[Carsten Nicolai & Olaf Bender / White Line Light / 2002]

This Saturday night is the second Nuit Blanche here in Toronto and the all night arts event promises to be incredible. There are a number of exhibits and happenings that have piqued my interest but the project I am bent on investigating is White Line Light, an installation by Carsten Nicolai and Olaf Bender, two of the musicians behind the Raster-Noton imprint.

White Line Light explores fluorescent lighting as a means of reading sound and space. The brightness of the slender lighting rig modulates in sync with accompanying equally sparse audio. The official release for the installation describes it as follows:

The sound and light work of Carsten Nicolai and Olaf Bender explores the limitations of what we can see and hear. Taking this as a point of departure, white line light uses electricity as a conduit to identify, define and lend shape to the invisible and inaudible phenomena found in our midst, at the same time creating a palpable tension between the work itself and its unique architectural setting.

I've written about what Raster-Noton brings to the table in terms of integrated audio visual performances in the past and I'm very excited to see this aesthetic explored as an installation rather than being projected onto the sidelines of a club. This event, presented by Yatra Arts and the Goethe-Institut Toronto will be running from 7pm-7am at the Old Police Station which is at 35/45 Strachan Ave at Strachan and Ordnance [map].

If you are still mapping out your itinerary for the evening and want access to some great listings, cruise on over to View On Canadian Art and take a look at Andrea Carson's recent posts on Nuit Blanche.