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# Illuminating the Wonders of Paris's Nuit Blanche
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/illuminating-the-wonders-of-pariss-nuit-blanche/
- Published: 2015-10-05T23:53:03.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T15:59:08.000Z
- Description: PARIS — It was nearly 2am and I was watching snow fall on the abandoned railroad tracks of the Petite Ceinture.
- Author: Allison Meier
- Tags: Art, Daan Roosegaarde, Nuit Blanche, Paris, Review, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:13 (2014, 2015, part 3)

![Nuit Blanche Paris](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/nuitblanche17.jpg)

Stéphane Ricordel’s “Nuage” snowing on the Petite Ceinture abandoned railroad tracks, part of the 2015 Nuit Blanche in Paris (all photos by the author for Hyperallergic)

PARIS — It was nearly 2am and I was watching snow fall on the abandoned railroad tracks of the [Petite Ceinture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemin%5Fde%5Ffer%5Fde%5FPetite%5FCeinture?ref=hyperallergic.com). The odd October weather concentrated below the cloud shape of [Stéphane Ricordel’](http://www.cnac.fr/cnac-427-Linsertion%5Fprofessionnelle%5Fdepuis%5F2006am%5F20102011-Biographie%5FStephane%5FRicordel?ref=hyperallergic.com)s “Nuage” was one of the over 100 art installations and happenings at Saturday’s [Nuit Blanche](http://quefaire.paris.fr/articles/152?ref=hyperallergic.com). Since it started in Paris [in 2002](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuit%5FBlanche?ref=hyperallergic.com), the annual dusk-to-dawn event has spread around the world to Tokyo, Toronto, Montréal, Melbourne, Riga, and, briefly, [New York City](http://bringtolightnyc.org/?ref=hyperallergic.com) — which participated in [2010](http://hyperallergic.com/9810/brooklyn-nuit-blanche/) and [2011](https://allezallie.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/bring-to-light-nuit-blanche/?ref=hyperallergic.com).

![Nuit Blanche Paris](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/nuitblanche01.jpg)

Walking Parc Monceau where Erik Samakh had a sound installation of insects, birds, and amphibians recorded in the south of France (click to enlarge)

Each year Paris centers the art around different neighborhoods, with 2015 routes on the Right Bank stretching from the northwest to the northeast, plus another branch around the Hôtel de Ville. Unless you have an inexhaustible tolerance for both crowds and walking, it’s impossible to experience more than a fraction of what’s on offer. With a couple of friends, I settled on a path from Parc Monceau to the Petite Ceinture. The 2015 edition was spearheaded by artistic director [José-Manuel Gonçalvès](http://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2014/01/28/nuit-blanche-2014-jose-manuel-goncalves-aux-manettes%5F4355769%5F3246.html?ref=hyperallergic.com), who, with the impending [United Nations Climate Change conference](http://www.cop21.gouv.fr/en?ref=hyperallergic.com) beginning November 30 in Paris, focused on climate change and the environment.

We witnessed a printed image of a tree burn away in [Sehee Sarah Bark’](http://seheebark.wix.com/seheesarahbark?ref=hyperallergic.com)s short film “[Vanished Landscape](https://youtu.be/nTmuTZfkOlE?ref=hyperallergic.com)” at the Cinéma de Plein Air in the Place Lévis, and listened to the croaks, drones, and chirps of insects, birds, and amphibians recorded by [Erik Samakh](http://documentsdartistes.org/artistes/samakh/repro.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) in the south of France and played in the foliage of Parc Monceau. A grotesque howl wailed through the darkness of the Square des Batignolles in [Laurent de Carnière](http://www.laurentdecarniere.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) and [Jean-Benoît Vétillard’](http://www.jeanbenoitvetillard.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com)s “Territorial Roar,” and on the walls of the [Musée Cernuschi](http://www.cernuschi.paris.fr/en/home?ref=hyperallergic.com) photographs by [Kim Jung-man](http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/life/cnngo-tv/kim-jung-man-koreas-most-respected-photographer-528427?ref=hyperallergic.com) were displayed alongside the museum’s Asian artifacts. Things really picked up, however, when we entered the Parc Clichy-Batignolles – Martin-Luther-King, a reclaimed area of former freight yards that opened to the public last year.

