt my back by, no joke, coughing funny, and then coughing too hard that hurt it again, fighting with my allergies, and work being… work.

During the summer and most of fall, I got super depressed there for a while. and during that time I was doing a lot of doomscrolling. At home, in public, and in worse in bed! This was especially bad on Youtube Shorts and on Bluesky. With YT Shorts I was mindlessly scrolling through videos for that dopamine hit, and Bluesky I was basically reposting ever anxiety that I was having.

It got so bad that I was laying in bed staring at my phone and saying to myself. “Oh god… I’m going to die with stupid black box in my hand and hardly achieve anything.”

What partially helped me out of this funk was playing DnD with some trusted friends, and help edit two videos for friends one you can watch here: The 5D Chess Experience

Once I had flexed my creativity a bit, I knew that if I wanted to maintain this I had to make a change with my relationship with tech, and what I think the next year’s yearly theme will be: The Year of Ritual or The Year of Touching Grass.

I think I will talk more on that in another post and a video I’ll… probably make at the end of the year. We’ll see. For now I just wanted to write down my thoughts on how I will focus my energy

Limiting time on Social Media (namely bluesky)

I made a post on Bluesky mentioning how I was going have a “Soft Break” from Social Media. I said soft break because I still wanted to repost my friend’s post, and when I finally post a video I wanted to post. This because there were different times this year I was falling for ragebait, getting into long arguments, and reposting WAY TOO MUCH. The latter being really bad during that depression period. If I wasn’t reposting memes, I was reposting outrage, the current news, hot takes. Not only does that make my page a mess, I was fucking miserable dude, and I don’t think those that followed me was much better.

I want to make something very clear. I think it’s valid to be outraged right now. I think it’s valid to be angry, and frustrated, and want things to get better. These are all natural ways to respond to all this. Because it’s all Bullshit. But at some point… you have to step away.

And that’s HARD for me. I’ve always struggled with letting go. But I have to accept I’m not going to change the world by typing on an endless feed of text posts. To put that kind of pressure is only causing more anguish.

The more frustrated I became, the more I would post. I looked deep inside myself and asked. “Am I really making any sort of impact by posting about this stuff?”

It would be one thing it I was volunteer for an organization or even had an audience I could sway, or mobilize with my words. And even then, there are much more productive ways to spend that time and promote change than being part of an online flood of text. The scope’s too big, the reach is too small, and chasing validation from users who might largely be bots. So much effort for little gains.

I’m still passionate about what I believe, and I’ll likely not shut up about caring about the rights of my fellow man, and I’ve invested so much time into electoral reform that I refuse to not still bring it up, but I need to redirect that energy to something that won’t completely drain me.

So I made the decided that I’m going to focus on supporting my friends and trying to take the joy for genuine joy. I can’t support every cause, and ONE MAN cannot change the world. But I can at least try to help my friends not feel as alone, and try to help them get through this time of fuckery.

Also “Joy as Resistance” is a much more helpful phrasing than “Don’t worry about the world, worry about [YOU]” Because it doesn’t dismiss the concerns of people raising them, but recognizes it. Because even if you’re in the thick of it, even you need to recharge if you are able to. Because you can not allow those who wist to do you harm to steal that joy away. Because that nihilism is a slow, and insidious killer that robs you of your energy.

Yes I wanted to write that last bit because “Don’t worry about the world, worry about [YOU]” bothers me to my core anytime I’ve my current anxiety about the world to my boomer parents. Sure this isn’t direct political action, but I’m not pretending that it is.

The Need to Get Over FOMO

Now despite what I just said about helping my friends there’s another side of the coin that I need to address… And that’s been hopping onto just about every discord call.

Listen I love my friends. Both in the flesh and in digital. in fact dare I say they’ve kept me sane for the past 5 years. But I’ve also realized that I can’t spend every day in a discord call and still get thing done

There’s reasons for this that I can psychoanalyze, I don’t want to be in the position where I say something along the lines of “I wished I spent more time with my friends and family.” and due to a personal experience I won’t get into, I get worried about what would happen if I gave hanging out a pass. I have tendency to want to spend as much time with friends and family despite being an introvert.

But also… I have video I want to make, and responsibilities I need to take care of. I think in need to remind myself that so long as I’m not constantly turning down my friends for discord calls, or meet ups with my local* friends, I’ll always have another chance to join in. Balance is sort of key here.

This is also ironic when I am writing this up after having lovely discord call with said friends lol.

*and by local I mean… Near the GTA haha.

Playlists on Youtube – To Combat Decisions Paralysis

There’s many things that I need to do with my relationship to YouTube as a source of entertainment. One of the main ones is making playlists of songs for when I’m doing chores or other work that requires low concentration. I have tendency to go to the music recommendations and get hit with decision paralysis and I find the YouTube mixes to be not great. I need less time trying to figure out what I want to listen to and more time doing what I need to do. The easiest way is for me to just make a big playlist of all the songs I would typically listen to, and then just shuffle when I need to.

Now another approach would be to go old school and rip all my music, and make a local playlist of songs on my phone and computers. Maybe even be a little extra and make a self-hosted streaming service for myself and family or at least synced up with syncthing. But that’s a work in progress.

Forums – To Fight Social Media’s Pull

Before the centralized social media being the main hubs for communication on the web, there were BBSes/forums. Technically there still are plenty of forums, but they seem to be less used now a days when social media and messaging platforms dominate this space.

What I’m finding now with Social Media is that everything is optimized for doing big numbers, whether it be views, likes, or replies. All optimized for some uncaring algorithm. And it’s all effectively one big feed (filtered for you habits) to keep you on as long as possible. Good for consumption, not so much for communications.

Sure discord servers are an option, and I’m part of a handful, but they are first and foremost a messaging platform first, so it feels as though it needs to be an imminent response. Discord servers can be HUGE, and I struggle to keep up with them. Plus you still have the issue that discord is a centralized service which has its own problems. Forums are a lot slower, often focused on their niche or community, fairly smaller, and are run and hosted independently from some centralized company.

Ultimately that is why I decided to join a handful in the hopes to have generally better conversations than what I’ve gotten from bluesky, and twitter besides friends.

There are currently 4 that I am apart of which aligned with my interest:

Johto Times – A forums for a Pokemon Fan Zine

Demodisc – Addie/Epos Vox’s Forum

Accursed Farms – Ross Scott’s Forum for his Channel

Frutiger Aero Archive – Forum for a site that documents aesthetics around the 2000s-2010s

If anyone has a some recommendations I’ll happily take a look. :)

RSS – To Fight Some Temptations

I’ve talked about rss before. To be honest that article probably needs updating. Basically before people started following everyone else of social media pages, RSS would be one way to receive website updates. Many sites still have them such as for the news, but even youtube channels can be follow this way.

The reason for this is so I’m not relying on social media for most of my news, and to follow channels that might infrequently upload or I have a high chance of missing their content. I also wouldn’t mind following some more thoughtful blogs and web comics too!

Discipline and Awareness – Breaking Habits is Hard

Naturally, I could do all the replacement in the world. Yes, it’s bad to eat a full tub of ice cream in one sitting, but eating a whole bunch of grapes would yield similar effects. … At least with my stomach intolerant ass. Idk why that is.

It’s easy to slip back into just scrolling on my phone, or go down rabbit holes. There are 3 main ways I can go about trying to resist this:

1. Discipline Myself

“Just don’t do it bro” as said easier said than done. But if I don’t start off with me trying to intentionally get better about my use of the internet, and technology then… Well… Why am I writing this?

I have to try to resist the urge to fall into a habit of the doomscroll, or reply to outrage, or feed into my anxiety. Being mindful and trying to get myself to do other things is the whole point of this change.

2. Catching Myself

When that fails I need to train myself to be aware when I’m doing this. I’m mostly calling myself out for when I’m scrolling on YT shorts endlessly. When I’m in this state it is up for me to recognize what I am doing and then go to do. Something else. Whether that be working on the video, playing a game or even watching a movie.

To quote myself in that bluesky thread, literally is more productive for me to do anything else than be scrolling aimlessly on text or vertical video apps. Better I get up and do something else.

3. Rituals in Routine

This came up on a video by Epos Vox on his Lost Saves channel talking about Routines and Rituals. I highly suggest anyone who’s been struggling finding a spark in their adult life to give it watch. It’s very insightful.

If think its best that I try finding a little routine for myself. Not sure how that will look considering my work weeks look more like two weeks (long story), and I work on a rotation. However, I think it is becoming important that I have a “movie night” or a “go to store day.” Like I still need to watch the original Trigun guys. I’ve joked about this before but you’d be surprised how helpful it is to go outside guys. and interact with people? and have it be a good experience?! wild.

I’ll probably speak more to this in the “Yearly Theme” post I’ll make later. I will say I’ve tried to be more spontaneous in my adult hood, and while it kind of is the best way to be with my schedule, it’s felt aimless lately. I might als need dedicated days where I work on something for even 1-2 hours on my off days.

Will I Succeed Where I’ve Failed Before?

This isn’t the first time I’ve tried to do something like this. After all… look how dead this blog has been for. I always get this burst of needing or wanting to do something to this effect, and then slip back into some pretty bad habits. RSS is something I keep forgetting to use as an example.

I don’t think there’s any magic change this time around either tbh. Just that I’m older, more tired, disillusioned with social media, needing that human connection again, needed to fight atomization of the human experience, not wanting to be as solitary anymore.

I am not going to make a declarative “This time will be different.” I’m fighting against years of habits I’ve accumulated for 20+ years. But, it is important that I try. That I be mindful of this. That make the effort. That rebel not only against my habits, but the corpos that want to rob me of all my attention and joy.

It is my life. I need to take back the agency for it.

the animals did wake me up. All of them did.

But the beast in me lays dormant for now, however.

Did you know that “another day in paradise” by Phil Collins isn’t literally about another day in paradise, but the opposite?(!!)

Although there’s so much great stuff out there, like butterflies.

There’s terrible stuff too! Not only of our (us humans) own making, but the horrors of the nature too with TBC, tapeworms, Black Death and stingrays.

