2011
performance
12 hr
This work was commissioned as part of Nuit Blanche, an all-night festival in Toronto in which the whole city is filled for one night with artworks. I used my budget to hire street musicians to play a set of nine songs in shifts for the duration of the event—from 7 pm to 7 am the next day. Placing themselves along 20 blocks of a downtown street closed to vehicle traffic for the night, the musicians performed as they normally would, busking for money with a case or hat in front of them. The street formed a focal point for the festival, full of crowds for the entire night.
The nine songs reflected on the very nature and limits of Nuit Blanche itself: most were about tomorrow or the morning after a day of excess, focusing attention on the fixed duration of the festival. I selected the songs after interviewing local street musicians about how they chose music to solicit donations from passersby.
The musicians spaced themselves just within hearing range of each other, around 100 feet apart. As viewers walked they would begin to hear the same songs played, and the musicians who appeared to be acting as individuals were revealed to be performing in concert.
This performance work has also been performed during the night of performance of the Düsseldorf Quadriennale, curated by KAI 10.
The nine songs:
“Will You Love Me Tomorrow?,” The Shirelles
“Don’t Forget Tonight, Tomorrow,” Frank Sinatra
“Tomorrow is Today,” Billy Joel
“Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day,” The Monkees
“Sunday Morning Comin’ Down,” Johnny Cash
“Don’t Stop Believin’,” Journey
“Tomorrow Never Comes,” Elvis Presley
“Sunday Morning,” Velvet Underground
“One Night Love Affair,” Bryan Adams
The musicians were free to rearrange the songs to suit their own styles and could play them in whatever order they wished.