In this project I will install audio recorders outside of St. Mary’s
Basilica in order to listen to the public conversations on the street.
I will interpret these conversations and the audience’s behavior
through a flash animation program for the duration of the Nocturne
event. The viewers become the protagonists; the authorship of the
piece is continually displaced, from the viewer to me, the drawer.
When the viewer understands that they are being watched and can
affect the piece, how will they react? These interpretations will be
projected onto the Maritime Center building.
www.scaines.com
Exploring the spaces of car-parks this project is inspired by the
movement of people, inherent architectural acoustics and environmental
considerations. Through rhythm, scent, light and sound this piece
creates an aesthetic experience for pedestrians in a building for cars.
A three-part installation in the Granville and Hollis Metro parkade
across from Mountain Equipment Co-op, the Parkades Project
activates in the North and South Granville Street stairwells and
the upper-most open-air levels of the building, creating a space that
reflects on the possible nature and un-nature of car culture and
urban spaces.
Showdown is a video installation that draws on the iconic
confrontation scene in Sergio Leone’s The Good the Bad and the Ugly.
The scene is separated in three different videos, one for each character,
which are then projected in different areas of downtown Halifax
reproducing the triangular showdown formation of the original film.
The area between the three gunslingers becomes a site of confrontation,
of a battle of wills, as Halifax’s urban core is converted into a cross-fire
western space. Showdown highlights Hollywood iconography’s ability
to enter our everyday life blurring the boundaries between reality and
fiction.
Now a void space, the formerly occupied Kelly Building has been
resurrected. The demolished structure that was once a registered
heritage property fell into extreme disrepair prior to its demolition
in 2006. Using frottaged fabric, an eerie and ghostly appearance is
created of a building whose existence is no longer. Within the vacant
lot and occupying this recreated space will be a luggage graveyard
paying homage to the long lost merchants of Granville Street.
Together the resurrected façade and luggage graveyard will serve
as a remembrance to our fleeting local heritage.
Circus Circle presents a demonstration of the best circus work in the
Maritimes. Come see complex juggling patterns with clubs, rings and
knives. Watch our unicyclists leap, pirouette and jump on and off
tables. Check out the illuminated dancing diabolos, the twirling devil
sticks, and the tightrope walkers.
THEN try it yourself! Our performers and instructors will be on hand
to help you take your first steps in circus work as we show you how
accessible and fun these amazing activities really are.
www.circuscircle.ca
Two narrow display windows at the Park Lane Mall entrance will each
display shadows/silhouettes of a backlit performer. The male and
female characters perform gestures ranging from the mundane and
minimal to those more emotional in nature. The piece is an enactment
of the actual and the symbolic distance or separation between two
figures.
Acknowledgement is gratefully given to Park Lane Mall for the use of
their display windows.
Starting at 9:30 pm, in the park adjacent to the Hydrostone Market,
viewers will be treated to an hour-long multi-media performance.
An original string composition, performed live by a trio (cello, guitar,
and violin) will delight as a large format slide projection premieres.
The musicians will play this new composition in response to the
revolving imagery. The projected works are from four photographers
in the maritime region: Rachel Brodie, Damian Lidgard, Karen Ruet
and Mandy Wright. The images have all been created using only
available light and careful consideration of the moment.
Bajin will transport you into the nighttime darkness of the
Scottish landscape, as evoked by vernacular texts from the writings
of Ian Rankin, Scotland’s best selling author of crime fiction.
Soprano Janice Jackson, draped in an otherworldly costume by
Arianne Pollet-Brannen, chants, howls, cries, screams, and sings
his words while visual artist Barbara Lounder projects video images
onto Jackson’s body, creating a metamorphic ambiance of swirling
luminosity and deep shadow. Enter into an unsettling nightmare
where hexes are invoked, incantations are offered, and you are drawn,
vocally, visually, and irresistibly, into a dark realm far beyond your
everyday experience.
www.janicejackson.ca
Amidst coal smoke and beats of local percussionists, a team of artist
blacksmiths transform cold hard steel into hot forged sculpture in a
choreographed anvil dance.
maritimeblacksmiths.ca
Two artists weave on separate looms attached by a single warp.
