Faculty, students and alumni from York University’s School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD) will champion creativity and positive change at Nuit Blanche Toronto this Saturday, Sept. 23 from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Exploring this year’s Nuit Blanche theme, “Breaking ground,” work by AMPD community members will consider ideas centred around the natural world, change and innovation through installations, exhibitions and performances from a wide range of artistic disciplines – including cinema and media arts, digital media, theatre and visual art.
The members of AMPD with work at Nuit Blanche are:
Patricio Dávila and Hector Centeno Garcia
As part of the Public Visualization Lab/Studio, Dávila (associate professor, cinema and media arts) and Garcia (assistant professor, cinema and media arts) will present an installation in the neighbourhood of Fort York. The installation, entitled “Atmospheres” will be part of The Bentway‘s exhibition of public artwork that explores the urban natural world framed by the Gardiner’s iconic concrete columns.
Elham Fatapour
Fatapour (MFA ’21) will produce a video installation in the neighbourhood of Etobicoke. The performance video art, entitled Solitary Stitches, explores an artist’s solitary relationship with the land, using the seemingly domestic art of sewing.
Marcus Gordon
Gordon, a PhD candidate in digital media, will mount an interactive instillition in downtown Toronto called Urban Arboretum. The installation uses the voices and sounds of participants to grow computer-generated plants.
Grace Grothaus
Grothaus, a PhD student in digital media, will create a light installation in the neighbourhood of Don Mills, titled Sun Eaters, to show people how trees flow with hidden energy.
Andria Keen
Keen, an MFA student in visual arts, is presenting an installation titled Reflective Foresight for a Dystopian Utopia for Nuit Blanche Danforth. Keen’s installation speculates what life might be like in 200 years considering factors like population growth, climate change and the evolution of technology.
Marissa Largo
An assistant professor in the Department of Visual Art & Art History, Largo has curated the works of Ephraim Velasco (BFA student, visual arts – studio) at A Space Gallery @ 401 Richmond. A series of digital collages titled The Kakaiba Collection playfully explores Velasco’s diasporic identity through Philippine visual vocabularies and pop culture.
Joel Ong
Ong, an associate professor in computational arts and the Helen Carswell Chair in Community Engaged Research in the Arts, is hosting an exhibition in Etobicoke titled In Silence. Created with community advocates in the Jane-Finch neighbourhood, the meditative exhibit visualizes the voices and lived experiences of marginalized communities.
Archer Pechawis
An assistant professor in the Department of Visual Art & Art History and the Department of Theatre and Performance, Pechawis will perform a piece titled Daylight, in downtown Toronto. The musical performance examines the phenomenon of Toronto’s buried rivers and streams.
AMPD invites community members who want to be celebrated as part of Nuit Blanche Toronto to reach out to through the Faculty’s social media channel on X, formerly known as Twitter: @YorkUAMPD.