Toronto Light Festival 2017

I attended the Toronto Light Festival a couple of weeks ago.

This festival had its first year in 2017 and was a free, outdoor event. It was held in the Distillery District from January 27th to March 12th – “during the dark, cold days of winter” in the hope that “city residents will be drawn out of their traditional indoor habitats to experience Toronto in a way they never have before.”

 

 

 

This installation was entitled “Our House.” Artist Tom Dekyvere (Belgium) meant to show “another example of how life and its natural environment can be manipulated into a new form. The installation refers to the balance between electronics and nature, people and their network.”

 

 

 

This piece, called “Angels of Freedom,” is by the OGE Creative Group from Israel. Visitors were encouraged to “turn themselves into a real angel” by posing in front of the wings and halos. For every photo shared to FB, Twitter, or Instagram, the group donated $1.00 to the Daily Bread Food Bank.  Social media for a good cause!

 

 

 

 

“The Love Locks”, by Toronto Light Festival creator Mathew Rosenblatt, “requires the participation of lovers to come together to express their enduring love for one another.” (Visitors could write their names on a lock and add it to the exhibit).  “This simple action not only reinforces what is already in their hearts, it also acts to create an intensely positive environment and inspiration for others.”

 

 

 

 

 

“The Magic Dance Mirror” by Kyle Ruddick (United States) “creates a graphically styled mirror image of those using it with dynamic animated visuals based on a user’s movement, audio, and social interactions.”

It was really good to see visitors not being afraid to dance and act “silly” in front of strangers in order to interact with the artwork. I could have stayed in there all night – it was such a fun, positive environment. Now – how to get one of those installed in my house?!

 

 

 

 

Another interactive piece was “A Dream of Pastures” by Studio F Minus from Canada. It was a “mechanical sculpture and light projection inspired by the history of moving images.” Visitors could pedal a stationery bike, which would power a projector displaying a moving image of themselves riding a horse.

 

 

 

“IT” by Michael Christian (United States) was the somber piece in the festival. “IT rises over 40 feet tall and is constructed of 12,000 pounds of steel. Inspired by H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, IT was commissioned by Black Rock City Nevada’s 2006 Burning Man Festival and over 50,000 visitors viewed it when it was first unveiled.”

 

 

 

“Run Beyond” by Angelo Bonello (Italy) was my favourite of the festival. It was “a work about the jump we all have to take in our lives: the jump to freedom. Bonello does not tell us what kind of freedom, the spectator has to make up their own mind. Bonello: “To me this work is about the power of imagination, a power so strong that it makes individuals conquer their fears and limitations and causes them to open up to other cultures, new friendships, and unknown worlds.”

 

 

 

“Digital Origami Tigers” by LAVA from Australia “started their world travels in 2010 in celebration of the Chinese New Year at Customs House in Sydney, Australia. The Digital Tigers were adopted by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) to bring attention to the international campaign to save tigers. The crouching Digital Tigers combine ancient methods of lantern making with cutting edge digital design and fabrication technology, bringing together east and west.”

 

 

 

 

“The Uniting Lightstar” by Venividimultiplex (The Netherlands) “is a dodecahedron which…consists of twelve pentagonal surfaces….you see numerous strings of blue light, which connect all of the points of this artificial star. The Uniting Lightstar demonstrates…the human capacity to boost friendships and let them grow.”

 

 

 

I am hoping that Toronto Light Festival returns in 2018!

Stay tuned!

Sources:

All quoted text and information is from Toronto Light Festival 2017’s printed festival brochure.

Toronto Islands – FIGMENT art event

Okay, I went to this event way back in July. But my summer (and early fall) was so crazy busy that this is the first time I’ve really had a chance to make an entry about that day.

Toronto has a bunch of cool little islands not too far from shore. “The island community is considered to be the largest urban car-free community in North America, although some service vehicles are permitted. Access to the Islands is by ferry, including the City of Toronto ferries operating from Jack Layton Ferry Terminal at the foot of Bay Street, or by water taxis.”

Click on the photo for a much larger image!

Here is the dock we disembarked at:

Soon after you get off the ferry, you might see this sign…

…which gives you a clue to the type of day you are about to have.

The Toronto Islands form what is basically a huge, interconnected park – with no cars permitted. Some people do live there, but the houses are in a small area and hidden away. What I saw was the type of environment that a lot of people would like to live in – a beautiful, calm, natural setting…..just a few minutes away (but it seemed like worlds away) from a major urban metropolis.

I went to the Islands to see a large-scale outdoor interactive art event called FIGMENT. Here is an explanation of it:

You could add to the chalk art on the bridge as you entered the event.

