#44 Art Square Gallery and Café
West and Dry
Césan and Dan Falk

- West and Dry: 35 mm. slides from the deserts of the U.S.Southwest and the lush greenery of Ireland highlighting breathtaking scenery and hidden gems.

The West and Dry art gallery was one of the more traditional, formal works of art we saw that night. Though still contemporary, it was enjoyable nonetheless to see a traditional paint-on-canvas works of art, out of all the abstract installations, which was ironic in itself.

Even the artist notes that much of contemporary art tends to carry a darker theme while she attempts to contradict the “norm” by showcasing her interpretation of pure love. Each work used the same colour palette, warm, earthy tones, to symbolize love and its energy. On the side, a small band played some acoustic guitar to further enhance the down to earth atmosphere of the exhibit as well as make the audience feel more comfortable when viewing the different pieces. It was a great way to end the night.

#37 Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD)
Transformed by Imagination
Group exhibition

- OCAD presents an exhibition of diverse work by students, faculty and visiting experts that showcases materials and a school itself transformed by imagination. Exhibition includes Currents, an extravaganza of work by faculty and alumni of Material Art & Design.



One of the many exhibits within the OCAD building included this one, a dark room with loud, blaring house music (Satisfaction by Benny Benassi) in a crowd of people with a screen up ahead. On the screen, pictures of psychedelic glowing strands of colour swirl in the form of a circle over and over again and then transition into a super-speeded view of going through the streets of urban Toronto, with strands of lights pulsing to beat of the music. As we made our way around the room, a mini-bar was set up at one corner, as viewers could kick back and enjoy a glass of champagne as they watch the acid swirls of projection art at its best. The entire atmosphere of the room was very lively urban-themed, highlighting the nightlife of Toronto and its beauty.

#27 Italian Cultural Institute
Euronight 2007
Group exhibition

- Several European Union countries present a selection of the most innovative contemporary European video-artists and experimental film directors, screened in the garden of the Consulate of Italy.



This exhibit was one of the simpler, yet highly entertaining exhibits visited that night. Euronight was another audience-active installation in which people were allowed to walk across a big green screen and have photo of their silhouette taken. Audience members would ponder intricate poses for the camera over and over again, as I found myself doing the same thing!

Euronight was highly addictive and I found myself spending a lot of time thinking of unique poses and even found myself trying to compete with audience members, seeing who could come up with the best picture. As for the meaning of the piece, aside from competing for attention, I think after a while, thinking about an interesting and unique silhouette became difficult and most ended up replicating the same poses and that, in the end, we were all just silhouettes… vying for attention and fame! Even if it was just for a second.

#14 Collection, 2007
Yvonne Ng’s tiger princess dance projects
Performance art, installation, sculpture, contemporary dance & music Open Call Project

- Journey though a colourful cacophony of art, echoing the casual atmosphere of South East Asian street festivals. Collection is a series of contemporary dance “self-portraits” with some of Toronto’s respected composers. Browse, chat and eat as a barrage of artists view for your passing attention.


The “Collection” was a performance of various artists in a contemporary dance routine. In the background, there was a metal square sculpture with two people attempting to mend it together through rope. In the forefront, a female dancer dressed in an ethnic-inspired costume with feathered strings attached to her fingers danced a fluid, contemporary routine with a soundtrack of tribal music playing in the background. Audience members were able to sit either on the floor or chairs to experience the performance up close, with one of the members who seemed to have fallen asleep as well (which I give credit to the soothing and calming atmosphere).
The entire piece seemed like various artists’ interpretation of Asian and South Asian culture though dance and art, though I wasn’t able to see much sculptural art. I did however wonder why the Collection chose to focus in on South Asian culture specifically. Perhaps it was a response to the ever-growing South Asian diasporas in the GTA?

#9 ThunderEgg Alley: A Dumpster Diver’s Paradise, 2007
Swintak – Toronto, Ontario
Installation, performance

- A downtown alley might not be the first place you would look for the makings of a five-star resort, but ThunderEgg Alley is exactly that. Informed by the abundant waste of our consumer-driven economy, ThunderEgg Alley exploits the natural landscape of Toronto’s refuse, transforming the material excretions of everyday life into abstract mechanisms of luxury. Visitors will have the unique opportunity to indulge in a dumpster diver’s paradise, complete with a spa, tanning salon and cardboard box boutique.

