this week in art

ART IN ODD PLACES 2014

Maskull Lasserre & Central Park Tours Inc. will offer caged rides on Fourteenth St. on Friday and Saturday

14th St. from Ave. C to the Hudson River
October 9-12, free
www.free.artinoddplaces.org

Walking through New York City is like ambling through the largest performance art project in the world. From October 9 to 12, actual performance art will take place across 14th St., from Ave. C west to the Hudson River, for the tenth annual Art in Odd Places. The free festival focuses on the many meanings of the words “free” and “freedom,” describing itself thusly: “Open. Autonomy. Gift. Independent. Wild. Nothing. Everything.” As you make your way across 14th, distinguishing the crazies who are merely mumbling out loud from some of the artists inviting you into their realm may be difficult at times, so be careful. Much of the festival, curated by Juliana Driever and Dylan Gauthier, is participatory, so come prepared to get involved. Below are only some of the highlights.

Thursday, October 9
and
Friday, October 10
Andrew McFarland & Emma Dessau: The Story Store, in which participants donate a small object, telling the story behind it, and can take a story and object in return (10/9, outside Stuyvesant Town, 6:00 – 8:00; 10/10, Tompkins Square Park, 4:00 – 7:00)

Leah Harper’s “Complimentary” will dispense positive outlooks from a gumball machine

Thursday, October 9
through
Sunday, October 12
Leah Harper: Complimentary, gumball machine dispenses compliments, 474 West 14th St., all day long

Ienke Kastelein: Have a Seat on the Sidewalk (Walking with Chairs), passersby are invited to sit in chairs, converse, then put the chair back somewhere else along the street, 14th St. & Ave. B, 12 noon – 6:00

Domenique Himmelsbach de Vries and Marieke Warmelink: The Embassy of Goodwill, in which the artists will offer free help to passersby in the interest of raising the social image of the Netherlands, Union Square L subway station, advance reservations available, 12 noon – 6:00 pm

Anabella Lenzu/DanceDrama: The Grass Is Always Greener . . ., dance theater examining immigration from the turn of the twentieth century to the present day, 44 East 14th St. by Whole Foods, 12:30 – 1:30

Jesse Eric Schmidt: Nevertheless, in which Schmidt tries to move immovable objects, various times and locations

Rory Golden: Duty Free Ranger, dandy park ranger strolls along 14th St., walking backward with a mirror, begging for donuts, turning into a baton twirler, and intervening into passersbys’ personal freedom, (10/9, Ave. A to First Ave., 6:00 – 9:00; 10/10, Union Square to Ave. A, 6:00 – 8:00; 10/11, Seventh Ave. to First Ave., 2:00 – 6:00; 10/12, Seventh Ave. to First Ave., 2:00 – 5:00)

Katya Grokhovsky: Slow Dance, passersby can dance with the artist and other performers (10/9, First Ave., 1:00 – 3:00 and 5:00 – 7:00; 10/10, Ninth Ave., 12 noon – 2:00 and 3:00 – 5:00; 10/11, Tenth Ave., 1:00 – 3:00 and 4:00 – 7:00; 10/12, Union Square, 12 noon – 2:00, 3:00 – 5:00, and 6:00 – 8:00)

Jody Oberfelder: Street Greet, dancer-choreographer Jody Oberfelder interviews pedestrians, discussing the meaning of being free, down escalator at 14th St. & Fourth Ave., 12:30 – 2:00

Dancer and choreographer Jody Oberfelder will discuss freedom on a down escalator during AiOP 2014 (photo by Jordan Matter)

Friday, October 10
and
Saturday, October 11
Willard Morgan: Debt!, with Ideal Glass member Willard Morgan giving away debit cards in light of the financial meltdown, 243 East 14th St., 3:00 – 7:00

Maskull Lasserre & Central Park Tours Inc.: Obverse, prison-cell pedicabs will shuttle passengers around the festival, 501-599 West 14th St. (10/10, 11:00 am – 9:00 pm; 10/11, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm)

Friday, October 10
Saturday, October 11
Sunday, October 12
eteam: Nothing for Free, group will be doing nothing all day long, 20-22 West 14th St.

