Nuit Blanche 2013

Parisian curator Ami Barak’ exhibition around Toronto City Hall/Nathan Phillips Square celebrates artist Marcel Duchamp’s first

readymade art installation, bringing objects found in galleries and mseums back to the street

Off to a flying startCuratorial statementIn 2013, we celebrate the centenary of Bicycle Wheel, Marcel Duchamp’s first readymade. He combined a bicycle wheel and a stool – and it has become central to the very notion of Art and the artistic attitude towards objects. This century, objects found in the streets, chosen by artists, are displayed in museums. In the context of Scotiabank Nuit Blanche when the entire city becomes an open-air museum for one night, we will take these objects back to the streets and reunite the public with the ubiquitous nature of the artwork.—Ami BarakIn partnership with the Consulate General of France in Toronto with support from the Institut français as part of the Paris-Toronto series

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Nuit Blanche 2013Off to a flying startCuratorial statementIn 2013, we celebrate the centenary of Bicycle Wheel, Marcel Duchamp’s first readymade.

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Marcel Duchamp (American, born France. 1887–1968)

Bicycle Wheel

Date: New York, 1951 (third version, after lost original of 1913)

Medium: Metal wheel mounted on painted wood stool

Dimensions: 51 x 25 x 16 1/2" (129.5 x 63.5 x 41.9 cm)

Bicycle Wheel is Duchamp’s first readymade, a class of objects he invented to challenge assumptions about what constitutes a work of art. Duchamp combined two mass-produced parts—a bicycle wheel and fork and a kitchen stool—to create a type of nonfunctional machine. By simply selecting prefabricated items and calling them art, he subverted established notions of the artist’s craft and the viewer’s aesthetic experience. The 1913 Bicycle Wheel was lost, but nearly four decades later Duchamp assembled a replacement from newly found prefabricated parts and affirmed that the later version is as valid as the original.

Although Duchamp had collected manufactured objects in his studio in Paris, it was not until he came to New York that he identified them as a category of art, giving the English name "Readymade" to any object purchased "as a sculpture already made." When he modified these objects, for example by mounting a bicycle wheel on a kitchen stool, he called them "Assisted Readymades." Duchamp later recalled that the original Bicycle Wheel was created as a "distraction": "I enjoyed looking at it, just as I enjoy looking at the flames dancing in a fireplace."

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Nuit Blanche 2013Forever Bicycles, 2013Ai Weiwei – Beijing, China InstallationWorld-renowned Chinese artist Ai Weiwei will mount a new edition of his Forever Bicycles sculpture in Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square. 3,144 bicycles will be connected into a three- dimensional structure creating an incredible visual effect. The sheer quantity of bikes and the diverse perceptions of viewing points create a massive labyrinth-like, visually moving space.Yong Jiu, translated as “forever”, is the foremost bicycle brand in China and Ai re-interprets this everyday object to create a complex and abstract sculpture representing the rapidly changing social environment in China and around the globe.

Film Screening on October 5: Ai Weiwei: Never SorryThe inside story of a dissident for the digital age who inspires global audiences and blurs the boundaries of art and politics.Toronto City Hall Council Chambers: 7 pm /9 pm /11 pm /1 am /3 am /5 am

NEW Ai Weiwei, Forever Bicycles, 2013Visit 24 hours a day, October 6 – 27

Nathan Phillips Square, 100 Queen Street West (At Bay Street)

http://www.torontograndprixtourist.com/2013/09/nuit-blanche-2013-forever-bicycles.html

Forever Bicycles, 2011Photo: Reuters/Pichi Chuang

http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/2013-event/ai-weiwei.html

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Nuit Blanche 2013The (Re)Generator Project, 2013Chinedu Ukabam – Toronto, Canada Gabrielle Lasporte – Toronto, CanadaInteractive Multimedia Installation

H&M Toronto Eaton Centre1 Dundas Street West (Best viewed from the window facing Yonge Street)

Explore the concept of “RE” (REcycling, REmixing, etc.) using fashion, visual art, social media and projection. Audiences can “weave” creations into the installation by sharing examples of RE at theregeneratorproject.tumblr. com using #regenerator2013, #HMregeneration, and #SnbTO.

http://ca.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/948034/nuit-blanche-2013-spotlight-the-regenerator-project

www.hm.com/ca/longlivefashiontheregeneratorproject.orgtheregeneratorproject.tumblr.com/

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Nuit Blanche 2013

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PLASTIC BAGS, 2001-2011Pascale Marthine Tayou – Ghent, Belgium SculptureA sculpture made with this most common object, Plastic Bags is an echo of our daily lives. Available to all, the plastic bag has become a sign of the consumer society, and the mobility symbolic of today’s society, which is a central theme in the artist’s work. This huge sculpture made of nets and bags is a symbol of the contemporary man, entangled in a system of repetitive actions and of narrow spaces, but also searching for moments of sharing and trying to escape to unknown, unexpected horizons. Now that plastic bag use is being limited, this installation suggests a beautiful and politically correct way to use them: to transform them instead into a work of art.Revisit this project October 6 - 14. Details on page 20.

