Lighting Up The Town

Toronto. The little metropolis that could. Oft maligned as a sort of small-scale simulacrum of New York, except, you know, more polite. Once a year, however, Torontonians shed the politesse for an all-night pre-frost bacchanal of artistic proportions known as Nuit Blanche.

Vintage (circa 2006) press releases characterize the event and her name thusly: “The literal English translation of Nuit Blanche is “White Night,” a term used to describe a natural phenomenon that occurs at high latitudes where the dusk meets the dawn. It refers to a night without darkness; a night for new discoveries; a sleepless night.”

Nuit Blanche is far from a Toronto exclusive event. The concept of a city-wide all-night art festival was developed by Jean Blaise in Nantes, France in 1984 and picked up by Helsinki in the late 1980′s. Since then over 100 cities worldwide have adopted (and adapted) the concept, including Paris, Brussels, Bucharest, Buenos Aires and Madrid.

Unsurprisingly, much of the action in Toronto surrounds the creative enclave of West Queen West and the Village of Parkdale. Vogue once described Queen West as ‘Canadian for Soho,’ and by that logic West Queen West and Parkdale would be Canadian for Lower East Side.

The westside duopoly of cool, The Gladstone and Drake Hotel, both host their own version of performance-cum-exhibition-cum-free for alls.

When it comes to the visual arts, the theme at the Gladstone is “Fly By Night: brief moments and fleeting experiences in ephemeral environments.” Sound eerie? That’s the idea. There will be several temporary installations and performances in the hotel’s studio spaces, hallways and at the Art Bar. Also on the agenda: karaoke and band performances in the Melody Bar, and burlesque cabarets in the Ballroom.

The Drake is calling their celebration “Funhouse.” Multiple installations (including “epic” balloon art) will take over the classic façade of the building, but the spectacle doesn’t stop at the from door though. The artists/musicians of Born Gold (formerly Gobble Gobble) will put on a show and then NYC-based DJs Metro Area will keep the dance party going.

And some other highlights in the city beyond:

• Art collective Juicebox’s “A Brief History of Rebellion” has enlisted dozens of local acts including Tokyo Police Club, Buck 65, Woodhands to perform their rendition of Nirvana’s seminal “Smells Like Teen Spirit” approximately 144 consecutive times.
  (Toronto Underground Cinema, 186 Spadina Avenue)
• Artist Germaine Koh’s Sisyphean “Erratic”, a traveling performance manifesting as a glacial boulder being rolled southward from northern Ontario towards Toronto’s already-engineered waterfront land.
  (Will start at Bloor Street at 7 pm and end at the waterfront at 7 am)
• Inspired by the birds in Nathan Phillips Square, artists Usman Haque and Natalie Jeremijenko will invite visitors to enroll in an “urban flightschool” in their installation “Flight Path 2011.” They will create an interactive visual airscape, allowing participants to enjoy the city from above.
  (Nathan Phillips Square, 100 Queen Street West)

For more information, see sponsor ScotiaBank’s Nuit Blanche 2011 website.

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