Nuit Blanche 2007 - Act Three Tue, Oct 2. 2007
This is part three of my Nuit Blanche 2007 write-up, be sure to see Act One and Act Two. You can follow along with my travelogue on Google Maps.
So the cab dumped Ken, Justin and I at Queen at Simcoe, at the WHAT WILL YOU DO TO COOL THE EARTH? The idea was to inspire people to think of ways of reducing global warming... by sending text-messages to be displayed on the screen...
Of course, this didn't completely work: "I will hold my farts", "I will only eat once a week", "I will not work for Disney", "Stop wasting Electricity on a screen showing texts on queen street"... Ken and Justin were enthralled, and probably responsible for most of those
Right next door, was Ghosts @ Campbell House, which I couldn't find in the official Nuit Blanche program, but was just a fun exhibit: glow-screens with timed-flashbulbs... painfully blinding, but entirely amusing
Justin declared he was heading home, and Ken was preparing to take off too... but I couldn't do that. It was about 0555, my feet had blisters like I'd never experienced before, I couldn't walk very well at all - but I wasn't done: I had to visit Lower Bay / The Ghost Station. And I'm sure glad I did.
So, imagine you just spent the past 12 hours touring a city you only know a little, having some very unique experiences... then you go through an unremarkable steel door in the middle of a semi-busy subway platform... and you end up in a different world:
Lower Bay was amazing.
It was dark, sparsely lit by 40W incandescents in the corners, a train on each side of the platform, a massive sub-woofer sound system - using the cars as resonance chambers. Words do not describe. You felt the 'music' (noise?), you smelled the dust. You knew other people were there, but you could barely see them. You know that in a few minutes, nobody will be here again, except for the ghosts. Tranquil yet unnerving at that same time.
It was the perfect end to an amazing experience. The Night Is Over.
Going topside again, shuffling my way along Bay street, I captured this scene of the city waking up.
Caught a bus downtown - but everything was a total mess/detours because of the 10K run - and I have to give the driver directions!
Made it back to 151, changed my clothes, sat and sorta just vegged while chatting with the few people awake on #SPORKS... caught the train and went home.
Next year, I'll have to pick and plan my journey, just showing up and wandering was fun, but I think we wasted more time getting across the city than actually looking at things. But I have no regrets, and I can't wait till next year. Highly recommended. Will you come with me?
So the cab dumped Ken, Justin and I at Queen at Simcoe, at the WHAT WILL YOU DO TO COOL THE EARTH? The idea was to inspire people to think of ways of reducing global warming... by sending text-messages to be displayed on the screen...
"Ill put blury orange and blue on a screen" [sic]`
Of course, this didn't completely work: "I will hold my farts", "I will only eat once a week", "I will not work for Disney", "Stop wasting Electricity on a screen showing texts on queen street"... Ken and Justin were enthralled, and probably responsible for most of those
Right next door, was Ghosts @ Campbell House, which I couldn't find in the official Nuit Blanche program, but was just a fun exhibit: glow-screens with timed-flashbulbs... painfully blinding, but entirely amusing
Discghosts!
Justin declared he was heading home, and Ken was preparing to take off too... but I couldn't do that. It was about 0555, my feet had blisters like I'd never experienced before, I couldn't walk very well at all - but I wasn't done: I had to visit Lower Bay / The Ghost Station. And I'm sure glad I did.
Please stay clear of the doors.
So, imagine you just spent the past 12 hours touring a city you only know a little, having some very unique experiences... then you go through an unremarkable steel door in the middle of a semi-busy subway platform... and you end up in a different world:
(Play this video with headphones on, or a good subwoofer)
Lower Bay was amazing.
It was dark, sparsely lit by 40W incandescents in the corners, a train on each side of the platform, a massive sub-woofer sound system - using the cars as resonance chambers. Words do not describe. You felt the 'music' (noise?), you smelled the dust. You knew other people were there, but you could barely see them. You know that in a few minutes, nobody will be here again, except for the ghosts. Tranquil yet unnerving at that same time.
