now I can say I saw Jeff Koons, well sort of...
Jeff Koons, Rabbit Balloon, 2007.
Toronto Eaton Centre - Trinity Way
220 Yonge Street
Jeff Koons - New York City, USA (Sculpture)
A look up into the night sky from the hole in the middle of this glassed-in arcade, it is clear that it's late, it's late on this very important date. The hole descends as the looking glass ascends. The bottom is reflected in the top. Mr. Koons has said of this most iconic work that "it reflects the needs of culture and society and can represent so many different things to the viewer." In the looking glass or through it, step right up and jump into this circle with the hole in the middle and rise or fall into a wonderland of your own making. It's late, it's late on this very magnificent date.
Jeff Koons was born in York, Pennsylvania in 1955. He studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Koons' work has been exhibited internationally and is in numerous public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY). Koons is known for his public sculptures, such as the monumental floral sculptures Puppy, shown at Rockefeller Center and and Split-Rocker, exhibited at the Papal Palace in Avignon, France.
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When I got there, FATE was on display, of course with my iphone it was impossible to capture the letters, they were way too bright. The eerie sounds reminded me of the movie Contact, but as I stood there looking at the eye-blinding FATE, it made me realize what the word fate means, sort of. Too bad I couldn't share it.
D.A. Therrien, Beautiful Light: 4 LETTER WORD MACHINE, 2009.
Toronto City Hall, Nathan Phillips Square
100 Queen Street West
D. A. Therrien - Phoenix, AZ, USA (Light Installation)
Suspended 65 metres in the air between the Viljo Revell-designed Toronto City Hall towers, the four 7m square alphanumeric quartz lamp arrays will display codes, DNA sequences and elemental words. With each of the four "characters" consisting of 16 light segments, the machine is capable of displaying nearly 4.94 billion distinct graphic combinations, facilitating the expression of any word in any language. Automated code sequences will run between live performance times.
Since 1984, D.A. Therrien has been creating large-scale spectacles as rituals of technology utilizing machines, computers, information displays, high intensity light, robotics and live electricity in complex interactions with human performers/operators. His performances in Europe, Asia and North America address man's relationship to political and religious systems, medical technology, surveillance, information systems and other 20th and 21st century technologies that are now pervasive in everyday life.
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The mayor Miller, Jane Corkin, K-OS, and who else were there.. hmmm. those three are all I can remember. Wonder where all the money went... or came from.... haha.. this reminded me of a joke where Trump family would play Monopoly with real properties.... oh and the artist is from Windsor ;-D
IAIN BAXTER& , Monopoly with Real Money, 2009.
TMX Broadcast Centre Gallery,
The Exchange Tower
130 King Street West (Viewing area outside venue)
IAIN BAXTER& - Windsor, Canada (Performance Art, Multimedia Installation)
Money becomes a conceptual and tactile medium as Toronto celebrities play the iconic real estate board game throughout the night at the TSX. This timely restaging of the artist's 1973 event draws an eerie connection between the 1970s era-defining recession and today's market meltdown. Monopoly, patented during the Great Depression, gains new relevance with every boom-and-bust cycle. Does it provide an escape from the grim reality of stock-market crashes and factory layoffs, or offer a training ground for the next generation of would-be entrepreneurs? See how unlikely combinations of artists, musicians, journalists, authors, media personalities, and (yes!) financiers and developers vie for prize properties in an uncertain investment climate -- all played in cold, hard cash.
The work of IAIN BAXTER& has consistently questioned the role of art as commodity and as a medium for cultural commentary. He was the first artist to adopt a corporate persona when, in 1966, he formed the N.E. Thing Company. His work has been widely exhibited and collected in institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the F.R.A.C. Art Museum, the Gemeentemusem, and the National Gallery of Canada.
---------I wanted to experience it, but the line up was too long. Would have been very magical.
Center for Tactical Magic, Witches' Cradle, 2009.
Brookfield Place - Allen Lambert Galleria
181 Bay Street
Center for Tactical Magic - California, USA (Multimedia Installation)
Stepping into the cathedral-like space, visitors encounter a line of “witches' cradles” suspended from the ceiling. Originally used to punish those accused of witchcraft in the Middle Ages, these gently swaying pods were later reclaimed by witches and used to induce prophetic visions. One by one, audience members can enter and experience the cradles. Through random swaying and the careful control of one's senses, the witches' cradles disrupt the vestibular sense and create subtle shifts in consciousness. In the Nuit Blanche context of visual and auditory overload, this work uses sensory deprivation to bring forth the possibility of altered states.