And tornadoes.

And did you know that the sun will one day go black?

I’m listening to it now: ”blackened sun” by ”freedom call”. It’s about how we humans abuse and ruin this paradise I think.

It’s not like they are wrong, but still even without us, the sun will go black.

It’s a hard pill to swallow, that.

My dark musings were now interrupted by the ”Hammer of the Gods” track, its literally charging me with energies from within. The lyrics is so great and the drummings, man!

This lyrics right here really strikes a chord, don’t you think?

When my mind is going insane  Tell me who's to blame  It's a beast, it's a priest  Is it matter of madness?

🔝

To me this symbolises the hazards of gazing too long at the blackened sun, it could be the last thing you do

Beware!

I am currently processing a lot of anger. Delayed anger. I’m realizing I’ve dealt with many people, especially men, who played the victim. They saw my kindness and generosity. They knew I had the capacity to give and love unconditionally. They couldn’t deal with their own anger, pain, trauma, and insecurities. Instead, they pushed all that onto me. And I took it like my own. I felt responsible for their blame. I allowed that for such a long time, without recognizing that it was they who should have owned and faced their darkness. The whole time, all I felt for them was sympathy and compassion. I am not doing that anymore. Anger isn’t an emotion I often feel. It’s rather new for me. But I’m letting myself feel it deeply and unapologetically.

What does it actually look like if we are to live as a slave to Christ? My pastor recommended me the following books of the Bible to read: Daniel, Nehemiah, Esther, Ezra.

I will read them!

It becomes more and more apparent to me that living as a Christian means that I have to give up everything that I am. This bothers me, and it would probably bother anyone. But I continue, in part because I know that the only path to living the life truly lived, and living a life that God acknowledges is going forward, and giving up more and more of myself. What is the alternative? Living the same way as I did before? Mired in sin, and the meaningless things of this world? These things still call to me, as a siren calling to a sailor from the deep, but what is the point in pursuing them when I have much better things to do with my life? Isn’t it much more interesting to wake up every morning, in expectant hope of what God has in store for you that day? At least, these are the things that I tell myself to keep going. The world tries to brainwash me in one direction, so I must try to keep my thoughts going in the other.

#personal

Médard Bourgault (1897–1967) est reconnu comme le père de la tradition moderne de la sculpture sur bois au Québec.

Autodidacte originaire de Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, il reprend au tournant des années 1930 un artisanat religieux alors en déclin. Avant Médard, la sculpture sur bois d’inspiration religieuse, ancrée depuis le XVIIe siècle, avait été presque abandonnée au XIXᵉ au profit des statues de plâtre importées de modèles étrangers. Les églises québécoises se tournaient massivement vers ce substitut industriel ; les artisans locaux, quand ils existaient, étaient rarement formellement reconnus comme artistes.

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Art traditionnel (sculpture religieuse, artisanat)

Situation avant Médard

Le Québec rural du début XXᵉ siècle connaît des pratiques artisanales traditionnelles mais moribondes. La sculpture sur bois religieuse est devenue marginale au profit de productions industrielles (statues en plâtre ou importées). Le métier de sculpteur-artisan vit surtout de commandes d’églises et de mobilier religieux, avec peu de place pour la création profane. Les savoir-faire existent dans les villages, mais leur transmission reste informelle et limitée.

Action de Médard

À son retour de la marine marchande, Médard Bourgault se consacre entièrement à la sculpture sur bois (dès 1929–1930), à la faveur d’une crise économique qui l’a laissé sans emploi. Sa rencontre avec l’ethnologue Marius Barbeau en 1930 est déterminante : ce dernier lui achète ses œuvres et le fait entrer dans les réseaux de collectionneurs et de milieux culturels au Canada et à l’étranger. Stimulé par l’arrivée de nombreux touristes via le nouveau boulevard des Marins (inauguré en 1929), le gouvernement du Québec favorise la mise en valeur des métiers artisanaux. Médard installe une table devant sa maison et vend directement au public des statuettes vernaculaires – paysans, bûcherons, types québécois – qu’il sculpte et souvent polychrome lui-même. Il introduit alors de nouveaux sujets profanes dans la sculpture sur bois, tout en continuant à réaliser des œuvres liturgiques (Vierges, chemins de croix) sur demande.

Situation après Médard

L’action de Médard Bourgault transforme radicalement le paysage artisanal. Avec ses frères Jean-Julien et André (les « trois Bérets »), il fonde en 1940 la première École de sculpture sur bois subventionnée par l’État du Québec. Plusieurs générations de sculpteurs y sont formées, assurant la transmission des techniques. En quelques décennies, plus d’une centaine de familles tirent leur subsistance de la sculpture sur bois à Saint-Jean-Port-Joli. Les créations des Bourgault suscitent un engouement significatif : dès les années 1940, la municipalité est surnommée la « capitale de l’artisanat ». La tradition se perpétue tant dans le religieux (retables, ornements d’église) que dans l’artisanat profane et l’art sacré.

En somme, Bourgault redonne un nouvel élan à une tradition abandonnée : « il a redonné un élan à la sculpture sur bois d’inspiration religieuse, enracinée depuis le XVIIᵉ siècle mais délaissée à partir du XIXᵉ siècle ». La continuité est nette dans la valorisation du travail manuel et familial hérité des paysans québécois, mais il y a rupture dans la forme : l’artiste cède aux exigences du marché moderne (scènes de la vie rurale, simplicité des sujets) et dessine les premières lignes d’une véritable « école québécoise » de sculpture populaire.

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Beaux-arts (relations avec les institutions, reconnaissance artistique)

Situation avant Médard

Dans la première moitié du XXᵉ siècle, le « marché » des beaux-arts au Québec privilégie la peinture et la sculpture académique ou moderne. L’art populaire et l’artisanat sont largement tenus à l’écart des grandes institutions muséales et des programmes de formation artistique. Quand Bourgault commence à sculpter, ses œuvres sont avant tout considérées comme de l’artisanat ou du folklore régional. Les élites artistiques francophones du Québec, sensibles au cinéma et aux traditions culturelles, accordent plus d’intérêt aux arts visuels « savants » qu’à la sculpture sur bois vernaculaire.

Action de Médard

Médard Bourgault agit moins sur le monde institutionnel que sur la perception populaire de l’art. Grâce à Barbeau et à des commandes publiques (mobilier d’églises, crèches, etc.), ses œuvres circulent dans des églises et quelques musées d’ethnologie. Toutefois, son positionnement « entre » artisanat et art le place souvent à l’écart du système académique. Les musées nationaux n’organisent pas d’expositions majeures à son honneur, et son travail reste longtemps méconnu du grand public cultivé. Néanmoins, Bourgault et ses frères réussissent à faire reconnaître la valeur esthétique de leurs créations : leur approche narrative et expressive est perçue comme « authentiquement québécoise » et basée sur des valeurs traditionnelles (famille, foi, travail manuel). Cette nouvelle reconnaissance identitaire du « patrimoine populaire » est soutenue par des organismes ethnologiques (SQE, ou Conseil des arts du Québec naissant en 1957) qui valorisent les « porteurs de tradition ».

Situation après Médard

Dans la seconde moitié du XXᵉ siècle, la dichotomie entre beaux-arts et art populaire se cristallise davantage. Comme le souligne l’inventaire du patrimoine immatériel, les politiques culturelles tendent à établir la figure de l’« artiste professionnel » et excluent encore l’art populaire des formations et des musées d’art. En dépit de cela, l’héritage de Bourgault commence tardivement à franchir le fossé institutionnel. Quelques-unes de ses sculptures religieuses entrent dans les collections publiques (par exemple, on en compte plusieurs au Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec), et le travail des Bourgault fait l’objet d’études ethnologiques.

Plus récemment, des sculpteurs de la lignée familiale, comme Pierre Bourgault (né en 1942, neveu de Médard), obtiennent d’importantes distinctions en arts visuels (prix Paul-Émile Borduas, prix du Gouverneur général). Dans ses interviews, Pierre Bourgault note que sa famille a longtemps été vue par les institutions comme des « gosseux de bois » peu sérieux, et qu’il espérait une reconnaissance formelle de ce nom. Cet élan tardif vers la reconnaissance confirme une rupture : le prestige académique du milieu de l’art montre aujourd’hui du respect pour une tradition qui y était ignorée.

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Art contemporain (héritage formel et conceptuel)

Après-Médard et continuité

L’influence de Bourgault se prolonge dans l’art contemporain québécois, notamment au Québec rural. À Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, l’enseignement de la sculpture hérité des Bourgault évolue vers la modernité. Le vieil atelier-école, redéfini en 1992, devient le Centre Est-Nord-Est consacré à l’art contemporain et accueille des résidences d’artistes. En 1984, la municipalité organise un Symposium international de sculpture contemporaine, marquant la volonté d’établir un dialogue entre tradition et innovation. Plusieurs sculpteurs locaux perpétuent le travail du bois en explorant de nouveaux matériaux et échelles (pierres, métaux, installations). L’exposition permanente du Musée de la mémoire vivante note ainsi qu’à partir des années 1950, les thèmes se modernisent et des formes inédites apparaissent dans la sculpture régionale.

Héritage formel et conceptuel

Médard Bourgault a pérennisé le mode de la taille directe du bois, à l’affût du grain et du sujet – un geste formel qui traverse les générations. Il a aussi inauguré une démarche narrative où le sculpteur raconte l’identité collective par la figuration. Cette dimension conceptuelle se retrouve aujourd’hui dans les œuvres qui interrogent l’histoire québécoise et les mythes fondateurs.

Par exemple, les volumes monumentaux de Pierre Bourgault (formes abstraites évoquant la mer) prolongent indirectement l’intérêt familial pour le bois, tandis que des artistes conceptuels s’inspirent de l’idée même d’« art paysan » qu’incarnait Médard. En somme, la rupture principale réside dans l’élévation du statut de cette pratique : ce qui était considéré comme artisanat populaire est désormais assumé comme une composante légitime de l’art contemporain québécois.

