Event review: Luminato's smokey, dreamy light show...for FREE

If you find yourself in Toronto this weekend, there is a ton of cool stuff going on for the Luminato festival of arts + creativty, June 11-28th. You name it - theatre, dance, art installations - they've got it. Some of the stuff is weird, as art tends to be, but that makes it all the better! Here's what I recommend you go see and it's all FREE:

• Smokey, dreamy light show: At first, I thought the art installation, Solar Breath (Northern Caryatids Light Air, would be interesting just because it was curated by Atom Egoyan who is one of Canada's most acclaimed film directors. However, once you arrive on site and read the preamble on the wall about the meaning behind the work, you realize that you are about to see something of deep significance. The works, by Michael Snow and Mani Mazinani, are a tribute to the late Luminato co-founder David Pecaut and inspired by an email sent by Pecaut to Egoyan in which he described his experience with dying:
  
  "One of the funny things about my situation is how I wake up each morning. Most mornings I wake up happy and feeling good. My first thoughts are like the thoughts I would have had before the cancer....As I gradually gain conciousness, I begin to become aware of my situation and the illness and how much things have changed....Each time is unique, rich in its own way. Never the same....It is not a depressing feeling, but I marvel each time that it feels like a modest surprise."
  
  As you enter the dark, dreamy spaces of the installation, with the above quote fresh in your mind, you'll see a looped video of a curtain flapping in the breeze, leading you to a quiet moment to contemplate the natural repetativeness in daily life. Next, you'll make your way to the back room, a dark and smokey cave, where you will think there is not much to see until you realize that you can walk through the wall of smoke to find a surprise waiting for you on the other side. This event is calm and thoughful and a welcomed solitude away from the loud traffic filled streets of downtown Toronto. Brookfield Place, 181 Bay St., until June 20th.
  


• Ship O' Fools: Based on name recognition alone, I ventured off to see this art in the park work by acclaimed visual artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller. If you are looking for a bizzare quirky 5-minute art experience then this is it! Think Pirates of the Caribbean meets a fantasy land of miniature people, meets clangy objects on pully systems. This is really a fun, interactive experience for the whole family that requires you to actually board the ship and take a tour through the 'S' shaped gallery constructed on the inside. Weird, fun! Trinity Bellwoods Park, corner of Strachan Ave. and Queen St. W., until June 28th.
  


• The Ascension of Beauty: I highly recommend seeing this art installation because visually it is quite beautiful and will make you wonder - how long did it actually take to knit (weave?) a 3-mile long rope! The first thing that will happen when you enter the light filled atrium is you'll notice the amazing arch in the glass ceiling reinforced with a skelecton of white metal ribs. Although this has nothing to do with the installation, the space alone is stunning. Then, as you walk further into the building and search for the actual exhibit, a rose knit dress by fashion designer Mark Fast, you'll notice a thickly woven white rope hanging from the massively high glass ceiling. As you keep walking, you realize that the rope is draped the entire length of the atrium and leads you right to the heart of the exhibit - a dedazzled, red-knit dress on an arms-stretched-wide manaquin. The rope effect is by far the best part of the exhibit! ! Brookfield Place, 181 Bay st, June 20th.

Rating: easy (free events mixed with moderately weird art installations)