…um, does anyone know what this sign means?

I found out that it’s really fun to throw paintballs at a large canvas…even if my aim was a little (or a lot) off at first (sorry, random person walking about 20 metres behind the canvas). My friend (pictured here) was a little better at it than I was.

Next we got a chance to play the “Conundrum,” which was a canoe with a skin stretched over it for drumming. The artist is David Hynes. It was really fun to create beats with both friends and total strangers.

Just in front of the Conundrum, we could see a million-dollar view of the Toronto skyline.

You could also join this….BikeArt contraption? I think you can jump on it and play percussion instruments.

Here’s a photo of my favourite exhibit of the day.

What it was was basically a bunch of large pieces of fabric tied together, in rows. It was sort of like a little maze. For some reason, being in the middle of it with the wind blowing the fabric around you was very calming and relaxing.

You could also make your own theatre:

I wanted to try it, but some little girl was commandeering the whole thing and I wasn’t quite ready to join her brigade 🙂

Across the path, we discovered this….

It would “run” in place if you turned the crank.

Beside it was this series of colourful pendulums. Again, if you turned a crank they would sway back and forth. It was strangely hypnotizing.

Centre Island also has a charming little place called Far Enough Farm.

You could see a full-sized pig up close…

…or pet one of these cute miniature ones.

Far Enough Farm is free, but they do ask for a donation if you want to pet this zebu (a species of miniature cow from Southeast Asia).  Apparently they are as friendly as dogs and will even go for walks with you. This one was very used to being petted and told how cute it is all day long while lying on a very comfortable straw bed.

Every farm needs a mean-looking barn cat 🙂

…and a few ducks with ducklings.

Back at the art exhibits, we found this strange (but cool) tea party.

The Islands have very nice beaches as well, including one nude beach (Hanlan’s Point). How scandalous :-0

Pictured here is Centre Island Beach.

Here is Gibraltar Point Beach, which is without a doubt the most picturesque.

Centre Island also features some beautiful gardens.

The sun was setting…

..and back on Olympic Island, FIGMENT arranged for us all to see a circus show for FREE!

Below is our charming Master of Ceremonies, Sketchy the Clown.

We were treated to many outstanding acts including a trapeze performer,

an aerial silks artist,

a hoop performer (excuse the blurry photo – she was spinning pretty quickly),

and some fire performers.

As we headed back towards the mainland after the show, this sight awaited us.

In my opinion, the Toronto Islands are a little bit like heaven!

Stay tuned!

Sources: Toronto Islands info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Islands

Nuit Blanche 2014

Nuit Blanche is an all-night free art festival in Toronto.  It runs one night in early October from 7pm until 7am.  This year it happened on Saturday, October 4th. It was my first time attending the event.

I had heard rumours of the festival being practically overtaken by drunken revellers, suffocating crowds, and long lineups (to gain access to exhibits).  The aforementioned rumours were mostly true – but I found the crowds to be navigable, the drunks to be cheerful, and the lineups …well, I chose to not wait in any of the lineups. There is still a lot to see without having to wait in a line. Some exhibits are not crowded, some do not necessitate lines at all,  and those that have long queues can be viewed from the outside – or can be returned to later.

I began the night in Roundhouse Park, near the Toronto waterfront (at Lower Simcoe and Bremner). The most impressive exhibition to be found there was called “HOLOSCENES” and featured people in a large glass box filled with water (essentially a human aquarium).  They were seen doing ordinary things, such as preparing for bed. I read a synopsis stating that the idea was to provoke thought on the effects of global warming (i.e. flooding and catastrophic weather patterns) on people’s everyday lives.

 

The next one I saw, also in Roundhouse Park,  was a series of light boxes that interacted with viewers. When someone passed one of the light boxes, the light pattern would change based on their shape and movements.

I moved onto King Street and found this very interesting exhibit outside of Metro Hall.

 

Here is some more information about it, for those of you that are interested.

I travelled up John Street towards Queen St W, where I found this unbelievable installation!

 

Here is the description/explanation:

The next exhibit I came across (on Queen Street) provided the public with a soundproof outlet for their frustrations.

The next one one was a maze made up of translucent material with brightly coloured lights projected inside of it in a linear pattern.  The effect was unique and beautiful.

In the background you can also see the “Global Rainbow” by artist Yvette Mattern. It was made up of seven laser lights spanning two kilometers and could be seen all over the city.

 

 

Here is a closer shot of the “Global Rainbow.” It can be seen still – from October 5 to 9 and 12 to 13, 6 p.m. to midnight and October 10 to 11, 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. at 222 Spadina Ave (south of Dundas Street West but visible city-wide).

