Professional Communication Professor Dave Colangelo’s installation at Nuit Blanche 2022

Professional Communication (opens in new window)  Assistant Professor Dave Colangelo (opens in new window)  along with colleagues at Public Visualization Studio (external link, opens in new window)  (PVS) Patricio Dávilla and Immony Mèn and collaborators Nehal El-Hadi and Patricia Pasten, is developing a multimedia installation for the 2022 edition Nuit Blanche called Fabulous Ones (external link, opens in new window) . 

Nuit Blanche, also known as the “white night,” returns to Toronto for its 16th year and will take place overnight from sunset to sunrise on October 1 and 2, 2022, across Toronto, Scarborough, North York and Etobicoke. Featuring art galleries, installations, music, film and dance performances, this overnight event will allow participants to experience spectacular artworks and augmented reality exhibits from local, national, and international artists. 

The Fabulous Ones

According to the description of the project, “Fabulous Ones presents creatures inspired by Jorge Luis Borges’ The Book of Imaginary Beings as well as his short story “John Wilkins’ Analytical Language” in which a catalogue divides all animals into one of 14 fantastical categories.” In the process of leaving one place for another, the Fabulous Ones reveal the struggles therein, as well as point to the constructedness of categorization.

The description of each of the Fabulous Ones will accompany the animations and are voiced by a family member of each contributor. This ties into the theme of diaspora as each contributor is a member of a particular diasporic community: Chilean, Italian, Cambodian, and Sudanese.

This project is commissioned by the Archive/Counter Archive Project (external link, opens in new window) , led by Dr. Janine Marchessault at York University and will be exhibited next to the Archives of Ontario building on York University’s campus.

Techniques inspired by communication and design 

This installation is particularly relevant to Colangelo’s work as it explores techniques derived from communication and design while also relating to his expertise in media architecture. 

“Media architecture is a broad term that encompasses the integration of sensors and screens, sonic, visual, and tactile interfaces, materials, and displays, and data capture and display in the built environment,” said Colangelo. 

The interconnecting aspects of the media, messages and the contextual environment of the installation are the features that will shape the experiences of people interacting with Fabulous Ones. 

Previous installations at Nuit Blanche

Colangelo is no stranger to Nuit Blanche and has had a number of installations featured previously. His first exhibition called E-TOWER (external link)  was presented in 2010 alongside Patricio Dávilla from Public Visualization Studio. As described by Colangelo, E-TOWER encouraged Nuit Blanche participants to increase the energy of the CN Tower by sending in a text message. Every text added a bit of energy to the Tower’s lights, making them pulse faster and glow brighter. 

In 2020, Professor Colangelo collaborated with Patricio Dávila, Immony Mèn, and Jonathan Silveira to create Nuit Live (external link) , a 12-hour long YouTube Livestream showcasing the history of Nuit Blanche over the years.

To learn more about Nuit Blanche, be sure to listen to Nuit Podcast “Belonging to Place” (external link) , to learn more about the event's themes and issues concerning public spaces, sustainability, and so on.

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