A Guide to Nuit Blanche 2009
Nuit Blanche, or as the rather un-poetic anglos at Hydro Quebec would have it, the Montreal All-Nighter, has quickly grown into a wonder & amazement of art happenings, with hundreds of events occurring across a single night. Museums and galleries are open late, parties go into the wee hours, and there’s weird shit getting funded all across the city. What’s more exciting for me is how many people get out to this thing - for one night in February, the downtown is rammed with people who want to see art. It’s amazing.
Of course as soon as there’s lots of people, there’s also crowds. And as soon as there’s funding, there’s shitty stuff. And so given the wealth of options on Saturday night, here for you are Inside the Frozen Mammoth’s tips for 2009. No, we don’t recommend the planetarium - or the free breakfast. And take it from us, the Belgo Building can often feel like one of the circles of hell. But there’s a whole lot of splendours.
Pro-tips:
- The best way to do Nuit Blanche is to be a dilettante: If something sucks, leave. If something’s great, stay for a while. Flit and float and you’ll find wonders - truly and seriously.
- This year, the metro runs all night.
And it’s FREE.No, it’s NOT free. Oops! - If you’re the type, we suggest you bring a flask.
- Dress warmly, for yr sprints from building-to-building, but keep in mind that you’ll probably spend most of your time indoors, with nowhere to put your coat/hat/scarf.
- Forget about travelling in large groups - go small, plan sporadic meet-ups.
- Make a plan.
Below we have listed the stuff we’ll check out, or die trying, at: Old Montreal locations, the Belgo Building, Downtown (which is very close to the Belgo Building, and so can be thought of in the same “planning” sections of your minds), the Sous-Terrain locals (also basically downtown, so lump ‘em in your visit there) and finally, the Plateau/Mile-End. If you’re having trouble navigating our choices and want just 10 things you gotta-absolutely-must-see…
Our 10 most essential picks are:
1. Gallery Pangée Group Drawing Installation
2. SoCalled at Place-des-Arts
3. [The User] - Symphonie no.2 pour imprimantes matricielles
4. Christian Marclay at the DHC/ART Foundation
5. Alaska B. et Attwood - Yamantaka//Sonic Titan III
6. The Pines Party
7. Le Gymnase - le pARTy
8. Takashi Ishida and Yuki Kawamura’s films at the MACM
9. Birds of prey, near Olympic Stadium
10. Pillow hats!
You can also view all of our recommendations in a special GoogleMaps page.
Here are all the details:
Good Stuff in Old Montreal:
I was speaking to Osvaldo Ramirez recently, and he mentioned how challenging and exciting it’s been for him to collaboratively work on the drawing currently emerging on the walls at Gallery Pangée (40, rue Saint-Paul West). On Nuit Blanche, come see the drawing in its latest incarnation, (almost finished I believe) and root on the likes of Ramirez, Tyler Rauman, Lisa Czech and Jack Dylan for their fine efforts.
DHC/ART Foundation for Contemporary Art is a fairly new, totally exciting exhibition space in the Old Port (451, Saint-Jean Street) and if you’ve never had an opportunity to get down and check out their digs, Nuit Blanche is the time to do it. Their current exhibition is a retrospective of the amazing Christian Marclay’s brilliant work. Go see REPLAY, and then come sign up for the workshop DHC, Art Pop and Articule are running inspired by his work.
Finally, if you’re sortof near the old port, you gotta go check out Usine C, (1345, ave Lalonde, metro Beaudry) which is having an all-night party of installations, dance, inventions and gaiety. They’ve invited the Big Art Group from New York to come party down with us so go give ‘em a big welcome and stay for their sure-to-be-awesome show.
What We’re Gonna Check out in the Belgo Building:
The Belgo Building (372, Sainte-Catherine Street West) is a staple for art roving behaviour, both on Nuit Blanche and during the rest of the year as well. It’s a great place to familiarize oneself with, especially when it’s ouvert to all and you can go and rummage through bits and hallways as half-sober or drunk as you’d like and no one notices the difference.
