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MORE HUMAN THAN HUMAN? NEW MUSEUM FORGES INTO THE FUTURE

The expanded New Museum’s inaugural exhibition “New Humans: Memories of the Future” is closing over the next few weeks, floor by floor (photo by Dario Lasagni / courtesy New Museum)

NEW HUMANS: MEMORIES OF THE FUTURE
New Museum
235 Bowery at Prince St.
Tuesday – Sunday through August 9, 23, 30, $19-$25 (eighteen and under free)
www.newmuseum.org

Following a two-year renovation, the New Museum reopened in March with an exciting look at what’s next for the interaction between people and art; this is the last weekend to catch all of “New Humans: Memories of the Future,” three floors of works by more than two hundred international artists and scientists that explore technological shifts impacting life on this planet. The fourth floor closes August 9, followed by the third on August 23 and the second on August 30.

Pieces by such older figures as James Tilly Matthews (1770–1815), Albert Robida (1848–1926), Frank Gilbreth (1868–1924), Valentine de Saint-Point (1875–1953), Henrique Alvim Corrêa (1876–1910), Constantin Brâncuși (1876–1957), Max Ernst (1891–1976), Benedetta (1897–1977), Erwin Blumenfeld (1897–1969), Hans Bellmer (1902–75), and Francis Bacon (1909–82) to such living artists as Barbara Chase-Riboud, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Lee Bul, Wangechi Mutu, Philippe Parreno, Mika Rottenberg, Hito Steyerl, Alice Wang, WangShui, and the youngest in the show, Pol Taburet, who was born in 1997. The wide range of years emphasizes the ever-growing celebration and worries that comes with major steps forward, especially today as AI and robotics are dominating conversations. Among the other familiar names represented are Salvador Dalí, Agnes Denes, Jean Dubuffet, Marcel Duchamp, Alberto Giacometti, H. R. Giger, Eva Hesse, Fernand Léger, Nam June Paik, Francis Picabia, Man Ray, and Jean Tinguely.

Be careful where you walk; a snake might reach for your ankle, or that person you say “Excuse me” to may not actually be a person. Be sure to scour everywhere; there are treats on the floors, walls, ceilings, and nooks. Be on the lookout for Andro Wekua’s untitled installation of a woman slightly levitating, her chin balancing on a sheet of glass; Anicka Yi’s In Love with the World, balloonlike spacecraft that float over your head; Pierre Huyghe’s creepy Human Mask film; LuYang’s digital videos DOKU Heaven — God Mode and DOKU Hell — God Mode in an elevator; Precious Okoyomon’s singing stairway surprise When the Lambs Rise Up Against the Bird of Prey; Catalina Ouyang’s disturbing fairy tale gone wrong otherwise, spite: 1. whores at the end of the world / 2. from every drop of his blood another demon arose (1829–1840); glowing creatures in Christopher Kulendran Thomas’s The Finesse; Jordan Wolfson’s dangling puppet Red Sculpture; and Tishan Hsu’s wall mural ears-screen-skin: New York.

On Saturday and Sunday visitors can use Rirkrit Tiravanija’s silk-screened ping pong table untitled (mañana es la cuestión) and Caoi Fei’s full-length film Nova will be screened; in addition, there will be a collage workshop on Saturday afternoon.

[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer; you can follow him on Substack here.]

THE DAYS BETWEEN: MEETING UP AT THE MOVIES WITH THE GRATEFUL DEAD

The Days Between include special meet-up screenings of the Grateful Dead’s 6/17/91 Giants stadium show

MEET-UP AT THE MOVIES: GRATEFUL DEAD GIANTS STADIUM 6/17/91
Multiple venues
August 8 & 10
www.meetupatthemovies.com

August 1 marked what would have been Grateful Dead cofounder Jerry Garcia’s eighty-fourth birthday; this Sunday, August 9, marks what will be the thirty-first anniversary of Garcia’s death in his home state of California at the age of fifty-three. This period is known as the Days Between.

To mark the occasion, Trafalgar Releasing and Rhino Entertainment are presenting the latest “Meet-Up at the Movies,” showing the Grateful Dead’s June 17, 1991, concert at Giants Stadium in theaters across the country, including here in New York City on August 8 and 10 at such locations as the Alamo Drafthouse in Staten Island, the IPIC at Fulton Market, and the AMC Kips Bay, AMC 34th Street, and AMC Empire 25.