Pascale Marthine Tayou, PLASTIC BAGSVisit between 9 am – 5 pm,Monday through Friday, October 6 – 14Bell Trinity Square, 483 Bay Street(North of Queen Street West)

PLASTIC BAGS, 2001-2011Pascale Marthine Tayou

SPECIFIC SCULPTURE UNKNOWN

http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/project.html?project_id=1306

http://www.pascalemarthinetayou.com

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Nuit Blanche 2013sbnuitblancheTOfacebooktwitteryoutubeinstagram

Nuit Talks Presents: ErasHistory: Back to Basics

Personal narratives and a contemporary framing of culture and history are explored in this talk with three artists.

Modernity: The rise of Modern Art

Reinventing the readymade, making the ordinary extraordinaryIn partnership with AGO First Thursdays

A look at the iconic concept of Marcel Duchamp’s readymade and how it is used by Scotiabank Nuit Blanche artists.

Future: Science & Technology in artistic expression

This talk explores the merger of art and technology in artists’ work and discusses trends for the future.

Curators: Public, Academic and Institution

This year’s exhibition areas are explored with a public, academic and institutional curatorial lens.

1) Three Curated Exhibitions x3 a) Off to a Flying Start a celebration of Duchamp’s first readymadeb) Parade the spectator is involved/moves, the parade is staticc) Romancing the Anthropocene acknowledges the triumph of science/human achievement but cautions regarding environmental issues 2) Exhibitions include Open Call projects produced specically ...selected by the Nuit Blanche Curator in consultation with the City of Toronto to complement the theme of their curatorial vision.3) Independant Projects

Nuit Blanche 2013

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Romancing the AnthropoceneCuratorial statementThe Anthropocene, or age of man, is a term proposed by geologists and ecologists as areplacement for the Holocene, the current geological epoch that began over 10,000 yearsago. The Anthropocene marks a distinct era after the advent of the Industrial Revolution, aperiod in which humanity has left an indelible mark on both the geological record and theecosystem. At face value it acknowledges the triumph of science and human achievement butit also suggests a cautionary message regarding climate change, the destruction of naturalhabitat, resource depletion, and the extinction of plant and animal species.Using the Anthropocene as our guiding principle, we want to address the complexities ofthis proposed new age within the context of the urban environment while addressing ourenduring, and yet troubled relationship with the natural world.—Ivan Jurakic and Crystal Mowry

http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/2013-event/exhibitions/romancing-the-anthropocene.html

Nuit Blanche 2013

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The Arctic Trilogy, 2010-2011Janet Biggs – Brooklyn, USAVideo InstallationTravel through ice-floe clogged waters, past polar bears and under glacier walls. Descendinto claustrophobic ice tunnels formed by ever moving glaciers and follow a woman coalminer as she works in freezing temperatures and relentless darkness in Janet Biggs’ ArcticTrilogy. Each of Biggs’ three videos features an individual searching for meaning at the endof the earth. Isolated and vulnerable, the characters in Biggs’ videos struggle to define anddefend their sense of self in extreme environments. Challenged by the elements and theunknown, Biggs’ subjects (one of which is herself) and a kind of sublimity. They experiencethe destabilizing power of nature, resulting in both awe and terror.On loan from the Tampa Museum of Art. Thank you to The Arctic Circle Program,Lesley Johnston and Smack Mellon.Revisit this project October 6 - 14.

Nuit Blanche 2013

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The Anthropocene, 2013CALEDONIA DANCE CURRY A.K.A. SWOON – Brooklyn, USAMixed Media InstallationCaledonia Dance Curry also known as Swoon is known for her intricate wheat-pasted paper cut outs and prints that have emerged on streets across the globe. These pieces generally depict images of people who surround her in her daily life, people she meets during her travels, friends, and family. She takes inspiration from both folk art and historic sources, ranging from German Expressionist wood block prints to Indonesian shadow puppets. Her cut outs are often pasted onto deserted buildings and bridges playing with the naturalenvironment of the work, taking into consideration the physical space and community where they exist. She is an American street artist based in New York City.

Swoon

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