During Nuit Blanche, the park was almost imperceptible due to the all-consuming blue fog that flowed in waves over the crowds of people. The installation, titled “[Waterlicht](https://www.studioroosegaarde.net/project/waterlicht/?ref=hyperallergic.com),” was by Daan Roosegaarde, the Dutch artist behind [Studio Roosegaarde](https://www.studioroosegaarde.net/projects/?ref=hyperallergic.com#smog-free-project), which has made several strong environmental design statements of late, including the “[Smog Free Project](https://hyperallergic.com/a-23-foot-tall-air-filter-is-turning-rotterdams-smog-into-jewelry/)” tower in Rotterdam that vacuums smog and turns it into jewelry, and last year’s “[Van Gogh Bicycle Path](https://hyperallergic.com/advocating-for-glow-in-the-dark-roads-with-vincent-van-gogh/)” in Eindhoven, with LED lights inspired by “The Starry Night” demonstrating the potential for glow-in-the-dark roads. With moving LED lights influenced via software by the weather, “Waterlicht” transforms a space to look and feel as if it is under the ocean. Up above, in the park’s pavilion, [Friedrich van Schoor](http://www.vanscore.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) and [Tarek Mawad’](http://www.tarekmawad.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com)s “Spider Projection V.2” had footage of a huge tarantula attacking various insects. It was suspenseful enough that one woman actually screamed when the arachnid lunged onto a cricket.

![Nuit Blanche Paris](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/nuitblanche09.jpg)

Daan Roosegaarde’s “Waterlicht” installation in Parc Clichy-Batignolles – Martin-Luther-King

![Nuit Blanche Paris](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/nuitblanche12.jpg)

Friedrich van Schoor and Tarek Mawad’s “Spider Projection V.2” installed in Parc Clichy-Batignolles – Martin-Luther-King

But the most interesting part of Nuit Blanche was the opening of the Petite Ceinture, a railroad that once circled Paris before the metro made it obsolete, and has been mostly abandoned since the 1930s. Paris is spreading outward through development and gentrification, and some parts of the Petite Ceinture [are newly transformed](http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/sep/26/-sp-petite-ceinture-paris-entrepreneurs-environmentalists-abandoned-railway?ref=hyperallergic.com), with a restaurant operating out of [an old station](http://www.larecyclerie.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) and a stretch now open [as a park](http://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71366/La-petite-ceinture?ref=hyperallergic.com). The portion that was opened for Nuit Blanche is still disused, its old tracks lined with stone walls covered in graffiti, rusty railroad nails lodged in the ground. After crossing a bridge, a strange whirring noise grew louder and was soon joined by the manic pulsing of rotating lights in a tunnel. This was [Joris Strijbos](http://jorisstrijbos.nl/?ref=hyperallergic.com) and [Daan Johan’](http://www.macular.nl/artists/daanjohan?ref=hyperallergic.com)s “Parsec,” a kinetic sculpture with 15 rotating arms, each with its own light and speaker. Some people sat right on the tracks and watched its frantic patterns of rotation.

After I reached Stéphane Ricordel’s “Nuage” further down the Petite Ceinture, I ran out of energy and let the surreal snowfall dusting the tracks be my night’s end. Last year, I’d walked [a stretch of the Petite Ceinture](https://www.flickr.com/photos/astrozombie/albums/72157645320051689?ref=hyperallergic.com) with a couple of urban explorers, marveling at how such a huge piece of infrastructure could be left to decay, its tracks overgrown and its tunnels tagged. Nuit Blanche hints at a change for this space forgotten by most of the city for nearly a century, as development and reuse projects encroach. So while the theme of the night was our relationship with the environment, it was just as much about a part of the city in flux.

![Nuit Blanche Paris](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/nuitblanche15.jpg)

Joris Strijbos and Daan Johan’s “Parsec” light and sound installation in a train tunnel of the Petite Ceinture

![Nuit Blanche Paris](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/nuitblanche16.jpg)

Joris Strijbos and Daan Johan’s “Parsec” light and sound installation in a train tunnel of the Petite Ceinture

![Nuit Blanche Paris](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/nuitblanche10.jpg)

Daan Roosegaarde’s “Waterlicht” installation in Parc Clichy-Batignolles – Martin-Luther-King

![Nuit Blanche Paris](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/nuitblanche11.jpg)

Daan Roosegaarde’s “Waterlicht” installation in Parc Clichy-Batignolles – Martin-Luther-King

![Nuit Blanche Paris](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/nuitblanche03.jpg)

Photograph by Kim Jungman on view in the Musée Cernuschi for Nuit Blanche

![Nuit Blanche Paris](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/nuitblanche05.jpg)

The Musée Cernuschi open late for Nuit Blanche

![Nuit Blanche Paris](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/nuitblanche06.jpg)

Photographs by Munem Wasif from Bangladesh on the walls of La Scam

![Nuit Blanche Paris](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/nuitblanche14.jpg)

Walking the Petite Ceinture during Nuit Blanche

[Nuit Blanche 2015](http://quefaire.paris.fr/articles/152?ref=hyperallergic.com) *took place on October 3 in venues around Paris, France.*