{"id":368974,"date":"2024-10-02T16:04:42","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T20:04:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/?p=368974"},"modified":"2024-10-02T16:04:45","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T20:04:45","slug":"york-u-student-and-alumni-work-debuts-at-2024-nuit-blanche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2024\/10\/02\/york-u-student-and-alumni-work-debuts-at-2024-nuit-blanche\/","title":{"rendered":"York U student and alumni work debuts at 2024 Nuit Blanche"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Students and alumni from York University will be showcasing their artistic talents at this year\u2019s Nuit Blanche<\/a>.\u00a0Taking place from 7 p.m. on Oct. 5 to 7 a.m. on Oct. 6<\/strong>, Nuit Blanche is a free, all-night celebration of contemporary art that transforms Toronto\u2019s public spaces into extraordinary landscapes. This year\u2019s theme, Bridging Distances, invites audiences to explore the ways they experience and perceive distance.\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One standout piece at this year festival comes from Shannon Garden-Smith<\/strong>, a current student in the Visual Arts PhD program in York University\u2019s School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD). Her captivating new installation, Snail Work (for the lake)<\/em><\/a>, is made of unfixed, vibrantly dyed sand, recreating historical marbling patterns at an immersive scale. Audiences are invited to move through the work as a snail might, gently interacting with the pattern \u2013 disrupting, unmaking and remaking it in the process.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Shannon
Shannon Garden-Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Through her installation, she weaves together personal, environmental and colonial narratives dedicated to Lake Ontario and its surrounding ecosystem.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garden-Smith credits AMPD with providing her the essential resources and facilities to bring Snail Work (for the lake<\/em>) to life. \u201cThere\u2019s a really great community of PhD students here at AMPD \u2013 it\u2019s important to have those people there to challenge you in the right kinds of ways,\u201d she says. She also acknowledges Professor Brandon Vickerd<\/strong>, Chair of the Visual Art & Art History Department, whose support allowed her to work in the school's facilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also featured at this year\u2019s Nuit Blanche exhibitions are the following York U-affiliated creatives, whose diverse projects span curatorial roles and artistic installations, showcasing the depth of talent emerging from the University:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n