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Conclusion

L’œuvre de Médard Bourgault a ainsi engendré à la fois une continuité et des ruptures dans l’histoire de l’art québécois. Continuité, car il ancre durablement la sculpture sur bois dans la culture populaire québécoise et forme de nombreux artisans-sculpteurs. Rupture, car il a contribué à franchir la frontière entre art populaire et beaux-arts : en faisant rayonner un style « authentiquement québécois », il a rendu possible une revalorisation ultérieure par les institutions et l’art contemporain. Aujourd’hui, le « mouvement Bourgault » est reconnu comme le fondement d’un renouveau national : sans lui, Saint-Jean-Port-Joli n’aurait jamais été la capitale de la sculpture qu’elle est devenue. Les héritiers de Bourgault, en atelier ou en musée, perpétuent un dialogue entre tradition et modernité, prolongeant l’impact du « maître-sculpteur » sur les pratiques artistiques au Québec.

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Sources

Site patrimonial du Domaine-Médard-Bourgault – Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=211488&type=bien

Médard Bourgault, maître d’art, 1930-1967 – Société québécoise d'ethnologie https://ethnologiequebec.org/2021/04/medard-bourgault-maitre-dart-1930-1967/

Les trois Bérets et la sculpture sur bois – Saint-Jean-Port-Joli https://saintjeanportjoli.com/les-trois-berets-et-la-sculpture-sur-bois/

Les retrouvailles des héritiers de Médard Bourgault : un immense succès https://ethnologiequebec.org/2017/09/les-retrouvailles-des-heritiers-de-medard-bourgault-un-immense-succes/

Sculpture d'art populaire – Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=81&type=imma

Pierre Bourgault remporte un prix du Gouverneur général en arts visuels au Canada https://leplacoteux.com/pierre-bourgault-remporte-un-prix-du-gouverneur-general-en-arts-visuels-au-canada/

Avant Bourgault : une sculpture sous influence européenne et religieuse

Au début du XXᵉ siècle, l’art québécois – et en particulier la sculpture – restait largement tributaire de modèles importés et de traditions anciennes. Plusieurs caractéristiques marquent cette période avant l’émergence de Médard Bourgault :

Une influence européenne dominante

Les artistes et artisans québécois s’inspirent fortement des styles venus d’Europe, faute d’une esthétique locale affirmée. Dans la sculpture, cela se traduit notamment par l’imitation de modèles français ou italiens pour les œuvres religieuses(1). Les grandes églises se garnissent souvent de statues importées ou calquées sur des œuvres européennes reconnues, ce qui limite l’originalité locale.

Un art religieux très formel

La sculpture est essentiellement au service de l’Église catholique. Des sculpteurs comme Louis Jobin (1845-1928) réalisent d’innombrables statues de saints et d’ornements d’église, dans un style sacré académique. À partir de la fin du XIXᵉ siècle, ces sculptures traditionnelles en bois tombent en désuétude au profit de statues en plâtre produites en série d’après des modèles étrangers(1). Ce recours au plâtre standardise l’art religieux et éclipse le savoir-faire artisanal local.

Aucune école de sculpture locale

Avant les années 1930, il n’existe pas de véritable institution au Québec pour former des sculpteurs sur bois. Les rares artistes doivent apprendre sur le tas ou s’exiler dans des écoles influencées par l’Europe. Il n’y a pas encore d’« école québécoise » distinctive. La première école de sculpture sur bois n’ouvrira qu’en 1940, fondée par Bourgault lui-même(2).

L’art populaire méconnu

Les œuvres d’artisans autodidactes – les « gossesux » – ne sont pas considérées comme de l’Art. L’art populaire est relégué au folklore, absent des musées et des formations académiques(3)(4). Quelques ethnographes s’y intéressent dans les années 1930 (Guilde canadienne des métiers d’art, enquête de Gauvreau publiée en 1940)(1), mais cela reste marginal jusqu’à l’arrivée de Bourgault.

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L’apport de Médard Bourgault : un art enraciné, vivant et original

Médard Bourgault (1897-1967), marin puis menuisier, découvre sa vocation de sculpteur autodidacte et, dès 1927, se consacre entièrement à la sculpture(5). Grâce à son talent et aux appuis de Marius Barbeau et de politiciens qui achètent ses œuvres, il parvient à vivre de son art(6)(7). Il révolutionne la sculpture québécoise de plusieurs façons.

Renouveau de la sculpture religieuse

Bourgault crée des œuvres sacrées originales, sculptées directement dans le bois, rompant avec les statues de plâtre standardisées du XIXᵉ siècle(8). Ses crucifix, Vierges et saints témoignent d’une foi authentique et d’un savoir-faire régional(1).

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Les contributions majeures de Médard Bourgault

1. Des scènes du quotidien élevées au rang d’art

Il puise dans la vie rurale québécoise : paysans, travailleurs, veillées familiales(10). Œuvres : L’arracheur de souches (1931), Le joueur de dames (1932), Les moissonneurs (1940)(11)(12)(13).

Ce choix est novateur : ces scènes ordinaires étaient rarement considérées comme de l’art. Le public s’enthousiasme immédiatement(14)(15). Ses œuvres se diffusent dans les chalets, les maisons, puis dans les collections du Canada anglais(16). Les personnages âgés du village deviennent des modèles, préservant la mémoire d’une culture en transformation(17).

2. La fondation d’une école de sculpture (1940)

Dès 1930-33, les trois frères Bourgault forment des apprentis dans un atelier agrandi(18)(19). En 1940, avec l’appui du premier ministre Adélard Godbout, leur atelier devient la première École de sculpture de Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, subventionnée par l’État(2)(20). Médard accueille une quinzaine d’élèves et enseigne sans livres, hors des méthodes académiques(21). L’école ferme pendant la guerre mais rouvre ensuite et forme des générations jusqu’aux années 1960(19). Cette institutionnalisation de l’art populaire est un tournant majeur.

3. Le renouveau de l’art religieux local

Pendant plus de trente ans, il sculpte de nombreuses œuvres sacrées :

• crucifix
• Vierges
• saints
• chemins de croix(9)

Il crée 50 statues originales pour l’église Saint-Viateur d’Outremont et le chemin de croix + chaire de l’église de Saint-Jean-Port-Joli(22)(23). Ses œuvres se retrouvent même aux États-Unis(13). Il ravive la tradition de la sculpture religieuse québécoise du XVIIᵉ siècle(24).

4. La vulgarisation de l’art populaire québécois

Dès 1929, il installe un kiosque devant sa maison pour vendre aux touristes(25). Cette idée simple déclenche un engouement énorme dans les années 1930(26)(27). Saint-Jean-Port-Joli devient la « capitale de l’artisanat » dans les années 1940(28). Les médias, ethnologues et journalistes le consacrent comme une figure majeure(29)(30)(31). Son initiative permet à d’innombrables artisans de vivre de leur art(32).

5. L’exportation de la sculpture québécoise

Plus de 4 000 pièces produites et vendues sur les cinq continents(3). Expositions à Québec, Montréal, Toronto dès les années 1930(33). Le gouvernement du Québec achète des œuvres dès les années 1940(34). Les sculptures deviennent des cadeaux diplomatiques(35). Elles entrent dans les grands musées du Québec et de l’étranger(36). L’art populaire québécois gagne une reconnaissance internationale.

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Un héritage durable : patrimoine vivant et rayonnement international

Patrimonialisation de l’art populaire

La maison et l’atelier de Médard sont designés site patrimonial en 2017(32). En 2023, Médard, André et Jean-Julien deviennent personnages historiques officiels(1)(33). La sculpture sur bois de Saint-Jean-Port-Joli est considérée comme patrimoine immatériel potentiel(34)(35).

Une dynastie d’artistes

Médard a 16 enfants, dont plusieurs deviennent sculpteurs(36). Les élèves des années 1940 fondent leurs ateliers. Une véritable dynastie et tradition vivante se forme. André-Médard Bourgault perpétue encore aujourd’hui les méthodes familiales(37).

Saint-Jean-Port-Joli : capitale de la sculpture

Le village connaît la plus grande concentration de sculpteurs au Québec(38)(39). Il devient capitale culturelle du Canada en 2005(40). L’atelier de 1940 devient le Centre Est-Nord-Est (résidence d’artistes)(41). Un musée de la sculpture sur bois fait découvrir cette tradition au public(42).

Rayonnement international

En 1951, la photographe Lida Moser immortalise les frères Bourgault dans Vogue(45). Films, reportages et photos propagent leur image(46)(47). Les gouvernements utilisent leurs œuvres comme symboles culturels(48). Les musées nationaux conservent leurs œuvres(49). Symposiums internationaux de sculpture dès 1984(50)(51). Depuis 1994 : L’Internationale de la sculpture(52).

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Conclusion

Médard Bourgault a profondément transformé l’art québécois au XXᵉ siècle. Il a ancré la sculpture dans la vie d’ici, donné une voix à l’art populaire, fondé une école, inspiré des générations et projeté le Québec sur la scène internationale.

Il a prouvé qu’un art enraciné dans la culture locale peut atteindre une portée universelle.

