Salvaging Nuit
I decided to wait two full sleeps before commenting on Nuit Blanche 2007. I too was disappointed. There was a lot to be frustrated about, described well in the comments during and after Adam's live blogging post, such as the TTC's poor performance, the misleading descriptions, an overall lack of something inspiring and the embarrassing disrespect of certain patrons who stole and defaced some of the art... the list goes on.
And yet despite all the disappointments, despite the overall blah, I still enjoyed myself. Sure, the weather was perfect and it's fun to take over the city for a night. Sure each person could find their favorite few exhibits that partially inspired them (I regret not seeing most of good ones, instead I was drawn to the too-hyped exhibits such as the red-light district and fish restaurant). But I think I overall enjoyed myself because it's just a special night. I love the community and the interaction, the art and the energy. So after mostly poor responses to the evening, I wanted to highlight two aspects of the evening that I feel are Nuit Blanche's strengths and I hope to see an improvement on them in the future.
1) Interactive exhibitions. The largest smiles I saw from the evening came from exhibits where people were actively participating. The environment at these exhibits was joyful, playful and exciting. I planned my evening around trying to visit as many events as possible, but whenever I came across one where people were engaged with the art, I found myself hanging around much longer, drawn to the contagious participation of something as simple as making a pom-pom, a cloud, plugging in an ipod or tracing a foot-print. 
People would spend hours in front of a giant screen waiting for their third, fourth, fifth text to appear. At these events I felt a community, an engagement and a spirit. It's fun to watch people get excited about art, and without a lot to get excited about this year, I think people really got into making their own.
Another exciting element to some of these interactive exhibits was their size and documentation. I visited the Beta Shoe Museum at about 1:00 AM. At that point the museum was running out of space to display all the outlined shoes that had come through their door (photo top middle). The sheer volume was overwhelming. You could get a sense of the immensity of the evening, feel the presence of all those who had already been, all those who were going to come and the mark that each one had left.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think the evening should be one big craft fair and I'm not suggesting there is anything particularly exciting about watching a text appear on a big screen (photo right) or tracing a shoe, but I highlight these events as encouraging, something that if done well next year, could be really powerful. Audiences loved to participate, to see their contribution in real-time. I think it's fair to highlight the still talked about success of the fog in the park at the first Nuit Blanche. People were engaged, could touch and feel the art, and the art could only exist with the audience. It's not just about audiences making something, but touching something. Interaction.
To be successful though, there should be a way of managing huge crowds of people, the queues could be ridiculous. I also think the interaction could be much more creative and engaging. If texts and balloons can do it, imagine would else could.
2) Making the Night Your Own. In case you missed it, there were two guys running around with a boom-box and a video camera (pictured below in front of the silhouettes, apparently they were making a movie). They would set up the camera, turn on the music and video themselves dancing in front of the events, or on the side-walk between events, or wherever they felt inspired. I admit, it was pretty lame, but I kind of envied them. They made the night theirs, and people got a kick out of it. Along with the dancing, they screamed words of advice, "Everyone's an artist because we are all going to die, be creative, do something." Not that this is healthy or advice and I certainly don't hope that there is an increase in terrible you-tube videos on the fly next year, but there is something to be said for making the night your own creative night. I also liked that I didn't want to hit these kids, most any other night I would have been tempted to tell them to get lost, but hey, it was Nuit Blanche, it was a night of artistic expression... right?
I'm aware the evening should still be a night about the professional artist and new ideas and the presentation of great works of art. I really hope Nuit Blanche can do that next year better then ever. I also don't want to suggest Nuit Blanche should have similar interactive exhibits year after year. It will naturally have to continue to experiment with it's format to find what is successful and what isn't.
What I am suggesting is the night is much bigger then the events. It's a night about a community of artists and that the audience is an essential part of the experience and contributing artists themselves.
Examples of two exhibits that were pleasant too look at, but audiences couldn't touch:
Comments (16)
the String of Diamond's exhibit near the ROM should be added to your list. My friends and I came to it thinking we could interact with it, and the moment we touched one of the lines the artist freaked on us, saying we were ruining the exhibit. His concept invited interaction, yet his demeanor put us all in a skeptical mindset. :(
My problem with Nuit Blanche was that it was too geographically big with little advance indication as to where I should direct my attention. As a result, I just showed up expecting to find something that was interesting.. by and large, I didn't find that. Galleries open late? Not interesting. Light shows that can't compete with laser light shows projected on buildings? Not interesting.
I don't know why BlogTO and its readers are mostly saying it was disappointing. I agree with your post, it was the people that made it amazing. Everyone was out to have a good time and to have some contact/interaction with art. We had an amazing time and it was the people and the whole atmosphere that made it so.
Maria: imagine how amazing it would have the energy of the people been the same AND the exhibits all been knock-your-socks-off good.
I'm with Sean here. Considering the vast number of exhibits (as well as a website that was annoying to navigate), it was hard to do thorough research in advance and pick places to go. I ended up wandering with my boyfriend, which I thought adhered to the true nature of Nuit Blanche anyway.
It didn't really work out ... it was difficult to get through some streets, most of which should have been closed, and the traffic, along with enormous line-ups, killed some of spontaneity the event seems to stand for. That's not the fault of organizers, but it was clear that many people went to obvious spots -- e.g. the ROM -- because they weren't sure where else to go.