Positioned facing each other, 10 metres apart to start, they will weave
their distinct patterns on their separate looms, slowly tugging their
looms closer to each other until, as the evening draws to a close, they
meet. The closer the two become the more challenges they face as
each weaver’s actions impact upon the other. Whether they want to
or not, the artists must develop forms of communication as the looms
become closer in proximity. This process demonstrates the transformation
of autonomous agents to collaborative partners.
Between the NSCAD Port Campus and the Immigration Annex building
on Marginal Road, we will invite Nocturne attendees to create
large-scale collaborative artworks. Facilitated by artists Julie Adamson
Miller and Bonnie Baker, participants will be invited to partake
in projects using an approach similar to the surrealist game, The
Exquisite Corpse, a method by which a collection of words or images
is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in
sequence, either by following a rule or by being allowed to see the end
of what the previous person contributed.
In Transit is a montage of images, words and sounds drawn from
the archives of the Pier 21 National Museum of Immigration. In
this collaborative project created by first-year students from NSCAD
University, archival images and texts become the basis for drawings
on translucent film, audio montages and shadow plays. Images,
sounds, shapes and colours transform the porches and window of
the Port Campus façade in an exploration of mapping, arriving and
departing.
The Architextiles Lab is a 3-year research project funded by
ACOA to develop Electronic Textiles for Architectural Applications.
Dr. Sarah Bonnemaison of Dalhousie School of Architecture,
Prof. Robin Muller, of NSCAD University’s Textiles Department are the
Principle Investigators leading a staff of 5 to make prototypes
of interactive window coverings, outdoor enclosures and stage sets.
Nocturne visitors will visit our “Cricket” massage enclosure,
which is intended for use on the sports field or workplace to give
massage practitioners and their client privacy and access to a space
that encourages relaxation and evokes feelings of being in nature.
http://ccti.nscad.ca/textiles.phpStudio Revolved is an evening of exciting, in-studio contemporary
dance with performances by Mocean Dance, Kym Butler and Halifax Dance’s YOung COmpany, hosted by Halifax’s contemporary dance company, Mocean Dance and Halifax Dance. The public will revolve around members of Halifax’s vibrant contemporary dance scene by traveling from studio to studio to see original dance works performed in an up-close and intimate setting. Each studio will reveal a completely different performance atmosphere. A dance installation experience at only an arm’s length.
www.moceandance.comA projection of a 24 hour time lapse video of a section of Hollis Street
recorded at street level from the window of an office at 1876 Hollis
Street on October 16th. The one hour projection will take place on the
evening of Nocturne October 17th back onto the window from which
the camera surveyed the street.
To change something, we must first see it differently. Though an
object may remain the same, the lens with which we view it can
shift our perception and understanding of it and its environment.
Shift applies this idea to a common object we each encounter daily
and label as ‘trash’: the bottle cap. When we throw it away, where
does it go? What is the impact? Is there an alternate use for this
object? We will explore ways of seeing the bottle cap differently
through sculpture supported by projection of visual information
relating to the life-cycle of garbage.
www.fusionhalifax.ca
Created by Halifax choreographer/dancer Véronique MacKenzie,
Citizens draws attention to the diversified roles of citizens who move
within the city environment (e.g. business workers, the homeless,
shoppers, etc.). “We don’t often recognize the importance of each
citizen’s existence as we pass him or her on the street,” says
MacKenzie. Inspired by the current “flash mobs” happening around
the world, a group of dancers will appear out of nowhere and spontaneously reflect and magnify whoever is on the street at any given spot. And then, as quickly as people realize there is something going on,
the performance will have scattered only to reappear somewhere else.
inCode is a critique of a “ready to order” medical/legal/financial
product generated by a network of global insurance companies.
This new product is aimed at “employee” wellness while purporting
to be confidential and professional. inCode quantifies and data mines
the workers’ body and transmits this information in abstracted
classifications or useful collations to employers and other interested
third parties.
For 24 years Kyle Jackson has been painting from a bird’s eye view of
Halifax. For one night, Jackson will use a stray dog view down on the
street, creating six paintings in six hours. The Jackson painting vehicle
art team will move a temporary mini studio to six locations to allow
the artist to capture the swirling city of Halifax during the Nocturne
event. Similar to an old school circus tattoo artist, Jackson will paint
in public affecting and being affected by the street. This will be true
street art created live, on the run and without a net.
http://sealevel.ca/kyle/
The nature of things is not fixed. Spaces and objects are mutable
as are our perception and use of them. This project is inspired by
the transformation of Saint Joseph’s church through the process of
its demolition. We will construct installations using metal and stone
debris from the church, and live plant material. Images of the church
interior on the night prior to its destruction and images of the jagged
remains of the church foundation will be projected onto the wall surfaces
surrounding the installations. Passers-by will be invited to come
into the installation space and experience their transformative quality.