Sources

Site patrimonial du Domaine-Médard-Bourgault – Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=211488&type=bien

BOURGAULT, Médard (1897-1967) | Dictionnaire historique de la sculpture québécoise au XXᵉ siècle https://dictionnaire.espaceartactuel.com/fr/artistes/bourgault-medard-1897-1967/

Sculpture d'art populaire – Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=81&type=imma

Bourgault, Médard – Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=9563&type=pge

Médard Bourgault | Domaine Médard Bourgault https://medardbourgault.org/medard-bourgault/

Les trois Bérets et la sculpture sur bois – Saint-Jean-Port-Joli https://saintjeanportjoli.com/les-trois-berets-et-la-sculpture-sur-bois/

Médard Bourgault, pionnier de la sculpture sur bois – Journal Le Placoteux https://leplacoteux.com/medard-bourgault-pionnier-de-la-sculpture-sur-bois/

The Bourgault family of Saint-Jean-Port-Joli | shadflyguy https://shadflyguy.com/2019/03/01/the-bourgault-family-of-saint-jean-port-joli/

La sculpture à Saint-Jean-Port-Joli en 14 superbes photos | JDQ https://www.journaldequebec.com/2023/05/07/la-sculpture-a-saint-jean-port-joli-en-14-superbes-photos

L'Attisée | Centenaire de la sculpture sur bois à Saint-Jean-Port-Joli https://www.lattisee.com/actualites/view/6338/centenaire-de-la-sculpture-sur-bois-a-saint-jean-port-joli

André-Médard Bourgault – Wood carving – Le Vivoir https://levivoir.com/en/andre-medard-bourgault?srsltid=AfmBOopLInu4hiiO8GV0YbDHLSJciw6CpSEVrewTzLZ79KTqG9niwlI6

A Self-Taught Artist Rooted in Rural Catholic Québec

Médard Bourgault (1897–1967) was a self-taught Québec sculptor from Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, a rural Catholic village on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River(1). Born into a modest family of carpenters and sailors, he learned woodcarving on his own, drawing on the artisanal knowledge of his community. As a young man, he was encouraged by a local penknife carver (Arthur Fournier), then noticed in 1930 by the anthropologist Marius Barbeau, who bought several pieces and introduced him to cultural circles(2).

Thanks to this recognition—and to the rise of tourism along the St. Lawrence during the Great Depression—Bourgault began selling his sculptures to visitors, even setting up a small stand in front of his house to display his work(3). His carved scenes of traditional life quickly charmed the public: he received an impressive number of commissions, which pushed him to refine and adapt his style while maintaining his independence(4). Together with his brothers André and Jean-Julien—also sculptors—he trained apprentices and helped turn Saint-Jean-Port-Joli into Québec’s “capital of woodcarving”(5).

Bourgault was deeply rooted in the Catholic Québec of the 20th century, a world where the Church and rural traditions shaped daily life. His personal faith was intense: early on, he decided to devote himself to religious art, both to serve the needs of the Church and to express his own spirituality(6). For more than thirty years, his sculptures reflected this deep faith and found their way into numerous churches and chapels throughout the province. This dual identity—self-taught rural craftsman and devout believer—defines Bourgault’s artistic path and the singularity of his work. Firmly anchored in his terroir, he drew inspiration from Québec’s traditional countryside and Catholic devotion, while aiming for a universal artistic expression.

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Scenes of Faith, Sea, and Everyday Life Carved in Wood

Bourgault’s favorite themes reflect his environment and beliefs. His early works were inspired by the rural life he observed around him: farm families, loggers at work, scenes from the fields, ox-drawn sleds, farm dogs, and more(7). He was also drawn to subjects related to the sea and navigation, echoing his past as a sailor. He carved, for example, Gaspé fishermen pulling in their heavy nets, or schooner captains in slickers facing the river winds(8). One such maritime scene is the relief La pêche (1961)—a large pine panel showing three fishermen hauling a heavy net into their boat as seagulls circle above(9).

Through these peasant and maritime figures, Bourgault honored traditional trades and the simple life of mid-20th-century rural Québec.

In parallel—and increasingly with time—Bourgault turned to religious subjects inspired by his Catholic faith. He carved numerous representations of the Virgin Mary (such as Notre-Dame des blés and Notre-Dame des flots) as well as scenes from the Bible and the lives of saints(10).

Most notably, he excelled in creating Stations of the Cross: fourteen-panel relief cycles illustrating Christ’s Passion, highly sought after by expanding parishes of the 1940s and 50s(11). His wooden Stations of the Cross adorn several churches in Québec (Jesuit Chapel in Québec City, the church in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, etc.) and even religious communities outside the province(12). These sacred pieces—Madonnas, Crucifixions, saints—occupy a central place in his body of work(13).

Whether depicting a farmer sowing his field or Christ falling beneath the Cross, Bourgault worked primarily in wood (basswood, pine, walnut), sculpted in the round or in high relief. He practiced direct carving, attacking the block with his gouges without any mold or intermediate model. This artisanal approach gives his pieces a raw, living presence, where wood grain and tool marks contribute to the aesthetic. The warm material of wood—sometimes enhanced with early-period polychromy(14)—perfectly suits the popular and religious themes he portrayed.

A Sincere Technique and Deep Faith Serving Emotion

Despite being labeled a “folk artist,” Médard Bourgault developed a technique and style capable of conveying profound emotional force. His status as a self-taught artist, far from being a limitation, allowed him to sculpt with sincerity, free from academic conventions. He observed his subjects closely—whether a ploughman or Christ on the Cross—and extracted their expressive essence rather than anatomical precision. His works privilege expressive strength over academic detail.

As Rodin himself said: “A good sculptor (…) does not merely represent the muscles, but the life that warms them.”(15)

Bourgault’s spirituality is a central driving force of his art. His crucifixions, Madonnas, and saints radiate tangible devotion and humanity, touching the viewer deeply. This spiritual sincerity infuses his work with emotional gravity rarely found in so-called “naïve” art. His major reliefs are “deeply moving and show great sincerity toward life and society”(16).

On a compositional level, Bourgault displayed remarkable inventiveness for an artist without formal training. In his narrative reliefs, he used depth, perspective, and movement. In his Stations of the Cross, the arrangement of figures creates powerful dramaturgy. In his great cycle of panels on “Québec identity”—The Cradle of a People, The Pioneer, The Forge, The Burden of Wars, etc.—he built a true visual epic(17). Created during the Second World War, the cycle blends tradition and modernity(18).

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Works of Striking Expressiveness, Worthy of the Great Masters

Stations of the Cross

Among the most striking examples are the Stations of the Cross carved for the Jesuit Chapel (Québec City) or Caraquet. The 12th station (Jesus Dies on the Cross) shows Christ with his head tilted toward his mother—a composition of great intensity(19).

One of his Stations of the Cross, commissioned in 1948, drew the attention of architects and connoisseurs of sacred art(20).

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The Burden of Wars (1943)

A high relief in pine, often considered his modern masterpiece: a man bent beneath a bundle of weapons symbolizing collective suffering.

Experts have stated that the work “would fit perfectly alongside pieces by other great masters” in a modern art museum(21). It shares an expressive strength comparable to Rodin.

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Marian Statues

Among his major pieces:

• Notre-Dame des flots (1943), acquired by the Musée du Québec(22)
• Notre-Dame des habitants (Virgin with a Sheaf of Wheat), selected by Marius Barbeau for The World’s Great Madonnas, alongside Michelangelo and Raphael(23)

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Recognition and Hierarchies: Rodin vs. Bourgault

Rodin (1840–1917) achieved international recognition—celebrated, honored, and exhibited in major museums(24)(25).

Bourgault, a rural autodidact, received primarily regional recognition(26)(27). His works were sought after, newspapers wrote about him, dignitaries visited his workshop, but he remained classified as a “folk artist.”

Cultural hierarchies favored artists trained in urban, academic environments. Yet, near the end of his life, Bourgault attempted more classical academic subjects such as The Three Graces and The Farewell Kiss(28)(29).

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Rediscovering Bourgault

It is time to recognize Bourgault as an artist whose work carries universal significance. His sculpture transcends his milieu and addresses deep human themes.

It demonstrates that folk art can reach the same expressive heights as “cultivated” art. His sculptures today travel around the world(30).

By positioning Bourgault alongside Rodin, we affirm that artistic emotion has no passport.

Sources

Yves Hébert, « Médard Bourgault, pionnier de la sculpture sur bois », Le Placoteux, 5 février 2024. Jean-François Blanchette, Médard Bourgault et ses héritiers – Un siècle de sculpture à Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Société québécoise d’ethnologie, 2023. Jean-François Blanchette, « Médard Bourgault, maître d’art, 1930–1967 », Société québécoise d’ethnologie, 2021. Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec, fiches « Bas-relief (La pêche) » et « Station de chemin de croix (Jésus meurt sur la croix) ». Wikipédia, article « Médard Bourgault » (consulté en 2025). Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, notice « Auguste Rodin ». Ethnologie du Québec, « Les Trois Bérets et les ateliers de sculpture de Saint-Jean-Port-Joli », Rabatka, vol. 18, 2020.

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Links

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medard_Bourgault https://ethnologiequebec.org/2021/04/medard-bourgault-maitre-dart-1930-1967/ https://leplacoteux.com/medard-bourgault-pionnier-de-la-sculpture-sur-bois/ https://www.septentrion.qc.ca/catalogue/medard-bourgault-et-ses-heritiers https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=234672&type=bien https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=231290&type=bien https://www.beaux-arts.ca/collection/artiste/auguste-rodin

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Note : Ce texte présente une analyse générale des enjeux juridiques liés aux ventes immobilières et aux biens patrimoniaux au Québec. Il ne constitue pas une accusation contre une personne ou une organisation, mais un exposé informatif basé sur les lois applicables.

Qu’est-ce qu’un avenant non notarié ?

Un avenant est un addendum ou une modification apportée à un contrat déjà signé. Lorsqu’il est non notarié, il est conclu sous seing privé plutôt que par acte authentique notarié. On parle alors d’une contre-lettre ou de simulation, lorsqu’une entente secrète exprime une volonté différente de celle inscrite dans l’acte officiel¹.

Entre vendeur et acheteur, la contre-lettre prime sur le contrat apparent².

Un avenant non notarié peut servir, par exemple, à modifier le prix réel de vente ou les délais de paiement³. Important : la simulation est permise (art. 1451 CCQ), mais pas si elle sert à frauder ou contourner l’ordre public⁴⁵.

Si l’avenant secret sert à dissimuler un défaut de paiement important, on entre sur un terrain juridique fragile.

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Un avenant non publié au Registre foncier : manque de transparence et insécurité juridique

Au Québec, les transactions immobilières sont officialisées par un acte notarié inscrit au Registre foncier. Seuls les droits publiés sont opposables aux tiers⁶.

Un avenant secret non publié :

• n’a d’effet qu’entre les parties
• est invisible pour les tiers
• ne peut pas être imposé à d’autres personnes

En cas de conflit, c’est le contrat apparent (celui publié) qui l’emporte⁷⁸.

