I have been called a pretentious art douche by one of my roommates, but I’m really not. I may be interested in the stuff but I don’t walk up to every expression of creativity and start interpreting hidden symbols and meanings. I do find truth in the quote, “art is anything you can get away with.” (Apparently said first by Marshall McLuhan, not Andy Warhol).

So, maybe we’re alike. We appreciate art but admit we don’t understand or respect every piece we encounter. If that’s the case, and you also think a white canvas with three black squares on it is a piece of crap, then I’m writing this article for you.

There’s an event starting at 6:55pm on Saturday October 3^rd, ending the next morning, and you’re invited.

Originating in Paris 2002, Toronto’s Nuit Blanche is now in its fourth year, offering the city 130 free and accessible contemportary art projects brought to you by almost 500 artists from around the world.

Here are some picks that my roommates and I found interesting, and that can be enjoyed from a non-douchey perspective:

Beautiful Light: 4 Letter Word Machine - Suspended 65 meteres above the ground between the City Hall towers, four 7-metre square alphanumeric quartz lamp arrays will display codes, DNA sequences and elemental words.

Space Becomes The Instrument – Watch performers play 30 metre long piano wires at Massey Hall.

Battle Royal – 20 men in a steel cage wrestling blindfolded.

Fresh Clay – Watch a team of ceramic artists create something new in the Gardiner Museum foyer.

Dance Dance Evolution! – Learn to dance a different decade of dance moves every hour.

Monopoly with Real Money – Watch Toronto celebrities play with real money.

10 Scents – Open a door to a portable toilet and let your senses guide you.

Vodka Pool – Want to know what a giant pool of vodka looks like on the floor?

Bright Lights Big City – Tune into your university’s very own radio station, CIUT at 89.5FM and watch the CN tower lights in sync with the music.

The Apology Project – 55 people in giant brown paper bags will say sorry to anyone in their path.

A Sultry World – an artist will be sitting on a 3 metre high chair wearing a giant red dress that you can go under.
And here are some tips to help you survive the night:

1) Dress warmly.

2) Bike, walk or use the TTC. This year, projects are closer together which makes it more walkable. There is also a special Nuit Blanche night pass available at all subway stations.

3) Get a map.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 28th, 2009 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Arts, Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.