These are the highlights as for Saturday’s ALL NIGHT PARTY once you’re in the land known as the Belgo, in no specific order:
1. Special Project for Art Matters Les Territoires Contemporary Art Gallery, Espace 527 (basically go to the 5th floor)
This is an all-night installation (till 2 a.m.) about the end of the world, which will be in 2012 (also at 2 a.m.). Here’s what Jessica Campbell, one of the particiapants, has to say for the project: “Think a mix of someone mopping up champagne, possibly an earth shaped pinata, donuts, a doomsday clock, a video of cooked hams “doing it,” an earthquake drillup from the floor while you watch, and other weirdness. Should be great.
2. Joyce Yahouda Gallery - Espace 516
Before you go to the end of the world, check out what Joyce Yahouda, one of the BEST commercial galleries in Montreal, has up on its walls right now. There’s going to be souvenir making there too (i.e. hands on crafty things for all), and some open mic stuff. Featuring the art of Sébastien Worsnip, Ianick Raymond and Sarah Bertrand-Hamel.
3. Amber Albrecht at Gallery Division - Suite 311
I’ve always loved Amber Albrecht’s work, but of late she’s showing that her artistic muscles have been pumping serious iron, as her work that is on view at Gallery Division demonstrates. I feel like Albrecht is coming into her own and pushing herself further in really exciting ways. The opening for this, her first solo show, is from 3 p.m. - 6 p.m., so come early to the Belgo and then go eat in China Town before going out for the later activities. You won’t regret it.
4. Studio 303 presents Factory 303 - Espace 303
Studio 303 will present activities and installations inspired by Andy Warhol’s Silver Factory. I’ve never played rockband, and you can here on Nuit Blanche, which just seems like a really good idea.
Good Stuff Downtown
Montreal’s downtown is dominated by, uh, big buildings and concert halls and things, so there aren’t as many tiny galleries to explore as other parts of the city. Instead, you need to find the big places where the raddest small installations have taken place. Don’t forget that the “underground” programming (see below) is mostly downtown as well!
If you’re heading out early enough, go to one of UQAM’s Pillow Hat stations (the only address I can find is the Pavillon Judith-Jasmin, 405, Ste-C est, at the St-Denis & Ste-C entrance). These are stations where design students are letting people borrow, er, Pillow Hats. Which sound better in French, as chapeaux-oreiller. They let you “fall asleep while standing up”, which is hilarious, but also they are PILLOW HATS and so these are probably a must. After Nuit Blanche they are going to be distributed to the homeless.
At UQAM’s CDEx, art students have a big interdisciplinary art installation planned until 5am, exploiting the centre’s architecture as a “massive interface between the interiot and the exterior”. “Cumbia-expérimental-glam-electronica-tropical,” they say, to which we say “yes-oui-ok-daccord-olé”. On your way west, pass by contemporary photography gallery VOX to see an upcoming photography exhibition, At Work And Play, as film-collage.
The Musée d’art contemporain is a major hub for Nuit Blanche activities and one of the best ways to spend a couple of hours. Their exhibitions are open until 5am, including the important (but mostly boring) Tousignant expo, and a beautiful set of eerie animated films by Takashi Ishida and Yuki Kawamura (in the basement). That screening, in particular, seems like a magical 3am plan. There are some special installations too, and a “chocolate bar” that offers a perfect midnight espresso-chocolate.
The downtown’s big buildings and concert halls make it among the best place for Nuit Blanche’s film and music offerings. The Fantasia Fest’s programming (fb) of gore, sci-fi, fantasy, weird cartoons and asian action shorts are showing at the Place des Arts’ Theatre Maisonneuve. The Sundance Festival (fb) has meanwhile sent a program of shorts to the Monument National, including lots of Montreal premieres and a film starring Melissa Auf der Maur. Chi-chi! Sundance’s short film programmer, Shane Smith, will also be there, at least until he falls asleep.
It’s not a terrific night for music but there are a couple of bright spots (and everything’s free). SoCalled is playing at Place des Arts at 3am and 4:15am, and then over at Metropolis (fb), the festivities are non-stop. Bounce les gros with NinjaTune’s Ghislain Poirier at 3am, followed by Khiasma at 4am. Khiasma is one of the city’s fastest rising DJs, genius of musics faraway, and a man who helped make the Inside the Frozen Mammoth launch so wonderful.
