Nuit Blanche 2013

Here in Montreal, we have a crazy artistic event that happens once a year. Sometime in late winter, the city decides on a day that art will be funded and businesses will keep their doors open all night long. With over a thousand city funded activities, there are more installations, DJs, films, educational events, productions, projections, and interactive artworks than you can ever hope to see in just 12 short hours. 

"This cultural, artistic and eclectic celebration showcases the city via a multitude of activities and allows you to discover or rediscover tons of artists and venues in an exciting, extraordinary atmosphere. Artists, collectives and citizens have looked at their city from a new perspective and invite you to discover it. For one spectacular night,visual arts, music, film, theatre, dance, literature, flights of fancy, and many other surprises invite you to share experiences and discoveries. Right in the heart of winter, Montreal is unveiled as the brightest star of the night, thrilling young and old alike." Nuit Blanche Website

One thing that always has been crazy for me as a new Montrealer, is how many lines people will patiently stand in to see something cool. Or even something not so cool. Every time you want to go into a dome, look into a box, go to the bathroom, get fries, you tend to stand in a lineup for at least 20 minutes, if not an hour. There's not much that the average Montrealer won't line up for.

The group of friends that I was with had decided to make a game out of standing in lines all evening. We would only go to the art installations that were closest to speakers, and we would proceed to have a wicked dance party until we got to the art. After doing this a number of times, a friend and I were joking about the fact that Montrealers would line up for anything if a line was present, even if they didn't know what they would see at the end.

To test this theory, an impromptu art piece was born.

As we had a fair amount of people, we decided to manufacture our own lineup to nothing. I stood at the front of the line illuminated by a light, and looking very serious. People approached me one by one and I leaned forward and whispered something very solemn to them. 

Photo credit Owen Wiltshire

 After about two minutes, I could watch strangers stop, gather, and join our line. I had a hard time keeping a straight face about it. A stranger never actually made it all the way to the front, probably due to the fact that we were all dressed in tutus and animal print, but it was a pretty funny exercise nonetheless. 

Art!

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