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City of Toronto announces My Secret City - part of Scotiabank Nuit Blanche

The City of Toronto has announced details for My Secret City, an exhibition investigating public space through the private and sometimes secretive imaginings of the artist. My Secret City is part of Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, the free all-night contemporary art "thing" taking place from sunset at 7:01 p.m. on September 30 to sunrise at 7:15 a.m. on October 1, 2006.

My Secret City is an exhibition hidden inside the three previously announced Scotiabank Nuit Blanche exhibition sites - Bloor-Yorkville, University/McCaul and West Queen St. West. Uncover secrets concealed by or revealed within the 20 My Secret City artworks by Toronto artists, many of them the driving forces behind the younger cultural movements in the city.

My Secret City includes:

* Lewis Kaye, You Are Here. A series of aural premonitions or a meditation on the animation of city space. Artist Lewis Kaye creates a portable audio forum located in your personal MP3 player. Download your MP3s from www.livewithculture.ca prior to going out. (Available mid-September). Listening station at Yorkville Information Hub.

* Darren O'Donnell, Ballroom Dancing. An all-ages dance party deejayed by kids, Ballroom Dancing is a public forum for children and adults to play together all night long in a Community Centre gymnasium filled with thousands of rubber balls. At University Settlement House, 23 Grange Road.

* Maria Legault and Aurianne Sokoloski, Le Tour de Gretchen Burcelle. A mobile ritual celebration tracing the significant locations of this female artist's life and aiming to rectify a gross oversight in the representation and commemoration of Gretchen Burcelle. Visit the West Queen St. West Information Hub, Trinity-Bellwoods Park, for tour times and self-guided maps. Limited space available for tours.

* Sabrina Saccoccio, Call On Me Anytime. A social experiment that investigates the question "What ever happened to the custom of calling on people?" The artist calls on her friends unannounced throughout the night inviting the public to join her on an intimate investigation of impromptu community. Sign up for this tour at the West Queen St. West Information Hub, Trinity-Bellwoods Park. Limited space available for tours.

* Erika James, Strange Growth. An intervention come strange occurrence during which park benches and other unnatural objects in Trinity Bellwoods Park sprout wheatgrass out of their concrete surfaces transforming man-made objects into something that lives and grows. In Trinity Bellwoods Park.

* nichola feldman-kiss, the public sleeping performance. nichola feldman-kiss will perform her public sleeping performance in a custom vitrine located in the courtyard of the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art and exploring the vulnerable space between pretending and being. At MOCCA, 952 Queen St. W.

* Bruno Billio, Brilliant. A light installation on the exterior wall of the Gladstone Hotel transforms the windows of his parlor and invites the public to come up to his room. Other surprises are parked nearby. Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W., 2nd floor exterior windows and interior room #206.

* Emelie Chhangur, The Toronto Performance Transit System: Nuit Blanche Toronto. A project by The Toronto Public Transit Performance Committee (TPTPC). Toronto's newest transit system drives passengers to actively participate in a series of temporary transit events occurring in, on and around the TPTPC - the official vehicle of the night. Main Station: Stephanie Street at John Street. Stops: Trinity-Bellwoods Park; Lisgar Street and Queen St. W.; St. Patrick Street and Queen St. W.; College Street and University Ave.; Queens Park and Charles St. W.; and Yorkville Avenue and Bay Street.

* Christie Pearson, Night Swim. A free all-night swimming party with an environmental light and sound installation including hourly sets by sound artists and DJs FM3, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Tim Hecker, Luis Jacob, Raz Mesinai, Orixasound, Sarah Peebles, Sandro Perri/Polmo Polpo, Ghislain Poirier, Marina Rosenfeld, Sickness Crew and Windy and Carl. Night Swim recalls an ancient forum from a city of the past - a Roman bath as a public venue for dialogue, debate and socializing. Bathing suits are not required to participate but are required to swim. Towels provided. In the Trinity Community Recreation Centre, 155 Crawford St.

* Dave Derewlany, Dave's Totally Toronto Special Guided Tours. A Toronto classic since the spring of 2005, join Dave's tour to Hog Town's mysterious and undiscovered sites. Classic destinations include a visit to Toronto's first "Red Dorching", the only corner in the city where it's legal for a civilian to arrest a cop, and the infamous "Up-Side-Down CN Tower"?. This tour is for anyone in need of a deep breath of truth about the Big Smoke! Visit the University/McCaul Information Hub (100 McCaul St.) to pick up your tour. Limited space available.

* Adam Brodie, Adam's The Real Totally Toronto Special Guided Tours. A Toronto classic since the summer of 2005, join Adam's tour to Hog Town's extremely mysterious and greatest undiscovered sites. Classic destinations include an authentic visit to Toronto's first "Red Dorching", the actual corner in the city where it's legal for a civilian to arrest a cop. (Due to a court order, Adam is no longer able to offer the infamous "Up-Side-Down CN Tower" as part of his tour.) This tour is unquestionably for anyone in need of a nice deep breath of truth about the real Big Smoke! Limited space available. Sign up at the University/McCaul Information Hub to pick up your tour.

