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LuminaTO

Luminato Update

Besides, we all know how much Toronto loves a party. Nuit Blanche came out of nowhere and was a runaway success. Even BIA shopping festivals like Taste of the Danforth draw hundreds of thousands of people with no discernable cultural content on offer.
 
Re: Luminato Update

I didn't know of Nuit Blanche thing...

TotD has a history, it builds on reputations, even though I find it's totally overrated. Still, most are local visitors.

This Luminato is a big event. I am sure it will attract alot of local visitors. But is that enough? Will people that are not usually into the art scene know? My friends don't know anything about it yet...even some are very into the arts.

My friends in US come here often...and also into the arts...they always wanted to go to the Edinburg one...oh, and again, they never heard of this one.
 
Re: Luminato Update

I see they're sacrificing the Yonge street festival in order to feed Nuit Blanche - which, in turn, apparently sees Luminato as a threat that might syphon off sponsorship funds from them.
 
TORONTO: CULTURE IN THE STREETS

Arts community holding high hopes for Luminato
VAL ROSS

May 30, 2007

The big new arts festival Luminato officially thunders into Toronto Friday night, splashing all over downtown, from the Distillery District's Latin jazz concerts to the lakefront, which will become the site of the world's largest light show.

The Ontario government, Luminato's patrons and its organizers are gambling that the annual event will position Toronto as the new Spoleto among arts festivals, only bigger.

For the past three decades, Spoleto Festival USA has brought a broad range of arts performances to Charleston, S.C. as the American counterpart of the original Italian festival.

Whether Luminato - with its mix of free street concerts, art installations in public spaces and ticketed performances - can succeed in buoying up the city's image remains to be seen. But amid final preparations, Toronto's cultural community is asking: How did its organizers raise the 2007 festival's $12-million budget from nowhere?

Give David Pecaut, senior partner with the Boston Consulting Group, and Tony Gagliano, CEO of St. Joseph Media, the credit. For two men who'd never met before 2003, they've accomplished a lot.

The two lunched at Grano Restaurant one afternoon to discuss how Toronto could rebuild its tourism industry after SARS had made it a pariah.

Mr. Gagliano thought an arts festival was the cure. Mr. Pecaut had already launched a campaign to "rebrand" Toronto and lure U.S. travellers back.

These two have managed to bring the city a 10-day extravaganza of the oddball, the highbrow, the international and Toronto's own - everything from Monty Python's Not the Messiah to a Polish director's take on local playwright George Walker.

More impressively, they did it at a time when the city has been floundering in a funding morass, when corporate Toronto has already had its pockets picked by massive cultural building projects.

Despite the fact that 80 per cent of Canada's festivals take place in summer, Heritage Minister Bev Oda says that funding criteria for federal support won't be ready until fall. But Luminato's organizers, who were counting on federal aid, even managed to engineer a last-minute top-up from their business and provincial political networks.

From the start, their calling card has been the argument that since Ontario put up so much money for Toronto's cultural infrastructure (the province put $135.5-million into Toronto's new facilities, the private sector hundreds of millions) no-one wants to see that money wasted for want of a last infusion of cash.

"Tony [Gagliano] is a brilliant fundraiser," says Bill Boyle, CEO of Harbourfront. "David [Pecaut] is the Energizer Bunny. I hate to say this, but I think it's because he was originally American, he is the optimist who says 'We can do it.' "

Because Toronto theatres and arts groups are co-producers for many festival events, it was crucial that Luminato not alienate them by cannibalizing their funding. To assure arts groups that local corporate supporters weren't being bled dry, Mr. Gagliano found a Montreal and Paris-based company, L'Oréal, to become a multimillion-dollar sponsor.

"I think it's too big," Harbourfront's Mr. Boyle says. "But they've been fantastic at fundraising. Luminato allows us to do things we couldn't otherwise do - such as paying $100,000 to ship over the Brussels Spiegeltent, where we'll host nightly cabaret and burlesque. We've wanted to do that for years."

Many Luminato events are free, but some ticketed events aren't selling so far. One is Luna, the June 8 opera showcase. "Top-end prices are $220 and $300! I don't think so -- not to hear people we've all heard," said one arts patron.

Torontonians are also considered very wary of the new.

Still, Luminato's timing may be good. Tourism is finally recovering thanks to American, European and Asian "higher-value" tourists - gallery-hopping concert-goers to whom a cultural festival would appeal.

