Send in the Clowns

Tonight we attended Nuit Blanche, the annual contemporary art exhibit held on the streets in downtown Toronto from dusk to dawn. Being a self proclaimed contemporary art neophyte I will none the less try and provide my unsolicited opinion, for what it's worth, on some of the pieces on display.

First up was Endgame (Coulrophobia-an abnormal or exaggerated fear of clowns), the piece consisted of three giant, inflatable clown heads stuck between two buildings over an alley. It made me think of three decapitated Bonhommes from the Quebec Winter Carnival. And like the carnival they were really cool!

Then there was the Auto Lamp, described by the artist as a revolving lighthouse on land. It looked like a hollowed out Dodge Caravan made into a doily.

The Task was a piece of performance art where the artist was to stack 15 tons of concrete blocks from one space to another and back again. This represented the tediousness of everyday routines along with the meditative potential it could possibly provide. I actually think this activity originated in Auschwitz during the Holocaust and was designed to drive a person insane and I'm certain no meditative pleasure was derived from it.

Big O was the title of the next piece and please by all means use your imaginations. Sorry to disappoint most of you but the Big O consisted of six fans, three on each side of the room and a large loop of magnetic tape the kind used in VHS tapes. Once the fans were precisely arranged and the tape exactly measured, the tape danced in the air making numerous magical patterns. It was kind of like the Olympic sport of rhythmic gymnastics only without the gymnast or the coloured ribbons or the mat.