Toronto Nuit Blanche 2015

Tonight is the night where you can travel the city and wonder is it art or just recycling? Starting at sunset on October 3rd and continuing throughout the dark hours until the sun starts to rise. The free all-night contemporary art event known as the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche is joined once again by the renegade art of Les Rues des Refuses with it's amazing Renegade Parade.

There Is No Away at City Hall

The installation There Is No Away by the City of Toronto Solid Waste Management Services Division featured large blocks of seperated recycled materials, like beer and pop cans, aluminum trays, plastic bottles and plastic bags, stacked up to three high. Not only was the art installation visual, it provided a odiferous reminder of its place in the stream of garbage produced by man. People were laughing because they were told not to touch the art!

My flashy LED bicycle at Bloor St W and Dufferin St park featuring the Bloordale Index. The light show on two wheels was a hit with the crowds. Many people yelled their appreciation of the bike and my coat or came up to me personally to thank me for the effort. A lot of people thought I was an official part of Nuit Blanche, but I said I was just riding in support of my brother who is suffering from terminal cancer and has taken a turn for the worse and could not make it out for Nuit '15. I had to agree that my bike was one of the better pieces of art that I found on the long night.

Excitement builds as the darkness envelopes the city and the streets fill with pedestrians searching out their preferred art installations during the sleepless night. The hard part is figuring out what you want to see and if you want to wait in lineups. Celebrating a milestone anniversary in 2015, the event which began in 2006, has shown over 1,200 art installations by 4,500 artists - viewed by over 400,000 in 2006 to over one million people in recent events. This year there were more than 110 contemporary art exhibitions - most of them humdrum.

"A few highlights of the night included more than 4,000 portraits as part of the social phenomenon Inside Out (JR); 30,000 black moths creating the astonishing Black Cloud (Carlos Amorales); the thought-provoking Sphinx (Luis Jacob) featuring a larger-than-life sculpture of a male youth standing 11 feet tall, 50,000 LEGO® pieces to create the life-like barn owl Silent Knight (Ekow Nimako) and a customized coke-fired cupola generating temperatures upwards of 1800°C for Beaufort 4: Lava Field No. 2 (Robert Wysocki)."

Sponsorship update: Just last year (September 22, 2014) Scotiabank was reinforcing their desire to continue to be the title sponsor to the all night art event: "The popularity and international interest for Scotiabank Nuit Blanche increases each year," said Mike Williams, General Manager, Economic Development and Culture. "The support of our sponsors is essential for the event's ongoing success and progression. Their commitment to the arts and enthusiasm for this all night celebration of contemporary art represents public and private sector partnerships at their finest." Following the 2015 event Scotiabank has announced their plans to pull out of their Nuit Blanche sponsorship role completely saying their sponsorship priorities have changed.

Because no one asked here are some of my suggestions for improving Nuit Blanche.

1. Open up municipal sites, including schools for free or paid parking for the event. I went to three small municipal lots that were jammed before finding a tiny spot. Parking in the night for most residential streets requires permits. Total time wasted one hour.
2. Improve visitors planning process by having a picture along with the project listing, much like Doors Open, then people can pick out the exhibitions they want to see. They also got rid of the booklet that was given out on the night of Nuit. Now it is just a map and a little blurb that does not describe what the art is - just a title and a location.
3. Stop holding tiny exhibitions in tiny spaces. People shouldn't have to be squeezed together like sardines. They say one million people go to this event, put the exhibitions outdoors or in places that are capable of handling the crowds.

See some of the Les Rues des Refuses and Nuit Blanche projects after the jump.

See more photos of the 2015 Renegade Parade on my post here.

"The Nuit Blanche Renegade Parade 2015: MARCH OF MAGICAL CREATURES The Rothko Institute and Kigurumi.com The party starts at 7:00PM at 104 Ossington Ave, the float will depart from there at exactly 8:01(18) 7:00 pm – 5:00 am. Join us for a magical procession as the Renegade Parade takes to the streets, spreading dragon fire and destruction across the city! Witches and Wizards do battle with magical creatures as DJs and fire spinners spread music and mayhem through downtown Toronto!

