Nuit Blanche

"Toronto's free all-night contemporary art thing"

This year marks the 4^th annual Scotiabank’s Nuit Blanche and I knew the streets were going to be as chaotic as the years before. I saw at least three fights brewing with a bit of shoving and lots and lots of trash talking. This is not a comprehensive review of Nuit Blanche because I didn't get a chance to go to many exhibits yesterday and I'm not a contemporary art critic. Here are a few pictures I took:


Space Becomes The Instrument. I got there at 12:30am and Massey Hall was my first stop. The audience gets to view 3 performers playing piano wires extended across the interior of Massey Hall. I was instantly intrigue by the idea of hearing sonically pleasing sounds while sitting on the stage of Massey Hall. We waited and waited. The sign posted on the wall said it would take approximately 75 minutes.


When we finally got in around 1hour and 30 minutes later, we saw three men on the center balconies with one conductor at the foundation of it all. They spent the next five minutes twirling a lighted microphone around their head at varying speeds and levels. These actions caused oscillating pitches, sounds and vibrations that echoed throughout Massey Hall. It was good but I’m beginning to question whether it was worth the 1.5hour wait in the cold.




Beautiful Light: 4 Letter Word Machine. For this exhibit, the City Hall had changing lights accompanied by ominous sounding beats. There was also a reading aloud of the nonsensical words from a voice you’d imagine belonged to a demon (I recently got hooked to Supernatural). The 4 letter words randomly changes to undecipherable phrases such as SONE, JIKE, GELE, etc. Call me weird but the combination of the ominous music with highly bright cryptic phrases being splashed onto the City Hall gave the whole experience a surreal dreamlike feeling.


Ghost Chorus - Dirge for Dead Slang. KKK meeting or Halloween ghosts (jk)?


Light Up The Night. A man in a human sized prophylactic? That condom like suit hugged way too many curves below the belt that I did NOT want to see.


Ice Queen: Glacial Retreat Tent. Located in the Eaton Centre. The dress is 10 foot tall and is animated with a dance that explores global warming and its devastating environmental effects.




Light Up The Night.

There were a few good ones, but some were total crap (i.e. Hey Dave). I know that the art projects try to convey a message, but some weren’t aesthetically pleasing nor were they particularly profound. My opinion may be a bit skewed since I didn't visit all of the exhibits. I think the overall experience of exploring the streets of Toronto with your friends at late hours to see art makes it worthwhile. I had some fun even though I was ready to pass out any second.