Since Garcia’s death, various remaining GD members have toured as the Other Ones, the Dead, Furthur, Dead & Company, and Phil & Friends. But everything changed on January 10 when cofounder Bob Weir said farewell at the age of seventy-eight, joining Garcia, Donna Jean Godchaux (1947–2025), Phil Lesh (1940–2024), Vince Welnick (1951–2006), Brent Mydland (1952–90), Keith Godchaux (1948–80), and Ron McKernan (1945–73). The only remaining longtime members are drummers Mickey Hart and cofounder Bill Kreutzmann, who are not expected to put together a touring band affiliated in some way with the Grateful Dead.

We’re nowhere near ready for a summer without the band, so the only chance you have is to catch one of these special screenings of a show that opened with “Eyes of the World,” included such faves as “Brown Eyed Women,” “Cassidy,” and “Uncle John’s Band,” and concluded with “The Weight.” Also on the bill are a sneak preview of “Shakedown Street” from Merriweather 6/30/85 and an intro from Grateful Dead legacy manager and archivist David Lemieux.

“The summer tour of 1991 was widely considered one of the best of the 1990s, and the June 17, 1991, show at Giants Stadium was nearly universally acclaimed as the best of the tour. From the ‘Eyes of the World’ opener to the sixpack of ‘Dark Star’ teases woven throughout the night, the one show from 1991 whose reputation grew as time went on was this concert,” Lemieux said in a statement. “Because it’s one of only two shows captured on forty-eight-track analog tape, the audio quality is spectacular. Hearing this mix in a theater with fellow fans is going to be transportive, and we’re thrilled to sweeten the pot with an exclusive look at ‘Shakedown Street’ from the upcoming ’85 Merriweather release.”

As lyricist Robert Hunter wrote in his and Garcia’s 1990s song “Days Between”:

“There were days, and there were days / And there were days between / Summer flies and August dies / The world grows dark and mean / Comes the shimmer of the moon / On black infested trees / The singing man is at his song / The holy on their knees / The reckless are out wrecking / The timid plead their pleas / No one knows much more of this / Than anyone can see / Anyone can see.”

[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer; you can follow him on Substack here.]

STANLEY KWAN TAKES CENTER STAGE AT FILM FORUM IN MAGGIE CHEUNG 4K RESTORATION

The magnificent Maggie Cheung takes center stage for 4K restoration at Film Forum

Center Stage (Stanley Kwan, 1991)
Film Forum
209 West Houston St.
August 7-13
filmforum.org
metrograph.com

“Isn’t she a replica of myself?” Maggie Cheung says of Chinese actress Ruan Ling-yu in 1991’s Center Stage, in which Cheung plays Ruan as well as herself. “Maggie, may I ask if you wish to be remembered half a century later?” a man asks, to which Cheung responds, “That’s not so important to me. If future people do remember me, it won’t be the same as Ruan Ling-yu, as she halted her career at the age of twenty-five, when she was at her most glorious. Now she is a legend.” The Hong Kong–born Cheung, a former model and beauty queen, has long been a legend herself, having made more than ninety films since her career began in 1984, when she was nineteen; current and future people are sure to remember the glamorous superstar who continues to help spread Chinese cinema around the world even though she retired from acting in 2010.

In Center Stage, Cheung is radiant as both herself and Ruan as director Stanley Kwan goes back and forth between the present, as Cheung is making the film, and the past, as she portrays Ruan rising from an extra to a star in the late 1920s and early 1930s, at the same time Japan is mounting attacks against China. Cheung, who was named Best Actress at prestigious film festivals in Berlin, Chicago, Taiwan, and Hong Kong for the role, is joined by a stellar cast, including Chen Yen-yen, Lily Li, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Carina Lau, and Chin Han; the real Ruan is seen in archival footage.

For its thirty-fifth anniversary, Center Stage, also known simply as Actress, is screening in a new 4K restoration at Film Forum from August 7 to 13; Kwan, who has also directed such films as Women, Full Moon in New York, and First Night Nerves, will be on hand for Q&As following the 6:30 shows on August 7 and 8, copresented by the New York Asian Film Festival. Alas, Cheung, who makes very rare public appearances and eschews interviews, will not be there.

[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer; you can follow him on Substack here.]

MOOMIN AND GROOVIN AT THE NYBG

“Summer of Moomin” continues at New York Botanical Garden through September 13 (photo by Marlon Co. / courtesy the New York Botanical Garden)

SUMMER OF MOOMIN
The New York Botanical Garden
Everett Children’s Adventure Garden
2900 Southern Blvd., Bronx
August 8-9, noon – 5:30, $17 children two to twelve, $35 students and seniors, $39 adults
Exhibit on view through September 13
www.nybg.org

The New York Botanical Garden’s “Summer of Moomin” has a special Moomin’s Day Weekend planned for August 8 and 9, two days of culinary adventures, cooking demonstrations, planting, maker stations, and more in the Edible Academy.