S’il introduit une condition importante (ex. clause résolutoire), elle aurait dû être publiée⁹. Sans publication, elle est inopposable aux tiers.

Résultat : insécurité juridique. L’entente réelle est dans l’ombre, la protection légale est affaiblie.

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Quels risques pour le vendeur si l’avenant dissimule un défaut de paiement ?

1. Recours limités en cas de non-paiement

Sans hypothèque légale ni clause résolutoire publiée, le vendeur doit poursuivre l’acheteur en simple contrat privé. Il ne dispose pas d’un titre exécutoire notarié¹⁰. Et si l’acheteur conteste en alléguant fraude : → le tribunal peut ne retenir que l’acte notarié.

2. Perte de protections sur l’immeuble

Sans sûreté publiée :

• une banque ayant accordé une hypothèque passe avant le vendeur
• un acheteur subséquent n’est pas lié par l’avenant secret¹¹

3. Risque d’insolvabilité

Le vendeur devient créancier ordinaire. En faillite, il risque de ne jamais récupérer le solde impayé.

4. Risques fiscaux et légaux

Un prix réel différent du prix déclaré peut être considéré comme une fausse déclaration fiscale. La loi exige de divulguer la contre-lettre aux autorités¹². Pour un site patrimonial, cela peut être perçu comme une manœuvre trompeuse. → Le contrat secret peut être invalidé¹³.

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Immeuble patrimonial classé : un cas encore plus sensible

Le domaine Médard-Bourgault est un site patrimonial classé. Cela implique des règles particulières.

Droit de préemption du ministère de la Culture

Avant une vente, le ministre doit être avisé 60 jours à l’avance, avec le prix réel et l’acheteur pressenti¹⁴¹⁵.

Le ministre peut acheter le bien au prix communiqué¹⁶.

Si un avenant secret change le prix réel ou les modalités, la vente :

• n’est plus conforme aux conditions transmises
• peut être vue comme une contournement du droit de préemption¹⁷

Cela peut mener à :

• contestation
• enquête
• annulation éventuelle
• atteinte à la réputation

Obligations d’entretien

Toute modification d’un bien classé exige une autorisation ministérielle¹⁸. Un acheteur en difficulté financière (ce qu’un impayé secret laisse entendre) risque :

• d’être incapable d’entretenir le site
• d’entraîner des interventions forcées du ministère¹⁹

Rôle de la municipalité et de la communauté

Une transaction opaque dans un dossier patrimonial :

• brise la confiance
• complique l’accès aux subventions
• nuit à la planification culturelle locale

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Lois applicables : que dit le cadre juridique ?

Code civil du Québec (CCQ)

• art. 1451 : simulation et contre-lettre²⁰
• art. 1452 : tiers de bonne foi privilégiés²¹
• art. 2938+ : publicité des droits²²
• art. 2941 : seul le droit publié est opposable²³
• clauses résolutoires doivent être publiées

Loi sur le patrimoine culturel (LPC)

Articles pertinents :

• art. 54 à 58 : droit de préemption, délai 60 jours²⁴
• art. 57 : la vente doit être au prix communiqué²⁵
• art. 48 : aucune modification sans autorisation²⁶

Registre foncier du Québec

• un avenant privé ne peut être publié tel quel
• doit être transformé en acte notarié
• absence de publication = aucune protection²⁷

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Conclusion – Informer sans juger

L’affaire du domaine Médard-Bourgault montre les risques d’un avenant secret :

• risque financier pour le vendeur
• risque juridique majeur
• risque fiscal
• risque patrimonial
• risque pour la communauté

La vente d’un bien patrimonial exige transparence, rigueur, et respect du cadre légal.

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Sources (liens cliquables)

1. Pouvons-nous légalement utiliser une contre-lettre ? – Dubé Latreille

2. La contre-lettre en immobilier – JuriGo.ca

3. Code civil du Québec – Légis Québec

4. Saisie immobilière et avenant privé – Lexbase

5. Bien patrimonial classé : droit de préemption – OACIQ

6. Loi sur le patrimoine culturel – OACIQ

7. Le Registre foncier du Québec – OACIQ

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Un autodidacte enraciné dans le Québec rural et catholique

Médard Bourgault (1897–1967) est un sculpteur québécois autodidacte originaire de Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, un village rural catholique sur la côte du Saint-Laurent(1). Issu d’une famille modeste de menuisiers et de marins, il apprend la sculpture sur bois par lui-même, en puisant dans le savoir-faire artisanal de sa communauté. Jeune homme, il est encouragé par un sculpteur local au canif (Arthur Fournier) puis remarqué en 1930 par l’anthropologue Marius Barbeau, qui lui achète des pièces et le fait connaître aux milieux culturels(2). Grâce à cette reconnaissance et à l’essor du tourisme le long du Saint-Laurent pendant la Grande Dépression, Bourgault commence à vendre ses sculptures aux visiteurs de passage, installant même un étal devant sa maison pour écouler ses œuvres(3). Rapidement, ses scènes sculptées de la vie traditionnelle séduisent le public : il reçoit un nombre impressionnant de commandes qui l’obligent à améliorer et adapter son style tout en conservant son indépendance(4). Avec ses frères André et Jean-Julien – également sculpteurs –, il forme des apprentis et contribue à faire de Saint-Jean-Port-Joli la « capitale de la sculpture sur bois » au Québec(5).

Bourgault est profondément ancré dans le Québec catholique du XXᵉ siècle, à une époque où l’Église et les traditions rurales rythment la vie quotidienne. Sa foi personnelle est intense : très tôt, il décide de se consacrer à l’art religieux pour répondre aux besoins de l’Église tout en exprimant sa propre spiritualité(6). Pendant plus de trente ans, ses sculptures témoignent de sa foi profonde, trouvant place dans de nombreuses églises et chapelles de la province. Cette double identité – artiste paysan autodidacte et croyant fervent – définit le parcours de Bourgault et la singularité de son œuvre. Profondément enraciné dans son terroir, il puise son inspiration dans la vie de la campagne québécoise et la dévotion catholique, tout en aspirant à une expression artistique universelle.

Des scènes de foi, de mer et de vie quotidienne sculptées dans le bois

Les thèmes de prédilection de Médard Bourgault reflètent son milieu et ses croyances. Ses premières œuvres s’inspirent du quotidien rural qu’il observe autour de lui : familles de fermiers, bûcherons au travail, scènes de la vie des champs, attelages de bœufs, chiens de ferme, etc.(7). Il affectionne aussi les sujets liés à la mer et à la navigation, héritage de son passé de marin. Par exemple, il représente des pêcheurs gaspésiens tirant leurs filets pleins de poissons, ou des capitaines de goélettes en imperméable affrontant le vent du fleuve(8). Une de ces scènes maritimes est le bas-relief La pêche (1961) – une grande composition en pin où trois pêcheurs halent un lourd filet à bord de leur embarcation, sous le vol des goélands(9). À travers ces personnages marins et paysans, Bourgault rend hommage aux métiers traditionnels et à la vie simple du Québec rural du milieu du XXᵉ siècle.

En parallèle, et de plus en plus avec le temps, Bourgault se tourne vers les sujets religieux dictés par sa foi catholique. Il sculpte de nombreuses représentations de la Vierge Marie (par exemple Notre-Dame des blés ou Notre-Dame des flots) ainsi que des scènes tirées de la Bible et de la vie des saints(10).

Surtout, il excelle dans la réalisation de chemins de croix : ces suites de quatorze bas-reliefs illustrant la Passion du Christ sont très demandées par les paroisses en expansion dans les années 1940-50(11). Ses chemins de croix en bois sculpté ornent ainsi plusieurs églises du Québec (chapelle des Jésuites à Québec, église de Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, etc.) et même des communautés religieuses hors province(12). Cette production sacrée – Vierges à l’enfant, crucifix, statues de saints, etc. – occupe une place centrale dans son œuvre, portée par sa foi intense et par le besoin des églises locales en art religieux(13).

Qu’il représente un paysan semant son champ ou le Christ tombant sous la Croix, Bourgault travaille essentiellement le bois (tilleul, pin ou noyer) qu’il sculpte en ronde-bosse ou en haut-relief. Il pratique la taille directe, sans moule ni modèle intermédiaire, s’attaquant au bloc de bois avec ses gouges et ciseaux. Cette approche artisanale confère à ses pièces un caractère brut et vivant, où la texture du bois et les traces d’outil participent à l’esthétique. Le matériau chaleureux du bois, souvent rehaussé de polychromie dans ses premières œuvres(14), s’accorde bien aux scènes populaires et religieuses qu’il dépeint, leur donnant une présence organique particulière.

Une technique sincère et une foi profonde au service de l’émotion

Malgré son étiquette d’« artiste d’art populaire », Médard Bourgault développe une technique et un style capables de véhiculer une intense charge émotionnelle. Son statut d’autodidacte, loin d’être un frein, lui permet de sculpter avec sincérité, en dehors des conventions académiques. Il observe attentivement ses sujets – qu’il s’agisse d’un laboureur ou du Christ en croix – et en extrait l’essence expressive plutôt que le détail académique. Ses œuvres privilégient la force des attitudes et des expressions sur la précision anatomique. Comme Rodin l’affirmait lui-même : « Un bon sculpteur (…) ne représente pas seulement la musculature, mais aussi la vie qui les réchauffe. »(15)

La spiritualité de Bourgault est un moteur essentiel de son art. Ses Christ en croix, ses Vierges et ses saints expriment une piété tangible et une humanité qui touchent le spectateur. Cette dimension spirituelle sincère donne à son travail une gravité et une profondeur d’émotion peu communes dans l’art dit « naïf ». Ses grands reliefs sont « très touchants et témoignent d’une grande sincérité en regard de la vie et de la société »(16).

Sur le plan de la composition, Bourgault fait preuve d’une inventivité remarquable pour un artiste non formé aux Beaux-Arts. Dans ses bas-reliefs narratifs, il utilise la profondeur, la perspective, le dynamisme. Dans ses chemins de croix, l’agencement des personnages crée une dramaturgie poignante. Dans son grand cycle de panneaux sur l’« identité québécoise » – Le berceau d’une race, Le défricheur, La forge, Le fardeau des guerres, etc. – il compose une véritable épopée visuelle(17). Réalisé durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, ce cycle marie tradition et modernité(18).

