Julianna Yau’s blog

Updated: Added embedded video of live show (clip).

The next stop was the Steroscope display by Project Blinkenlights, which was my raison d’être for Nuit Blanche. We took the subway to Osgoode, and I could feel my heart start to flutter when we caught glimpses of it through the trees as we approached. We went up to the overpass to get a good view, and it was every bit as phenomenal as I had hoped. We arrived just in time to catch a bit  of the live performance involving a dj playing music to what was happening on City Hall.

I was so excited that I was actually having difficulty breathing, and was completely awestruck by what I was seeing. I don’t think there’s any way to describe what it felt like, watching all of  the windows in City Hall act as a single unit to display pixelated images. It was particularly amazing because I knew it took them two weeks of working at night to install the drop sheets over the windows and place lamps, each connected to a wireless dimmer switch, behind the drop sheets. For a geek like me, knowing that the central computer system allows me to play arcade games by calling into a phone number, and that I was able to upload animations to the computer, was all the more thrilling. I feel breathless just thinking about the experience—the exhilaration can only be parallelled by the time I went parachuting (not tandem).

After meeting up with Justin, I managed to talk to one of the Blinkenlights guys, who was very friendly. I must admit I was completely starstruck, and Adriana did much of the talking for me. The Blinkenlights guy mentioned that the display would be up for two weeks until October 12th, and that pretty much pushed my excitement over the edge, knowing not merely that I had the chance to return to see it some more but, more importantly, that it would be there through to the election. We (and by “we”, I mean Adriana) told him about the election and what our Prime Minister was doing with arts funding, and he told us “Fuck the Prime Minister”. We giggled like schoolgirls and Adriana told him how important it was that their display would be at City Hall leading up to the election, and he said “Good! We like to sit on people’s faces!”.

While wandering around Nathan Phillips Square, I heard nothing but statements of absolute awe and excitement from the people at the event, with people calling friends to tell them how amazing the display was and how much they would enjoy it if they were present.

It took me a while to connect to the games (partially because the live show had the phone lines closed, partially because of the demand for the games after the live show was over).  For a while, I was being persuaded by my friends that it wasn’t interactive, but I knew that it was because I was familiar with the project even before I knew they were participating in Nuit Blanche. After much persistence, I was able to dial in to play Space Invaders, and scored a puny 17 points before the dreaded GAME OVER screen loomed over me.

After wandering a bit more in Nathan Phillips Square, midnight rolled around and we proudly held up our ART signs for 4 minutes and 33 seconds in homage to John Cage’s 4 minutes an 33 seconds of silence and in support of art & culture in Canada. I was shocked that we were the only people there participating in the protest, but also felt empowered because we were getting much attention. Some people were very obviously humoring us, but I received several nods of comradery from people passing by.

Tags: art, Canada, nuit blanche, project blinkenlights, stereoscope