Begun in 1945 by Finnish painter, author, and illustrator Tove Jansson, the Moomin books, comic strips, stage productions, animated television series, and movies share the tales of such beloved characters as Moomintroll, Snufkin, Snorkmaiden, Hemulen, Moominpappa, Moominmamma, and Little My, all of whom you can find along a winding trail through Moominvalley in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden filled with quotes, toys, plants and flowers, a tent, book excerpts, crafts, a kitchen, interactive elements, a puppet theater, and other fun surprises. There is also a booklet with games and activities and details about the world of Moomin.

“The stories offer a very happy and peaceful way to deal with some very complex issues of life and living and being together in a way that we don’t even notice, but we’re learning,” Tove’s niece Sophia Jansson said at the opening of the exhibit. “But Tove had some very important core values that were all about tolerance, friendship, and respect for nature.”

While at the NYBG, don’t miss the colorful, wide-ranging “Flower Power” exhibition, celebrating peace and love in the 1960s with paintings, photographs, music, drum circles, craft workshops, ornately designed VW buses, psychedelic nature displays, archival news reports, sound baths, and film screenings.

[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer; you can follow him on Substack here.]

SHINING LIKE A FIREBIRD: MISTY COPELAND AT THE JOYCE

BALLET FESTIVAL
Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Ave. at 19th St.
August 4-16, $87-$102
212-645-2904
www.joyce.org

On October 22, 2025, Misty Copeland retired from American Ballet Theatre after a twenty-five year career that included her becoming the first Black female principal dancer in the company’s history. But that hasn’t appeared to slow down the forty-three-year-old Kansas City native.

In December, she had hip replacement surgery. In March, she performed in a musical tribute to the film Sinners at the Oscars. In April she was honored at the Misty Copeland Foundation Spring Benefit as part of the Celebrating Misty Campaign. In May she received the Medal for Distinguished Service from Teachers College at Columbia and walked the red carpet at the Met Gala as a member of the host committee. In June she was named the inaugural recipient of the Lincoln Center Luminary Award, received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement for “exceptional accomplishment in the sciences, the professions, business, industry, arts, literature, sports, entertainment, and public service,” and delivered the keynote commencement address at the Success Academy Charter Schools graduation. In July she attended the FIFA World Cup Final in her role as a skin-care spokesperson. And on August 25, her latest children’s book, Firebird Waltz, will be published.

If that were not enough, she is also curating this year’s Ballet Festival, which runs August 4–16 and features dancers from American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Houston Ballet, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet, performing works by Ingrid Silva, Kyle Abraham, Bob Fosse, Houston Thomas, José Limón, Rudolf Nureyev, Dwight Rhoden, and Aleisha Walker the first week and Stanton Welch AM, Andrea Miller, Alonzo King, John Taras, Roland Petit, James Whiteside, and Ilo the second. Among the dancers are Madison Brown, Guillaume Diop, Joe Gonzales, Babatunji Johnson, Sae Eun Park, Taylor Stanley, April Watson, and Harper Watters.

“At the heart of my curation for The Joyce Ballet Festival is a celebration of Black, Brown, and Queer voices,” Copeland wrote on Instagram. “Ballet has a remarkable history, and I believe it grows stronger when we create space for a wider range of artists and perspectives. This festival honors that history while celebrating the artists expanding what ballet can be. I’m so excited to share these extraordinary performances with you.”

There will be a Summer Soirée on August 4, a Curtain Chat with Copeland and Complexions cofounder Desmond Richardson on August 5, and a teen ballet workshop on August 8 at New York Center for Creativity & Dance.

So what are you up to in your retirement?

[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]

THE SINGULARITY APPROACHES: DISRUPTION AT THE SIGNATURE

Silicon Valley entrepreneur Nick (John David Washington) offers “the opportunity of a lifetime” to a group of old friends in Disruption (photo by Emilio Madrid)

DISRUPTION
The Pershing Square Signature Center
The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre
480 West 42nd St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Tuesday – Sunday through September 27, $99-$176
www.disruptionplay.com

“To this day, I remain convinced of this basic philosophy: no matter what quandaries we face — business problems, health issues, relationship difficulties, as well as the great scientific, social, and cultural challenges of our time — there is an idea that can enable us to prevail,” American computer scientist Ray Kurzweil wrote in his 2005 book, The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. “Furthermore, we can find that idea. And when we find it, we need to implement it.”

One of the great fears of this era is the implementation of artificial intelligence and our growing dependence on AI — in addition to grave concerns over the singularity, the potential for AI to develop beyond human control, take over our lives, and, perhaps, ultimately destroy us.