It was the perfect end to an amazing experience. The Night Is Over.
Going topside again, shuffling my way along Bay street, I captured this scene of the city waking up.
Good Morning - La Nuit est fini!
Caught a bus downtown - but everything was a total mess/detours because of the 10K run - and I have to give the driver directions!
Made it back to 151, changed my clothes, sat and sorta just vegged while chatting with the few people awake on #SPORKS... caught the train and went home.
Next year, I'll have to pick and plan my journey, just showing up and wandering was fun, but I think we wasted more time getting across the city than actually looking at things. But I have no regrets, and I can't wait till next year. Highly recommended. Will you come with me?
FIN
Nuit Blanche 2007 - Act Two Tue, Oct 2. 2007
This is part two of my Nuit Blanche 2007 write-up, be sure to see Act One. Also, be sure to check out my travelogue on Google Maps, and perhaps add the KML to your Google Earth.
After an uneventful Streetcar ride along King, I marched past the new Umbra store up to OCAD, while Wishing You Were Here.
While I waited for ghoti to show up, I took in some really dark, freaky animated shorts... very strange. While dodging Jack Layton and his wife, we drove up to up to Queens Park where we absorbed some caffeine and calories. Satiated, we head over to the Zone B hub / ROM, all the while I'm SMSing math with no effective communication happening:
Eventually we meet up, but not before ghoti makes a cop guarding a barrier along Avenue/University Aves think he's the biggest idiot on earth... I find math committing a non-illegal act in defiance of the DMCA:
math, Syncros, ghoti, Tallo & S.O., JOSH!, and ` were taking in the excitement at the rave out front of the ROM...
Of course, since we all managed to get together, we promptly got separated within minutes. I picked up a Nuit Blanche T-shirt, waltzed thru the Zone A hub again, and then met Soj and Emily while in line for freeFiveStarbucks caffeine.
Once we regrouped (sans Syncros and his friend), we checked out the Electric Forest and continued on to String of Diamonds where I experienced an early, reverse Halloween:
Afterwards, we walked across Queen's Park to Crowd, where we were the exhibit.
Church street was all party... "Nightless City" supposed to be a red-light district, but it was mostly males who (appeared to be) were batting for the same time. A nearby deli adverstized "Pride Sausage"s in it's window.
It was actually somewhat underwhelming, so we made our way south along Church to Dundas, along the way seeing some weird multimedia stuff at Ryerson... and some public toilets:
Ironically, a block away, in Yonge@Dundas Square - a Public Bidet.
Stepping inside the Sears North entrance at the Eaton Centre, It's a Cloud was well attended. Syncros got much better photos than I did - check them out here.
We were feeling peckish (it was 2AM!) but the only place we could find that was open was Frans... and they had a ninety-minute wait. What the hell?
Someone in the group suggested Chinese, so back through the Eaton Center where Balloonscape was... just... being... weird. Listen to Paul's comment at the beginning of the video:
Stepping outside we came up on Church of Confessions... I think. I couldn't quite find it in the program guide, but it was basically an old church where people could write messages on queue cards and put them up on the walls. I didn't really get it at first, but now that I've thought about it, it really seemed a lot like Post Secret - then you realize that people are baring their souls - and it's fresh. So honest.
Unsurprisingly, it was difficult to find somewhere to eat that was a) open and b) wasn't completely packed full of people. One hungry but memorable moment was when some idiot in a Civic made a left turn onto a blocked side street at about 80KMphs, squeeling tires and all - right in front of a Police car... whom we encouraged to have a word with the driver of the Civic - Mr. Policeman then did exactly that. Yay TPS Report
Passed by Everybody Loves You 2 for the second time,
Watcher was eerie. Paul took off for home.
Finding a restaurant that's open after 3AM and isn't packed to the roof - even on Spadina - is not easy. (Though I saw another iPhone)
Eventually we found a place that's open to 4 and had some excellent fried noodles and other weird stuff. The girls at the table next to us were sharing too.
