Yearly Archives: 2012

BEYOND PLANET EARTH / CREATURES OF LIGHT

Splendid AMNH exhibit takes visitors on an informative journey deep into space (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West & 79th St.
Tickets: $19-$33 (timed tickets needed for certain exhibitions)
212-769-5100
www.amnh.org

The American Museum of Natural History regularly takes visitors from the depths of the oceans to the outer limits of space, but the institution is now going a little deeper and farther in two special exhibitions. Much has been said recently about the government ending various NASA programs, but the AMNH’s “Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration” (through August 12) makes a strong case for the importance of journeying through the galaxy. The beautifully rendered exhibit visits the moon, Mars, Europa, and the Milky Way as well as the Itokawa Asteroid and the International Space Station, with focuses on the changing nature of space suits, the possibility of Earth being hit by an asteroid, the search for life on Jupiter’s Europa moon, the expandable Bigelow Aerospace module, the exquisite liquid mirror telescope, and the use of robotics in space, through life-size models, photographs, and interactive displays that even involve smell. Curated by Dr. Michael Shara, “Beyond Planet Earth” looks back at the space race between America and the Soviet Union, from Sputnik to the manned moon landings, while also examining the privatization of space tourism, led by Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic. There is also a free app that creates three-dimensional animated images of a lunar elevator, a Mars spacecraft, the Curiosity rover, and other cool items featured in the exhibit.

The Bloody Bay Wall is one of the highlights of bioluminescent exhibit

“Creatures of Light: Nature’s Bioluminescence” (through January 6, 2013) explores the vast array of organisms that have the ability to light up, from fireflies and fungi to glowworms and jellyfish, from fluorescent corals and dinoflagellates to anglerfish and vampire squid. The exhibit travels from a New Zealand cave to Mosquito Bay on Vieques Island to the dazzling, interactive Bloody Bay Wall, consisting of hundreds of photographs of coral stitched together from images taken in the Cayman Islands. It also goes some 2,300 feet below the surface of the ocean, revealing bioluminescent plants and animals that glow in order to find mates, catch prey, and defend themselves against predators. Enhanced by informational iPad kiosks with a free app, the re-created environments — as well as a display of real flashlight fish — offer fascinating details about creatures rarely seen by the naked eye. Other current exhibits at the museum include “Picturing Science: Museum Scientists and Imaging Technologies,” the Journey to the Stars space show narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, the Flying Monsters IMAX film narrated by Sir David Attenborough, and the just-opened “Spiders Alive!”

CHARLES LONG: PET SOUNDS

New Jersey-born artist Charles Long has populated Madison Square Park with a group of colorful, amorphous musical creatures (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

MAD. SQ. ART
Madison Square Park
25th St. between Madison & Fifth Aves.
Through September 9, free
www.madisonsquarepark.org
pet sounds slideshow

For several years, California-based multidisciplinary artist Charles Long been inspired by the Los Angeles River, particularly the detritus that washes up on the shore and the excrement of the blue herons and white egrets that snakes down the concrete, forming abstract images that he sees as creatures and interprets into sculptures. He has also collaborated with such musicians as Stereolab, Wilderness, and Mark Mothersbaugh. Long’s latest work, the site-specific “Pet Sounds,” combines his love of abstract shapes and experimental music in engaging, playful ways. Taking its name from the classic 1966 Beach Boys album, “Pet Sounds” winds through the center of Madison Square Park, as handrails create a new path populated by a group of colorful amorphous shapes that emerge from the railing and make sounds when people touch them. A kind of three-dimensional Rorschach test, the smooth biomorphic blobs, which add bright doses of blue, yellow, gray, pink, and purple to the very green park, resemble body parts, animals, and, well, excrement. Different sounds emerge from different sections of some of the pieces, resulting in a cacophony that is not quite as smoothly harmonic as the Beach Boys but still tons of fun. It might look like a kids’ playground, but adults are more than welcome to let out their inner child and create their own mini-symphony with these inviting organic shapes. Long’s largest public sculpture to date, “Pet Sounds” will remain on view through September 9.

