Nuit Blanche exhibit will allow spectators to control CN Tower light show
The nightly CN Tower LED display has garnered mixed reactions since it began in 2007—some even compared it to a sci-fi Christmas tree. Perhaps that’s why “E-TOWER,” one of this year’s Nuit Blanche exhibits, is giving power to the people, literally, by allowing spectators to control the light display via text messages.
The tower will start out with blue lights around the observation deck, but with each new text message, organizers will add one unit of energy, making it light up for longer intervals. “The lights will be more and more energetic the more people participate,” says Dave Colangelo, one of the artists working on the project. “It will be quite the spectacle once it gets programmed—something people will enjoy watching.”
The exhibit will set up five “participation zones” around the city in spots with the best view of the tower. After sending a text, participants will also receive texts back to enhance the interactiveness of the show, though the contents of the reply haven’t been decided yet. “It’s a new way to imagine public art,” says Colangelo. We’re looking at it as a new way to take the CN Tower back from the tourists for one night.
The CN Tower authorities know that bright lights on the tower attract migrating birds to the tower where they crash into each other and even into the tower. The Tower authorities used to turn off all lights during the migration period. Why do they turn them on now? Why does the Tower’s Board of Directors encourage such cruelty to animals to occur? While some people will enjoy the CN Tower light show, others know that it is morally wrong. And if you choose to delete my comment, then you are part of this problem, too.
If the general public had the opportunity to correlate their actions and participation in “Nuit Blanche”, with the death of migrating birds at their feet,(at the height of migration season), over this one night extravaganza, I believe that they would see things differently.