The Dismantling of Baveuse City

Hard to say if this is a manifesto, an autobiographical note, or the post-mortem of what was a brilliant, yet unusual musical career. Let’s agree to say that there’s a little bit of everything in The Dismantling of Baveuse City, a short film that revolves around the words of Chloé Pilon Vaillancourt, aka Marie-Gold, renowned Quebec rapper and bona fide engineer.

Introspective, seeking some form of meaning, the artist revisits memories of her childhood hoping to rationalize her emerging professional journey, one that is rich in dualities. Duality between art and science, emotions and pragmatism, hot impulses and cold reflections. Some might even go as far as saying that Marie-Gold's journey is akin to a "professional bipolar syndrome." After all, there must be a reason why the film opens with a shot of Douglas Hospital, Montreal’s main psychiatric institution. Rather than choosing between two obsessions, between rap and engineering physics, she boldly decided to plunge headfirst into both paths—simultaneously. The film, as lucid as its protagonist, ends by opening a window and peeks into her future, directing our gaze forward, asking the following question: After all these years, has the time finally come to make a choice? 

Jason Todd
Artistic Director
Tënk