Little Dead Bird is a collaborative piece featuring textile artist
Robyn Cox and video artist Krista Davis. Through animation, narration
and song, the compassionate and funny story of a young girl’s chance
encounter with a tiny beast unfolds. As the two unlikely confidantes
quickly travel the path from strangers to intimacy, they overcome an
obstacle neither could have surpassed alone.
Music performed by Gianna Lauren and Don Brownrigg.
Building on last year’s success, I will set up to paint once again on
Sackville Landing (by the wave). The outcome of Plein Air painting is
determined by numerous factors: what the action is, how the weather
is, the conditions of the light and so on. The view of the harbour offers
many possible painting subjects so what I paint will be determined by
what strikes me at the time.
(In the case of rain, Fionnuala will be painting in an alternate location,
at Pier 21)
www.fionnuala.ca
Over the past 4 years, music stores owners and musical instrument
repair people from across the Maritimes have been collecting used
guitar strings for me to use in this piece. The strings will be strung
together on a single string through their ball end. When each string
reaches a pleasing capacity, it will be looped around to create a
“nest” of strings. These nests are then added to an ever-expanding
group of nests. I will be seated in the window of the NSCAD Art
Supply store on Hollis Street. A busker will perform with guitar outside
on the street for passersby. His used guitar strings from the evening
will be incorporated into the work. I want this work to stand as a message
of appreciation to all the musicians who have influenced my life
with their art.
Our Collective will utilize the window space of three, now defunct
business sites in close proximity to each other on Barrington Street
with a projection and sound installation which provides a close-up
perspective of the incoming tides.
First performed at Argyle Fine Art in the Sight on Sound Music Series,
The Accidental Sound & Picture Show is a collaborative live performance
of music and video projections. Media artist Joanne Kerrigan
weaves and layers imagery reacting to and inspired by the music of
Chuck Blazevic’s Dreamsploitation project. Kerrigan’s visual content
consists of an eclectic mix of media sources including television
commercials, experimental and mainstream cinema, music video and
video art. Blazevic’s performance material includes selections from his
debut album, The Soft Focus Sound of Today, in addition to new live
performance works that explore sonic playfulness and kaleidoscopic
textures.
Storybook is an entrancing journey into the fantastical tales of Tanya
Davis. Performed live in collaboration with a small and quirky choir,
and illuminated by a number of favourite local illustrators, this performance
is a theatrical, multimedia artwork that is a must-see, hear,
and experience. Co-conceived and directed by Leslie Menagh.
Witness the acrobatic performers of Atlantic Cirque on the Outdoor
Main Stage. At 7:00pm join us for the grand unveiling and illumination
of 4C’s Bluenose Ghosts, large scale community built haunted
sculptures. Dare to visit the “Fear the Darkness” Haunted House.
Hear the stories of the Storytellers Circle of Halifax. Experience large
scale steel and glass sculpture by Barbara Schmeisser and installation
pieces by Julie Adamson Miller.
Experience the magic that is Aerial Dance at Alderney Landing’s
outdoor stage – an awe-inspiring series of acrobatic performance art
performed on long fabric silks suspended from high in the air. In these
unique acts, the performer uses the fabric to wrap, suspend, drop, and
spiral their body in an exciting display of strength, creativity, coordination
and flexibility. Also known as Aerial Tissu (French for “fabric”),
Aerial Contortion, and Aerial Silks, these performances will leave you
“walking on air!"
Perpétuel is an audio installation located in the Geary Street
Cemetery. The cemetery, overlooking the Halifax Harbour, was established,
in 1835 and contains the graves of early Catholic settlers,
Mi’kmaq and Mi’kmaq chiefs, Napoleon’s wife aunt Princess Eugene,
as well as the Dunn family vault with 13 coffins. It is the site of
extraordinary histories. Perpétuel defines a system capable of lasting
indefinitely. Through the composed soundscape, created from recordings
from the surrounding sounds of the cemetery, visitors are offered
a contemplative space that celebrates the ongoing energy residing in
an environment of memory, loss and life. It is a living memorial amplifying
existing and elapsed moments.