Des œuvres d’une expressivité magistrale, dignes des grands maîtres

Chemins de croix

Parmi les plus frappants exemples : les chemins de croix sculptés pour la chapelle des Jésuites (Québec) ou Caraquet. La station Jésus meurt sur la croix (12ᵉ) montre le Christ la tête inclinée vers sa mère, composition d’une grande intensité(19). L’un de ses chemins de croix, commandé en 1948, attira l’attention d’architectes et de connaisseurs d’art sacré(20).

Le fardeau des guerres (1943)

Haut-relief en pin, souvent considéré comme son chef-d’œuvre moderne : un homme courbé sous un faisceau d’armes symbolisant la souffrance collective. Des experts affirment que l’œuvre « cadrerait bien avec les pièces d’autres grands maîtres » dans un musée d’art moderne(21). Elle partage une force expressive comparable à Rodin.

Statues mariales

Parmi ses pièces majeures : • Notre-Dame des flots (1943), acquise par le Musée du Québec(22) • Notre-Dame des habitants (Vierge à la gerbe de blé), sélectionnée par Marius Barbeau dans The World’s Great Madonnas aux côtés de Michel-Ange et Raphaël(23)

Reconnaissance et hiérarchies : Rodin vs Bourgault

Rodin (1840–1917) fut reconnu internationalement, célébré, honoré, muséifié(24)(25).

Bourgault, autodidacte rural, connut surtout une reconnaissance régionale(26)(27). Ses œuvres étaient recherchées, les journaux parlaient de lui, les dignitaires visitaient son atelier, mais il resta classé dans l’« art populaire ».

La hiérarchie culturelle privilégiait les artistes formés en milieu urbain. Pourtant, Bourgault tenta, à la fin de sa vie, des sujets académiques tels que Les Trois Grâces ou Le baiser d’adieu(28)(29).

Redécouvrir Bourgault

Il est temps de considérer Bourgault comme une contribution artistique de portée universelle. Son œuvre transcende son milieu et rejoint des thématiques humaines profondes. Elle montre que l’art populaire peut atteindre une expressivité égale à l’art « cultivé ». Ses sculptures voyagent aujourd’hui dans le monde entier(30).

En replaçant Bourgault aux côtés de Rodin, on affirme que l’émotion artistique n’a pas de passeport.

Sources

Yves Hébert, « Médard Bourgault, pionnier de la sculpture sur bois », Le Placoteux, 5 février 2024. Jean-François Blanchette, Médard Bourgault et ses héritiers – Un siècle de sculpture à Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Société québécoise d’ethnologie, 2023. Jean-François Blanchette, « Médard Bourgault, maître d’art, 1930–1967 », Société québécoise d’ethnologie, 2021. Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec, fiches « Bas-relief (La pêche) » et « Station de chemin de croix (Jésus meurt sur la croix) ». Wikipédia, article « Médard Bourgault » (consulté en 2025). Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, notice « Auguste Rodin ». Ethnologie du Québec, « Les Trois Bérets et les ateliers de sculpture de Saint-Jean-Port-Joli », Rabatka, vol. 18, 2020.

1. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medard_Bourgault

2. https://ethnologiequebec.org/2021/04/medard-bourgault-maitre-dart-1930-1967/

3. https://leplacoteux.com/medard-bourgault-pionnier-de-la-sculpture-sur-bois/

4. https://www.septentrion.qc.ca/catalogue/medard-bourgault-et-ses-heritiers

5. https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=234672&type=bien

6. https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=231290&type=bien

7. https://www.beaux-arts.ca/collection/artiste/auguste-rodin

In Mesa, Arizona, city officials approved an $800 million data centre development in the midst of the driest 12 months the region had seen in 126 years. The facility would gulp up to 1.25 million gallons of water daily, enough to supply a town of 50,000 people. Meanwhile, just miles away, state authorities were revoking construction permits for new homes because groundwater had run dry. The juxtaposition wasn't lost on residents: their taps might run empty whilst servers stayed cool.

This is the sharp edge of artificial intelligence's environmental paradox. As AI systems proliferate globally, the infrastructure supporting them has become one of the most resource-intensive industries on the planet. Yet most people interacting with ChatGPT or generating images with Midjourney have no idea that each query leaves a physical footprint measured in litres and kilowatt-hours.

The numbers paint a sobering picture. In 2023, United States data centres consumed 17 billion gallons of water directly through cooling systems, according to a 2024 report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. That figure could double or even quadruple by 2028. Add the 211 billion gallons consumed indirectly through electricity generation, and the total water footprint becomes staggering. To put it in tangible terms: between 10 and 50 interactions with ChatGPT cause a data centre to consume half a litre of water.

On the carbon side, data centres produced 140.7 megatons of CO2 in 2024, requiring 6.4 gigatons of trees to absorb. By 2030, these facilities may consume between 4.6 and 9.1 per cent of total U.S. electricity generation, up from an estimated 4 per cent in 2024. Morgan Stanley projects that AI-optimised data centres will quadruple their electricity consumption, with global emissions rising from 200 million metric tons currently to 600 million tons annually by 2030.

The crisis is compounded by a transparency problem that borders on the Kafkaesque. Analysis by The Guardian found that actual emissions from data centres owned by Google, Microsoft, Meta and Apple were likely around 7.62 times greater than officially reported between 2020 and 2022. The discrepancy stems from creative accounting: firms claim carbon neutrality by purchasing renewable energy credits whilst their actual local emissions, generated by drawing power from carbon-intensive grids, go unreported or downplayed.

Meta's 2022 data centre operations illustrate the shell game perfectly. Using market-based accounting with purchased credits, the company reported a mere 273 metric tons of CO2. Calculate emissions using the actual grid mix that powered those facilities, however, and the figure balloons to over 3.8 million metric tons. It's the corporate equivalent of claiming you've gone vegetarian because you bought someone else's salad.

The Opacity Economy

The lack of consistent, mandatory reporting creates an information vacuum that serves industry interests whilst leaving policymakers, communities and the public flying blind. Companies rarely disclose how much water their data centres consume. When pressed, they point to aggregate sustainability reports that blend data centre impacts with other operations, making it nearly impossible to isolate the true footprint of AI infrastructure.

This opacity isn't accidental. Without standardised metrics or mandatory disclosure requirements in most jurisdictions, companies can cherry-pick flattering data. They can report power usage effectiveness (PUE), a metric that measures energy efficiency but says nothing about absolute consumption. They can trumpet renewable energy purchases without mentioning that those credits often come from wind farms hundreds of miles away, whilst the data centre itself runs on a coal-heavy grid.

Even where data exists, comparing facilities becomes an exercise in frustration. One operator might report annual water consumption, another might report it per megawatt of capacity, and a third might not report it at all. Carbon emissions face similar inconsistencies: some companies report only Scope 1 and 2 emissions whilst conveniently omitting Scope 3 (supply chain and embodied carbon in construction).

The stakes are profound. Communities weighing whether to approve new developments lack data to assess true environmental trade-offs. Policymakers can't benchmark reasonable standards without knowing current baselines. Investors attempting to evaluate ESG risks make decisions based on incomplete figures. Consumers have no way to make informed choices.

The European Union's revised Energy Efficiency Directive, which came into force in 2024, requires data centres with power demand above 500 kilowatts to report energy and water usage annually to a publicly accessible database. The first reports, covering calendar year 2023, were due by 15 September 2024. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive adds another layer, requiring large companies to disclose sustainability policies, greenhouse gas reduction goals, and detailed emissions data across all scopes starting with 2024 data reported in 2025.

The data collected includes floor area, installed power, data volumes processed, total energy consumption, PUE ratings, temperature set points, waste heat utilisation, water usage metrics, and renewable energy percentages. This granular information will provide the first comprehensive picture of European data centre environmental performance.

These mandates represent progress, but they're geographically limited and face implementation challenges. Compliance requires sophisticated monitoring systems that many operators lack. Verification mechanisms remain unclear. And crucially, the regulations focus primarily on disclosure rather than setting hard limits. You can emit as much as you like, provided you admit to it.

The Water Crisis Intensifies

Water consumption presents particular urgency because data centres are increasingly being built in regions already facing water stress. Analysis by Bloomberg found that more than 160 new AI data centres have appeared across the United States in the past three years in areas with high competition for scarce water resources, a 70 per cent increase from the prior three-year period. In some cases, data centres use over 25 per cent of local community water supplies.

Northern Virginia's Loudoun County, home to the world's greatest concentration of data centres covering an area equivalent to 100,000 football fields, exemplifies the pressure. Data centres serviced by the Loudoun water utility increased their drinking water use by more than 250 per cent between 2019 and 2023. When the region suffered a monthslong drought in 2024, data centres continued operating at full capacity, pulling millions of gallons daily whilst residents faced conservation restrictions.

The global pattern repeats with numbing regularity. In Uruguay, communities protested unsustainable water use during drought recovery. In Chile, facilities tap directly into drinking water reservoirs. In Aragon, Spain, demonstrators marched under the slogan “Your cloud is drying my river.” The irony is acute: the digital clouds we imagine as ethereal abstractions are, in physical reality, draining literal rivers.

Traditional data centre cooling relies on evaporative systems that spray water over heat exchangers or cooling towers. As warm air passes through, water evaporates, carrying heat away. It's thermodynamically efficient but water-intensive by design. Approximately 80 per cent of water withdrawn by data centres evaporates, with the remaining 20 per cent discharged to municipal wastewater facilities, often contaminated with cooling chemicals and minerals.

On average, a data centre uses approximately 300,000 gallons of water per day. Large facilities can consume 5 million gallons daily. An Iowa data centre consumed 1 billion gallons in 2024, enough to supply all of Iowa's residential water for five days.

The water demands become even more acute when considering that AI workloads generate significantly more heat than traditional computing. Training a single large language model can require weeks of intensive computation across thousands of processors. As AI capabilities expand and model sizes grow, the cooling challenge intensifies proportionally.

