By Swetha Srikanth
Nuit Blanche Toronto, a city-wide event filled with art, installations, and performances, from sunset to sunrise, occurred on Saturday, September 30th, 2017.
Overview
Major locations that I visited included Nathan Phillips Square, The Art Gallery of Ontario, and Graffiti Alley. Here are a few things I saw:
Nathan Phillips Square
The location was filled with shipping containers and booths that were a part of Monument to the Century of Revolutions, curated by Nato Thompson.
Village Print Shop by Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative
This interactive installation allowed people to make their own screen print to take home. Four stations were set up with a unique design and an assistant, who guided each person as they smoothed ink over a screen, resulting in a print on a postcard-size paper that lay underneath. It allowed the public to learn about the process of screen printing and create their own souvenir. The prints were intended to spread awareness of global revolutions.
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L.E.V.I.T.A.T.R.E. by Hendrick’s Gin.
Levitating, Elevating, Voluminous, Illuminating, Tantalizing, Amazingly Towering Roaming Eye, also known as L.E.V.I.T.A.T.R.E. is a hot air balloon with illustrations of roses, cucumber, and gin. A small number of people who got tickets before Saturday night could take a quick ride in the balloon, while the rest of the public observed a large, floating installation from the ground. Â Â
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Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO)
Look:Forward was a reinstallation of the AGO Collection galleries. A couple floors of the art gallery were open for viewing. This included works from AGO’s Modern Art, Photography and European Art collections.
Graffiti Alley
Disturbing Graffiti by Studio F Minus featured various light installations. People were able to walk through the alley to view projections that were created by a team of designers and students.
Pros and Cons of Nuit Blanche
As with all events, there were positives and negatives. Here are some things I noticed:
A shortcoming of the occasion is that the streets and major locations were extremely populated. Nuit Blanche 2017 was much busier than ones from previous  years and it seems that the organizers had not accounted for the attendee overflow. Long lineups were present in many locations. The lack of visible signage in the dark and assistants in high traffic areas made it difficult to navigate. In general, better space planning would have led to a nicer experience for the public. Adding some lighting, colour coding, clear directions, and reorganizing would have helped. The installations were not as grand or open to the public as past years. Most of what I saw was confined by walls, whether it was in shipping containers, booths, indoors, or in alleys. There were many performers, but they were quickly hidden by crowds. Stages or projections may have made them more visible. More work that can be seen from a distance is needed. For example, the hot air balloon was easily experienced by many people, attracting a lot of positive attention.
A positive trait was the opportunity to observe and interact with many installations. As a design student, everything I saw around me allowed me to learn. Observing, critiquing, and being inspired by the work is beneficial for my own projects. Another highlight was spending quality time with a large group of friends. Exploring the city at night with the right people will always make for a great experience.
Visit https://nbto.com/ for more information on Nuit Blanche Toronto.