And finally, if you’re downtown it means that at any time you are near a metro. This means that you can zoom to any of the other sections above and below - but also that you can zoom out near the Biodome and Olympic Stadium. A lot of the stuff out there sucks or costs money, but listen - there’s one thing that’s rad. They will be loosing birds of prey. Yes. Remember that. If at any time (’til 1am) you feel bored or drained, remember - you’re just a free subway ride from loosed birds of prey.
What We’re Gonna Check out in the Sous Terrain havoc:
1. Souvenir de Saint-Henri - Place Bonaventure, 800 de la Gauchetiere
Isa B. has, in these paintings, created an hommage to a neighbourhood both rich in its cultural history (Louis Cyr was a police officer in this southwest quartier back in the day) and ripe with change, as major gentrification is morphing the feeling and sensibility of the hood in a big way. I lived in St.Henri for years and have a major soft spot for the south west, so I am definitely going to be checking this out.
2. Symphonie no.2 pour imprimantes matricielles - Place Bonaventure
Years ago, in the dead of my first Montreal winter, I got into a snow ball fight with my roommates and a bunch of strangers. We all ended up walking/fighting in the same direction, and when we arrived home, everyone stopped the violence for a minute to exchange hello-and-who-are-yous. One of the guys I met that night was Emmanuel Madan, on his way to San Francisco to do some sound piece involving dot matrix printers.
I’ve always wanted to see the resulting work (which has shown elsewhere since) and on Nuit Blanche, his art collective, [The User], (Emmanuel Madan and Thomas McIntosh) will be installing their symphony for dot matrix printers at Place Bonaventure. I can’t wait, and shall arrive with snow in tow.
3. Survival Blanket for an Underground City - Gare Central, Metro Bonaventure
Survival Blanket for an Underground City is an installation created specifically for Montreal’s “Art Souterrain.” The artists’ aim was to make a quilt that would function as a cozy resting place for the many visitors throughout the evening. Focus Group is a collective of young emerging female artists from Ottawa who work in different fields but find inspiration in working on collaborations. 6pm-5am.
4. Un cirque vivant ! - Palais des Congrès, 1001 Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle, Place d’Armes
I hope this event doesn’t have an actual elephant (I highly doubt it) but it’s going to be one of the latest events going on for Nuit Blanche, and basically sounds like it’ll be one big crazy contortionist circus extravaganza. Patrick Lacharité, of Below the Sea, will be one of the DJs too, which doesn’t hurt the events chances of success, cause he’s a great musician and pretty darned cute, too.
5. Fred Laforge - ( )07 - Centre de commerce mondial, Square-Victoria metro
Fred Laforge does short, little animations that will be on display at the Centre de Commerce, and once you’ve seen them and got accustomed to this element of his work, keep your eyes out for his absolutely stunning drawings.
6. Diane Obomsawin - Madame Oboum - Centre de commerce mondial, Square-Victoria metro
One of this blog’s favourite animators and local artists, Diane Obomosawin will be showing some of her most recent animations, 14 in all.
7. Karine Giboulo - All You Can Eat - Centre de commerce mondial, Square-Victoria metro
Another one of my favourite artists of the city, who does amazing and irreverent sculptures that look like frosted icing bubble lands you’d like to live in. Can’t wait to see her newest fantastical miniature worlds.
8. Alaska B. et Attwood - Yamantaka//Sonic Titan III - Eaton’s Centre, McGill metro
This duo had an awesome installation grace the Articule space last summer, and they’re up to their spectacular and challenging behaviour here again with another installation, this time at the Eaton’s centre.
