Nuit Blanche, the one sleepless night in Toronto, an exciting event hosted by Scotia Bank which fills the city with contemporary art and performances - What a joyful time! Roaming the city with a friend from class, Daniel, and thousands of other spectators, was an interesting and unforgettable experience. So we started with the Internet of course! Exploring the site, we planned out what our schedule would be like. Carefully ooh-ing and aah-ing at each of the different projects, we decided on picking Zone A, just because of accessibility from TTC.
Where did we head first? Zombies! Admittedly, we thought it would be the most interesting project, and so we headed there first. ‘A series of night actions that mimic a film screening for a set for a low-budget zombie flick’ (Pamphlet) – How thrilling, how could we pass up a chance to watch the living dead? So we hopped on the TTC and got there for the opening. What was interesting was that we had to sign a waiver to get in; I really think it added to the effect that this “zone of the dead” was not amongst the rest of the world.
Caption: Hazard sign
Interestingly, we noticed the cheerfulness of the audience there. I mean for a depressing, creepy, and dark display of gore and guts, everyone was happy to be there, and immersed in taking pictures and chatting and saying “look at that guy!” Not a single person grinned or looked away, when watching the boy zombie actor showing off his acting skills.
Caption: Zombie kid walking around with a limp
The whole crowd took their place when the director showed up. The zombies eagerly awaited their instructions, aside from a few who seemed to be stuck in their zombie personas’ and had to be dragged. The rest of the living people formed circles around the zombies. They kept a distance away from the zombies so that everyone may see and take pictures. The watchers did not seem to mind just watching and the zombies did not mind just “zombie-ing”. After a while, me and my friends realized how long everything was taking, and decided to leave and rejoin the rest of the living world. Upon departing, I couldn’t help but think about the magnitude of joyful people that attended this specific event. I really thought this in turn, conveys removal from Simmel’s metropolitan lifestyle - the alienation and loneliness of modernity (Simmel).
Caption: 15 Seconds
We walked for a bit close to the Toronto Eaton Centre, to Dundas Square, for the next spectacle. “15 seconds” this one is called. The display consisted of shining a flood light from the top of a tower to a person or group of people for 15 seconds, and for those 15 seconds that person/group is considered to be instant celebrities. Being at the heart of downtown Toronto, the square was filled with the casual downtown crowd, and a lot of them were simply enjoying sitting on the seats provided and not really into the spirit of the Nuit Blanche event. It was interesting to see the differentiating reactions of the spotlight’s target. Some people gleefully waved, some even bowed, but truthfully, many just ignored the light and continued to enjoy their seat, although still assumingly felt insecure and vulnerable, like they were removed from their secure collective.
Caption: People waving at the spotlight
It was obvious the intention to “celebritize” with the red carpet and seating arrangement paralleling celebrity award shows. In theory I can appreciate the concept, it does to an extent transform the spectator into the spectacle regardless of their reaction, and they were removed from the crowd, highlighted and individualized. In any instance, the concept was very intriguing.
So out of the square and “Into the Blue” – a giant cone-shaped balloon located in the Eaton Centre: very distinguishing, very provocative, and very weird. The piece drew yet another crowd, as it was impossible not to notice, it seemed so out of place that you couldn’t help but stare at it. The majority of the people stood under it, and looked up, and it would’ve looked very humorous, except for the fact that no one seemed to care what anyone else was doing because they were too focused on the big blue balloon. From the pamphlet, the piece is supposed to allow spectators to walk under it to “experience it as an environment.” When I personally walked under it, it did feel encapsulating to me and the other people looking up, into a cone shaped container.
Furthermore, physically the people who stood under it were standing in a filled circle, which did convey Fujiwara Takahiro’s intention, and although we were inside a shopping mall, a very modern institution (Crawford), it did not function as a mall, but rather like an art gallery.
The next work entitled “Massey Hall” is a simple installation of a large 40 meter long drop ceiling on… a dark alley of trash. Ironically, so many people came and well… checked out the trash. I think we were all expecting something at the end of the alley, but instead we were greeted with an open area that leads back outside into the streets. Everyone walked down the alley, and just walked back out. Some gazed at the trash, which was planted there, and some just were more concerned with what’s at the end. As they approached the end, no one seemed to be frustrated, but remained wearing the smile they brought in. The fluorescent lights highlighted the glow in everyone, and created a neat effect. What’s interesting is the concept of applying a “modern” idea of the office, and putting it into a “modern” alley. In essence, it created art out of modern contemporary elements, that’s not supposedly art-like (Williams).
Walking for a little bit, we passed several exhibits that were closed or inaccessible and we came by a very bizarre sight.
Called “Cocoon Garden” we came to witness an infestation of really astounding hanging bright cocoons. In the middle of a small garden, we saw a bunch of illuminated tree-hanging bugs in metamorphosis. Many people were just taking pictures of the insects, but I knew I had to go up to one, and noticed something very peculiar. Each cocoon had inside, an mp3 player and speakers’ playing unique sounds. Specifically, they each played catchy jingles and commercials, on a loop, and according to the pamphlet they were suppose to hum the melodies of our desires. Therefore it can be understood from the advertisements played, that this is an attack on consumerism. Perhaps the cocoons symbolized modern civilizations hypnotic effects of advertisement, and the idea that society is “metamorphosizing” due to the effects of consumerism. Something that really caught me was that one of the cocoons played insect noises, and that humorously, was the only one playing something other than commercials, “oh the irony”!
Caption: Looks so much fun!
As we walked by several other pieces, OCAD and City Hall, which were illuminated with interactive light installations, although not much can be said about them, besides the fact that they stood out and forced everyone to notice them. I personally really enjoyed the work called “A Dream of Pastures” – an interactive mechanical bike powered apparatus that manipulates the shadows into a ride through the pastures. People crowded around a person riding a bike who displayed a shadow on the back wall, of a running horse. Again the atmosphere was different from the rest of the city, but what really was going through people’s minds was riding the horse. Although I and my friends were discouraged to line up the tremendously long line, I felt the desire to ride it. Although accomplishing nothing but maybe burning a few calories, it simply looked really fun.
We finished our 4 hour hike by walking through some smaller works, near U of T on our way to the subway. Sound Forest, and Adoration Street, was not as interactive or interesting as the other pieces we’ve seen, but they overall still demonstrated the same concepts portrayed by the rest of the works. By placing these pieces in a modern context, contemporary art transmutes the city’s architecture, dynamics, and experiences, into a destabilized societal concepts and modernity.
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