Jim Dessicino: Edward Snowden Statue, south side of Union Square pavilion, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Kris Grey: Procession, drag performance walk in honor of Coney Island bearded lady Jean Carroll (10/10, Ave. C to First Ave., evening; 10/11, First Ave. to Fifth Ave., 12 noon – 4:00; 10/12, Fifth Ave. to Ninth Ave., 12 noon – 4:00)

Emilio Vavarella & Daniel Belquer: MNEMODRONE, in which drone asks people to share memories through a toll-free phone number, 65 11th Ave. (10/10 opening, Campos Plaza; 10/11-12, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm, 14th St. Park)

Domenique Himmelsbach de Vries and Marieke Warmelink will promote the Netherlands while helping people in the “Embassy of Goodwill”

Saturday, October 11
Caitlin Ryan: Free T-Shirts, between seventy-five and one hundred passersby are invited to create their own T-shirt using the word free, 35-99 East 14th St.

BAbySkinGlove: #freeurban, in which participants can pay to clear their conscience, 148 West 14th St. at Sixth Ave., 12 noon – 4:00 pm

Saturday, October 11
and
Sunday, October 12
Hannah Hiaasen: Applause Pause, pedestrian interruptions, 11:00 (First Ave.), 12 noon (Second Ave.), 2:00 (between First & Second Aves.), 4:00 (Union Square), 6:00 (Tenth Ave.)

Sunday, October 12
AiOP: FREE, walking curatorial tour led by Juliana Driever and Dylan Gauthier, 14th Street Park to Campos Plaza, 4:00

MARIE LORENZ: EAST RIVER DRIFT

Marie Lorenz and the North Brooklyn Boat Club will lead an unusual floating picnic in canoes on Sunday as part of Brooklyn Museum program (photo © Marie Lorenz)

CROSSING BROOKLYN: ART FROM BUSHWICK, BED-STUY AND BEYOND
Newtown Creek to Wallabout Channel and back
Sunday, October 12, $15 (use password picnic), 4:00 – 10:00 pm
www.brooklynmuseum.org
www.marielorenz.com

Back in May, we took Brooklyn-based artist Marie Lorenz’s Tide and Current Taxi from the Frieze Art Fair on Randall’s Island to the FDR Drive walkway, as Lorenz and Charlie rowed us across the East River. (You can see photos and video here.) Lorenz has been inviting adventurous souls to join her on her waterway journeys since 2005, documenting every trip. On Sunday, October 12, in conjunction with the Brooklyn Museum exhibition “Crossing Brooklyn: Art from Bushwick, Bed-Stuy and Beyond,” Lorenz is teaming up with the North Brooklyn Boat Club for “East River Drift,” in which a pair of twenty-five-foot canoes will be piloted from the NBBC’s dock under the Pulaski Bridge on Newtown Creek toward the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where everyone will convene for a floating picnic in Wallabout Channel at sunset. The project will include discussions about water ecology and a safety briefing; participants will be provided life jackets, and once you get on the boat shortly after 4:00, there is no turning back until the canoes return to the dock at 10:00. As of this posting, there are still eleven spots left; tickets are $15, which include picnic snacks. Lorenz is an engaging figure, so we highly recommend this unusual adventure.

ESCAPE MUSIC FESTIVAL

Girl Talk will headline two-day Escape Music Festival this weekend on Governors Island (photo by PaulSobota.com)

Governors Beach Club, Governors Island
October 11-12, one-day pass $65 (VIP $155), two-day pass $109 (VIP $259), 12 noon – 12 midnight
www.escapemusicfest.com

Originally scheduled for Pier 9 in Brooklyn, the inaugural Escape Music Festival, two days of electronic and indie music and interactive art projects, has been moved to Governors Beach Club on Governors Island. The festival, taking place October 11-12, will feature two stages, with performances by Girl Talk, Placebo, Yeasayer, Mayer Hawthorne, the Joy Formidable, the Crystal Method, Ra Ra Riot, Tesla Boy, and others, along with DJ sets by Moby, STRFKR, Neon Indian, and Plastic Plates & Sam Sparro, curated by Brooklyn’s the Most Definitely and San Francisco’s Beautiful Buzzz. On Sunday, Elrow Ibiza will present Alan Fitzpatrick, Boris, Miss Kittin, Sebastien Leger, Technasia, Sleepy & Boo, Alex English, and more. In addition, such food trucks as La Sonrisa Empanada, Mightyballs, the Poffertjes Man, Chutney, Dos Toros, Manila Girl, Sunday Gravy, Two Table Spoon, Redhook Lobster Pound, and Beekman Burgers will be selling eats. The festival is open to eighteen and over only; 1.5% of ticket sales will go to local nonprofit organizations. Be sure to read the long list of what not to bring, which includes picnic baskets, chain wallets, large backpacks, umbrellas, hard-sided coolers, and tripods.

