Photojournal : May MAC Nocturne

Edmund Alleyn. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine Edmund Alleyn. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

The MAC Nocturne’s don’t happen as often as they used to, but they’re still one of the hippest things to do in the city. Once a season, Le Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal (MAC) opens its doors until 2 a.m. DJs play music. Cocktails are served. There are lite bites as well. Visitors can make art, walk through the galleries, or just hang out.

MAC Nocturne. May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

The DJs were playing and there were plenty gathered about the main hub to listen and sip cocktails. The requisite number of chin strokers were present. Of the three I saw, Seychelle seemed to be having the most fun and was totally in her own zone as she played.

MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Mojito. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

DJ. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Cool people of Montreal. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Cool People of Montrel. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Near the DJs we had a chance to make our own art by sticking colorful bits of vinyl to a white background, inspired by Ryan Gander’s Bad Language.

MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Making Art. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Making Art. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Then on into the galleries, where we could appreciate the exhibitions. Jean-Pierre Gauthier and Ryoji Ikeda had a multi-roomed musical instrument that was entirely digitized.

MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Jean Pierre Gauthier and Ryoji Ikeda. Orchestrated. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Jean Pierre Gauthier and Ryoji Ikeda. Orchestrated. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Jean Pierre Gauthier and Ryoji Ikeda. Orchestrated. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Jean Pierre Gauthier and Ryoji Ikeda. Orchestrated. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

 MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Quebec born Edmund Alleyn’s “In my studio, I am many” had rooms full of colorful paintings and multimedia works.

Edmund Alleyn. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Edmund Alleyn. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Edmund Alleyn. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Edmund Alleyn. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Ryan Gander’s interactive “Make every show like it’s your last” was a conceptual fun house of artwork. A pair of eyes responded to (or seemed to respond to) the viewer by opening, closing, and lifting and lowering its eyebrows.

Ryan Gander. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Ryan Gander. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Ryan Gander. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Ryan Gander. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Finally, the artist everyone seemed to be in love with was Ragnar Kjartansson. Several rooms of video installations were packed with people who sat on the floors to watch. The Visitors is the one that seemed to attract the millennial crowd most of all. Nine screens feature lifesize projections of a group of musicians (Kristin Anna and Gyoa Valtysdottir of Mum and Kjartan Sveinsson of Sigur Ros) who repeat the phrase “Once again I fall into my feminine ways” over and over and over again. Each screen features a musician on a different instrument in a separate room of a large mansion house. They are wired together by headphones and more or less play together, though each time the phrase is done slightly differently. It is hypnotic, strange, and extremely engaging.

Also on display are World Light The Life and Death of an Artist, based on a rather long Icelandic epic shown on four screens as well as a six hour video of the band The National performing A Lot of Sorrow over and over again.

Ragnar Kjartansson. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Ragnar Kjartansson. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Ragnar Kjartansson. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

World Light. The LIfe and Death of an Artist. Ragnar Kjartansson. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Ragnar Kjartansson. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

The Visitors. Ragnar Kjartansson. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

Ragnar Kjartansson. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

The Visitors. Ragnar Kjartansson. MAC Nocturne. Montreal May 2016. Photo Rachel Levine

The party raged on at the MAC long after I left. If you missed this one, come back September 2 or November 4 for the next Nocturne to take advantage of Montreal’s “other” museum.

The MAC is located at 185 St. Catherine W. Information about exhibitions and hours can be found HERE.

About Rachel Levine

Rachel Levine is the big cheese around here. Contact: Website | More Posts