A Nocturnal Submission’ is a public screening of short videos made
by local artists. Works of selected independent videographers (both
emerging and established) are offered several times between 6:00 pm
and midnight. Some of the videographers will be present, and popcorn
might be served.
For IRiSs Lab #5 media artists from Sackville, NB and Halifax, NS,
will construct a site specific audio visual improvisation environment
with hand-made and treated instruments, contact mics, laptops, film
projectors, prisms, mirrors, and other optical distortion devices. For
#5, the collective will engage the Nocturne crowds in a ‘marathon’
four-hour performance.
Special thanks to Palooka’s
IriSs Lab #5 is co-presented by THE ATLANTIC FILMMAKERS
COOPERATIVE”
Look around you and experience your neighbourhood in a new light.
Chantal Tardiff makes a transport truck appear from the landscape.
David Copperfield eat your heart out!
This piece is produced with the kind support of Northwood Manor and the generous help of Heath Matheson.
HELLO HALIFAX! is a Rock Star performance and sound experience
on the Halifax Common. This Big Ticket, free live concert is not to be
missed.
This piece portrays a life long dream of being a rock star and now
stepping it up and doing it like all the big names do in the Halifax
Common. The artist will produce amplified electric guitar sound and
take on the image or idea of a rock star similar to that of one’s living
room fantasy.
Halifax based artist and musician Will Robinson will be presenting an
audio based piece titled “Stairway to Heaven” in the Khyber’s main
stairwell. The work will be a composite of numerous recorded versions
of Led Zepplin’s iconic rock anthem, “Stairway to Heaven,” performed
by a multitude of musicians. The various recorded versions will all be
compiled from the video sharing website Youtube.
(We) Are Here, is a new performance created by Dustin Scott Harvey
(Artistic Director, SecretTheatre) and interdisciplinary artist and
producer Erika Hennebury (Buddies In Bad Times Theatre) with live
music composed by Jason MacIsaac (Heavy Blinkers). Through live
and recorded video, manual animation, live narration and music,
(We) Are Here will explore the emotional connection we have to our
landscape and the nostalgic narratives we cling to when we are far
away from home and drifting.
If you take a minute to look behind the everyday activities, you’ll see
what Jeff McCrossin sees. Fine lines, hidden smiles, a quiet moment
amongst the crowd – McCrossin’s photos reveal what many travellers
miss when bustling through unfamiliar streets. Innocence is apparent
in the hungry eyes of children living on the streets, and age shows
through the many lines and puckered lips of a man who’s seen too
much. McCrossin captured the moments in this exhibition while
travelling through China, South Korea, Southeast Asia and Fiji,
and he continues to look for secrets amidst Halifax’s winding roads.
Lit will consist of a series of oil paintings displayed in light boxes at
selected points along the bus route for Nocturne. The paintings will
feature roads and transit hubs and will be displayed at or near their
original locations. At each vantage point images depicting opposing
views derived from that location will be displayed.
In locating the artwork in situ the relationship between the artwork,
audience and subject will be immediate and as such generate a conversation between the audience and their surrounds.
Genuine Leather is an installation imitating the standard display of a
fashionable clothing store. Live models, wearing outfits made from
deconstructed/reconstructed leather shoes, will perform spontaneous
acts on a two-hour rotating basis. The subject of the body is of great
interest to the artist and the exploration of human anatomy has led to
the discourse of the ‘fashioned’ body. In this context, shoes have been
the framework for ongoing exploration. Used and discarded shoes are
taken apart, maintaining the integrity of the various sections and are
then reconfigured into clothing. The results of this investigation will
provide ‘fashion’ for artful window-shopping.
Sharon Hodgson will be live painting at Gio Restaurant
during Nocturne 2009! Hodgson creates live works in many public
venues in and around Halifax, many of them bars. As people come
into Hodgson’s line of sight, she randomly paints some into the work.
The final painting will capture the spirit and vibe of Nocturne as it
happens in Gio, and will be completed by the end of the night. Other
already finished works by Sharon Hodgson will be showcased and on
display while Hodgson is painting the live work.
www.sharonhodgson.com