Nuit Blanche 2010: Part 3 > Until The Night Is Over

Feeling re-energized by Daniel Lanois's performance, 3am seemed like a good time to visit the installations along Bloor Street in Zone A. One subway ride later, and we arrived at the Royal Conservatory of Music.

At the RCM and the lush lights of Aurora continues to draw audiences in (a5); calming
by the2scoops via iPhone at 10/3/2010 7:28:28 AM3:28 AM Sunday, October 03, 2010

The atrium of the Royal Conservatory of Music was filled with these remarkable creations, with calm waves of light and sound reacting to the crowds passing underneath. Aurora was created by Philip Beesley Architect Inc. as "a responsive forest of light". The mechanics of it looked fascinating, but what we found ourselves in was a technological Northern Lights as we were washed in strangely calming sounds.

We made our way to the auditorium of the Royal Conservatory of Music, hoping to find some live performance, but only to find a player piano on stage. It was the first of many disappointing installations that seemed to shut down before the sunrise. Some installations closed not by choice, such as Iskootāo, a performance in the heart of Yorkville that was reportedly ended after noise complaints from a neighbourhood condo. Some installations just seemed to pull up stakes early, such as KortuneFookie, which was nowhere to be found at 4:30am.

Finally got a look at Lower Bay Station. Sadly no Starbucks built yet
by the2scoops via iPhone at 10/3/2010 8:14:16 AM4:14 AM Sunday, October 03, 2010

One installation that was open and still drawing an audience was the Interactive landscape Dune set in Lower Bay Subway station. A relic of a 3-line subway plan that was never implemented (Wikipedia - Lower Bay Station), Lower Bay Station is seldom open to the general public. But for Nuit Blanche, it was opened up and turned into "an interactive landscape of light".

The lights resembled a wetland full of glowing bullrushes and flickered with each noise from the audience, but the real show was when the subway trains passed above through Bay Station.

Only our 2nd coffee of the night, the hopping the subway down to the TIFF Lightbox in Zone C
by the2scoops via iPhone at 4:46 AM Sunday, October 03, 2010

By 5am, the streets had taken on the air of post-apocalyptic zombie movie. Survivors staggered the streets, in search of the installations still open. Empty cans of energy drink piled into the gutters. As much as we wanted to check back in to some of the Zone C exhibits like Erik Satie’s Vexations (1893) and The Task, but we likely only had enough energy to take in one more stop. For us, our goal was to check out the brand new Bell Lightbox complex at King and John. By all reports, the new home to the Toronto International Film Festival was a stunning addition to Toronto, and I hadn't had a chance to see it yet.

The building was, as promised, a testament to film. We found ourselves in a beautiful, bright space, warmly greeted by the volunteers. We took a peek at the The Essential Cinema exhibit and grabbed a seat for some stunningly disturbed clips from their Grindbox! trailer screening (Make Them Die Slowly is a very messed up film that surely influenced the Saw series).

Nice to end the night with a singalong to Always Look On The Brightside of Life at c47 Singin' in the Dark, Sunday, October 03, 2010 6:02:24 AM via Twitter for iPhone

Shaking off the Grindbox, we sat down in the cinema that was home to Singin' in the Dark. Early in the night, a host was rowsing the crowd in a singalong to traditional movie musicals, and later more eclectic selections. By 6am, the audience was comfortable just taking in the clips, laughing and cheering the stranger selections. At the start, we had scenes from "Reservoir Dogs" and "Blue Velvet", charming clips from "500 Days of Summer" and "Almost Famous", and then just outright weird clips like "Clockwork Orange". To end the show, and the clip that finally got some singing from the crowd (or at least me), it was Always Look On The Bright Side of Life from "Life of Brian".

As we were leaving the Lightbox, a volunteer asked if we had seen the Atom Egoyan's 8 ½ Screens. It wasn't really on our radar, but was part of the exhibits marking the opening of the Lightbox. We told the volunteer no, and he in turn responded like we needed to catch the last helicopter out of Saigon. "It's your last chance, it closes tonight! Go, run to the elevator!!!!"

And you know, he was right, it was pretty spectacular. The cinema experience is inverted: from a projector mounted on the stage in front of the main screen, a key sequence from Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2 is shown. It flickers out into the cinema seats where various screens in all shapes and forms are hung.

It was something very unique to see, and we would have missed out on something cool if we hadn't listened to the volunteer. We made sure to thank him for his enthusiastic directions on the way out.

Thanks to all for a terrific Nuit Blanche. And with the last notes and the first glow of sunrise, adieu
by the2scoops via iPhone at 6:49 AM Sunday, October 03, 2010

As the sky glowed with the pre-dawn, we passed through Nathan Phillips Square where Daniel Lanois was overseeing the teardown of his installation. Within an hour or so, the city would be restored to its normal state, and bleary eyed, despite a mixed bag of an evening, I absolutely look forward to the next year.

The morning was creeping up on us, and I was looking forward to taking advantage of a late checkout time from the Metropolitan Hotel, and all-day breakfast at a favourite diner.

I'll post a little wrap-up tomorrow with some final thoughts on Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2010.