Nuit Blanche has been my favourite event of the year, but I've never thought that it needs to last forever. The jaded responses towards the event, even amongst people who should be its audience, are becoming stronger than the enthusiastic ones. Nothing wrong with saying it had a good 10 years and we'll look at dedicating the resources to something fresh. This year, because it was late and windy, it would be a bit of a walk and I was sensing my travelling companion wanted to get back home to his dogs, I never made it down to East Queens Quay, where perhaps the most interesting installations were. Otherwise, there were big expanses of Queens Park Circle or Bay St. that were closed to traffic but where nothing was happening. When I arrived places there were lineups for what were mostly small displays. The HTUOS/HTRON district was especially underwhelming. Too political, too small-scale. First installation we looked at was the one-way street that the artist decided would run in the opposite direction. Felt sorry for the volunteer who would need to explain that for the night. Maybe that one should have been a clue. I wish that this year I had made the decision to seek out the independent projects off the main area.
