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View of the central part of the fountain, showing the base; La Joute (The Joust) (1969) is a public sculptural installation by Quebec sculptor Jean-Paul Riopelle, a member of the earlier Automatiste movement. It is presently located in the Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle, Montreal (Square-Victoria or Place-d'Armes metro station). The ensemble of bronze sculptures contains a central fountain surrounded by a number of freestanding abstract animal and human figures inside and outside the fountain basin. The fountain operates on a kinetic sequence that takes about 32 minutes to complete. On the hour, nozzles in a ring surrounding the central sculpture within the basin shoot up jets of natural gas through the water; these are lit by flame sources installed in the daises of some of the sculptures, producing a dramatic ring of flame. The statue was formerly located in the Parc Olympique, in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district of Montreal. Its relocation to the Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle during the redevelopment of the Quartier international de Montréal in 2003 provoked controversy. Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (accessed 2/4/2008)