FIRST SATURDAYS: ¡VIVA BROOKLYN!

Caecilia Tripp’s “Music for (prepared) Bicycles” rides into Brooklyn Museum in multiple forms for First Saturdays program

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, October 4, free, 5:00 – 11:00
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

After taking September off for the annual Labor Day weekend West Indian American Day Carnival celebration, the Brooklyn Museum’s First Saturday program in October will have a decidedly Latin feel. ¡Viva Brooklyn! will feature live music by Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra and youth orchestra Fat Afro Latin Jazz Cats, La Mecánica Popular, and Los Rakas; the dance performance Bailes de Ida y Vuelta by Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana; rumba and salsa lessons with Global Rhythms; an art workshop inspired by Mayan textile design; pop-up gallery talks in English and Spanish highlighting works by Latino artists; a screening of William Caballero’s How You Doin’ Boy? Voicemails from Gran’pa, followed by a talk about Puerto Rican American cultural influences; a screening of Caecilia Tripp’s Music for (prepared) Bicycles (after John Cage & Marcel Duchamp) Score Two, along with the participatory project Music for (prepared) Bicycles, in which Tripp and visitors will create a drawing of a musical score from a sonic bicycle; an interactive mural by Don Rmix in collaboration with Brooklyn Street Art; and “Pimp My Piragua,” in which Crossing Brooklyn artist Miguel Luciano will serve shaved ice from his custom-made tricycle. In addition, you can check out such exhibitions as “Revolution! Works from the Black Arts Movement,” “Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled Shoe,” and “Chicago in L.A.: Judy Chicago’s Early Works, 1963–74.”

FRANCESCO CLEMENTE: INSPIRED BY INDIA

Francesco Clemente, “Moon,” gouache on twelve sheets of handmade Pondicherry paper joined with handwoven cotton strips, 1985 (courtesy the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th St. at Seventh Ave.
Wednesday – Monday through February 2, $10-$15 (free Fridays 6:00 – 10:00)
212-620-5000
www.rubinmuseum.org

Over the last four decades, Italian artist Francesco Clemente has spent a significant amount of time living in India, collaborating with local artists and artisans to create works that explore the culture in unique ways. A small sampling of these works is now on view at the Rubin Museum in “Francesco Clemente: Inspired by India.” Consisting of four large-scale paintings from 1980 and one from 1985, two watercolor series from 1989 and 2012-13, and a quartet of corner sculptures made specifically for this show, the exhibit is set up to evoke an Indian temple. “Building on the plan, orientation, and personality of the Rubin Museum gallery — and corresponding loosely to the concept of vastu (sacred proportion) in ancient Indian texts known as shastras — the exhibition was designed to reflect metaphorically the experience of visiting an Indian temple,” curator Beth Citron writes in the catalog. “Building a dialogue between the architecture of the gallery and the art within it also speaks to Clemente’s great sensitivity to environment and his deep understanding of Indian visual, material, and spiritual cultures.” The 1980 works, composed of gouache on sheets of handmade Pondicherry paper joined with handwoven cotton strips, include the powerful “Moon,” in which a nude man is being dragged away from (or perhaps into) a swirling moon by a rock tied around his neck, and “Hunger,” in which a man is taking a bite out of an Ouroboros, a snake devouring itself in a circle. The recent series “Sixteen Amulets for the Road” features depictions of men in chains, clocks showing different times, twisted ladders reaching toward the sky, and birds surrounded by graphic arrows, with one unlucky creature pierced by one of the sharp symbols. Most impressive is “The Black Book,” sixteen intensely beautiful, small, dark watercolors of men and women in the midst of heated passion; the longer you look at them, the more you can make out what is going on in these otherwise abstract images. The sculptures have similar names as the paintings — “Moon,” “Earth,” “Sun,” “Hunger” — each one set on a makeshift bamboo pedestal, at the top such repurposed objects as a vase, a suitcase, a mystery box, and a flag with quotations from Debord’s The Society of the Spectacle on either side.