One of the more bizarre installations I experienced if not the most bizarre was the ThunderEgg Alley and the Dumpster Diver’s Paradise. Not knowing what to expect, a crowd of people are gathered in an alleyway beside a dumpster while two people dressed in white are trapped in doorway closed by an iron cage. The two people trapped in the locked up doorway dance in the confined space and then attempt to escape or reach for items outside their dungeon. At one point, an audience member offered one of the dancers a lit cigarette in which she took, burned her finger, smoked the cigarette, and then attempted to burn the lock on the cage. The setting alone was enough to get the message across, showcasing the more or less unappealing areas of Toronto and it’s abundance of waste that’s being created more and more everyday. Underneath all our luxuries, such as getting a car wash, or going to a movie or spa, lay the effects of our lifestyle, and that is creating an abundance of waste. I think the artist really attempted to make the audience aware of the ugly, ignored areas of Toronto such as our filth, which is downplayed most of the time but isn’t completely invisible.

Zone B

#7 Iconoclash: Night of Awe Dance Party, 2007
Melissa Shiff – Toronto, Ontario
Multimedia installation

- When Moses descends the mountain to find his people dancing around the golden calf, the party’s over. In contrast to Judaism, Hindus worship the cow as holy. This tension between what is held sacred in religious cultures is the crux of Iconoclash. This installation pairs iconic movie scenes with a multicultural music mix to create an interactive dance party. The audience is superimposed into these scenes via technology, focusing reflection on issues of visual representation.


This installation was by far the most fun because of its level of audience interactivity. Iconoclash consisted of a screen projecting religious iconography and clips of movies, with pictures of live audience members dancing at the bottom of the screen. Near by, a wooden stage with audience members danced to remixed Hindi music and even Madonna (the traditional mixed with the contemporary), where they could view themselves being filmed and placed on the screen in front of them. Aside from audience members and pictures of icons being projected, the occasional phrase would be on screen as well, such as “Your God is my pop culture”, as Homer from the Simpsons would appear as Moses and then a clip from the 10 commandments.

Essentially the title of the installation, Iconoclash is self-explanatory, as random images of religion from various cultures are shown in a “clash” at once, often times contradicting each other. Once again, the artist controversial display of many religions and how the complexity of each may lead to a cultural confusion was the focus here. Audience members of different ethnicities joined together on stage and danced much like the various images of ethnicities and religions joined together on screen, perhaps representing our nation’s identity (?).

Zone A

#5 Crowd, 2007
Kristan Horton – Toronto, Ontario
Conceptual installation

- Crowd is an encounter of the alien. What is elsewhere is experienced here. What is “heard” is an orchestration of time and space. What is “seen” is the collective exposed within a colossal and immersive light environment. Crowd juxtaposes the stationary with the transitory, effectively setting the stage for a close encounter.

Being my first time to experience Nuit Blanche, the first exhibit I came across was titled “Crowd”, which made for an interesting first impression. Ironically enough as I was approaching the piece, a ‘crowd’ of onlookers had already gathered, which again seemed like the artist’s intentions. The installation focus was on this foreign object, resembling a UFO, messily covered in a green plastic tarp. From underneath, it seemed like there was a device that would allow smoke to escape to give the illusion of the object in motion or “landing” on Earth.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to witness the ship’s “landing” in time, but it seemed like the highly-abstract piece carried some heavier meaning underneath its messy tarp. In the background, spotlights were centered on the object, along with speakers playing classical music accompanied with a male, authoritative voice talking about aliens, almost resembling John F. Kennedy. This made the piece controversial in a sense that the artist portrayed such a sensitive topic in way that seemed trivial, because the piece was abstract and had a disheveled look to it. Despite its abstractness, the artist’s played in on the viewer’s senses, including auditory and visual, leaving the rest up to the viewer’s imagination. The artist’s intention was to test the viewer’s senses and the concept of reality. Movement was achieved through our aural senses, with music suddenly playing and stopping and voices suddenly speaking and then stopping as well, while the object lay motionless in the center. Is it a real alien or not?!

-Alicia