Bondage

As promised yesterday, here are two shots from Nuit Blanche. I selected these as examples, just to give you an idea. There are others I like much better, and those will probably end up on my Flickr account. I hope these aren't too scandalous for a librarian's blog :-)

Nuit Blanche 2008

The bad news is that I started to feel very ill around midnight, and had to cut my night very short. Presently, I am dealing with a cold that has a horrible cough. But, I did enjoy some of this year's Nuit Blanche, mostly because the theme was nudity or, rather, partial nudity.

Early in the evening, I cycled down Bay Street and watched about 8 women (probably late 20s or early 30s) hurry out of a restaurant and attempt to flag down cabs. One slightly overweight woman tried to propel herself along on her little trotters but, in doing so, caused some sort of cascading ripple effect, a fleshquake might describe it. Her body rolled in several directions at once, hindering her forward momentum. It was not a pleasing sight, but then her strapless halter dress gave into the chaos and fell down, exposing both of her bare breasts. Drunkenly, she hoisted it back up, and raised her hand in the air for a cab.

Trying to expunge that from my mind, I soldiered on. Soon, I caught a performance of Japanese Butoh, an extreme form of dance featuring three topless women and a topless man, each wearing a sumo wrestling-like diaper and covered in white body make-up and black writing. I observed and took photos, some of which are very cool.

Much later, I took in my favourite unofficial Nuit Blanche event, which is an annual light bondage show. I got some great photos last year and some even better ones this year. Should I post a photo here? Would that be outrageous or offensive? Let me know if you'd like to see one or two. I also ran into a photography friend I hadn't see for a while at this event. That was cool.

Nuit Blanche

I will be staying up all night tonight, thanks to Nuit Blanche. Hopefully, I will get some good photos.

Nuit Blanche

I went to Nuit Blanche this year, the Toronto version, not the event in Paris or Rome or Sao Paulo or Berlin or ... Yeah, this was the Toronto-the-Good version. One of the first events I saw -- well, really did not see, because it was too packed with people to see -- was an event at the House of Lancaster II. This is a strip club, for those who are no aware. I squeezed in, noting a number of strollers and baby carriages, which served as a good counterpoint to the usual business of the house. Some dude was on stage making balloon animals. It was too crowded to stay, and it didn't look that interesting.

Down on Queen Street, I ended up in Koma Designs and was surprised to see a bondage scene unfolding. A scantily clad woman was being bound in ropes and hung from the ceiling. I snapped a few photos, as well as a photo of the window, which featured a leather-clad woman in fetish boots and police cap. Later, a mass of people watched the Parkours near the Gladstone.

I think I was asleep by 4:15 AM, after a night of walking, cycling, looking, and photographing. It's hard to say what I liked best. Perhaps, as a friend said, the night was not so much about the art as the festivity, or something like that: I am paraphrasing wildly. I did enjoy seeing so many people on the street, and I enjoyed the out-door exhibits better than those indoors.

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