This photo doesn’t do it justice…..it is quite spectacular in person.

Ogden Junior Public School (on Phoebe Street, 2 streets north of Queen) joined in on the festivities.

Part of their installation was a series of videos projected onto large windows on the side of the school.

Here is the description:

I traveled back down to King Street where the TIFF Bell Lightbox (my favourite movie theatre) was showing a series of free films all night long.

The first one we saw was “The Unauthorized Hagiography of Vincent Price”. It was a fake biography, or “faux-ography” of Vincent Price.

It attempted to explain Vincent’s life through a chronological examination of the time periods featured in his films, starting from ancient Egypt (“The Ten Commandments”) up until the 1960s (“Edward Scissorhands”).  In between film clips and accompanying narration, false facts and real photographs from Vincent’s actual life were presented. If it sounds like it doesn’t make any sense, that’s because it doesn’t.  It was still quite entertaining, however, and contained many of Vincent’s most deliciously twisted movie quotes.

One of the other TIFF Bell Lightbox theatres was showing silent movies accompanied by a live jazz band. I am a big fan of silent movies – especially ones accompanied by live music – so I was quite excited about this, and it did not disappoint.

For any film geeks out there, here is a list of the movies that were shown.

Now on to my #1 favourite art installation of the night – the “Monument to North American Energy Security.”  It was front and centre in Nathan Phillips Square (the public square outside Toronto’s City Hall).

The screen was showing typical advertisements for energy/oil companies – scenes of green grass, forests, and natural places with clean water and air and animals frolicking happily in meadows.  In front of the screen are two large oil tanks/silos with the label “Can-American Energy” with foreboding-looking skulls painted on them. In front of them is a series of fountain jets spewing a brownish/reddish substance (assumed to be oil and/or blood) into the clean water of a large pool.  As a result, the pool had a large, disgusting-looking slick covering its surface.

This exhibit cleverly juxtaposes the desired image of oil companies (happy, clean, and environmentally responsible) with the more typical reality of the results of oil and gas companies’ activities (oil slicks, dirty/contaminated water and land, environmental degradation and the resulting death to wildlife).

The exhibit was extremely powerful in person – the effect on the crowd was palpable.

Thoughts?

Did any of you go to Nuit Blanche this year? What are your impressions on what you saw?

Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

Toronto International Film Festival #2: Festival Street and the TIFF Bell Lightbox

It’s official: I am suffering from post-Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) depression. I am hoping that by sharing some of my photos with all of you, I will relive my good memories and that this will help to alleviate my symptoms. 🙂

Festival Street was from September 4th to 7th (the first weekend of TIFF). King Street was closed to traffic from University Ave to Peter St and featured art installations (such as this one – arguably one of the coolest art installations of all time),

 

a stage for musical performances,

an interactive art wall,

a couple of “fashion trucks,”

and patio extensions along Restaurant Row.

There were also “Shed Plays”, which were movie-themed micro-plays courtesy of the Toronto Fringe Festival, a giant chessboard, a brightly painted piano for anyone to play among rows of brightly coloured picnic tables, and the Light Tunnel – “the world’s most soothing red carpet.” It was a red carpet covered in a black dome with soft lighting and new-agey music playing inside.

The best part of Festival Street was something I didn’t get to photograph…it was unannounced…I just came upon it – and I didn’t have my camera with me (damn!)  It was a group of people dressed in gorilla suits doing modern dance (actually, just jumping around mostly) with gigantic bones around the HAL 9000 sculpture. A group of musicians playing some sort of strange modern music for violins and violas was playing live in the background.  Ha! Mind-bendingly awesome – where else can you see that on your way to the office ???

Here is the actual TIFF Bell Lightbox – the heart of the Film Festival:

Your own red carpet and photo op wall await you inside of the lobby.

 

Here is the box office –

 

– and the Official Film Schedule. The red lines denote films that are “offsale” (full). Eeeeeeeeep!

You can still get seats for films that are full by standing in the “rush line.”

 

…some rush lines are so big that they have a continuation further down the block!

 

Even the hallways, lobbies, and concession stands inside the TIFF Bell Lightbox are swanky.

 

The Festival would not be possible without many dedicated volunteers (2800 + this year !)

 

 

While the Film Festival is only 11 days a year, the TIFF Bell Lightbox is open 365 days a year.  This fall, they will be showing this movie there – it happens to be one of my favourite movies of ALL TIME ! ! !

HOLY @#$% I AM SO EXCITED for this one ! ! !

….and once I see another great movie at the Lightbox, I won’t be so sad that Festival is over for another year.

Stay tuned!