Since Ken and Justing hadn't seen any of zone C, we hopped a cab and head to Trinity Bellwoods Park (... second time for me)
Unfortunately, it was a tad underwhelming, there was some people making weird music in a tent, there was a mobile rave which was cool. I was actually impressed by a couple of guys sitting at a picnic table, playing dominoes and free-form rapping to a beat from a totally old-school ghetto-blaster - on cassette!
Saw the Florescent Globe again, bumped into Candy girl again, hopped into a cab and went back downtown.
On to Part Three!
After an uneventful Streetcar ride along King, I marched past the new Umbra store up to OCAD, while Wishing You Were Here.
While I waited for ghoti to show up, I took in some really dark, freaky animated shorts... very strange. While dodging Jack Layton and his wife, we drove up to up to Queens Park where we absorbed some caffeine and calories. Satiated, we head over to the Zone B hub / ROM, all the while I'm SMSing math with no effective communication happening:
Myke: I can has location?
Math: Diamonds in sky, behind rom. To rom next then church
Myke: Hub cat is at hub.
Math: Zone b hub? We to rom
Myke: Where? [given we're right BESIDE the ROM and there's only a few thousand people clustered around]
Math: Dude i can learn u TO via sms... Rom = museum
Myke: Which SIDE? Or Entrance???
Math: Diamonds in sky, behind rom. To rom next then church
Myke: Hub cat is at hub.
Math: Zone b hub? We to rom
Myke: Where? [given we're right BESIDE the ROM and there's only a few thousand people clustered around]
Math: Dude i can learn u TO via sms... Rom = museum
Myke: Which SIDE? Or Entrance???
Eventually we meet up, but not before ghoti makes a cop guarding a barrier along Avenue/University Aves think he's the biggest idiot on earth... I find math committing a non-illegal act in defiance of the DMCA:
math, Syncros, ghoti, Tallo & S.O., JOSH!, and ` were taking in the excitement at the rave out front of the ROM...
Of course, since we all managed to get together, we promptly got separated within minutes. I picked up a Nuit Blanche T-shirt, waltzed thru the Zone A hub again, and then met Soj and Emily while in line for free
Once we regrouped (sans Syncros and his friend), we checked out the Electric Forest and continued on to String of Diamonds where I experienced an early, reverse Halloween:
But don't take candy from strangers
Afterwards, we walked across Queen's Park to Crowd, where we were the exhibit.
Church street was all party... "Nightless City" supposed to be a red-light district, but it was mostly males who (appeared to be) were batting for the same time. A nearby deli adverstized "Pride Sausage"s in it's window.
math luvvin' the party
It was actually somewhat underwhelming, so we made our way south along Church to Dundas, along the way seeing some weird multimedia stuff at Ryerson... and some public toilets:
Some privacy please.
Ironically, a block away, in Yonge@Dundas Square - a Public Bidet.
Stepping inside the Sears North entrance at the Eaton Centre, It's a Cloud was well attended. Syncros got much better photos than I did - check them out here.
Strange people of the night
We were feeling peckish (it was 2AM!) but the only place we could find that was open was Frans... and they had a ninety-minute wait. What the hell?
Someone in the group suggested Chinese, so back through the Eaton Center where Balloonscape was... just... being... weird. Listen to Paul's comment at the beginning of the video:
Stepping outside we came up on Church of Confessions... I think. I couldn't quite find it in the program guide, but it was basically an old church where people could write messages on queue cards and put them up on the walls. I didn't really get it at first, but now that I've thought about it, it really seemed a lot like Post Secret - then you realize that people are baring their souls - and it's fresh. So honest.
Unsurprisingly, it was difficult to find somewhere to eat that was a) open and b) wasn't completely packed full of people. One hungry but memorable moment was when some idiot in a Civic made a left turn onto a blocked side street at about 80KMphs, squeeling tires and all - right in front of a Police car... whom we encouraged to have a word with the driver of the Civic - Mr. Policeman then did exactly that. Yay TPS Report
Passed by Everybody Loves You 2 for the second time,
Do you love me? (Because I could love you.)