"Luminato's shaping up to be one of Ontario's major festivals," Tourism Minister Jim Bradley predicts.

© Copyright 2007 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.
 
Pulse One

Toronto's Harbourfront Centre LIGHTS UP on "Luminato Eve"

World Premiere of Pulse Front: Relational Architecture 12
Presented by TELUS

Epic light installation by Mexican-Canadian Artist
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer


TORONTO, May 30 /CNW/ -

WHAT: As the sun sets on the eve of Toronto's inaugural Festival of
Arts and Creativity, 20 of the world's most powerful
searchlights - synchronized in the largest light installation
ever produced - will shine spectacularly above the city's
skyline.

Ignited by the heart rates of two special participants as they
make contact with Lozano-Hemmer's metal sculptures, the WORLD
PREMIERE of Pulse Front: Relational Architecture 12, will beam
its inaugural matrix of lights over the skies of Harbourfront
Centre, visible to the entire city from 15 km away.

WHO: Two extraordinary participants with big hearts will lend their
heartbeat to light up Luminato's dramatic world premiere.

Pulse One: Jackson Church, a miracle baby born 10 weeks
premature and weighing 2 lbs., yet now a healthy Grade 7
student, will lend his heartbeat to move the installation's
beams.

Additional "pulses" will be given by dignitaries and
celebrities taking part in the evening's event.

WHERE: The boardwalk directly behind The Power Plant at Harbourfront
Centre

WHEN: Media to arrive at 9:30 p.m. for 10:00 p.m. sharp first pulse
>>

Pulse Front: Relational Architecture 12 is commissioned by Luminato,
curated by The Power Plant and co-produced with Harbourfront Centre and
sponsored by TELUS.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

What a fantastic and dramatic way to kick start the inaugural festival! I was down at the Harbourfront Centre this weekend to check out the prepartations of the lights, should be really exciting.

The lineup for Friday's Opening Night Concert was also annouced. It's taking place on Front Street in front of BCE Place.

Louroz

------------------------------------------------------------------------

To help launch the inaugural festival, Luminato will celebrate with a FREE outdoor concert in the heart of downtown Toronto on Friday, June 1st, featuring performances by Canadian songstress Chantal Kreviazuk, Gordie Sampson, Molly Johnson and opened by the Muhtadi International Drummers.

Luminato’s opening concert and celebrations begin at 8:30 p.m., on Front Street between Bay and Yonge Street. CTV’s Tanya Kim, host of eTalk, will emcee the night’s events. The concert is free for audiences of all ages to attend.
 
there was a press release today....sounds like the waterfront will be lit up tonight at 10:00pm...

Attention News/Business Editors:

World's largest light sculpture ignites Toronto's Harbourfront in the international debut of Pulse Front: Relational Architecture 12
Interactive light sculpture kicks-off Luminato Festival eve, using the
heart beat of honoured guests and invited celebrities

TORONTO, May 31 /CNW/ - The world premiere of Pulse Front: Relational
Architecture 12 celebrates the innovative merger of life, art and technology
on the eve of the inaugural Luminato, Toronto Festival of Arts & Creativity.
On Thursday May 31, 2007 at 10:00 p.m. the pulse of invited guests and
celebrities, will generate the first beams of light from Pulse Front and
illuminate Toronto's Harbourfront.
"TELUS is proud to support Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's original pairing of art
and technology," said Joe Natale, president, TELUS Business Solutions. "Our
partnership with the Luminato Festival provides an opportunity to ignite a
deeper appreciation for creative innovation within Canadians. At TELUS we
continue to support local initiatives in arts and culture in Toronto as part
of our commitment to helping the communities in which we live, work and
serve."
Pulse Front: Relational Architecture 12 is the new searchlight piece by
acclaimed Mexican-Canadian electronic artist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. The
groundbreaking installation uses 20 robotic searchlights, 200,000 watts of
power and includes displays up to 20 metal sculptures positioned along
Toronto's harbour. Each piece is installed with a biometric sensor. When a
participating spectator grabs the handles on the sculpture the sensors convert
their pulse into beams of light in the sky, visible up to 15 kilometers away.
The life force of honoured guests at the TELUS-hosted event will launch the
beating matrix of searchlights.
Janice Price, CEO, Luminato, said, "Having the pulse of Toronto power the
first beams of light emitted from Pulse Front is a striking way to unveil the
exhibit and Luminato. With the support of TELUS, Pulse Front communicates the
meaning of the festival: the collaboration of organizations, communities and
audiences to explore and celebrate the creative spirit."
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer is a Montreal-based electronic artist who creates
large-scale interactive installations encouraging public participation. His
innovative pieces are both award-winning and commissioned for events
internationally. Pulse Front is his newest piece in a series of works
controlled by heart readings. Toronto will be the first place that his work
displays on an urban scale.
TELUS is also providing $5,000 to Zerofootprint to offset the
environmental impacts of Pulse Front. Zerofootprint is a not-for-profit
environmental organization that works to inform and offset the environmental
impacts of consumers and businesses. Funds go towards forestation projects to
help counteract high carbon dioxide emissions.