Lots of exhibits were tucked away, which added a nice mood of finding hidden treasure when we did stumble upon something, but it also meant we missed a lot because we had no idea it was there. It's too bad guidebooks weren't available more widely ... a lot of people stopped us asking where we got ours.
It was still enjoyable, but for the four hours we spent, we didn't see as much as we thought we would. Some people say it was better to attend in the later hours ... and we would have liked to do that, except our schedules really didn't let us do that.
I'm still looking forward to next year ... could someone please fog up Philosopher's Walk again? I missed that last year! It can't hurt to repeat some popular exhibits ... for example, the idea of putting secrets up in public -- whether tied to a tree or dangling on a postcard -- is always a favourite.
To me the entire night was like a disappointing one night stand with the girl you've been dreaming about for years. All this crazy build up and then the hype just doesn't live up to your imagination.
The city/organizers underplanned this entire thing. It wasn't the grand and inspiring art invasion that they made it out to be.
Art has to be more than merely spectacle - one example (of many) at the U of T King's circle, the lame X-files(?) setting was less than inspiring - ET with Yoda? arrrhh!!
Ah, I agree with the opinion about the lack of guides. It all started with the lame-ass flash-loaded website. It was absolutely not user-friendly. Too difficult to get an idea of what you wanted to do. And Eva had to almost beg someone at the Distillery for a guide, they knew they were in short supply and were kind of keeping them under the table. That could totally use some improvement!
But, Jerrold, I am no art critic but have seen my share of art, and I can say I had a GREAT time.
Clearly the TTC underperformed (running out of day passes for example) but part of that was down to three things:
1. Queen Street congestion holding up streetcars
2. Underestimation of turnout
3. Lack of personnel
The (3) bit is important as the total hours TTC operators can work is restricted so basically the extra operators were volunteers for overtime rather than rostered. This is one of the few times in recent history TTC ran a 24 hour subway service so I think *some* slack should be cut. However, if NB is to happen next year we should expect the TTC to start planning for it immediately, including
* streetcars on routes other than Queen and
* reducing late night subway service on weekday nights if maintenance can be "front loaded" or "back loaded" to increase operator availability.
I agree that making Nuit Blanche is all about making the night your own. My friends and I simply walked around placing post it notes with haiku's we wrote on the spot about each exhibit. Everything we witnessed was quite inspiring in one way or another.
Those who were dissapointed in Nuit Blanche this year should be ashamed of themselves!
I keep hearing people saying they were disappointed, but I was blown away. I'm tempted to call Nuit Blanche the high point of my year so far.
Sure, some of the art was a bit disappointing. Sure, the TTC service was inadequate. But it was just so exciting to see hundreds of thousands of happy people walking the streets of Toronto at night for ART! I couldn't stop smiling all night; it was such a beautiful thing.
Ultimately, it was the little things that made the night: the guys racing pimped out scooters, the "$300 lobotomy" billboards, the girl with wings we kept seeing, the rock balancers by the hug-me tree, the hilarious streetcar driver, tired giggling at 6 AM...
It was glorious -- and I hope it's even better next year.
the lines were an abomination, and it seemed like ever other "piece" was some sort of video installation. but the best stuff was great - the locust, terrible noises for beautiful people - but that all involved real people doing real things. the crowd participation on the locust (yeah, ON, like people climbing on it) was intensely more fun than the poor excuse for "participation" in texting your message to some screen.
My first impression as I stepped out into Nuit Blanche around 10pm in the Queen West Zone was that it was... Magnificent. Why? Because for the first time I felt like Toronto was a community of happy art revellers. I felt like I was back in New York City with the families, the couples, the friends on the streets "oooing and ahhhing" at cool things to see on the windows, on the street.
Admittedly, when I met up with other pals at the ROM it was a letdown and especially the oh-so-hyped 'String of Diamonds' that I really wanted to check out. Ta! Da! A string of lights held up by balloons. Woopdeedoo. Not to mention the hour long wait in Yorkville to get into the Lower Bay Station.
However; I had a great time. And I can't wait for next year. I will be prepared i.e. comfy shoes; light Fall jacket; snacks and water.
As much as the Yorkville area 'art' was a letdown I will say it was just so much FUN roaming the streets closed to traffic, EVERYONE out and about. There was just this wonderful energy in the air that I don't want to let go of.
See you next year!
I think Joseph is right in thinking about what was positive on Nuit Blanche so it can be even better next year. I also agree that interactive exhibits and making the night your own are the ways to do that.
I would suggest to the organizers of this event, which is a community event (and where families will be for the beginning of the night) is to focus exhibits/displays on the theme of FUN (which seemed to be the case the first year) and not Fear, a focus in many exhibits this year, which personally left me confused.
Although art can express many emotions, something as widespread as Nuit Blanche should focus on the fun aspect, which is at the very least what people look for.
I think fun doesn't have to mean complicated. For instance, I heard raves about the ball room and opening up swimming pools to the public in the first year, which was a successful year. This year, it seemed to me that people were having fun with picture frames, ghost sounds, marking their own footprint, or even appearing in front of a video screen at a dance party.
It will be interesting to see if the organizers listen to the feedback and improve on the next year.
Was it just me or did you guys feel that there were too many exhibits and the zones were too far from each other (well Zone A from Zone C)?
I think it's more interesting to take part in interactive art, it's a reflection of everyone around it, rather than just of one person. This is what makes the Nuit Blanche concept so cool. It makes one stop to listen to the buzz of the city and hear a SOUND, not just a buzz.
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