SU-YING LEE

NUIT BLANCHE: THE WEIGHT OF LEVITY
2024 October 5, 7pm to October 6, 7am, Waterfront West
Artists: Atanas Bozdarov and ASM Kobayashi, Sophie Clements, Carolina Fusilier, Julia Jamrozik and Coryn Kempster, Manifesto Labs, Jon McCurley, Carol Nguyen, Tavares Strachan

Underscored by the cycles of sunset and moonrise, The Weight of Levity looks at the interrelatedness of seemingly distant locations through metaphors of gravity and ascension. Over Nuit Blanche’s twelve-hour duration, opposing physical, perceptual and emotional positions are deeply explored as counterparts.

Robert, Tavares Strachan’s illuminated conceptual portrait of Major Robert Henry Lawrence Jr., the first African American astronaut, shares airspace with Billy Bishop Airport. Under the lights and digits of Manifesto Labs’ Distance to Mars, visitors will contemplate their collective position in relation to the cosmos. Carolina Fusilier’s Amphipoda Song revives Lake Ontario’s extinct singing crustacean from the depths. Underground, Carol Nguyen’s film No Crying at the Dinner Table gently unearths her family’s unexpressed grief, capturing catharsis and redemptive laughter. Jon McCurley’s Arguing Signs go off script, volleying absurd disagreements between them. Julia Jamrozik’s and Coryn Kempster’s Closer Together is a pair of closely facing bleachers, where spectators, unexpectedly become spectacle. Atanas Bozdarov’s and ASM Kobayashi’s Rise Over Run a hybrid ramp, welcomes use by the wheeled public. Sophie Clements’ large-scale video installation How We Fall draws viewers into the escalating intensity of a transformative moment.
Read full curatorial statement

Nuit Blanche, Toronto is an annual public art exhibition that takes place for one night from 7pm to 7am. In 2024, the event was held across Toronto’s Queen’s Quay with three exhibition zones. The Weight of Levity was situated at Waterfront West spanning from Little Norway Park to HT0 West park. Syrus Marcus Ware was curator of Waterfront Centre and Danica Pinteric was curator of Waterfront East.

Carolina Fusilier, Amphipoda Songs with audio collaboration by Karen Ng and Brandon Valdivia