12 hours. What a night! We started our journey at 6:30pm at City Hall and our heads didn’t hit the pillow until 6am the next morning …
There is so much to cover from this years Nuit Blanche in Toronto. So much in fact that it’s best if you watch the video! But here are some of the highlights that we saw on our travels:
Zone A:
Stereoscope, City Hall
An amazing installation turning the windows of City Hall into a giant ping pong game and lighting canvas
Conversation #2, 900 Wellesley Street
12,000 books laid together to create a beautiful sculpture. The different coloured spines even created moasic images wrapped around the sculpture.
Zone B:
r u part of the art?
An interesting mobile installation - subscribe to a texting service and receive updates throughout the night with various things to do like sing the song from The Muppets (Menamena do do dee do do …). We didn’t see many other people doing it, but it was fun to randomly do stuff during the night.
Le Labo, Distillery
A very calming video/sound installation (for the first while we were there) at Le Labo or Le Laboratoire d’art - a “francophone media and integrated arts lab offering opportunities in production, training & showings.”
Higgs Ocean, Distillery
While they weren’t part of the ‘official’ Nuit Blanche schedule, this installation in one of the alleyways of the Distillery, was a highlight for us as it featured many elements from our youth - Lite Brite, a Big Bird lamp, and old films on video projectors! Unfortunately we couldn’t find any info on the group online - so if you guys see this posting, let us know where to find you!
Zone C:
Overflow, Liberty Village
A smaller scale installation by Michel de Broin of a waterfall coming out the window of a 3 storey building and crashing into discarded furniture on the ground.
Imagine Peace, Liberty St. & Jefferson Ave.
Yoko Ono continues to spread the message of peace with this installation. The public is given tags to write a wish on and the hang on the trees lining the street creating weeping willows of wishes, as it were.
While you wait with bated breath for our coverage of Nuit Blanche (you are waiting, right? ), check out this awesome video and sound remix by our good friend Qasim … we met up during the night and some of the video features us!
It’s 5am. We are exhausted. We are going home after a great Nuit Blanche. Videos to come soon. Hope you had a great night. What was the best thing you saw?
We’ve made it through the distillery and saw some great installations. The bakery is open till 12 so get some delicious brownies!! And check out Le Labo and a great sound and video installation. And the nostalgic alleyway. On to Cabbagetown…
4 days left until at 6:52pm on Saturday October 4th, Toronto awakens for an all night contemporary art thing called Scotiabank Nuit Blanche. If you haven’t been yet … where have you been!? For the past two years, the popularity of this phenomenal free chaotic art frenzy has exploded - hundreds of thousands of Torontonians take to the street and experience art in Toronto like never before.
For those of you who have never been, Katherine and I have put together a little guide - 7 tips on how to survive Nuit Blanche and make the most of your night.
We are prepping for an all night vlogging thing and we want you to be a part of it. We’ll be heading from Zone B to A to C on our bikes. If you want to join us along the way and be a part of our evening, email us at info@nightintoronto.com and we’ll let you know where we are. You can also send us some tips if you know of a great installation we should feature on TNIT!
After we catch up on our sleep, we’ll be posting a vlog from each zone so be sure to sign up to our RSS feed to see the results! Oh, and we’ll also be teaming up with our friends at Dear Toronto to do some cross vlogging - should be a lot of fun.
I was working late when a colleague pointed out the window at the gorgeous colours. I ran up to thw rooftop to take some photos on my phone. It was a beautiful sunset in Toronto. Here are some shots to look at.
Last Friday, Katherine and I took in a bit of Francophone culture at the Alliance Française at Lowther and Spadina where they premiered a new monthly Cabaret series. It was an wonderful evening with three lovely singers (avec Claire Jenkins, Amélie Lefebvre et Lyne Tremblay). They sang a range of music from Tom Waits to Kurt Veil. The place was packed and the audience was enraptured with the singers! And tickets were only $5! If you’re interested in checking out some francophone culture, this is an excellent introduction. The Cabaret took place in the gallery space at the Alliance which is open daily with some stunning artwork on the wall. Be sure to check out the next Cabaret event in October (and get there early so you can grab your wine before they run out of glasses!).
After the show, we followed the singers to Paupers Pub where we gathered in a rather hidden room on the first floor. Packed into this tiny room, Tom (who’s last name I forget) brought out his violin from the show and serenaded us all with some classical, some contemporary, and some traditional Québecois music. I felt like we were somewhere in Europe at a pub. It’s not every day you walk into a bar in Toronto and sit around a table with a violinist singing songs en français. Katherine and I grabbed some drinks enjoyed the music (Katherine and our friend Josée even took part playing the spoons!).
Then it was off to The Wreck Room at Bathurst and Bloor to take part in “Loving in the Name Of”, a concert hosted by The Best with such artists as Sebastien Grainger (remember him?), Tara Slone, and Nick Sewell. The band was great as they sang a range of classic tunes like Boston’s “More Than A Feeling” and “I’ve Had The Time of My Life” from the cult classic Dirty Dancing. It was a 360 from the Cabaret show earlier that evening, but it was a blast! And at only $5 for cover, you can’t go wrong.
So there you have it! A music filled night for us! A great way to kick off the last weekend of the summer … sigh.
I just got out I the Goldfrapp concert at the Danforth Music Hall. She was AMAZING! It took the crowd about half the concert before the Toronto audience got up and rocked along but once we got over our fear of showing our excitement for this amazing singer. I’m going to get all the albums on iTunes when I get home. Here are some photos to enjoy!
But here are some of the highlights that we saw on our travels:
), check out this awesome video and sound remix by our good friend 
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