Nuit Blanche 2008: Moving through the crowds
As we were leaving to see House of Leaves, we were approaching a coin-operated “robot”, and I couldn’t resist dropping all of my change into the bucket for a little performance. I felt invigorated and like a child again, being given the chance to be playful and spontaneous in a way that we rarely allow ourselves (at least I, myself) to be. En route to to Queen Station, I saw one of my favourite unintentionally public art displays—an art-induced traffic jam. I do feel badly about the people trying to get through the intersection, but it was elating to see such an obvious impact to the way people move an interact because they were out to see art (and…also…I can’t believe there are some people crazy enough to drive through downtown Toronto during Nuit Blanche).
So, after passing more performance artists, we took the subway to Dundas Square. 15 Minutes was on intermission, so we headed for the House of Leaves. En route, we stopped to ask where people were getting rubber ducks, and were told that there was a duck pond at Gould Street. Teresa and Adriana almost ran for the pond, and I was delighted to see so many people crowded around the display and wading into the pond to play with the ducks, despite the ice-cold water. Justin was brave enough to wade into the pond, but his trip was cut short by an onlooker who was chastising everyone for “destroying the artist’s work”, claiming that the artist was just here and had been telling everyone to stop taking ducks. She refused to believe that the program said that people were encouraged to go into the pond, and continued to yell at people until her friends started to try to push her into the pond.
Honestly, even if the artist had not intended for people to take ducks home with them, I don’t have a problem with this type of activity. It was all in good fun (versus vandalism), where the public was simply wanting to interact with the display and take a piece of the work home with them. Is it still theft? Yes. And although good intentions doesn’t invalidate the act of theft, the coordinators of Light Up the Night did invite people to hunt the proverbial sitting ducks. After Steroscope, the duck pond was the most interactive and playful display we encountered last night.
Table of contents for Nuit Blanche 2008
- Nuit Blanche 2008: Church Street
- Nuit Blanche 2008: Cabbagetown
- Nuit Blanche 2008: Stereoscope
- Nuit Blanche 2008: Moving through the crowds
- Nuit Blanche 2008: House of Leaves
- Nuit Blanche: One week later