What We’re Gonna Check out in the Plateau/Mile End:
This year might be the first that the city includes Mile End/The Plateau into the mix of Nuit Blanche craziness, and the buses will be free and running all the way up to artistic things North of Sherbrooke, which could potentially include your aesthetic abode at 3 a.m. Here’s the juiciest bits to rip your teeth into, metaphorically speaking, in this neighbourhood where to drink, you’ve gotta order food:
1. Slightly Uncanny - PUSH Gallery, 5264 St Laurent (just north of Fairmount)
PUSH Gallery is a new, passionately curated addition to the commercial gallery scene in Montreal, and is a great asset for this neighbourhood. Megan Bradley infuses everything she does there with aesthetic intent and integrity, and I am very excited to follow the growth and developments of the space.
Kyle Beal, Patrick Lundeen & Stacy Lundeen are currently inhabiting the gallery with a group show entitled Slightly Uncanny, and for Nuit Blanche, Galerie PUSH will present film screenings of Patrick Lundeen’s Sin Will Find You Out, with Lundeen introducing and discussing his film. All three artists will be present throughout the evening and toasty warm treats will be served all night.
2. Red Bird Studios Portes Ouverts - 135 Van Horne
Come peruse the works of the many talented artists at the Red Bird studios. There’s going to be live silk screening, video work and interactive pieces.
3. 24 Hours of Wandering the Americas - Bain St MIchel, 5300 St Dominique Street
This event literally starts at noon on the 28th and ends at noon the following day. Collective reflections on the Americas in an festive ambience. Bain St Michel is an awesome venue, and this one intrigues me with its thematics as well as its promises of kitschy glory and interactive art.
4. Everything or nothing: rather everything! - Occurrence, espace d’art et d’essai contemporains -5277 Avenue Du Parc
A fun chance to visit the artist-run-centre Occurence in their new space, this evening hosted by Ève Cadieux sounds like a flea market of sorts, which is never, never a bad thing.
5. - Le Gymnase - le pARTy - 4177 St-Denis
The fire-damaged Gymase, on St-Denis at Rachel, hosts one of the night’s most inventive parties. It’s called “le pARTy” (fb), but don’t hold that against it. ”Presented as a traditional dance-party, with all the necessary ingredients (DJ, VJ, dance-floor, disco lights, bar), this “party” will be entirely choreographed”, their statement reads. While I am sure everyone will be allowed to dance eventually as well, it means that some of the cities’ most exciting emerging contemporary dance choreographers - Erin Flynn, Sasha Kleinplatz, Andrew Tay, Katie Ward among others, - are staging original work, all in one big ridiculous, unpretentious gala. Most of us see contemporary dance so rarely, and it can be absolutely energising in the right context. I have a good feeling about this one. 10pm-3am.
And finally, one of the night’s best multi-disciplinary events seems to ba happening off-grid - that is, as far as I can tell, a not-officially-Nuit-Blanche happening. Studio/performance space The Pines (316 Murray St, in Griffintown) is hosting music, sound, light and weirdness in its creaky wooden walls. Loops and drones and psych-outs by THAMES and Monday Morning Erection, a sound installation by David Bryant (formerly of Godspeed, Set Fire To Flames, etc), and “the best projections we’ve ever seen” by Karl Lemieux. Starts at 10pm. (fb)
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)Updatan’ You Alls.
1) Don’t forget the deadline for applying to Art Pop 2009 is March 5th at midnight, please pass the word and this link around: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/4140023/ArtPOP-Call-for-Submissions
2) This Thursday (the 26th), make sure you make sure you show up at the Art Matters Opening Party! The Art Pop squadron is curating part of the exhibition, but that’s not all: the venue (bain mathieu .ca) is crazy, you’ll be dancing all night in an empty pool and the bands/djs are insanely radical. + there will be surprises and props of the kind you’ll want to photograph all night long so you never forget. check the facebook event page for more info: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=52365303557
3) Coming up on the 26th of March - An awesome art education project in collaboration with DHC/ART, articule and Art Pop, more details coming up soon!
Participants will be given a blank white album cover containing a record that has been removed from its original cover. They will be asked to listen to their album and create an album cover for the record they received. This project challenges participants to reflect on the visual representation of sound and music and find inspiration in a randomly selected record.
You must go to this! That is an order!
The awesomeness that is Food Jammers is coming to Montreal tomorrow and you must go! I can’t go so all of you have to go for me.