Watcher was eerie. Paul took off for home.
Finding a restaurant that's open after 3AM and isn't packed to the roof - even on Spadina - is not easy. (Though I saw another iPhone)
Eventually we found a place that's open to 4 and had some excellent fried noodles and other weird stuff. The girls at the table next to us were sharing too.
Since Ken and Justing hadn't seen any of zone C, we hopped a cab and head to Trinity Bellwoods Park (... second time for me)
Unfortunately, it was a tad underwhelming, there was some people making weird music in a tent, there was a mobile rave which was cool. I was actually impressed by a couple of guys sitting at a picnic table, playing dominoes and free-form rapping to a beat from a totally old-school ghetto-blaster - on cassette!
Saw the Florescent Globe again, bumped into Candy girl again, hopped into a cab and went back downtown.
Nuit Blanche 2007 - Act One Mon, Oct 1. 2007
Zone C Hub - Where the real adventure begins
For the past year, I've been hearing all sorts of stories about Nuit Blanche, and seeing the crazy photos... when I heard it was coming around again - I knew I had to be a part of it.
Well, let me tell you, now that I've experienced it - I'll say it's totally awesome.
I decided to take the marathon approach: catch the afternoon train out of Ottawa to arrive in Toronto just in time for dinner (which I failed to actually do) and then begin the Night. Since 151 Front is right next to Union Station, my laptop and other extraneous crap from my backpack got dumped in my cabinet there - my $1500/mo locker
Caught the King line streetcar to Liberty village and suddenly realized I had no idea where to go... for anything. With all the research and planning I'd done ahead of time - I didn't actually note where I wanted to be. Thankfully I was able to wrangle the Nuit Blanche website onto my Treo and eventually determined that Queen and Strachan (pronounced "Stron", like "Strong" without the g sound) was the Zone C hub.
I looked at the map, looked at the index, and failing to figure out any effective strategy, I decided to march west along Queen - see what I could see. Fortunately this worked out for me, but a lot of the installations/exhibits were just static art galleries... looking at pictures and paintings on the wall isn't for me, so I moved along quickly.
Play It By Hear
Despite all the stories I hear about Nuit Blanche 2006, I wasn't prepared for interaction; the globe above was neat, but only because of it's construction, the next exhibit I noted was Play It By Hear, where the volunteer watching over the piece was encouraging me to connect my iPod and make the pipes sing. I picked Rush's Far Cry because it's loud, yet inoffensive
Not far away was Secret of the Syncope II, a curious installation where they carpeted over a road, but again - the interaction: at the far end of the road, they sat at a mobile desk, where they were cutting squares of the carpet, and then tagging them with serial numbers. These were handed out and people were asked to photograph their square and submit the photos to the website for use in next year's exhibit... Interesting - I'll have to figure out something unique to do with mine...
Just across Queen street, there was a lot of light, a lot of people and some really cool blue sticks:
Moving along, I encountered Femmbomb, Water Fall, then this nutty show:
... I dunno... huge line-up to see it though. Checked out the Drake Hotel, which wasn't very exciting - still early in the evening.
Then I encountered the Incursion:
Further along, Gladstone House was in full Nuit Blanche mode. Several installations and exhibits, and while many were very cool - I found the most noteworthy thing was a sticker on a streetcar stop shelter:
math, Syncros, ghoti and I were to meet at OCAD by 9:30, I started to head east, but the sidewalks were full of people, and they were spilling out on to Queen street - thus inhibiting vehicular traffic and the TTC. Despite my limited knowledge of Toronto, King street seemed like a viable opti--- whaaaa???
I doubt Pattison signed off on this billboard
... not wanting a Quick Lobotomy, I hurried to the King line streetcar and hauled over to OCAD.