Director X to tackle the sun's demise at Nuit Blanche

Some time in the very distant future, the sun that supports all life on our planet will die. But what would the sun's demise — a fate that awaits all stars — look like if we were around to witness it?

It's that concept Toronto's acclaimed Director X — you've seen his work on Drake's Hotline Bling video — takes on in an exhibit at Nuit Blanche, Saturday's citywide, all-night outdoor art exhibition.

Now in its 11th year, Nuit Blanche will be a bit smaller this time around, a reduction caused in part by the departure of anchor sponsor Scotiabank.

But while the event may be somewhat scaled back, Director X approached his exhibit intent on doing something that tries to convey the grandeur of the universe and our place in it.

"I wanted to do this solar system piece, where people look at the sun and look at the Earth and go 'Oh, we're really small compared to that thing and get this feeling that we're all in the same boat," he said in an interview with Metro Morning's Matt Galloway.

At first Director X wanted the exhibit to include large representations of the planets, with each placed in various spots around downtown . He spoke with city officials and realized he had to limit his focus.

'We're all on this little rock together'

But what he settled on wasn't small. His exhibit includes an orb, some 14 metres in diameter, suspended above Nathan Phillips Square outside city hall. Against it will be projected images and sounds. The orb appeared this week, leaving onlookers both curious and bemused.

Director X, born Julien Lutz, said the guiding concept is that people should be concerned less with small, earthly dividing lines that create things like nations and focus on a much bigger picture.

"I get annoyed a bit with where we are as a society, planetarily wise," he told Galloway. "People get really serious about their country. 'Kill for my country.' It's a totally made up idea. It's organizing, you know what I'm saying? Like, this is my sock drawer, this is my underwear drawer. This is where I keep my shirts.

"We're all on this little rock together. On a deeper level, what I'm talking about is the societal constructs we're facing that we think are real. It's make believe."

Director X, who's worked with recording artists Rihanna and Shawn Mendes, hopes his approach will open some minds.

"I'm starting at just the idea that at some time at city hall in Toronto we'll have every nationality in the world there. Probably someone from every country in the world at some time that night is going to walk through that square and look at the sun and think 'That's ours, that's our sun.'"

Galloway asked the Toronto native about his workload, and why he would take on an art installation among the dozens of other projects he's asked to do.

"That's what you should do in life when people offer you opportunities," he said. "God is playing ball with you. And he's throwing balls, and you catch them. You don't think about it. Know what I'm saying?"

Nuit Blanche begins at 6:58 on Saturday night and continues until sunrise on Sunday. The streets will be transformed by nearly 90 contemporary art projects created and presented by more than 300 local, national and international artists. A full schedule is here.