MAD. SQ. MUSIC: AN EVENING OF FOLK

The Roches and Wainwrights will perform together in Madison Square Park on August 1

THE OVAL LAWN SERIES: SUZZY AND MAGGIE ROCHE, SLOAN WAINWRIGHT, AND LUCY WAINWRIGHT ROCHE
Madison Square Park
Between 23rd & 26th St. and Madison & Fifth Aves.
Wednesday, August 1, free, 6:30
www.madisonsquarepark.org
www.roches.com

The First Family of Female Folk will be in Madison Square Park on Wednesday night for an evening of original and traditional songs as part of the Mad. Sq. Music Oval Lawn Series. For thirty-five years, sisters Suzzy and Maggie Roche have been performing together, either in a trio with sister Terre, with brother Dave, or singing backup with Paul Simon, the Indigo Girls, and others. They’ve also teamed up with the next generation, joined by Suzzy’s daughter, Lucy Wainwright Roche, whose father is Loudon Wainwright III, and keep it all in the family with Loudon’s younger sister Sloan as well. On Wednesday in the middle of beautiful Madison Square Park, Suzzy, Maggie, Sloan, and Lucy will come together for a free show that should be filled with warmth, humor, and great music.

WORD FOR WORD: DEBUT NOVELISTS

Bryant Park Reading Room
42nd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Wednesday, August 1, free, 12:30
www.bryantpark.org

On August 1, Bryant Park’s summer Word for Word series celebrates debut novels by featuring four local writers who have just published their first fiction books. NYU Law School grad Cristina Alger will discuss The Darlings, about a wealthy New York family immersed in a financial scandal. Longtime nonfiction writer, essayist, and short-story specialist Karl Taro Greenfield will talk about his first novel, Triburbia, in which a half dozen fathers meet every morning at a coffee shop in TriBeCa and share their secrets. San Diego native Karen Walker Thompson will present The Age of Miracles, some of which the current Brooklyn resident wrote while riding the subway. And nonfiction author Jean Zimmerman turns to historical fiction in The Orphanmaster, going back to 1663 New Amsterdam. The afternoon will be moderated by Catherine Chung, whose first novel, Forgotten Country, deals with the history of a Korean family. The Word for Word series continues on Wednesday night at 7:00 with Harold Holzer discussing his latest work, Emancipating Lincoln: The Proclamation in Text, Context, and Memory.

MOVIES UNDER THE STARS: AMELIE

Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s AMELIE is one of the most charming films of the new century

SUMMER ON THE HUDSON: LA FABULEUX DESTIN d’AMELIE POULAIN (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)
Riverside Park, Pier 1 at 70th St.
Wednesday, August 1, free
www.riversideparkfund.org

In Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s wildly inventive romantic comedy, Audrey Tautou plays one of the most delightful, charming characters since, well, dare we say it? Audrey Hepburn, especially from Roman Holiday. Everybody in this film is nuts; Amélíe wanders — always with some strange, curious purpose — through offbeat and humorous situations filled with obsessive-compulsive oddballs doing bizarre things while sharing their crazy likes and dislikes with the audience. A difficult childhood left the grown-up Amélíe unable to interact “normally” with people, so when she discovers a boy’s treasure box hidden in her apartment, she decides to track down the owner, leading to a series of very complex and emotional good deeds she does for others while she cannot figure out her own life, which undergoes a major change when she meets Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz) — who collects ripped-up pictures people throw out after using public photo booths — and becomes friendly with the Glass Man (Serge Merlin), who cannot go outside because his bones are too brittle, so he remains in his apartment, copying the same Renoir painting year after year, unable to capture one girl’s face properly. Jeunet’s aural and visual style is reminiscent of such Coen brothers films as Raising Arizona, with fast-moving shots, sudden close-ups, and blasts of sound that enliven this masterful film. Amélíe is screening on August 1 at Pier 1 in Riverside Park as part of the Movies under the Stars series, which continues August 8 with Pee Wee’s Big Adventure and concludes August 15 with Triplets of Belleville.