But it’s the related programming that takes this exhibition to another level. For “Clemente x 8,” the artist will engage in onstage conversations with multimedia performer Patti Smith (October 1), theater innovator Robert Lepage (October 5), hip-hop star Nas (October 7), Tibetan monk Gelek Rimpoche (October 8), chef Eric Ripert (October 22), architect Billie Tsien (October 29), Sopranos creator David Chase (November 5), and writer-director Alfonso Cuarón (November 9); all tickets are $45 and include admission to the exhibition before and after the talk. In addition, Clemente has selected the films for the museum’s Friday-night Cabaret Cinema series; “My Formative Years” consists of ten works introduced by special guests, pairing Stella Schnabel with Luis Buñuel’s Viridiana, daughter Chiara Clemente with Bernardo Bertolucci’s Before the Revolution, Philip Glass with Conrad Rooks’s Chappaqua, Neil LaBute with Peter Fonda’s The Hired Hand, and Karole Armitage with Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, among other screenings through December 5. (Admission is free with a minimum $10 purchase in the K2 Lounge.) And finally, exhibition curator Citron will speak with contemporary artists on select Friday nights at 6:15; the impressive “Artists on Art” lineup boasts Fred Tomaselli on September 26, Julian Schnabel on October 3, Philip Taaffe on October 17, Sandeep Mukherjee on October 24, David Salle on November 7, Terry Winters on November 14, and Swoon on November 21. (Free tickets are distributed beginning at 5:45.)

DUMBO ARTS FESTIVAL 2014

Taezoo Park’s “Digital Being” invites visitors to play with its many parts, all made out of waste

Taezoo Park’s “Digital Being” invites visitors to play with its many parts, all made out of electronic waste

Multiple venues in DUMBO
September 27-29, free
www.dumboartsfestival.com

The annual DUMBO Arts Festival is one of the most fun events of the year, as live performances, art installations, gallery shows, pop-up parties, and just about anything else can be found in nearly every nook and cranny all around the district Down under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. The eighteenth annual event takes place September 26-28, with hundreds of artists participating in solo and group exhibitions, open studios, site-specific public art projects, interactive presentations, family-friendly activities, and much more, with a few hundred thousand people expected to attend. And yes, it’s all free. Below are only some of the highlights.

Friday, September 26
and
Saturday, September 27
DiscoTransformer, by Thomas Stevenson, mobile music and light system in street vendor cart, roaming throughout DUMBO, 7:00 – 10:00 pm

Friday, September 26
Saturday, September 27
and
Sunday, September 28
Digital Being, by Taezoo Park, evolving kinetic installation made from electronic waste, with people invited to manipulate the sculpture in various ways, St. Ann’s Warehouse, 29 Jay St., Friday 6:00 to 9:00, Saturday 12 noon – 9:00, Sunday 12 noon – 6:00

Rub Me the Wrong Way, by Traci Talasco, immersive installation in which gallery space has been covered with sandpaper to represent societal expectations of women, BAC Gallery, 111 Front St., Suite 218, Friday 6:00 to 9:00, Saturday 12 noon – 9:00, Sunday 12 noon – 6:00

Borges: The Complete Works, by Daniel Temkin & Rony Maltz, word search of every palabra ever written by Jorge Luis Borges, in Spanish and English translation (borgeslibrary.com), Manhattan Bridge, Adams Street side, 7:00 pm – 12:00 midnight

Xiu Xiu will deliver a special site-specific performance incorporating Danh Vo sculptures

Xiu Xiu will incorporate Danh Vo’s “We the People” Statue of Liberty installation into special performance on Sunday in Brooklyn Bridge Park

Saturday, September 27
Art Is Me, Art Is You: NYC Series #2, by Yikwon Kim, outdoor procession with artists marching in wearable art, including Yikwon Kim, Eleanor Bailey, Mike Brenner, Cyril Bullard, Bill Cromar, Vinson Houston, Richard Jochum, Grant Johnson, Scot Kaylor, Minny Lee, Yvonne Love, Courtney Morgan, Gabrielle Russomagno, Inyoung Seoung, Insook Soul, Graeme Sullivan, and Jay Sullivan, 12 noon – 4:00

The Imaginary Truck, by chashama, visitors invited to put on blindfold and be led through art truck, corner of Plymouth & Adams Sts., 12 noon – 6:00

