NUIT BLANCHE ALERT: ZONE B

Nuit Blanche Toronto has three zones. Zone A is Yorkville, Zone C is Queen West, and Zone B is around the Ontario College of Art and Design at Dundas and McCaul Streets.

As you’re making your way around town, be sure to stop at the Gardens of the Italian Consulate (136 Beverly Street at Dundas) where seven EU countries will be screening video works by seven internationally recognized artists. Although no information could be found on six of the artists (great pr, guys) it’s ok because it will be worth it if only to see work by the excellent Bjorn Melhus from Germany.

The Oral Thing 2001, Bjorn Melhus. Image: Forum-Itinerant.org

So the minimum amount of time spent here should be 22 minutes, checking out Melhus’ The Oral Thing (8 minutes) and Captain (14 minutes)

While you’re in the area, stroll along Baldwin taking in Chris Curreri’s neon window installation (Let me be your) Teddy Bear. You might drop by OCAD for A Glow in the Dark (see below) and perhaps take in Adam and Dave’s sure-to-be-adventurous-and-unexpected Totally Toronto Special Walking Tours at the Zone B hub at OCAD.

May we suggest that you skip the AGO, unless you happen to be dressed like Andy Warhol, in which case – lucky you – the exhibition is free, but only until 2 am, when it closes. You’ve gotta wonder about the AGO…don’t they get it?

Regardless, the folks at OCAD next door certainly do. Drop by to see A Glow in the Dark, works by OCAD alumni installed throughout the building. We were going to suggest highlights, but everything is worth seeing!

Nicholas and Sheila Pye, 2002
Screenings of new video works A Life of Errors and The Paper Wall run all night in the Elizabeth and Goulding Lambert Lounge.

The Paper Wall 2004, Nic and Sheila Pye. Image: Angell Gallery

Michael Snow, 1952
Film aficionados can get their fill with a continuous, all-night screening of Snow’s critically-acclaimed films in the Auditorium.

David Rokeby, 1984
On Level 6 of the Sharp Centre for Design, Rokeby plays with your perceptions in an interactive video installation which re-images the real-time activity taking place nine stories below.

Seen 2002, David Rokeby. Image: Davidrokeby.com

The Manifold Project
A montage of work by OCAD alumni is projected in the OCAD lobby throughout the evening.

Ian Carr-Harris, 1971
An installation entitled Narcissus, from one of Carr-Harris’s most distinctive series of works, is presented in the OCAD Professional Gallery.

137 Tecumseth 1994, Ian Carr-Harris. Image: Susan Hobbs Gallery

Geoffrey Pugen, 2004
OCAD’s Great Hall transforms into The Day Room, an immersive multi-screen installation, with live camera capture and electronic sound.

Joanne Tod, 1974
Large-scale paintings from the series New Society Paintings are presented in the OCAD Professional Gallery.

Self Portrait 1982, Joanne Tod. Image: University of Toronto

Mary Anne Barkhouse, 1991
A sculpture installation entitled Petition explores themes of the environment and indigenous culture, on Level 6.

Garry Neill Kennedy, 1960
Two New Wars, mixed media work from Kennedy’s recent exhibition in Berlin, is presented in the OCAD Professional Gallery.

Garry Neill Kennedy. Image: Emerson Gallery

George Whiteside, 1979
Medium-format Polaroids from the series Photographas recounts Whiteside’s journey through Rajasthan and Varanasiby, India. Presented on Level 6.

Kristan Horton, 1996
The dynamic, deconstruction/reconstruction sculptures Rolo and Copo are presented in the OCAD lobby.

Rolo 2005, Kristan Horton. Image: Mercer Union

Shannon Cochrane, 1996
The first major snowstorm of the season Winter Performance is orchestrated from the roof of the Sharp Centre for Design.

John McEwen, 1970
A metal and bronze installation entitled Imperfect Paradise rests at the centre of Butterfield Park, the Zone B information hub for Scotiabank Nuit Blanche.