54/10 MUSIC MARATHON

Alice Lee, the Henry Millers, and Night Fevers play the Ars Nova 54/10 Music Marathon on August 4

Ars Nova
511 West 54th St. at Tenth Ave.
August 1-11, $5 in advance, 8:00
212-489-9800
arsnovanyc.com/5410

The third annual Ars Nova 54/10 Music Marathon features more than two dozen up-and-coming bands playing the Hell’s Kitchen venue August 1-11, in a mix of genres that should titillate adventurous music lovers. The Lobbyists and Jake Winstrom will get things going on Wednesday night, with the Pete Ayres Band, Roof Access, and Curtis & Reinhard taking the stage August 2 and Hawk and Dove, Kate Kilbane & the Cellar Doors, and the Bengsons scheduled for August 3. Among the other participants are the Henry Millers, Molly & the Class Acts, Lady Moon, Jaggery, and Miko and the Musket. The marathon comes to a close August 11 with the Weight Boys Band, Pigpen Theatre Co., and Die Roten Punkte. The above website includes a bio and sample song from each performer, revealing the diverse array of sounds, from country, bluegrass, indie and experimental pop, and retro Tin Pan Alley to jazz, folk, New Age, and techno. Advance tickets are only five bucks; the price goes up to $10 online and $15 at the door starting August 1.

SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS

James Murphy says farewell to LCD Soundsystem in multifaceted concert documentary

SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS (Dylan Southern & Will Lovelace, 2011)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at Third St.
July 27 – August 2
212-924-7771
www.ifccenter.com
www.shutupandplaythehits.com

On April 2, 2011, after ten years of building a devoted following that was still growing, electronic dance-punk faves LCD Soundsystem played its farewell show at Madison Square Garden. Directors Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace, who previously documented the British band Blur in No Distance Left to Run, capture the grand finale in the often bumpy, sometimes revelatory concert film Shut Up and Play the Hits. The movie is divided into three distinct sections that take place before, during, and after the massive blowout, with Southern and Lovelace weaving between them. There is extensive footage of the event at the Garden, including performances of such LCD classics as “Dance Yrself Clean,” “All My Friends,” “Us v Them,” “North American Scum,” and “Losing My Edge.” Although the multicamera approach tries to make you feel like you’re there, onstage and backstage with front man Murphy, keyboardist Nancy Whang, bassist Tyler Pope, drummer Pat Mahoney, and various special guests, it lacks a certain emotional depth, and the sound, primarily during the first songs, is terrible, although that could have been the fault of the tiny theater at the IFC Center more than the film itself. The second section features music journalist Chuck Klosterman (Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto) interviewing Murphy at the Spotted Pig in the West Village a week before the concert, asking inane, annoying questions that Murphy strains to answer. But the most fascinating part of the film by far, and how it starts, involves Murphy the day after the show. He allows the camera to follow him everywhere, from waking up in his bed with his dog to carefully shaving with an electric razor to visiting the DFA offices for the first time in a year. It’s hard to believe that the night before he was a grandiose rock star but now he is walking his pooch, sitting on a bench in front of a coffee shop, and spending most of the day alone. The camera literally gets right into his face, showing every gray hair, zooming in on his puffiness and his deep-set, nearly dazed eyes. The film would have benefited from less time with Klosterman and more with Murphy as he contemplates his past, present, and future. It also would have been interesting to hear from the other members of the band, but Shut Up and Play the Hits is specifically about Murphy, who, at forty-one, suddenly doesn’t know what to do with his life, having left an extremely successful gig that was only gaining popularity.