Numerous recent plays have considered where that can lead us, including Matthew Libby’s Data, Olivia Haller’s Loneliness Was a Pandemic, and Tjaša Ferme’s Bioadapted, none of which are comedies with particularly happy endings.

The latest to offer its take on the future of AI technology is Andrew Stein’s engrossing Disruption, making its American premiere at the Pershing Square Signature Center following its 2023 debut in London. But Stein and director Hersh Ellis don’t focus so much on the tech behind AI as on the entrepreneurs and computer scientists who keep expanding it — and the humans who use it. In many ways, it’s a contemporary domestic drama disguised as a high-tech thriller.

Successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur Nick (John David Washington) has gathered his three best friends and their wives for a dinner in a private room in an upscale Tribeca restaurant. Ben (Conrad Ricamora) is a Columbia professor married to Suzie (Shaunette Renée Wilson), a therapist on the Upper West Side; they have no children by choice and are deciding whether their next vacation should be to the Galápagos or Machu Picchu. Barry (Jason Ralph) is a surgeon married to Mia (Irene Sofia Lucio), a photographer; they also have no children and are contemplating buying a brownstone in Park Slope but he is not sure they can afford it. And Paul (Joe Tippett) is an art director at a print magazine married to Jill (Elizabeth Stanley), who believes she sold out by becoming a corporate lawyer; they have two young children they are hoping to get into Fieldston but are also short on funds.

The three women are worried that Nick has come for their husbands, seeking investments in whatever his latest venture is; the three men promise that they just want to see their old friend and hear him out, nothing more.

“Let’s not get seduced by Nick,” Mia says to Barry.

But seduction is the key part of Nick’s charm. And to up the ante, he has brought with him his gorgeous and brilliant new business partner, the younger Raven (Emma Kikue); she is twenty-seven while the others are in their late thirties and early forties.

Nick explains to his friends that he’s not after their money but is instead offering them “the opportunity of a lifetime.” He believes that their involvement will lead to easier, happier lives with fewer challenges. “The world is changing at a rate most people can’t comprehend. Computing capacity doubles every two years, you know what that means?” Nick asks. Raven responds, “People are fucked.” To which Nick adds, “Unless . . . they embrace technology.”

Suzie is having none of it, leading to an exchange with Ben that gets to the heart of the narrative.

Suzie: I hate how technology has made us so connected to everything except ourselves. This obsession with making everything faster and easier. As if that’s inherently better.
Ben: It’s called progress.
Suzie: No. It’s not. It’s not progress. It’s something else. Something insidious.
Ben: It’s life’s speeding up. That’s all.
Suzie: The new shiny object that replaces something tried and true isn’t necessarily better. Disruption for the sake of disruption can’t be the goal.
Ben: When you improve one thing, you eliminate another. That’s life. The herd gets trimmed. . . .
Suzie: Our souls are being gutted. Which isn’t progress. It’s programming. And I know I keep saying this, but no one seems to notice. Or give a shit.
Ben: Except you.
Suzie: I don’t think we have any idea how much we’re being manipulated.

Disruption takes place in a dark, high-tech oblong space with the audience on two sides (photo by Emilio Madrid)

Faust meets The Big Chill in Disruption, a kind of newfangled couples drama in which men and women contemplate their future — personal and professional, individual and as pairs — only this time through the lens of an AI algorithm that may be able to help guide them, or control them. But it deals with more than what Suzie refers to as Nick’s “God Machine” and free will; it’s about how each of us faces the daily trials and tribulations of life and how we go about trying to solve our problems, ignore them, blame them on others, or look for the easy way out. The algorithm is not just a technological advance but a metaphor for how everyone attempts to get a leg up at one time or another, sometimes compromising our ethics and ideals.

Zoë Hurwitz’s set is a dark oblong open on its two long sides, where the audience sits, making us feel complicit in what is happening onstage, as if we’re part of the algorithm. In between scenes, the actors wheel in chairs, tables, and other furniture items while electronic music softly drones and the floor of the oblong lights up with numbers, letters, circles that glow red, and synapses connecting like constellations. The lighting, by Reza Behjat, occasionally reveals a glass-fronted room where Raven operates the algorithm; the sound, which at one point includes creepy echoes, is by Caroline Eng, with contemporary costumes by Hurwitz, with one big surprise at the end.

The ensemble is terrific; each upper-middle-class couple is believable if not wholly unique, with Washington (The Piano Lesson) and Kikue (God Said This, Fruiting Bodies) as their advisers who may or may not have their best interest in mind.