If you don’t know Food Jammers watch an episode, or two or all of them here.
Here’s the text from the Facebook Event
The VAV Gallery will be hosting an artist talk by two of the Toronto-based artists from the Food Networks’ The Food Jammers. Micah Donovan and Chris Martin will be speaking about their bricolage methodology around making, creating and consuming art.
VAV Gallery 1395 RENÉ LEVESQUE W.
www.micahdonovan.com
www.foodtv.ca/foodjammers/
www.vavgallery.com
Go go go!
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (1)Garfield Grundfreid
Tom Devlin, of Montreal-based publishing house Drawn & Quarterly, has been having Garfield Fridays for the past two weeks over at the D&Q blog, where he posts great renditions of the cat by hip artists. This weeek’s is by Aaron Shive and the first one (pictured above) is by Seth Scriver, who 1) is very inspiring, 2) just got published in the second issue of new Canadian contemporary art quarterly Hunter and Cook and 3) will soon be getting a Petit Livre published by the very same D&Q. Phew!
But back to this Garfield business, besides reminding me of how much I loathe the original comics, these drawings made me realize how much I’m paradoxically really into Garfield subversion. So let me share with y’alls a few Garfield comics enhanced by complete strangers (thanks Internet), plus a shot of the installation that was exhibited at the Giant Robot NYC store last November. Can you spot the snazzier-looking Garfield in that last image?
Terreur on St Valentine’s
I am not, nor have I ever been, a huge fan of February 14th, in the ways of the chocolates and cards and etceteras. When I was a kid, it was all a tormenting reminder of how alone each and every one of us is in the world, (yeah…no surprises there, I was a rather intense child….)
Now it isn’t even so much that I dislike the day of red roses and cherry-filled angels hitting each other with minty arrows, it’s that I never seem to even notice that today is actually Valentine’s Day. Years have gone by without so much as it blipping on my blip calendar.
Which is why I am both anxious and excited about Céline B. La Terreur’s performance today at articule. Represented by one of my absolute (if not all-time) favourite commerical galleries in Montréal, the Joyce Yahouda, La Terreur is at once a diva dying, a notion of who-gets-to-leave-this-world-how, and just a downright charismatically alluring and bizarre individual who I can’t stop staring at.
She’s a bona fide local artist who will be presenting (I believe) for the first time in an Artist Run Centre environment, with a month-long exhibition and the performance today at 3 p.m. as well as one on the 8th of March for those who are too busy swooning over some swan-boat down by the river, hands mashed into the hands of another, SHARING MICROCOSMIC GERMS only the angels of love surrounding you can see, etc. etc.
And to be honest, while I don’t know much about her work, (other than the fact that this piece in particular is called The Antechamber of Death and it focuses on what happens when an imaginary diva dies, and the fact that she’s obsessed with Maria Callas) I somehow feel a bizarre trust with where she’s going, or wants to take me, in a way that I rarely do. Not even trust, exactly - an excitement. A willingness. And so forth…
I am assuming you want to come to see her perform as I think it would be best to see her installation with her in it, as it’s the persona of the artist that leaves one feeling haunted in this case. So do it. Make the call you’ve been meaning to make these past weeks but haven’t had the nerve, in the end, to do. Tell him it’s over, that you’re bored and just need some space. Or that St Valentine’s day made you realize that you never loved her like you thought you did. And then get your ass down to articule and we’ll have a Terreur-filled day and we can get drunk and barf your ex’s name out in the snow, together.
Filed under artists, events, installation, local, performance | Tags: articule, celine b la terreur, performance | Comment (1)William Wegman, Lifetime Inspiration
William Wegman has always consistently displayed extraordinary wit, intemporal coolness, unquestionable humour and absolute talent. Visit his website to get a better sense of how remarkable his work is. The “1971-1985 works on paper” and “video” sections are especially both to die (of awe and laughter) for. He hasn’t stopped by Montreal since 1996, when he was exhibiting Fay’s Fairy Tales at the MACM…
Concordia students can still get a glimpse of Wegman’s genius without traveling by taking a look at the Selected Works by William Wegman, 1970-78 videotape over at the Webster Periodicals/Media Desk, or at the Video Works, 1970-1999 DVD, which they can find at the the Vanier Circulation Desk. The Webster Library also carries a few fantastic books about Mr. Wegman. The others can turn to amazon and thank god for the internet.
