Nuit Blanche: Zone A

The first exhibit I stopped off at was the Surreal Journey. An exhibit that focused around the Art of Fashion. Most of the pieces were displayed on mannequins and had colourful textiles. Some were a little creepy looking, but partly reflected cultural references. One in particular made me think about it's cultural reference. To me it looked like a cross between the Ku Klux Klan and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. When I think more about it, it seems like an oxymoron. You have the KKK garb, which is usually bedsheet white, but it's multi-coloured to represent multi-culturalism. It's definitely an anti-racism piece once I thought about it.

This piece reminded me of some crazy Teletubby. Perhaps a view on the disillusionment of children's television shows. Teletubbies had tv's in their stomachs too. They're digesting too much media.


I have a fear of clowns. This reminded me of a Harlequin in Italian plays. However, I believe the Harlequins were actually more colourful than this one.

I can really appreciate the art in this type of fashion. It's got a futuristic look to it and colours that people don't normally see together. It's like a scene from Mars Attacks.

I don't know where the inspiration came from for this piece. It kind of looks like they took elements from ancient Rome including the harsh living environment.

I found this piece to be rather dull. It's monochromatic for one thing. But I can't understand why they were joined by the hair or by their togas.


The Bata Shoe Museum's exhibit called Footnotes gave me a look into the different walks of life people have. People were encouraged to trace their foot onto a large sheet of acetate that would eventually be hung up or around the museum.


I had the privilege to preserve my footprint and shoe size on one of these large sheets of plastic.


The Canard Development Group (CDG) had an exhibit where it seems like the roof was suspended by balloons. The building itself was incredibly simplistic and I think the exhibit made me think about how simplistic art can sometimes be. If it weren't at night, the "roof" would give shade, and the balloons didn't just float off which amazed me.


Now, from what I was told, String of Diamonds was much more impressive earlier in the night. Some of the lights got damaged, but from what I saw, it was rather enjoyable. To see lights suspended in mid-air, it was kind of mystical. The best part happened when you just stood underneath it or did what some other people did; lie on the grass underneath it.


Another exhibit that I visited was Awakening of the Electronic Forest. It featured live musical performances and poetry. I didn't take pictures of the performances, I figured it would have been a little intrusive. I did manage to get a recording of one of the poems that were being recited through the speakers. From what I got, it was a poem about the music of the forest and how it comes alive through nature and calls out to the author.

"...and from within their ancient note. And now we are so far apart, I am drawn back by your rhythm. Beating, pulsing, singing, sobbing you are calling me, once more beckoning me to the depths of your wood, lay down your body your fears your path, find your ancestor, your mother, your brother, it is here you belong in the arms of the forest..."

The Emergency Room Recruitment Centre was locate in the University of Toronto Art Centre and I was immediately greeted by somebody and invited to write something, anything, on this piece of cloth. The cloth would then be tied to my head, displaying whatever we wrote to people who walked by. Well, naturally, my statement included some person message about myself "I'm cool" and the state I was in at the time "& tired". I decided to used a blue marker for the "cool" part and a red marker for the "tired" part.







The last exhibit I attended was Crowd. It was one of the most surreal and eerie exhibits. It looked like the site of a UFO crash landing. It was surrounded by emergency vehicles and emergency personnel. The watchers had to stay a safe distance away while the people involved spoke to each other and examined the wreckage. The weird thing was that they were speaking, but I couldn't hear anything being said. I think there was a fear that you didn't know what was going, and that uncertainty was pretty overwhelming. I think this exhibit gave off the desired effect.








All in all, I thought this was a great experience with many exhibits stimulating my senses. Some were profound, thought-provoking, eerie, and downright bizarre, but I thoroughly enjoy Nuit Blanche.


Stay frosty,





Tim Ling