OPENING: On Saturday, an entire New York neighborhood will become an art gallery for one white night

Miho Ogal's work, entitled Light and Dance, uses rotating 12- by 18-inch panes of glass and projected light in a work that will include live dancers.

It’s not clear where exactly the concept of Nuit Blanche (or “White Night” in English) began, but marking the longest day of the year has been a centuries-old tradition in the northern latitudes of St. Petersburg, Russia where the sun barely sets in the mid-summer and citizens celebrate the endless days with everything from parties to ballet performances. Berlin started an all-night winter art event called “The Long Night of Museums“ in 1997, and in 2002, the mayor of Paris coined the term Nuit Blanche for an October cultural festival in the City of Light. Cities around the world began holding their own all-night art events, and it is estimated that this year, more than 120 cities will host their own such celebrations of culture. In 2010, you can add New York City to the list, with a brand-new event taking place this Saturday, October 2nd, and featuring several works employing glass.

Karen MacKay's blown-glass forms are filled with organic matter and lit by colored LED lights to redefine abandoned lots and other disused spaces.

Taking place in the up-and-coming Greenpoint, Brooklyn, neighborhood just next door to Williamsburg, the first New York Nuit Blanche will light up the already bright city at night in works that frequently employ glass to either reflect, act as a lens, or offer a transparent volume enclosing or defining interior spaces.

Geoff Isles used non-radioactive uranium-based glass lit to glow in the dark and with Geiger counter sound effects to comment on the issue of nuclear proliferation..

Visitors to this event (which will not go on all night, but end at 12 midnight) will experience several works that encourage contemplation of such diverse contemporary issues as graffiti, urban agriculture, and the spread of nuclear material. More than 50 artists and performers will illuminate this gritty Brooklyn waterfront area with site-specific installations, projections and performances that often use the area’s rich iconic architecture as a canvas.

To learn more about the project, watch a video promoting this event here. If you can’t make it to the event personally, you can watch a live stream of it here while it happens.

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