Massively good times will be had if you search “William Wegman” on youtube.
Filed under artists, photography, video | Tags: William Wegman | Comment (1)What’s Your Take On This?
So Shepard Fairey, the well known street artist notorious for his OBEY posters and most recently his Obama poster is in some hot water and I’m wondering what your take is on the situation. In case you haven’t heard about this here’s the down low: The Associated Press is suing Shepard for basing his drawing on a shot taken by one of their photographers and he’s not denying it. However there’s a little thing called Fair Use, which is a legal term that basically means that an image can be used without permission if it is significantly altered.
It sounds like money grubbing on the part of the Associated Press to me, considering Shepard Fairey donated all his profits . Can’t we all just be happy that these posters ended up being the visual image of Obama’s campaign? They caught the eye of all those American youngsters resulting in more voters.
You don’t see Shepard Fairey suing Jack Dylan for his Fairey-Obama inspired POP Montreal posters now do you?
I say chill out Associate Press, don’t be haters just because your photograph wasn’t as popular as the resulting posters. What do you think?
Filed under artists, illustration, street art | Tags: dylan, jack, obama, posters, shepard fairey | Comments (9)Of All Things Thankful…
A big, huge, gianormous thanks to all the bands and wonderful people who came out to our blog launch on Friday. You guys rock. And I hate being host, (sometimes) but I gotta say, it was one of the best evenings I’ve had in a while. Nut Brown, Shapes & Sizes and tUne yArds totally killed me and DJ KHIASMA was actually mind-blowing. And all you fine folks were pretty darned cute, too….
So yeah, now I am hand-writing all of you thank-you notes with this ornate silver pen using my winning skills in the sport known as “extreme calligraphy”. I once got a bronze medal at the international level. So check your mailboxes.
For a low-down on the night’s festivites, check this article out from Midnight Poutine and this article from the Hour.
And some folks were asking about links to the videos we played. While I can’t find all of them online, here’s a sampling of some of these fine individuals’ works:
Julien Ceccaldi’s fabulous Papierschnitt video
Filed under artists, events, local, video | Comment (0)Of even more shameless promotion-type things….
That’s right kids and pappies and babies and ados and all in- betweeners alike: Art Pop, the visual arts segment of Pop Montreal, is asking all of you and your kind to apply for this year’s festival. The deadline is the 26th of February, so get cracking.
We’re going to be focusing on art that is immersive-based/heavily reliant on crystals. Well, the crystals part is less important, and perhaps not even really necessary, we just have a crush on them in that way you do when you reach for your spring jacket and realize that the unidentifiable lumpy thing in one of the pockets is in fact, a giant crystal, and you don’t know how it got there. One-night stands with crystals everywhere.
So forward this link out to the folks who would want to see it, and think about the possibilities for your fine selves as well. It’s going to be an awesome festival this year, and we’re very much looking forward to reading your amazing projects while slowly realizing that you, in fact, and you alone, are our very own human-crystal, shining through the night with a will that won’t give up.
Or something like that.
Filed under art calls/appels, immersive art | Tags: art pop, crystals, immersive art | Comment (0)Shameless Self-Promotion
Hi y’all, this is Amy here, as some of you may know I used to own a shop called Atelier Woodenapples which recently closed and I wanted to let you all know what I’m doing now. I have opened an online shop, Paper and Pine with the fantastic Jenny Lee Craig. She and I work hard together to bring you Puces POP, Montreal’s biggest and bestest craft fair and now we’re working really hard to bring you Paper and Pine. Paper and Pine is based on the same ideas behind Woodenapples, it’s a (virtual) space for independent artists and designers to sell their goods. Jenny and I are super committed to finding all the handmade hidden treasures of the world so have a looksy why don’t you!? Where else will you find handcrafted gold knuckle rings with lion and tiger heads?
