CORRECTED Let the Nuit Blanche Conflict-of-Interest-o-Rama Begin! All Welcome!

CORRECTION! Reader, I messed up on the critic schedule for Speed Art Criticism. Many apologies for any confusion. Please find the corrected schedule below. As usual, I regret the error and continue to reevaluate the usefulness of continuing the "unedit" theme on this blog. Any other mistakes anywhere, feel free to let me know anytime at leahsandals [at] hotmail [dot] com or leah [at] leahsandals [dot] com. Thanks.


This year, I've forgone doing some of the Nuit Blanche previews I usually do, because this year, reader, I am Nuit Blanche. Well, at least a little tiny bit of it. At least 0.0001%. And you're welcome to partake!

First, at the all-night art-event proper, I'm manning a graveyard shift at Speed Art Criticism, a wonderful (or wonderfully unpredictable!) Toronto event where artists and the general public will get to present work directly to and chat with reviewers for Artforum, Modern Painters, BlogTO, Canadian Art, Border Crossings, the Toronto Star, the National Post, the Globe and Mail, Eye Weekly and other outlets. The catch: each visitor's art-critical feedback or dialogue will be limited to 15 MINUTES ONLY. As you can see from the above poster, egg timers will be in effect to enforce the rule! Here's the key details:

WHAT: Speed Art Criticism
WHO: You, other members of the arts community and general public, and the following critics (with one of their many notable publications listed in brackets): Dan Adler (Artforum), Sarah Milroy (Canadian Art), David Balzer (Eye Weekly), Murray Whyte (Toronto Star), Otino Corsano (artUS), RM Vaughan (Globe and Mail), Bill Clarke (Modern Painters), Elena Potter (BlogTO) and Leah Sandals (National Post)
WHEN: From 7pm on Saturday October 2 to 7am on Sunday October 3, 2010
WHERE: ***Note Venue Change from Nuit Blanche Print Program*** Six String Garage, 1658 Queen St W (East of Roncesvalles)
WHY: Because you want to get your work in front of critic eyeballs without having a gallery as intermediary, because you want to tell a critic off, because you want to find out why some shows are reviewed or others not, because you want an art-crit autograph that you can satisfyingly flush down the toilet, because you wonder how objective art reportage can really be, because you just kind of want to discover how these people behind the uniform text look and talk in real life, because... just... because
HOW: Bring your smallish work of art, or its digital reproduction on a laptop, or your questions, complaints or compliments to the event during Nuit Blanche.
SCHEDULE (AS OF SEPT 23) WITH A COUPLE OF THESE CRITICS' MANY NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS LISTED:
7-10pm David Balzer (Eye Weekly, CBC.ca) & Sarah Milroy (Canadian Art) Dan Adler (Artforum, C Magazine)
10pm-1am Otino Corsano (ArtUS) & Dan Adler (Artforum, C Magazine) Sarah Milroy (Canadian Art)
1am-4am RM Vaughan (Globe and Mail, This Magazine) & Elena Potter (BlogTO)
4am-7am Bill Clarke (Magneta Magazine, Artinfo, Modern Painters) & Leah Sandals (National Post, Canadianart.ca)
Murray Whyte (Toronto Star) will likely be around in the early part of the evening, with schedule kept flexible due to family matters

Then, the day after Nuit Blanche, when everybody else will be sleeping, a few folks are going to get together for "When Critics Speak..." a panel I fear to complete the ellipsis of. The panel, featuring writers for the Globe and Mail, a new-critics-prizewinner for C Magazine, a legendary indepdendent critic and (yes!) Murray Whyte and myself, will be moderated by ROM ICC director Francisco Alvarez. The event is part of a series of panels organized by Nuit Blanche in honour of its 5th anniversary. Here's the lowdown in W5 format:

WHO: Peggy Gale, independent critic; James Bradshaw, arts reporter for the Globe and Mail; Corinna Kirsch, winner of C Magazine's New Critics Prize; Murray Whyte, art reporter and critic for the Toronto Star; Russell Smith, novelist and columnist for the Globe and Mail; and yours truly, moderated by Francisco Alvarez, director of the ROM's ICC
WHAT: "When Critics Speak..." a postmortem (in more ways than one) on this year's Nuit Blanche event, organized by Nuit Blanche itself for its fifth anniversary
WHEN: 4-5:30pm on Sunday, October 3 (!)
WHERE: The Drake Hotel Underground, 1150 Queen Street West
WHY: You want to see reporters and critics attempt to remain articulate when they are clearly sleep deprived and conflict of interest filled; you want to add your two cents on how Nuit Blanche worked (or didn't) this year
HOW: Show up, grab a beer or a coffee or both. Discuss.

Hope to see ya'll there!