Google's water consumption has increased by nearly 88 per cent since 2019, primarily driven by data centre expansion. Amazon's emissions rose to 68.25 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent in 2024, a 6 per cent increase from the previous year and the company's first emissions rise since 2021. Microsoft's greenhouse gas emissions for 2023 were 29.1 per cent higher than its 2020 baseline, directly contradicting the company's stated climate ambitions.

These increases come despite public commitments to the contrary. Before the AI boom, Amazon, Microsoft and Google all pledged to cut their carbon footprints and become water-positive by 2030. Microsoft President Brad Smith has acknowledged that the company's AI push has made it “four times more difficult” to achieve carbon-negative goals by the target date, though he maintains the commitment stands. The admission raises uncomfortable questions about whether corporate climate pledges will be abandoned when they conflict with profitable growth opportunities.

Alternative Technologies and Their Trade-offs

The good news is that alternatives exist. The challenge is scaling them economically whilst navigating complex trade-offs between water use, energy consumption and practicality.

Closed-loop liquid cooling systems circulate water or specialised coolants through a closed circuit that never evaporates. Water flows directly to servers via cold plates or heat exchangers, absorbs heat, returns to chillers where it's cooled, then circulates again. Once filled during construction, the system requires minimal water replenishment.

Microsoft has begun deploying closed-loop, chip-level liquid cooling systems that eliminate evaporative water use entirely, reducing annual consumption by more than 125 million litres per facility. Research suggests closed-loop systems can reduce freshwater use by 50 to 70 per cent compared to traditional evaporative cooling.

The trade-off? Energy consumption. Closed-loop systems typically use 10 to 30 per cent more electricity to power chillers than evaporative systems, which leverage the thermodynamic efficiency of phase change. You can save water but increase your carbon footprint, or vice versa. Optimising both simultaneously requires careful engineering and higher capital costs.

Immersion cooling submerges entire servers in tanks filled with non-conductive dielectric fluids, providing extremely efficient heat transfer. Companies like Iceotope and LiquidStack are pioneering commercial immersion cooling solutions that can handle the extreme heat densities generated by AI accelerators. The fluids are expensive, however, and retrofitting existing data centres is impractical.

Purple pipe systems use reclaimed wastewater for cooling instead of potable water. Data centres can embrace the energy efficiency of evaporative cooling whilst preserving drinking water supplies. In 2023, Loudoun Water in Virginia delivered 815 million gallons of reclaimed water to customers, primarily data centres, saving an equivalent amount of potable water. Expanding purple pipe infrastructure requires coordination between operators, utilities and governments, plus capital investment in dual piping systems.

Geothermal cooling methods such as aquifer thermal energy storage and deep lake water cooling utilise natural cooling from the earth's thermal mass. Done properly, they consume negligible water and require minimal energy for pumping. Geographic constraints limit deployment; you need the right geology or proximity to deep water bodies. Northern European countries with abundant groundwater and cold climates are particularly well-suited to these approaches.

Hybrid approaches are emerging that combine multiple technologies. X-Cooling, a system under development by industry collaborators, blends ambient air cooling with closed-loop liquid cooling to eliminate water use whilst optimising energy efficiency. Proponents estimate it could save 1.2 million tons of water annually for every 100 megawatts of capacity.

The crucial question isn't whether alternatives exist but rather what incentives or requirements will drive adoption at scale. Left to market forces alone, operators will default to whatever maximises their economic returns, which typically means conventional evaporative cooling using subsidised water.

The Policy Patchwork

Global policy responses remain fragmented and inconsistent, ranging from ambitious mandatory reporting in the European Union to virtually unregulated expansion in many developing nations.

The EU leads in regulatory ambition. The Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact has secured commitments from operators responsible for more than 90 per cent of European data centre capacity to achieve climate neutrality by 2030. Signatories include Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Digital Realty, Equinix and dozens of others. As of 1 January 2025, new data centres in cold climates must meet an annual PUE target of 1.3 (current industry average is 1.58), effectively mandating advanced cooling technologies.

The enforcement mechanisms and penalties for non-compliance remain somewhat nebulous, however. The pact is voluntary; signatories can theoretically withdraw if requirements become inconvenient. The reporting requirements create transparency but don't impose hard caps on consumption or emissions. This reflects the EU's broader regulatory philosophy of transparency and voluntary compliance before moving to mandatory limits, a gradualist approach that critics argue allows environmental damage to continue whilst bureaucracies debate enforcement mechanisms.

Asia-Pacific countries are pursuing varied approaches that reflect different priorities and governmental structures. Singapore launched its Green Data Centre Roadmap in May 2024, aiming to grow capacity sustainably through green energy and energy-efficient technology, with plans to introduce standards for energy-efficient IT equipment and liquid cooling by 2025. The city-state, facing severe land and resource constraints, has strong incentives to maximise efficiency per square metre.

China announced plans to decrease the average PUE of its data centres to less than 1.5 by 2025, with renewable energy utilisation increasing by 10 per cent annually. Given China's massive data centre buildout to support domestic tech companies and government digitalisation initiatives, achieving these targets would represent a significant environmental improvement. Implementation and verification remain questions, however, particularly in a regulatory environment where transparency is limited.

Malaysia and Singapore have proposed mandatory sustainability reporting starting in 2025, with Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan targeting 2026. Japan's Financial Services Agency is developing a sustainability disclosure standard similar to the EU's CSRD, potentially requiring reporting from 2028. This regional convergence towards mandatory disclosure suggests a recognition that voluntary approaches have proven insufficient.

In the United States, much regulatory action occurs at the state level, creating a complex patchwork of requirements that vary dramatically by jurisdiction. California's Senate Bill 253, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, represents one of the most aggressive state-level requirements, mandating detailed climate disclosures from large companies operating in the state. Virginia, which hosts the greatest concentration of U.S. data centres, has seen a flood of legislative activity. In 2025 legislative sessions, 113 bills across 30 states addressed data centres, with Virginia alone considering 28 bills covering everything from tax incentives to water usage restrictions.

Virginia's House Bill 1601, which would have mandated environmental impact assessments on water usage for proposed data centres, was vetoed by Governor Glenn Youngkin in May 2024, highlighting the political tension between attracting economic investment and managing environmental impacts.

Some states are attaching sustainability requirements to tax incentives, attempting to balance economic development with environmental protection. Virginia requires data centres to source at least 90 per cent of energy from carbon-free renewable sources beginning in 2027 to qualify for tax credits. Illinois requires data centres to become carbon-neutral within two years of being placed into service to receive incentives. Michigan extended incentives through 2050 (and 2065 for redevelopment sites) whilst tying benefits to brownfield and former power plant locations, encouraging reuse of previously developed land.

Oregon has proposed particularly stringent penalties: a bill requiring data centres to reduce carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2027, with non-compliance resulting in fines of $12,000 per megawatt-hour per day. Minnesota eliminated electricity tax relief for data centres whilst adding steep annual fees and enforcing wage and sustainability requirements. Kansas launched a 20-year sales tax exemption requiring $250 million in capital investment and 20-plus jobs, setting a high bar for qualification.

The trend is towards conditions-based incentives rather than blanket tax breaks. States recognise they have leverage at the approval stage and are using it to extract sustainability commitments. The challenge is ensuring those commitments translate into verified performance over time.

At the federal level, bicameral lawmakers introduced the Artificial Intelligence Environmental Impacts Act in early 2024, directing the EPA to study AI's environmental footprint and develop measurement standards and a voluntary reporting system. The legislation remains in committee, stalled by partisan disagreements and industry lobbying.

Incentives, Penalties and What Might Actually Work

The question of what policy mechanisms can genuinely motivate operators to prioritise environmental stewardship requires grappling with economic realities. Data centre operators respond to incentives like any business: they'll adopt sustainable practices when profitable, required by regulation, or necessary to maintain social licence to operate.

Voluntary initiatives have demonstrated that good intentions alone are insufficient. Microsoft, Google and Amazon all committed to aggressive climate goals, yet their emissions trajectories are headed in the wrong direction. Without binding requirements and verification, corporate sustainability pledges function primarily as marketing.

Carbon pricing represents one economically efficient approach: make operators pay for emissions and let market forces drive efficiency. The challenge is setting prices high enough to drive behaviour change without crushing industry competitiveness. Coordinated international carbon pricing would solve the competitiveness problem but remains politically unlikely.

Water pricing faces similar dynamics. In many jurisdictions, industrial water is heavily subsidised or priced below its scarcity value. Tiered pricing offers a middle path: charge below-market rates for baseline consumption but impose premium prices for usage above certain thresholds. Couple this with seasonal adjustments that raise prices during drought conditions, and you create dynamic incentives aligned with actual scarcity.

Performance standards sidestep pricing politics by prohibiting construction or operation of facilities exceeding specified PUE, WUE or CUE thresholds. Singapore's approach exemplifies this strategy. The downside is rigidity: standards lock in specific technologies, potentially excluding innovations that achieve environmental goals through different means.

Mandatory disclosure with verification might be the most immediately viable path. Require operators to report standardised metrics on energy and water consumption, carbon emissions across all scopes, cooling technologies deployed, and renewable energy percentages. Mandate third-party audits. Make all data publicly accessible.

Transparency creates accountability through multiple channels. Investors can evaluate ESG risks. Communities can assess impacts before approving developments. Media and advocacy groups can spotlight poor performers, creating reputational pressure. And the data provides policymakers the foundation to craft evidence-based regulations.

The EU's Energy Efficiency Directive and CSRD represent this approach. The United States could adopt similar federal requirements, building on the EPA's proposed AI Environmental Impacts Act but making reporting mandatory. The iMasons Climate Accord has called for “nutrition labels” on data centres detailing sustainability outcomes.

The key is aligning financial incentives with environmental outcomes whilst maintaining flexibility for innovation. A portfolio approach combining mandatory disclosure, performance standards for new construction, carbon and water pricing reflecting scarcity, financial incentives for superior performance, and penalties for egregious behaviour would create multiple reinforcing pressures.