About LUMINATO

Luminato, Toronto Festival of Arts & Creativity takes place from June 1
to 10, 2007 in communities and venues across the city. For further information
on the world's newest International Arts festival, such as event dates,
locations and schedules, visit www.luminato.com.

About TELUS

TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications
company in Canada, with $8.8 billion of annual revenue and 10.8 million
customer connections including 5.1 million wireless subscribers, 4.5 million
wireline network access lines and 1.1 million Internet subscribers. TELUS
provides a wide range of communications products and services including data,
Internet protocol (IP), voice, entertainment and video. Committed to being
Canada's premier corporate citizen, we give where we live. Since 2000, TELUS
and our team members have contributed more than $91 million to charitable and
non-profit organizations and volunteered more than 1.7 million hours of
service to local communities. Eight TELUS Community Boards across Canada lead
our philanthropic initiatives. For more information about TELUS, please visit
telus.com.
 
Saw it spontaneously while walking a date down to Harbourfront. We were both impressed. I wish Toronto would have more of these things. So awesome!
 
Albert Speer and the Nazis had a lot of fun pointing searchlights at the sky... here's the Cathedral of Light from the 1938 Nuremburg Nazi Rally.

Lichtdom.jpg
 
Luminato video short

Here's a link from YouTube, a brief (albeit repetitive) video of a late night rehearsal this week. I tried to film a piece myself tonight but my cam just can't capture activity in the dark very well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkPe6dQRj8o
 
First Pulse

I was down there tonight when they officially turned the thing on!

What an exciting and awesome sight to experience first hand. I even briefly flirted with the artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer for a few minutes afterwards.

I can say I was one of the first to try out installation. What I found neat was that employees of Telus (sponsors of Pulse Front) were stationed at each light take a free picture of you while your operating the light and will later e-mail it to you the next day. I understand they will be doing that every night until midnight.

While I was leaving Harbourfront Centre around quarter to 11 I noticed there was a steady stream of people making their way down. I guess they saw the lights in the core and made their way down. Lucky for the people who own condos north of Queen's Quay, they get a front row seat to the show every night.

Great start to LuminaTO. Looking forward to the official opening at BCE Place tomorrow evening and the ROM Opening on Saturday.

Louroz
 
The great thing about these lights is that they're visible from all over the city. I was at the UofT when they began tonight, and it was quite an enjoyable display.

Here's a pic from King's College Circle:

524568981_d7e669ffea_o.jpg





later on around Queen St...

524568983_a8d1605ea1_o.jpg
 
I even briefly flirted with the artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer for a few minutes afterwards.
Click to expand...

More on the flirtable Rafael here...

Pulse of the City
Mexican-Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer turns on Toronto's heart light by blurring the lines between science, sculpture and theatre at LuminaTO
By Damian Rogers
Photography Lee Towndrow

csg_pulsefront.jpg


PULSE FRONT
Light installation by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. June 1-10, dusk till midnight. Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay W. Part of the LuminaTO festival, www.luminato.com.

If you see large beams of light emanating from the harbour this week, you might assume that they're trumpeting the arrival of a new shopping mall or crap hair band. You would be wrong. In fact, what you'll be looking at is a projection of the city's heartbeat.

Montreal-based artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer is premiering a new light installation as part of the inaugural, city-wide arts festival LuminaTO called Pulse Front – but he needs you to show up for it to work. The interactive piece is made up of 10 metal cylinders that detect and record the heartbeats of passersby who choose to grab on to them, thereby activating a trippy, personalized light show that can be seen clear across town.