* Linda Duvall, Embroidered Truths and Shameless Lies. Artist Linda Duvall invites visitors to a portable booth to vicariously become a part of a quirky urban narrative. Each visitor gradually experiences these stories as their own through a process of expanding and completing the story provided. Corner of Queen St. W. and McCaul St. (mobile).

* The Bantam AAA Art Team, Marble Tournament. Calling on all mibsters (def: a shooter of marbles) to play for your favorite cat's-eyes, clearies, chalkies, crystals, agates or glimmers. This marble tournament as performance is installed in Grange Park for players of all ages. Enter and exit the game anytime throughout the night. Grange Park.

* Dean Baldwin, Attachments - Toronto City Hall. Discover a City Hall secret at the on-site commemoration of the occasion during which the artist attached himself to the building. Dean Baldwin has engaged with various buildings around the world: Munich, Germany and the Gladstone Hotel in downtown Toronto. For Nuit Blanche, the artist will hang off Toronto City Hall. Or will he? Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen St. W.

* Anthea Foyer, The Hidden Toronto: Curious Walking Tours. Uncover Toronto's secrets through specialized walking tours that will enrich both locals and visitors as you look into the nooks, crannies and alleyways of Toronto. Knowledgeable tour guides will educate and inform. Tour guides: Amos Latteier, Brenda Goldstein. City Beautification Ensemble: Jason van Horne, Duncan Walker, Laura Nanni, Nathaniel G. Moore, Rose Bianchini, Shawn Micallef and Yarika Rose. Tour will leave from the Information Hubs at all three sites. Visit all three Information Hubs for tour times.

* A Collection of Foreign Objects: Geoff Bland, Pay Katsuyuki, Angus MacPherson, Steve Newberry, Jennifer Norman, Hitoko Okada, Aleksandra Rdest, Reiko Shimizu, Daisuke Takeya and Rhya Tamasauskas, Island Hopping: Paradise in the City. For one night, at the intersection where cityscape meets dreamscape, the dreamy qualities of vacation in paradise are brought to the city streets. If stuck amidst the asphalt and concrete for too long, the average urban dweller will inevitably talk about escaping the city for a little while. When Torontonians think about escaping, they think of exotic places - anything but pavement. Various locations across Yorkville zone. See www.livewithculture.ca for exact locations.

* Micheline Roi, Unearthed. Sound Art/Audio Tour. We are defined by our landscape: internal and external, psychological and physical. What happens when the present imposes its needs and desires on the past and our geography and memories are buried? As Toronto's rivers have been sent underground and flow hidden, so can our memories. But, if we listen, really listen, we can hear the past that is hidden underfoot. Pick up audio tour equipment for a 14-minute tour of the Taddle Creek site, at the median on University Ave. (north of Queen St. W.)

* Ulysses Castellanos, Into The Void (12-hour "Sleep") Inspired by both The Yorkville Diaries, a chronicle of Yorkville life in the 60s - 70s, and the Black Sabbath Song, Into the Void, Ulysses Castellanos playfully embodies 'the ghost of Yorkville past' who lives in a grotto of heavy metal glamour: unraveled cassette tape, basement strobe lights, smoke and mirrors et al. Through a 12-hour performance, the artist employs humour and
parody to dig beneath the current shiny veneer exploring Yorkville's dark, brutal primeval history. (Bloor -Yorkville area).

* Fedora Romita, Just in Case You Were Wondering. Artist Fedora Romita performs the simple act of using a measuring tape as an entry point to connect her to the space where she is working. Prior to Nuit Blanche, the artist will record a detailed numeric description of five separate doors in Toronto and then, from sunset to sunrise, during Nuit Blanche, the viewer is invited to explore and visit the spaces where the measurements have been taken. Locations include: a Scotiabank branch (19 Bloor St. West), City Hall (100 Queen St.W.), St. Patrick's Church (131 McCaul St.), the door of MOCCA (952 Queen St. W.), plus her own front door (185 Bellwoods Ave.).

* The Vendart Project: Andrzej Tarasiuk, Anja Capel, Markus Mazurak, Alvaro Gonzalez, Kevin Moore, Portable Archives. An alternative system to disseminate, display and exchange art and ideas within the public sphere, five portable wall units form an impromptu gallery space to display The Vendart Project's archives and promote its participants. These units are sculptural playgrounds, making art accessible to the public. Watch for this mobile project as it travels around the Yorkville area.

Scotiabank Nuit Blanche is a free city-wide event where residents and tourists are invited to explore galleries and museums, plus discover art in unexpected places - from street corners and parks to car washes and swimming pools.

Scotiabank Nuit Blanche is a Live With Culture initiative developed to demonstrate the City of Toronto's commitment to the arts. Live With Culture is a 16-month celebration of Toronto's extraordinary arts and cultural communities. From September 2005 to December 2006, Live With Culture showcases the vibrant and diverse cultural activities happening in the city each and every day. Events initiated by the City of Toronto and the community are united under one umbrella campaign to raise awareness of Toronto's thriving cultural scene.

For more information about Scotiabank Nuit Blanche and other Live With Culture signature events, the public can visit www.livewithculture.ca or call Access Toronto at 416-338-0338.

Official Website: http://www.livewithculture.ca

Added by cwhardwi on August 23, 2006