Nuit Blanche 2009

This is the 4th year in a row that I've roamed the streets of Toronto all night to ask myself over and over again that invaluable unanswerable question: "What Is Art?" Toronto's Nuit Blanche is an event that I've consistently looked forward to every year since its inauguration, although I have to admit that my enthusiasm is as much about the urban experience itself, the thrill of watching a city teem with life well past the hours that it normally would, becoming a literal 'city that never sleeps' for one night only, as it is about seeing priceless works of art. Let's face it, if my love of art was the only reason for doing this, I probably would not have made it past the second year. It's true, there is usually a lot of neat stuff going on, but the number of exhibits that leave me scratching my head far outweigh the amount of really impressive moments. The most impressive thing is the enthusiasm that our city's patrons continue to show for something that, I think, the majority of observers are still trying to wrap their head around.

Unfortunately, this year's experience failed to capture the magic of the last three years, partially due to personal scheduling problems. Although it's rare that I pick up tickets for a show far in advance, for some reason this time I did, namely for the Destroyer / Andre Ethier show that I reviewed a few days ago. Clearly I enjoyed the show, but that doesn't change the fact that slapping a show in the middle of a Nuit Blanche experience will most certainly kill the momentum. It also made it difficult to meet up with my usual cast of art loving peers, and unfortunately I never did get the chance to do that. This is how I realized that, left to my own devices, in this setting, I'm actually quite useless.

Still, the wife and I did see a couple of neat things, and here are some of the highlights:

Prior to the show, we started out at Liberty Village where we saw the beginnings of some exhibits that likely got more interesting as the night progressed. There was the Take Shelter exhibit, where people were invited to build a shelter using the cans and cardboard boxes that were provided. Right inside the local Metro Grocery Store, there was Invade, which involved ceiling projections of aircrafts that simulated the sounds and effects of a plane flying dangerously close to the store. And of course, there was A Sultry World, which was a Japanese exhibit involving an artist sitting atop a three-meter high chair wearing a massive scarlet coloured velvet dress that literally encompassed the entire room that it was in. After the show we made our way to Bay Street which gave off a bit of a carnival vibe as a couple of amusement park rides were displayed and offered for free to the public. We didn't bother waiting in line for them, but apparently the exhibit (known as Wild Ride) was meant as a kinetic contemplation of the ups and downs of the recent economic crisis. I didn't hear so much contemplation as I did just a lot of screaming, but maybe that's how some people kinetically contemplate. We also saw a pool made out of Vodka that was known as Vodka Pool, and a balloon shaped like a rabbit which was known as Rabbit Balloon. Not a lot of need for interpretation there. Unfortunately some of the exhibits that we wanted to see the most had ridiculously long lineups in order to get in, the most notable one being Space Becomes The Instrument wherein Massey Hall was converted into one giant instrument. The 75 minute wait just didn't appeal to me at 4 o'clock in the morning. I also heard that there was a lot of cool things going on at the Ditillery District but again, at 4am, that just seemed to feel like it was just a little bit too far.

The verdict from most of my friends was that this year's event wasn't as exhilerating as in years past and although I may be inclined to agree, I wouldn't say that it was a complete washout either. For next year, I will definitely make a more concerted effort not to book anything else on that day, and I will partake in a little thing known as preparing ahead of time. Still, when my head hit the pillow at 5am, I slept like a baby. That was pretty good.

My Photos: Nuit Blanche 2009
More photos of Nuit Blanche: Flickr Pool