Nuit Blanche, Paris 2011

Nuit Blanche, Paris 2011

03 October, 2011
by: Tom Jeffreys

Tom Jeffreys is deeply disappointed by the tenth birthday celebrations of Paris' annual all-night arts festival.

This weekend saw the good people of Paris celebrating the ten-year anniversary of all-night art-fest Nuit Blanche. There's a long history to Nuit Blanche (literally White Night) that dates back to 1984 when it was started in Nantes by Jean Blaise in 1984, but it wasn't until 2002 that the Mayor of Paris invited Blaise to create an event in France's capital. Today, the concept is as popular as ever with the 2011 edition seeing hundreds of events taking place over the course of nineteen hours, and attracting thousands of visitors. And yet, somehow, the magic seems to disappeared.

I've been to Nuit Blanche only once before – in 2010 – and it was one of the most memorable nights you could possibly imagine. Thierry Dreyfus transformed Notre Dame with the simple addition of a pair of pulsing spotlights; 1024 Architects produced an incredible fusion of thudding electro and cubes of twisting light on the Pont Saint Louis; Céleste Boursier-Mougenot filled an elegant room in the Hôtel de Lauzun with vacuum-powered harmonicas; and at 7am, Fayçal Baghriche signalled the end of proceedings as 300 alarm clocks went off in a pitch black room. It was an intoxicating night, full of excitement and thought and aesthetic power.

Everything 2010 was, however, 2011 is not. I don't know if it's the change of director – Alexia Fabre and Frank Lamy replacing Martin Bethenod – or a cut in budget, or the condensing of the locations, or a combination of all three, but Nuit Blanche 2011 is a massive let-down from start to finish.

Everything just seems poorly thought through, starting with a distinct lack of focal point. 2010 saw a series of works in, on and around Notre Dame, the Pompidou Centre, the Hotel de Ville and Pont Saint Louis form a kind of central zone, from where the more intrepid visitors could branch off into other less touristy areas. 2011's programme may cover less of the capital geographically, but lacks this sense of major destination.

More problematic is the apparent lack of consideration for visitors. One of the joys of Nuit Blanche is being granted access to all those strange, impenetrable buildings that line Paris' streets, but for 2011 visitors are, by and large, only allowed as far as the courtyards. This – combined with long queues, lack of seating for video works, and strong security presence throughout – implies that visitors are simply not to be trusted, and certainly not to be encouraged to linger and look.

Which, to be honest, given the quality of the works on show, is probably just as well. 2011's headline artworks are all distinctly disappointing. Pierre Ardouvin's Prince-inspired Purple Rain is moderately entertaining, but ultimately facile; Fabrice Hyler has pointlessly populated the otherwise lovely Square des Batignolles with people dressed up as cartoon characters; France Dubois' cablecar intervention feels like a wasted opportunity; Grande Image Lab's outside projection is a cool idea but drably executed; and Miroslaw Balka does his usual trick of producing something quite bland – in this case hanging twists of reflective glass – and then citing the Holocaust in a desperate cry for gravitas.

Part of the problem – and this may be a budget issue – is the lack of specially commissioned work. Much of what is on show is old, and a hell of a lot of it is old (and really not very good) video: ahem, Douglas Gordon, Jacques Monory, Karmelo Bermejo, Tomas Espina etc. This means, on the one hand, that few of the works respond to their surroundings in any meaningful sense, and, on the other, that some – Katie Paterson's Earth-Moon-Earth and Ragnar Kjartansson's potentially intriguing four-screen video being just two examples – shoddily exhibited.

In amongst the dross there are a couple of highlights: chic jewellery store Ostentatoire's window is blocked out with dry ice, with periodic strobes and thudding bass lending a sense of drama; the cloisters of the Lycee Jacques Decour are infested with black hand-cut paper butterflies courtesy of Carlos Amorales; and Brighton duo Semiconductor present a beguilingly bizarre video piece. Of course, the seating is uncomfortable and those lying down to get a good view are ordered to relocate from the premises by a burly security man.

It's typical of a festival that has got everything wrong – one that shows nothing but disdain for its visitors, disregard for the unique cultural heritage of its host city, and a profound ignorance of both art and artists. Let's hope it's just a birthday blip; 2012 must be better than this.

Eurostar operates up to 18 daily services from London St Pancras International to Paris with return fares from £69. Fastest London-Paris journey time is 2hr 15 minutes. Tickets are available from eurostar.com or 08432 186 186. Child fares start from £49 return and children under 4 years-old travel free (not allocated a seat).

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Tom Jeffreys