International coordination would amplify effectiveness. If major economic blocs adopted comparable standards and reporting requirements, operators couldn't simply relocate to the most permissive jurisdiction. Getting international agreement is difficult, but precedents exist. The Montreal Protocol successfully addressed ozone depletion through coordinated regulation. Data centre impacts are more tractable than civilisational-scale challenges like total decarbonisation.

The Community Dimension

Lost in discussions of megawatts and PUE scores are the communities where data centres locate. These facilities occupy physical land, draw from local water tables, connect to regional grids, and compete with residents for finite resources.

Chandler, Arizona provides an instructive case. In 2015, the city passed an ordinance restricting water-intensive businesses that don't create many jobs, effectively deterring data centres. The decision reflected citizen priorities: in a desert experiencing its worst drought in recorded history, consuming millions of gallons daily to cool servers whilst generating minimal employment wasn't an acceptable trade-off.

Other communities have made different calculations, viewing data centres as economic assets despite environmental costs. The decision often depends on how transparent operators are about impacts and how equitably costs and benefits are distributed.

Best practices are emerging. Some operators fund water infrastructure improvements that benefit entire communities. Others prioritise hiring locally and invest in training programmes. Procurement of renewable energy, if done locally through power purchase agreements with regional projects, can accelerate clean energy transitions. Waste heat recovery systems that redirect data centre heat to district heating networks or greenhouses turn a liability into a resource.

Proactive engagement should be a prerequisite for approval. Require developers to conduct and publicly release comprehensive environmental impact assessments. Hold public hearings where citizens can question operators and independent technical experts. Make approval contingent on binding community benefit agreements that specify environmental performance, local hiring commitments, infrastructure investments and ongoing reporting.

Too often, data centre approvals happen through opaque processes dominated by economic development offices eager to announce investment figures. By the time residents learn details, decisions are fait accompli. Shifting to participatory processes would slow approvals but produce more sustainable and equitable outcomes.

Rewiring the System

Addressing the environmental crisis created by AI data centres requires action across multiple domains simultaneously. The essential elements include:

Mandatory, standardised reporting globally. Require all data centres above a specified capacity threshold to annually report detailed metrics on energy consumption, water usage, carbon emissions across all scopes, cooling technologies, renewable energy percentages, and waste heat recovery. Mandate third-party verification and public accessibility through centralised databases.

Performance requirements for new construction tied to local environmental conditions. Water-scarce regions should prohibit evaporative cooling unless using reclaimed water. Areas with carbon-intensive grids should require on-site renewable generation. Cold climates should mandate ambitious PUE targets.

Pricing water and carbon to reflect scarcity and social cost. Eliminate subsidies that make waste economically rational. Implement tiered pricing that charges premium rates for consumption above baselines. Use seasonal adjustments to align prices with real-time conditions.

Strategic financial incentives to accelerate adoption of superior technologies. Offer tax credits for closed-loop cooling, immersion systems, waste heat recovery, and on-site renewable generation. Establish significant penalties for non-compliance, including fines and potential revocation of operating licences.

Investment in alternative cooling infrastructure at scale. Expand purple pipe systems in areas with data centre concentrations. Support geothermal system development where geology permits. Fund research into novel cooling technologies.

Reformed approval processes ensuring community voice. Require comprehensive impact assessments, public hearings and community benefit agreements before approval. Give local governments authority to impose conditions or reject proposals based on environmental capacity.

International coordination through diplomatic channels and trade agreements. Develop consensus standards and mutual recognition agreements. Use trade policy to discourage environmental dumping. Support technology transfer and capacity building in developing nations.

Demand-side solutions through research into more efficient AI architectures, better model compression and edge computing that distributes processing closer to users. Finally, cultivate cultural and corporate norm shifts where sustainability becomes as fundamental to data centre operations as uptime and security.

When the Cloud Touches Ground

The expansion of AI-powered data centres represents a collision between humanity's digital aspirations and planetary physical limits. We've constructed infrastructure that treats water and energy as infinitely abundant whilst generating carbon emissions incompatible with climate stability.

Communities are already pushing back. Aquifers are declining. Grids are straining. The “just build more” mentality is encountering limits, and those limits will only tighten as climate change intensifies water scarcity and energy systems decarbonise. The question is whether we'll address these constraints proactively through thoughtful policy or reactively through crisis-driven restrictions.

The technologies to build sustainable AI infrastructure exist. Closed-loop cooling can eliminate water consumption. Renewable energy can power operations carbon-free. Efficient design can minimise energy waste. The question is whether policy frameworks, economic incentives and social pressures will align to drive adoption before constraints force more disruptive responses.

Brad Smith's acknowledgment that AI has made Microsoft's climate goals “four times more difficult” is admirably honest but deeply inadequate as a policy response. The answer cannot be to accept that AI requires abandoning climate commitments. It must be to ensure AI development occurs within environmental boundaries through regulation, pricing and technological innovation.

Sustainable AI infrastructure is technically feasible. What's required is political will to impose requirements, market mechanisms to align incentives, transparency to enable accountability, and international cooperation to prevent a race to the bottom. None of these elements exist sufficiently today, which is why emissions rise whilst pledges multiply.

The data centres sprouting across water-stressed regions aren't abstract nodes in a cloud; they're physical installations making concrete claims on finite resources. Every litre consumed, every kilowatt drawn, every ton of carbon emitted represents a choice. We can continue making those choices unconsciously, allowing market forces to prioritise private profit over collective sustainability. Or we can choose deliberately, through democratic processes and informed by transparent data, to ensure the infrastructure powering our digital future doesn't compromise our environmental future.

The residents of Mesa, Arizona, watching data centres rise whilst their wells run dry, deserve better. So do communities worldwide facing the same calculus. The question isn't whether we can build sustainable AI infrastructure. It's whether we will, and the answer depends on whether policymakers, operators and citizens decide that environmental stewardship isn't negotiable, even when the stakes are measured in terabytes and training runs.

The technology sector has repeatedly demonstrated capacity for extraordinary innovation when properly motivated. Carbon-free data centres are vastly simpler than quantum computing or artificial general intelligence. What's lacking isn't capability but commitment. Building that commitment through robust regulation, meaningful incentives and uncompromising transparency isn't anti-technology; it's ensuring technology serves humanity rather than undermining the environmental foundations civilisation requires.

The cloud must not dry the rivers. The servers must not drain the wells. These aren't metaphors; they're material realities. Addressing them requires treating data centre environmental impacts with the seriousness they warrant: as a central challenge of sustainable technology development in the 21st century, demanding comprehensive policy responses, substantial investment and unwavering accountability.

The path forward is clear. Whether we take it depends on choices made in legislative chambers, corporate boardrooms, investor evaluations and community meetings worldwide. The infrastructure powering artificial intelligence must itself become more intelligent, operating within planetary boundaries rather than exceeding them. That transformation won't happen spontaneously. It requires us to build it, deliberately and urgently, before the wells run dry.

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Sources and References

1. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. (2024). “2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report.” https://eta.lbl.gov/publications/2024-lbnl-data-center-energy-usage-report

2. The Guardian. (2024). Analysis of data centre emissions reporting by Google, Microsoft, Meta and Apple.

3. Bloomberg. (2025). “The AI Boom Is Draining Water From the Areas That Need It Most.” https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-ai-impacts-data-centers-water-data/

4. European Commission. (2024). Energy Efficiency Directive and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive implementation documentation.

5. Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact. (2024). Signatory list and certification documentation. https://www.climateneutraldatacentre.net/

6. Microsoft. (2025). Environmental Sustainability Report. Published by Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President, and Melanie Nakagawa, Chief Sustainability Officer.

7. Morgan Stanley. (2024). Analysis of AI-optimised data centre electricity consumption and emissions projections.

8. NBC News. (2021). “Drought-stricken communities push back against data centers.”

9. NPR. (2022). “Data centers, backbone of the digital economy, face water scarcity and climate risk.”

10. Various state legislative documents: Virginia HB 1601, California SB 253, Oregon data centre emissions reduction bill, Illinois carbon neutrality requirements.

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Tim Green UK-based Systems Theorist & Independent Technology Writer

Tim explores the intersections of artificial intelligence, decentralised cognition, and posthuman ethics. His work, published at smarterarticles.co.uk, challenges dominant narratives of technological progress while proposing interdisciplinary frameworks for collective intelligence and digital stewardship.

His writing has been featured on Ground News and shared by independent researchers across both academic and technological communities.

ORCID: 0009-0002-0156-9795 Email: tim@smarterarticles.co.uk

I am just me. Ben. I have had beginnings. Birth. Graduations. Marriage. Parent. This is my last beginning. I will navigate on my terms and at my pace which will be to look, listen, feel what is in my face. Then adapt. Strait up, regular, me.

In Summary: * A pretty good Wednesday. The Retina Doc phoned me this morning and we had a constructive conversation. We have an appointment set for mid-February where he'll look at both my eyes (again) and we may begin standard treatment on my right eye at that time.

Prayers, etc.: * My daily prayers.

Health Metrics: * bw= 221.79 lbs. * bp= 138/77 (68)

Exercise: * kegel pelvic floor exercise, half squats, calf raises, wall push-ups

Diet: * 06:00 – pizza, peanut butter sandwich * 12:20 – 1 ham & cheese sandwich, fried eggplant * 15:50 – 1 fresh apple, crispy oatmeal cookies

Activities, Chores, etc.: * 04:00 – listen to local news, talk radio * 05:20 – bank accounts activity monitored * 05:50 – read, pray, listen to news reports from various sources * 12:00 to 13:00 – watch old game shows on TV, eat lunch at home with Sylvia * 15:45 – following news reports from various sources * 17:10 -tuned into the ESPN Station broadcasting from Harrisburg, PA for coverage of tonight's men's college basketball game between the Harvard Crimson and the Penn St. Nittany Lions. Opening tip is only minutes away. * 19:30 – a MUCH closer game than I expected, but Penn St. finally won 84-80. Shall follow news reports now until bedtime.

Chess: * 15:20 – moved in all pending CC games