Some images from Nuit Blanche 2011
The next few pictures are from an installation called “Soon”. This installation was described as the occurrence of something otherworldly happening. I felt like it was the arrival of the aliens from a science fiction movie. The over powering sounds were out of a movie where the aliens are landing, and the smoke and lights accentuated this. Spotlights played over the crowd, occasionally stopping to linger, and sometimes, to play.
Here is some video of the spotlight playing with a child in the crowd. You can really get a sense of the overpowering sound.
Fluxe was a video installation, where people in the crowd could draw on a screen to create some amazing patterns.
This is what it looked like in motion.
This is a guy playing drums in the body of a car.
Inside the Gorilla Glass. I don’t understand the name, but it was kinda cool.
Here’s video showing what it looked like in motion.
From “Shannon’s Fireflies”
The Heart Machine
And video:
Probably the biggest disappointment of the night was Flight Path. Its description was ambitious, giving people the opportunity to soar over Nathan Philips Square like birds. However, it looked like only a couple of the departure towers were functioning. The line for “Flight School” was two hours long, with another wait for your departure. And then a short slow slide across to the next tower. And that was it.
The lasers on the ground were neat to look at though.
Slipstream at the Eaton Centre was neat to look at.
While below, people tried to get the Paparazzi Robots to take their picture.
Overall, the night was good. There is a persistent and growing problem with Nuit Blanche however, and that is the public drunkenness. While walking down Yonge Street, it seemed as though every teenager in the city was drunk and on that street. There were buskers all the way down the street, and at points, I felt like some of them were in danger, as a press of drunks surrounded them. A few times, it seemed like it would not take much to turn the crowd violent. From reports I’ve seen on Twitter, there were fights, thefts, and as reported this morning: a shooting. This event is one of my favourite events of the year, but each year the crowds get drunker, louder, and more dangerous. The event is far too large for the police to be able to monitor the public drinking.
I don’t know if there is an answer. I can only hope that this amazing event keeps running on its own strength, undeterred by the drunken louts around it.