On Saturday, we stayed out late with the masses, wandering around the streets of downtown Toronto admiring the contemporary art exhibitions of Nuit Blanche!
Literature vs. Traffic
In its eleventh year, Nuit Blanche is an all-night arts festival which started on Saturday at 6:58 pm and ended Sunday morning at 7 am. With 91 projects spanning the downtown area, there was a lot to take in.
We started our evening adventure, with Aunt Vicki in tow, at the city-produced exhibitions in Nathan Phillips Square. The three exhibits in the vicinity of City Hall, collectively titled OBLIVION, explored the Sun's death and our human existence. Deep stuff.
PNEUMA was an installation in the reflecting pool, with a film projected onto a fan of water being sprayed up from the pool. The surreal images and audio were transfixing and we found ourselves engrossed from start to finish.
We started our evening adventure, with Aunt Vicki in tow, at the city-produced exhibitions in Nathan Phillips Square. The three exhibits in the vicinity of City Hall, collectively titled OBLIVION, explored the Sun's death and our human existence. Deep stuff.
PNEUMA was an installation in the reflecting pool, with a film projected onto a fan of water being sprayed up from the pool. The surreal images and audio were transfixing and we found ourselves engrossed from start to finish.
We then headed over to new City Hall for the exhibit inside the rotunda. As we followed the line from the entrance all the way down the side and back of the building, we were afraid it would take a while to get through it all. Luckily, the installation could hold big groups so we quickly made our way from the back of the line to the front. Not ones to miss an opportunity, as we were waiting in line we took turns saving our place to look at donated books filling the streets for Literature vs. Traffic, "with traffic yielding to the modest power of the written words".
Once inside the rotunda, we were shuffled into Ocean, an immersive experience where the recycled textiles hanging from the ceiling above us were moving around in waves as the sound and pulsing lights surrounded us.
Once inside the rotunda, we were shuffled into Ocean, an immersive experience where the recycled textiles hanging from the ceiling above us were moving around in waves as the sound and pulsing lights surrounded us.
There was another installation in Nathan Phillips Square entitled Death of the Sun, which was a sculpture of the sun progressing through its life cycle, although when we were there it was unfortunately only showing one image.
Our next stop was a pub for some drinks, where we stayed a little while, re-hydrating and planning for the night ahead.
We then walked down Bay Street, which was closed to traffic, among hoards of people and stopped at any installations we saw along the way. One of them was The Guardians, large photographs pasted in the windows of a building in the Financial District which paid tribute to the independent stops around the world with unique merchandise.
Our next stop was a pub for some drinks, where we stayed a little while, re-hydrating and planning for the night ahead.
We then walked down Bay Street, which was closed to traffic, among hoards of people and stopped at any installations we saw along the way. One of them was The Guardians, large photographs pasted in the windows of a building in the Financial District which paid tribute to the independent stops around the world with unique merchandise.
Then we came across the Design Exchange, which was hosting two exhibits. The line was long but it was worth the wait. Inside the Design Exchange, on the former trading floor of the Toronto Stock Exchange, Vertigo Sea, a three-screen film was playing. The film was comprised of film clips, images and quotes on theme of of our human relationship with the sea, tackling subjects such as whaling, immigration, and slavery, complimented by a background of haunting music. The three of us were so immersed in the film that we sat there for over half an hour, and we didn't even catch the beginning of the film.
The second exhibit at the Design Exchange, The Body Behind The Body, was on the 3rd floor and was two screens facing each other panning photographs of humans in poses which were combined to form mosaics. It wasn't our favourite installation but was interesting nonetheless.
We were hoping to head to the harbourfront to see the numerous exhibits down there, but by midnight we were running out of steam so we decided to see one more exhibit that didn't require lining up. That exhibit was Fallen Water - Niagara Escarpment located in Brookfield Place.
The second exhibit at the Design Exchange, The Body Behind The Body, was on the 3rd floor and was two screens facing each other panning photographs of humans in poses which were combined to form mosaics. It wasn't our favourite installation but was interesting nonetheless.
We were hoping to head to the harbourfront to see the numerous exhibits down there, but by midnight we were running out of steam so we decided to see one more exhibit that didn't require lining up. That exhibit was Fallen Water - Niagara Escarpment located in Brookfield Place.
The screens were arranged in the form of a waterfall and showcased footage from water running through the Niagara Escarpment. This piece was accessible and had lots of room for onlookers, but one of our favourite moments at this stop was the fact that people were lying on, and posing for photos with the glass bricks in the floor (that are always there) as if they were the highlight of Nuit Blanche. Oh well, they did look nice!
Our Nuit Blanche ended after seeing a mere 8 exhibits out of the 91 dotted around the city. Our takeaways were that we were impressed by the crowds, enjoyed the artwork, and can't wait for next year! Here are some more photos of our first Nuit Blanche experience.
Our Nuit Blanche ended after seeing a mere 8 exhibits out of the 91 dotted around the city. Our takeaways were that we were impressed by the crowds, enjoyed the artwork, and can't wait for next year! Here are some more photos of our first Nuit Blanche experience.
This time last year we were making homemade sushi, this time in 2014 we attended the St. John's Storytelling Festival, and in 2013 we checked out some art and ate some veggies. The beginning of October must bring out the artsy foodies in us!
