MOCA Goes Dark: Night Visions Party Retrospective
Last month, Floor 1 at MOCA was transformed into an interactive art party, presented by some of the artists working in Akin’s 4th floor studios at MOCA. The Tower Automotive Building was once the site of legendary dance parties, raves, and punk gigs. The building’s wild legacy was revived for one night only with amazing art and music, lighting MOCA up in the dark.
The evening featured artist-led interactive installations and activities, beats by DJ Lulu Wei and DJ Sammy Rawal and the Akin Year 1 artist group exhibition An Index was open on Floor 4 throughout the evening. Thanks to everyone who attended the party, and congratulations to the collaborators who worked hard to make it happen!
DJ Lulu Wei
Her mix of pop, hip-hop, R&B and hi-energy house hits has been making queer folks dance for years in parties like New Ho Queen.
DJ Sammy Rawal
Sammy is the co-founder/resident DJ of Yes Yes Y’all, Canada’s largest queer hip hop/dancehall party that seeks to create spaces for LGBTQ2 POC.
Humboldt Magnussen
Curator, co-director of YTB Gallery and Akin MOCA Year 1 artist Humboldt Magnussen produced the Night Visions Party. Humboldt’s practice is interdisciplinary in nature. Often his work is rooted in performance and includes the creation and use of elaborate masks and helmets. He utilizes elements of humour and glamour to make difficult topics more accessible and to create entry points for people to engage with the work.
Design by Nuff
Akin MOCA Year 1 artist and designer David Nuff created live 3D visuals during the party on the big screen. His work blurs the lines between commerce and culture, art and design. Nuff’s interactive installation, Shard, a giant icy light crystal that responds to sound and motion, was also on display during the event.
Leone McComas
Leone McComas , an Akin MOCA Year 1 visual artist and designer specializing in painting, graphic design, and mural art, created live-paintings during the party. Her painting technique is both intuitive and process driven; a method producing highly detailed and saturated oil paintings that appear to glow from within.
Jieun June Kim
Akin MOCA Year 1 artist Jieun June Kim provided glow-in-the-dark face painting for guests at the party. Jieun is a painter and muralist whose body of work usually instigates conversation and interaction with viewers from different cultures.
Strike Design Studio
Akin MOCA Year 1 designer Emily Woudenberg of Strike Design Studio created all of the event graphics based on aluminum caps that were made in the 1940’s by Canadian steel company Alcan who formerly occupied the Akin MOCA building before it was abandoned. Strike is a Toronto-based design studio offering frank consultancy, innovative strategy and striking solutions for print and screens.
This party was organized and presented with the exhibition An Index which featured 24 artists from the inaugural Akin Studio Program. An Index made visible the labours of artistic creation through an open and honest charting of the processes, challenges, delights, and failures of making art in the city. Night Visions credited the importance of social play in creative production. For the first time ever MOCA Goes Dark, and welcomed guests to explore the museum transformed by local artists.
Event graphics by Strike Design Studio
