Sunday, October 01, 2006

What is Art?

One of the best things to happen to my city in long time is Nuit Blanche, an entire night devoted to art, displayed in strange and unexpected places. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not an expert or an aficionado. So this night was special to me, in that I could be a little nomadic, open my mind, and explore my city the way I explore other cities. And see if I could stay awake until 7 in the morning.

Walking through a man-made fog, encountering two police officers dancing the tango in the middle of the street, "eventually" finding a secret garden, watching sheep grazing across the dome of the planetarium, eating hot roasted corn, spelling out a name in a block of ice in the middle of a carwash, experiencing the divorce of two gay penguins, observing a woman asleep in a glass display case, discovering galleries I never knew existed.

Unconventional art, to say the least, and perhaps it wasn't that impressive to some. But I liked it all because it's something that I don't get to see every day. Or ever. And it expresses something that can't be expressed any other way.

The best part, which was agreed upon by all the people I was with throughout the night, was that the city was so alive, so full of people roaming around in search of cultural enlightenment. For one night, everyone was the same.

I made it to 3:00 am. Better luck next time.

"We keep on waiting, waiting on the world to change"

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