About halfway through the show, Barry tells Nick how his shoelace broke in between patients and, as he was fixing it, he received an ad on his phone for a shoe repair store a block away. “I didn’t say anything. Didn’t search anything . . . it was like someone knew exactly what had happened.” Nick responds, “They probably did.”

Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?

Don’t be surprised if, after reading this review, you get an ad on your phone or on social media for the play, guiding you to get tickets.

Kurzweil also wrote in The Singularity Is Near, “The Singularity will represent the culmination of the merger of our biological thinking and existence with our technology, resulting in a world that is still human but that transcends our biological roots. There will be no distinction, post-Singularity, between human and machine or between physical and virtual reality. If you wonder what will remain unequivocally human in such a world, it’s simply this quality: ours is the species that inherently seeks to extend its physical and mental reach beyond current limitations.”

Be careful what you wish for, especially when it comes to AI.

[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer; you can follow him on Substack here.]

CREATIVE RESET FOR THE MIND, BODY, AND SPIRIT: NARRATIVE HEALING AT THE COFFEE HOUSE WITH LISA WEINERT

Lisa Weinert brings her Narrative Healing program to the Coffee House on August 5 (photo courtesy Lisa Weinert)

CREATIVE RESET: AN INTERACTIVE LITERARY & CREATIVE GATHERING
Coffee House Club at the Salmagundi CLub
47 Fifth Ave. between Eleventh & Twelfth Sts.
Wednesday, August 5, $75-$150 (includes signed book),6:00
www.thecoffeehouseclub.com
www.lisaweinert.com

“Most writing books, journaling courses, and creative writing programs begin by putting the pen to the page. At Narrative Healing, we begin with the body,” native New Yorker Lisa Weinert explains in the introduction to her 2023 book, Narrative Healing: Awaken the Power of Your Story. “We offer a new paradigm for healing from trauma, tapping into creativity, and sharing our stories in the world. The premise here is simple: as we are able to better know our own stories, we are better able to take in the humanity of those around us. My hope is that if we start to listen to the body when it whispers, we won’t have to wait for it to scream to hear what it has to say. And we will thus have the capacity to listen to others too.”

A licensed social worker, certified yoga teacher, book coach, and public speaker, Weinert founded Narrative Healing in 2016, guided by her belief in storytelling as a form of medicine for the body, mind, and spirit. She has since led writing retreats and workshops in the United States and abroad, welcoming writers from around the world. On August 5, she returns to her hometown for her first Narrative Healing event in New York City in several years: “Creative Reset: An Interactive Literary and Creative Gathering.”

“I’m so honored to bring Narrative Healing to the historic Salmagundi Club for a special evening presented by the Coffee House,” Weinert told twi-ny. “After spending the past few years completing my MSW and exploring the healing power of storytelling through a social work lens, I’m so happy to be returning to New York’s literary community. It feels like such a gift to come together in person and create a space where we can slow down, listen within, write, and connect through our stories. I’m so grateful to [Coffee House executive director] Julian Tepper for presenting the evening and to [Salmagundi interim executive director] Paul Morris for welcoming us into this extraordinary space.”

The event will feature guided writing and reflection prompts, mindfulness and embodied awareness practices, brief paired and group conversations, live piano and atmospheric music, and a quiet space for private writing, sketching, reflection, and listening. Attendees don’t need any prior experience with such disciplines in order to participate, and everyone is encouraged to proceed at their own pace.

“This partnership reflects the Coffee House Club’s commitment to creating spaces where creativity, thoughtful conversation, and artistic community can flourish,” Tepper told twi-ny. “We’re delighted to partner with Lisa Weinert because her vision of creativity as a practice of reflection, connection, and community beautifully aligns with the club’s own literary and artistic tradition.”

The Coffee House’s history dates back to 1915, when Vanity Fair editor Frank Crowninshield helped form the Foes of Finance, a collective of New Yorkers from intellectual, artistic, literary, and theatrical circles whose constitution declared: “No Officers. No Charge Accounts. No Liveries. No Tips. No Set Speeches. NO RULES.” The Salmagundi Club was founded in 1871 by a group of artists and patrons.

Tickets for “Creative Reset” range from $75 (community) to $125 (standard) and $150 (supporter), each including a signed copy of Narrative Healing: Awaken the Power of Your Story.

As I noted in a September 2023 twi-ny talk, “Weinert exudes a natural warmth and charm, building communities of friends and colleagues who mingle and then form bonds and relationships of their own.”

You can expect the same thing to happen August 5 at the Coffee House Club.

[Lisa Weinert also writes the Substack “The Writing Body.” Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer; visit his Substack here to find out how you can win a free copy of Narrative Healing.]