nicholaslongstaff.ca

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of the INVITATION TO NUIT BLANCHE
:
: (Long rambling message, influenced by minor exhaustion, follows)
:

: Hi everybody – and yes, this is a broadcast notice…
: if you see it more than once, forgive the repetition by
: figuring out how to actually come
:
: I will be showing in:
:
:_________________________________________
:
: Nuit Blanche: October 4th (this Saturday)
: Lennox Contemporary Gallery: Toronto
: > 12 Ossington, steps North of Queen Street West on the West side
: > 6:52 PM until 6:52 AM (Sunday)
: ……………..AND………………………………………..

: Ibtissam will be Bellydancing with the work
: – and the audience –
: > At 8:00 PM,
: > and every hour on the half from 1:30 AM:
__________________________________________________

NON-EXECUTIVE LETTER of INVITATION

Since winter, I’ve focused a great deal of my attention, resources and passion into a residency at the Canadian Film Centre.

I thank everyone who made this possible for me, because many of YOU, my friends, family, CFC staff and my various employers have helped me so well. I say a specific thanks toy Mum in Burlington, and my coolest-ever London neighbours ZJ and Jeannette for making it feel so good to come home – at whatever hour/day I finally do – during this very busy time.

The last 6 months have been full of learning and experimentation in media: all Media, from essays to Rock BandTM to Interactive Movies. My teachers came from across Canada to share with the other five residents and me, their deep knowledge and expertise, and also their candid thoughts and feelings about how content, regardless of its medium, gets made; both in this country and in the international marketplace.

The last 3 months really came down to the development of a working prototype: an interactive art installation called “shh aah ohh”.

Imagine playing with your shadow. You make a bird or a dog/deer with your hands. Great! you’re creating a little theatrical experience right there.

Now imagine your shadow playing with you.

What I have developed with my fellow resident Rea McNamara (independent writer and now the Style Editor for EYE Magazine) is a room in which your own life-sized digital shadow will bend and stretch on its own, reveal and reach out towards other people’s shadows, warp them, master time, and even dance.

That’s right, at 8:00 PM, then every Hour (on the Half) from 1:30 AM onwards, Ibtissam the intoxicating and creative dancer and I will do a digital dance duet. Ibtissam will perform a Shadow Bellydance, live, as I coax her shadow to bend, twist, dissolve and change colour digitally, all set to music – both recorded and LIVE! And she’s promised to bring folks up to dance with their own shadows (and her!!) … Now how can you pass THAT up?

This all happens THIS SATURDAY NIGHT October 4th from 6:52 PM until early Sunday October 5th (6:52 AM). There’s a whole Toronto full of artistic activity that night. PLUS, there’s 5 OTHER fascinating and ingenious CFC prototypes at the Lennox Gallery PLUS “shh aah ohh” PLUS Bellydancing. And there’s a BAR.

If you’re out-of-town, and you can’t book to be in by 6:30 AM Sunday, I’m sorry I didn’t send this message out sooner (of course I’ve been building the bloody thing, but that’s no excuse for late publicity) and of course I’ll hold the doors until the 6:04 redeye flight deplanes and your airport-limo arrives at the gallery around 7:00 AM.

If you can’t come at all, and feel bad about it, don’t! You’ll have nearly all of November to dance with the NEXT iteration of this shadowy concept, which I’ve been invited to create for the one and only CIRCA night club and dance bar TORONTO: John & Richmond Streets, which is installed in what used to be the 3-storey Playdium, by the creator of STUDIO 54. It will be noisier there and sadly I won’t be able to incorporate the sound-poetry soundscape of the project created by Rob Read, a.rawlings and Lillian Allen. But it’ll be WAY bigger then too, so that’s cool.

But if you actually are out there thinking “no, I WON’T go. That’ll show ‘im. I’ll stay at home and clip my toenails and watch TV bowling on a fuzzy Channel 10 before I even CONSIDER looking at this rubbish Nicholas keep talking about” then please address your letter of complaint to:

: Nicholas Longstaff
:   Cheeky monkey
:   Union Station
:   Toronto, ON
:   GO Concourse Lavatory, 3rd stall on the left, behind the rubbish bin.
:   N0O 1W0

For those of you who MIGHT come, and were considering how to make it work (at least until you read the preceding paragraph) PLEASE DO. I know a few people with cars and vans are coming from London, anyway… there’s always extra seats somehow, and I’d love for you to see what I’ve been working so hard on!

Yours Advertisorially,

Nicholas

***********************************************************************
OFFICIAL BUNFF ABOUT THE PROTOTYPES FOLLOWS:

CFC MEDIA LAB EXHIBITION 2008
AND THEN S/HE TURNED TO ME AND SAID
(new voices in interactive art and entertainment)

CFC Media Lab residents are adept at creating meaningful conversations through interactive technologies. Each project in this exhibit creates opportunities for friends, strangers and families to connect to, play with, and expand their understanding of the communities that surround them.

We invite you to be a part of the conversation.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
GAKU

CREATED BY
Patrick Dinnen, Deiren Masterson, Jefferson Wright & Angella Mackey

Any relationship requires consistent and meaningful communication to blossom into a truly loving connection. Nowhere is this more true than in the engagement between a grandparent and a grandchild, especially when distance divides them. With GAKU, we have created a one-to-one communication tool that allows for the direct sharing of images, along with an embedded audio message that provides the story behind the picture. Sharing moments big and small, old and new, GAKU creates an essential inter-generational archive that will be cherished within a gorgeous wooden casing. Preserving generations of wisdom and imagination - do you GAKU?

For more information visit
http://www.doyougaku.com/

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
GREENWAVE

CREATED BY
Elliot Woolner, Zan Chandler & Sharon Saporta

GREENWAVE is a Facebook application for people who care about the environment. Users team up with their friends and work together to change their habits for a week. They take home fewer plastic bags, turn off more lights, cheer each other on and discover how good it feels to be part of the solution.

For more information visithttp://greenwavechallenge.com

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
MY TIME
COLLECT. CONNECT. CREATE.

CREATED BY
Geneviève Godin, Ulysses Castellanos, Simone Maurice, Tristen Brown & Andrew Mallis

MY TIME is designed as intelligent physical objects that connect to your computer to express time in inventive ways.

For more information visithttp://www.mytimeworld.com