Artistic Director: Christie Pearson
With: Marcus Boon, Darren Copeland, Rob Cruickshank, Sarah Peebles, Marina Rosenfeld, Raz Mesinai, Tim Hecker, FM3, Windy and Carl, Sandro Perri, Luis Jacob, Geoff Snack, Andrew Wedman, Orixasound, City of Toronto Parks Forestry and Recreation
THEWAVES created the project Night Swim for Toronto’s inaugural Nuit Blanche at Trinity Bellwoods Community Centre swimming pool. This all-night swimming event featured hourly sets by national and international sound artists programmed by Marcus Boon included Tim Hecker, FM3, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Windy and Carl, Marina Rosenfeld, Raz Mesinai, Sarah Peebles, Sandro Perri, Luis Jacob, Geoff Snack, Andrew Wedman and Orixasound. Darren Copeland used underwater microphones and speakers to create alternate soundscapes in the building. Different areas and pools had distinct colour, audio and temperature zones inspired by a Roman bath, with the ceiling of the large pool a mirror for slippage into the vertical axis. A projection of the moon created by Rob Cruickshank moved rapidly through its phases, overseeing the scene. The celebration became increasingly bacchanalian as morning approached. A shifting audience continued to reinterpret the space and its possibilities, from the change rooms to the viewing stands to the pools, prompted by various swim toys and inflateable furniture. Night Swim was attended by 12,000 people, including 1,000 swimmers. The project points toward the potentials of tactical re-appropriation of public spaces outside of their intended use and schedule for an expanded public imaginary.
Published: On Site, National Post, City TV, CBC TV, Metro, Globe and Mail, Eye Weekly