Cruise Nuit Blanche Away Toronto Cruisers and Embryon Meet at Spadina and Bloor (6) 10:30 – late We’ll meet at Spadina & Bloor, get our bikes geared up with lights, sound or whatever else we care to do & we’ll ride off into the night!

Nuit Blanche Zombie Walk. Meet at the Hudson Bay Center, Yonge and Bloor (19) 8:00 – late. We’ll meet at Yonge and Bloor, hang around in the mall for a while and apply makeup, and then start wandering!!! Likely, we’ll end up on Queen West somewhere, like Nocturne or the Beaver. And then we can drink booze. After all, booze are made from vegetable brains.

Red Riding Hood meets the big bad wolf at Les Rues des Refuses MBE

Morpheous’ Bondage Extravaganza 2015: Good vs. Evil Morpheous’ Bondage Extravaganza Only One Gallery, 5 Brock Ave (12) 7:00 pm – 7:00 am MBE is the world’s largest public rope bondage exhibition. It was created in Toronto in 2007, but has expanded to include events in Toronto, San Francisco, Baltimore, Orlando, Sydney, and Manila. The 9th annual MBE Toronto will feature some of the top rope artists from all over the world, engaging in 96 performances throughout the night. This years theme is Good vs Evil, so it will be sure to engage and amaze adults all throughout the night. Free, 18+ with valid ID."

Here are some more Nuit installations.

The Lovers Of The River Almonda at Bell Trinity Square

Inside Out

More of There Is No Away

I've Got Sunshine On A Cloudy Day

Video display at the Design Exchange

The Eyes Of The Bridge stare from the railway bridge at Bay and Front Streets

Queens of the Esplanade

Lava Field No. 2

The Cleaving

Hit

Bloordale Index

Dispersal Zone

Glaciology

Ping Pong and drummers in Trinity Bellwoods Park

A decade of annual all-night temporary art events will now leave 14 projects available for view until October 12. These projects are as follows.

Campbell's House: Your Eye Inside Out by JR
October 4 to 12, 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., Campbell House Museum, 160 Queen St. W.

Inside Out by JR
October 4 to 12, 24 hours a day, City Hall, 100 Queen St. W.

Nuit Talks: Putting the extra-in-ordinary by JR
October 4 to 12, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., City Hall (Rotunda), 100 Queen St. W.

Time of the Empress by Aziz + Cucher
October 4 to 12, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., City Hall (Rotunda), 100 Queen St. W.

There Is No Away by Sean Martindale and JP King
October 4 to 12, 24 hours a day, City Hall (east side of City Hall along Bay Street), 100 Queen St. W.

Silent Knight by Ekow Nimako
October 4 to 9, 24 hours a day, Gardiner Museum (outdoor platform), 111 Queen's Park

Sphinx by Luis Jacob
October 4 to 12, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Allan Gardens (Children's Conservatory), 19 Horticultural Ave. (near Carlton Street and Jarvis Street)

'refugees run the seas...' by Francisco Fernandos Granados
October 4 to 12, 24 hours a day, 284 Jarvis St. (at Gerrard Street East)

Beaufort 10: Frio Estudio del Desastre by Los Carpinteros
October 4 to 12, 24 hours a day, The Westin Harbour Castle (exterior), 1 Harbour Sq. (at Queens Quay West)

Beaufort 12: Black Cloud by Carlos Amorales
October 4 to 12, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, 231 Queens Quay W.

Solid States by An Te Liu
October 4 to 12, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Toronto Sculpture Garden, 115 King St. E. (near Church Street)

Pattern Study by Amanda McCavour
October 4 to 12, 6 a.m. to midnight, Union Station (The Great Hall), 65 Front St. W.

Mímir's Well by Michael "Howie" Howatson
October 5 to 8, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and October 9 to 12, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., QRC West - Queen Richmond Centre West, 134 Peter St. (near Richmond Street West)

EMPREINTES by Pascale Peyret
October 4 to 12, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Bata Shoe Museum, 327 Bloor St. W.

Next Year's Nuit Blanche will take place on October 1, 2016.

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