Inspired by studies with a private investigator, a magician and a ninja, the Center for Tactical Magic is dedicated to the coalescence of art, technology, magic, and positive social change. Working across barriers of art, design, architecture, and community service, CTM’s collaborations have involved hypnotists, locksmiths, members of the Black Panther Party, radical ecologists, and the American Red Cross. TCM infiltrates multiple spheres of influence with notions of responsible citizenship through creative action.
Random pennies splashed all over the ground on Bay Street. Did it rain pennies here? I grabbed one of course. Lucky penny!
Rebecca Belmore, Gone Indian, 2009.
Streets throughout the Financial District
Stationed intermittently at the Royal Bank Plaza, 200 Bay Street
Rebecca Belmore - Vancouver, Canada (Performance Art)
Roaming the downtown district is the nomadic presence of an artistically rezzed-up pickup truck. Decked out in "traditional" pow-wow regalia, the truck features ongoing drumming and vocals, and a dancer that erupts into action at unsuspecting moments. For one evening, the rhythms and intonations of First Nations culture reverberate against office buildings and reterritorialize the financial district. Streets, plazas, and sidewalks become the impromptu grounds for the reclamation of land in a restorative performance for spectators of the present and past. Choreography by Michael Greyeyes.
Rebecca Belmore's work has appeared in numerous national and international exhibitions. Her solo exhibitions include Rising to the Occasion (Vancouver Art Gallery), March 5 1819 (The Rooms, St. John’s), The Named and the Unnamed (Belkin Art Gallery). Major group exhibitions include NeoHoodoo (Menil Collection), Global Feminisms (Brooklyn Art Museum), Houseguests (Art Gallery of Ontario), Longing and Belonging (SITE Santa Fe), Land, Spirit, Power (National Gallery of Canada), and Creation or Death (Havana Biennial).
Ah... the smell of VODKA!!! made me nauseous.
Dan Mihaltianu, Vodka Pool, 2009.
Lobby of Commerce Court West
25 King Street West
Dan Mihaltianu - Berlin, Germany (Installation)
As viewers gather around a reflecting pool of alcohol situated on the pristine floor of the atrium, they can ponder the volatile and symbolic qualities of 80-proof vodka. Liquor and liquidity bear more than passing associations to banks and money. Intoxicating, like the euphoria of riches; evaporating, like the vanishing of investments during economic downturns; alchemical, like the transformation of use value into exchange value. In black markets and other underground economies, the connections are even more literal. During wars and totalitarian regimes, such as Nicolae Ceausescu's dictatorship in Romania, alcohol serves as both an escape and a home-brewed currency for procuring essential goods and services.
Dan Mihaltianu works in photography, video, interactive installations and multimedia. A key aspect of his practice concerns research into liquids and their associations and functions. From the world's oceans to financial liquidity, from political transparency to liquor and food culture, Mihaltianu addresses the contribution of fluids to the most salient features of contemporary life. Mihaltianu has participated in major exhibitions across Europe, notably at the Venice Biennale, ZKM, and the Tate Modern.
---------This was my favourite. I stood there in the middle of Union Station and closed my eyes, listened to the voices and the ambient noises the speakers whispered into my ears. It was very sensational, very stimulating to my sensory system. WOW.
Heather Nicol, Imminent Departure, 2009.
Union Station, The Great Hall
65 Front Street West
Heather Nicol - Toronto, Canada (Sound Installation, Light Installation)
Dislocated from her home in New York after the events of September 11th, Heather Nicol’s work reflects on the vicissitudes of memory, loss and desire. Life-changing upheavals whether caused by personal, economic or historical events serve as the backdrop for her intervention into Toronto's historic terminus. Union Station is the arena for countless stories of last-minute escapes, missed connections, lovers' reunions, hitting the road, and being run out of town. This space will be transformed to evoke the romance and heartbreak of travel stories brought about by unforeseen crises. Heather Nicol creates hybrid audio-sculptures that investigate desire (longings for attention, connection, or power) and that play with notions of beauty and femininity. Nicol’s work has been exhibited in venues across North America and in Europe, including Art Resources Transfer (New York), Brooklyn Academy of Music (New York), YYZ (Toronto), Gallery 101 (Ottawa), Galerie Maria Bonk (Cologne), Hallwalls (Buffalo), The Sculpture Center (New York), Chateau de Courances (Milly, France), and The Drawing Center (New York).
statements and bio from scotiabanknuitblanche.ca
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Overall, I really liked it, though I only got to see few this year (didn't make it to Queens W and Liberty Village, booo...). No Salsa dancing, no scary masks, but I liked the damp atmosphere and the lively downtown filled with people and art. Truly it was the night to remember.
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