Ganja Vibes Blog

Nuit Blanche Paris 2013; it can be seen as a physical struggle against the invisible nets that envelop our world.

Cai Guo-Qiang One Night Stand (Aventure d’un soir) explosion event for Nuit Blanche in Paris an invitation to lovers all over the world

For the event, artist Cai Guo-Qiang has been commissioned to create One Night Stand (Aventure d’un Soir), a conceptual pyrotechnic “explosion event”. The unprecedented happening will take place on the Seine between the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay. Through this work, the artist invites Paris to have “une aventure d’un soir” both on the Seine — eternal witness of the romantic history of France — and in front of the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay, which house respectively Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (La Joconde) and Édouard Manet’s Déjeuner sur l’herbe. Cai Guo-Qiang offers a work that is both a unique romantic experience and a masterful ode to love in the heart of Paris. Paris is known as a city for lovers, for strolls along the Seine and for picturesque neighborhoods. In the frame of Nuit Blanche, One Night Stand is an adventure into the night that changes people’s perception of the city; the explosion event mixes together imaginations, passions, and ambiance unique to Paris and shares the experience with a large audience. This happening is divided into three scenes: The first scene will be a heated pyrotechnic display that lasts twelve minutes. During this enchanting scene, fireworks will express love and it's metaphorical eruptions. In the second scene, a sightseeing boat (bateau-mouche) outfitted with fifty tents will bring one hundred lovers from around the world to spend a luminous and romantic evening on the Seine. If they want to share their blissful experience with other spectators, they can press a button next to them to trigger fifteen seconds of fireworks, which will be fired from small boats nearby. For the third and last scene, two minutes of elegant blazing silver fireworks will act as a tacit "good bye kiss". For the finale, fireworks that spell out the words "Sorry Gotta Go" will appear. That evening, audiences from all over the world will be able to observe this "One Night Stand" between Paris -the city of love- and the rest of the world. That evening, audiences from all over the world will be able to observe this "One Night Stand" between Paris -the city of love- and the rest of the world. Scene I: Time for the encounter At midnight, Tan Dun's Paper Music from The Pink will play, after which the twelve-minute long pyrotechnic display will begin, expressing the processes of a French sentimental encounter. Scene II: Time for lovers As an interlude to the second act, another section of Tan Dun's Paper Music from The Pink will play. At the same time, on the right, a "love boat", modified from a bateau-mouche and six small boats will light up amidst cheers, and enter the audience's field of vision. The bateau-mouche will have a total of fifty tents above and below deck. It will host one hundred lovers from all over the world to present a scene of international multiculturalism. The fifty duets- as well as spectators on the riverbanks - will enjoy the scenery along the Seine between the Lourve and Musée d’Orsay in France's renowned artistic environment. If they choose to share their experience with the spectators on the riverbanks, they can press a button next to them,  which will make pre-installed strobe lights flash along the outlines of the tent. Immediately after, the small boats nearby will launch fireworks for up to fifteen seconds, evoking an emotional reaction among the couples and the audience on the riverbanks. As such, the number of times and the frequency that the work appears is not pre-determined by the artist or the fireworks company's computer, but rather by the couples themselves. Both spectators and participants will therefore find themselves in a pleasant state of uncertainty and great anticipation. The spontaneous results will bring both the audience and the artist endless waves of surprise. Scene III: Time to go Before the end of the night, the two barges in the middle of the Seine will launch elegant blazing silver fireworks to form a richly layered and climatic two-minute finale as a "goodbye kiss". Finally, fireworks on the barge will collectively spell out in English, "SORRY GOTTA GO". All participants that evening, whether couples on the bateau-mouche or spectators on the banks, will be immersed in an emotive, radiant state of entropy, as it is not a computer that decides when to launch a firework but rather the participants' emotions. The event attempts to take people away from modern means of communication and bring them back to primitive, visceral mode of interaction; it can be seen as a physical struggle against the invisible nets that envelop our world. Source: http://www.caiguoqiang.com/sites/default/files/Cai-Nuit%20Blanche-English%20FINAL.pdf post by: HeatherB

Paris prepares for white night of art and culture

Artists are putting the final touches to artworks that will take over Paris tonight for Nuit Blanche, an annual celebration of contemporary art and culture.

This year’s event has been curated by Chiara Parisi and Julie Pellegrin. British artist Martin Creed will kick-start the 12th edition of Nuit Blanche by simultaneously ringing all the church bells along the Nuit Blanche route. Visitors can also join in the bell ringing by clicking on a special smartphone app for the event. Meanwhile, hovering above the Seine river, performers in helicopters will perform a string quartet by German contemporary composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. Later, Chinese artist Cai Guo Qiang, who was responsible for the fireworks display at the Beijing Olympics, will present another pyrotechnic spectacular along the Seine. Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya will be cloaking the Place de la République in her trademark fog sculptures, while Danish artist Palle Nielsen will transform the Place de la Bataille de Stalingrad into a monumental playground for children and the child-at-heart to play. There will also be more events than ever along the Canal St-Martin in Paris’ east, an up-and-coming neighbourhood. This year’s Nuit Blanche will be current mayor Bertrand Delanoë’s last. He began the first Nuit Blanche in 2001. http://dai.ly/x15kn7c   post by: HeatherB