Sleepless in Toronto
Nuit Blanche means sleepless night. A night without dreams.
But this night was full of images lightly pulled from dreams, nightmares, and spaces in between.
A night of art, all night, and of thousands of people wandering the city looking at art.
I was distracted, nervous, tired. Still, certain images were able to charm, disorient, excite or calm.
A house in Chinatown with flickering projections in all the windows (Watcher, Millie Chen). A bride caressing a dead goat. (Jesika Joy) A building wrapped in crochet (Femmebomb, Janet Morton). Burlesque dancers, preening on the sidewalk. A photography collective, documenting the sleeping arrangements of homeless people (Asleep in Toronto , Nancy Halifax). A table of Croatian women and passersby, sharing a traditional dish of beans and bread (Midnight Mirage, Vesna Perunovich).
When I finally fell asleep, I had no dreams.
The city had dreamt them for me.