Another Exciting "White Night" in Paris

2011 marked another fascinating edition of Nuit Blanche, an all-night annual event that sees the city taken over by artists and performers and enlivens the streets with installations.

In this shot: The Hotel de Ville (Paris City Hall) was one of four focal points at Nuit Blanche 2011. The square and the streets surrounding it were swamped with contemporary art enthusiasts, tourists and young Parisians out for a good time.

Across the street, at the BHV department store, every single window was lit up in blue and a strip of video screen looped a series of images in which words appeared and then transformed into a skyline, before collapsing and beginning the process again.

Courtyard Installation

Inside a small Parisian courtyard, artists' group Collectif de la Dernière Tangent installed a sculpture by Garo and Krähenbühl, consisting in blue pillars encircled by a ring of metal. A bizarre looping soundtrack and lights accompanied the sculpture, and visitors were able to walk a full circle around the installation to take it in from all angles.

Madeleine Metro Station Installation

In this scene, travelers passing through the Madeleine metro station in the Paris Opera neighborhood were treated to a light installation by French artist France Dubois. Colored lights placed behind opaque glass windows changed colors every few seconds as visitors descended into the depths of the station.

Subdued Light Show on Rue des Francs-Bourgeois

Not every installation at Nuit Blanche 2011 was gigantic, expensive or showy. Around Hotel de Ville, every bit of available space was transformed into a light show. A small garden on Rue des Francs-Bourgeois was transformed into art with what appear to be ordinary Christmas lights.

The Red Cyclops

At the "Espace d’Animation" in Paris, visitors were greeted by a red, sparkling creature standing at the center of a large gymnasium, and placed against a backdrop of blue lights. The giant creature with a single Cyclops eye resembled some sort of mythical monster. The blue wall of light was created using thousands of small bulbs flickering on and off in tandem.

Silent Film at the International Visual Theater

A silent film entitled "The Landscape is Changing” was playing on a loop inside the International Visual Theater in the 9th arrondissement. Throughout the film, a small group of protesters stood at an intersection of an unnamed city and marched through traffic while holding up large mirrors on sticks instead of the expected home-made signs with protest slogans. One of the most interesting and thought-provoking installations this reporter discovered at Nuit Blanche, the implication of the film was unclear.

Were the protests holding up a mirror to society? Protesting everything and anything by standing against whatever happened to be reflected in their picket signs? Or were they simply acting out a satire of the act of protest itself? There was no obvious answer and no opportunity to inquire as the theater and the space outside were completely silent. People communicated only in sign language, both out of respect for sleeping neighbors and as a reference to the International Visual Theater, which offers sign language courses.

The Grande Image Lab

One Nuit Blanche installation, dubbed the “Grande Image Lab", featured a projector displaying gigantic images on the side of a building. The images ranged from biblical to pastoral to abstract to shots of people eating and talking. At one point a message projected on the building said it would display plans for the future of Paris in 2012. Then an image implying that the video was loading played until suddenly it stopped and a blue-screen message explained that the video could not be found and was unavailable.

Some of the viewers expressed disappointment and frustration, but this reporter laughed, assuming it was all a clever joke.

Near Rue des Abbesses Gallery

Above an art gallery on the Rue des Abbesses in Montmartre, a video that mostly featured people getting on and off the metro was projected against the facade of a building.

Read related feature: How to Visit Montmartre 

In two large courtyards within a building that appeared to be a school, two videos played on a loop. The first was a blue-tinted film noir in which a man drove, and then ran down the street before being shot and collapsing on the pavement. In the second video, a large fireworks explosion revealed illuminated letters spelling "Recession", and was accompanied by ironic applause.

Many companies seized on Nuit Blanche as a marketing opportunity. Blue-haired women across Paris handed out promotional material, including light-up adhesive buttons that people stuck onto their bodies, often in suggestive places, allowing the masses of spectators at Nuit Blanche to become installations themselves.