“But I haven’t seen any art!”
A snatch of conversation overheard more than once during Toronto’s Nuit Blanche.
I think one of the best things about this annual all-nighter is that it reminds one of how artificial boundaries are.
What captivated us was the sense of a city street party for over a million people, the reconnection with childlike joy and wonder, and, in the better installations, a sense of seeing the world through fresh eyes. Maybe not high art, but fulfilling at least something of artistic purpose as I define it.
I think joy, in this context, is rooted in the excitement of the unexpected, in wonder and, perhaps most of all, in conectedness.
Highlights?
- Small installations by the Artists Cooperative of Canada at Spadina Museum, a garden walk reminiscent of magical prep-school ghost walks (with the bonus of Casa Loma and the view across the night city)
- The hypnotic calm of a forest of lights and white, feather-fronds in the Atrium of the Royal Conservatory, itself a glorious blend of old and new (Philip Beesley’s Aurora) – video coming soon! I already know and love the Conservatory’s fabulous Koerner Hall, where a solitary ghostly pianist took to the stage . . .
- Monument to Smile – unexpectedly heart-warming, smiling Torontonian faces projected across the facade of Holt Renfrew, accompanied by Charlie Chaplin’s song of the same name
- Spotlights (of unknown origin) picking up night clouds as if in some giant night-club as we stood in one of many line-ups (queues)
- Flaming Pine Cone sculptures outside Campbell house – simple, mesmerizing, beautiful (I want one!)
- The surprising delicacy of Auto Lamp, a white van punctured by brilliant light, shimmering light-flakes across the buildings at Yonge and Queen
- CRUZE Remix, a definition defying combination of car show room, multiple projections screens, driving track through moving patterns of intelligent light inspiring live mixing of music and video, a hand-painted car – this more than anything else made me question my need for definitions and boundaries as commercial promotion and spectacle intertwined!
It is easy to be cynical and dismissive – there are always critics. But, as well as enjoying the spectacle, we relished the unwaveringly amiable crowd (even when crushed tighter than sardines on the subway at 3 a.m.) Our evening was not darkened by drunkenness or anti-social behaviour; I have read that, with bars unusually open until 4am, eventually a point is reached, but, in the seven hours or so we were on the streets, we saw almost none.
If culture is the glue that holds a society together, then without doubt Nuit Blanche is a significant cultural event – I felt truly part of an amazing city in a way I have not experienced anywhere else. It may or may not be ‘art’; but its weird and wonderful happenings do possess a positive power to bring people together, to inspire and illuminate. Toronto would be the poorer without its White Night.
If you are living in Toronto and are interested in exploring the place of joy, you won’t want to miss this year’s Wellness Celebration of Health, Food, Creativity.