“We just did a project with this kind of heartbeat interface, measuring vital signs,” Lozano-Hemmer says over the phone, “and the degree of intimacy that this kind of project generates is remarkable for something that is so large and spectacular and public. It creates a really interesting tension. Typically when we think of these lights, we think of the opening of a new stadium or some rock concert, or worse, in Europe anyway, you think of anti-aircraft surveillance, and Nuremberg Nazi rallies and so forth. So whether it's military or corporate, the use of this technology is always to impose a certain kind of reading or certain kind of celebration – usually to get people to consume something. We invert that.”

Lozano-Hemmer is clear that Pulse Front is an experiment, one that relies entirely on the interest of others. “We are humbled by the fact that if people don't participate then those lights do not move at all – they don't exist, there's no show. We personalize that space through people's very intimate biometrics. It asks, how does my heartbeat relate and get lost with everyone else who is participating and who has participated in the past?”

Experiments are nothing new to Lozano-Hemmer, who moved to Montreal in the '80s to study chemistry at Concordia before beginning his art career in the early '90s. The child of nightclub owners in Mexico and Spain, he was exposed to the world of musicians and artists at a young age, but science was his first love and it continues to inspire him.

“When I did chemistry, it was something I was really passionate about,” he says. “I still am, but all of the things that attracted me about chemistry – the experimental nature of it, the idea of being able to discover new things or whatnot – all of that stuff can also be found in the humanities. I know that's a totally cheap comparison, but I do believe that a lot of what I'm doing now is about mixing things up and watching the reaction take place.”

While still a student at Concordia, Lozano-Hemmer was the co-host and producer of a weekly radio show called The Postmodern Commotion on Montreal's CKUT, where he explored ways of presenting complex ideas through electronic sound pieces. From there, he and his friends began to create multimedia performances in galleries that they dubbed “technological theatre.” But Lozano-Hemmer grew increasingly excited about the possibilities of more unpredictable situations: “I began working with interactive environments, without trained actors and dancers, where the public is the actor.”

Science and technology play a major role in many of his pieces, and in Pulse Front in particular. “Our sensors detect subtleties in the heart curve, not just how fast, but characteristics that make your heart different than others.... Most people's heart is more or less going at the same rate – you get this rhythmic pattern, but with slight differences.”

When describing the resulting composition, he invokes the names of minimalist composers like Glenn Branca and Steve Reich. I ask him if he's going to see Book of Longing, the Philip Glass adaptation of Leonard Cohen's most recent book of poems and drawings that's also featuring at LuminaTO. It turns out he's only going to be in town for a couple days, because he's got to get out to the Venice Biennale, where he is presenting a sound installation that turns audience members into walking radio antennae.

One of the goals of the LuminaTO festival is to set up more collaborations like Book of Longing among different artists who have never had the opportunity to work together before. Lozano-Hemmer has already let the LuminaTO organizers know that he'd be thrilled to have the chance to do something with the Kronos Quartet. “They said, ‘Oh, we might be able to arrange that.' That would be amazing.”

Collaboration is key to all of Lozano-Hemmer's art, because he must work with teams of computer programmers and staging companies to put each project together. And when a work is finished, he becomes a member of the audience.

“One thing that gives me a lot of pleasure is to see how people make it their own – to be surprised by people's reactions to the work, to see what they come up with,” he says. “Will some people see this as a totally cheesy romantic operation? Probably some will say [dismissively], ‘Well, my heart is being beamed 50 kilometres into the sky.' Others will see it as a social project where you get to talk to people you don't know because you're sharing this experience. You finally promenade down your city not to go to work or to your home. You're spending time in your city doing something other than shopping. I don't really know how people will react and that is really the fun part.”

In the last 15 years, Lozano-Hemmer has become a major international artist, exhibiting in countries all over the world, including Switzerland, Spain, England, Australia, China and Japan. Curiously, Pulse Front marks one of his first major exhibitions in Canada. “I am supported by the Canada Council,” he says, “but I'm supported to show something in Holland or Japan... anywhere but in Canada it seems. But hopefully that's beginning to change.”

Luckily for us, this neglect does indeed seem to be coming to an end. In addition to Pulse Front, Lozano-Hemmer is showing a smaller installation through the AGO at the TD Centre and a little piece of his is featured in the group show “Auto Emotion” now at the Power Plant.

With a laugh, he says, “In Toronto I'm doing small, medium and large!”
 
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