I ____ a Dollar, by Jody Servon, public intervention exploring the value of a dollar, Main St. between Plymouth & Water Sts., 12 noon – 6:00

Saturday, September 27
and
Sunday, September 28
Barter Town (Trading Post XVI: Mesh & Lace), by Heather Hart Experience, interactive sharing economy in which visitors can barter for palm reading, massage therapy, costume making, face painting, and other services, no money allowed, 12 noon – 6:00

BEAUTY, interactive performance art by the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective (SAWCC), with Shahnaz Habib, Rachel Kalpana James & Svetlana Swinimer, Sunita Mukhi, Qinza Najm, Nooshin Rostami, Reya Sehgal, and Purvi Shah, Parul Shah, and Deesha Narichania, Main St. between Plymouth & Water Sts., 12 noon – 6:00

Sunday, September 28
Dreams for Free, by Jody Servon, in which visitors can share their dreams in exchange for a lottery ticket, Main St. between Plymouth & Water Sts., 12 noon – 6:00

Kling Klang, by Xiu Xiu, live music performance incorporating Danh Vo’s “We the People” installation, Pier 3 Greenway Terrace, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 1:00 – 4:00

The Imaginary App, by Paul D. Miller (aka DJ Spooky) and Svitlana Matviyenko, celebration of publication of anthology The Imaginary App, the powerHouse Arena, 37 Main St., 5:00 – 7:00

CROSSING THE LINE: “EVERYTHING BY MY SIDE” BY FERNANDO RUBIO

Seven actresses and seven audience members share seven beds in Fernando Rubio’s EVERYTHING BY MY SIDE (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Hudson River Park
Pier 45, Greenwich Village
September 26-28, $5, 2:00 – 7:00
Crossing the Line festival continues through October 20
www.ps122.org
www.fiaf.org
everything by my side slideshow

Argentinian multidisciplinary artist Fernando Rubio makes his U.S. debut this weekend with the site-specific interactive performance piece Everything by my side. A copresentation of PS122, Hudson River Park, and the French Institute Alliance Française as part of FIAF’s annual Crossing the Line festival, the work, alternately referred to as a play and an event, features seven local actresses in white costumes on seven white beds on Pier 15 in the park. One audience member is invited onto each mattress (shoes off, please), where the actress whispers childhood memories to them. Each cycle lasts fifteen minutes; admission is five dollars, and you must reserve a spot in advance here, selecting English or Spanish as your language of choice. (There is an onsite wait list as well.) A professor of dramaturgy at Escuela Metropolitana de Arte Dramático in Buenos Aires, Rubio has been creating theatrical events, installations, and interventions with his company, INTIMOTETROITINERANTE, since 2001. Everything by my side should be a fascinating, intimate experience, whether you are participating or merely watching from the wings.

Fernando Rubio’s EVERYTHING BY MY SIDE offers an intimate, personal experience September 26-28 in Hudson River Park is part of Crossing the Line festival (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Fernando Rubio’s EVERYTHING BY MY SIDE offers an intimate, personal experience September 26-28 in Hudson River Park as part of Crossing the Line festival (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Update: For Everything by my side, Argentinian artist Fernando Rubio has set up seven white beds in a horizontal row at the southwest end of Hudson River Park’s Pier 45. Directly behind the beds and across the water are downtown Manhattan and the Freedom Tower, with New Jersey off to the west. As the piece begins, seven actresses (Nanda Abella, Lenora Champagne, Kate Douglas, Rachel Lin, Hannah Mitchell, Rebecca Robertson, and Jessica Weinstein), dressed in white, walk slowly to their respective beds, sit down, pause meditatively, then crawl under the covers. Then seven audience members, instructed to remain completely silent throughout the performance, are each assigned to one of the beds, and in unison they walk over, take off their shoes, and get under the covers as well. Each actress then relates a scripted story, told in four parts in the second person, exploring good and bad childhood memories. The dialogue is general enough that it can evoke real, powerful memories in the listener — at least it did in me, as Douglas (a singer and musician who is also currently appearing in the interactive, immersive Sleep No More at the McKittrick Hotel) guided me to recollections that were both sad and happy and wholly unexpected. For most of the time, we looked deep into each other’s eyes, studying each other’s faces, making for a deep, intimate experience despite the very public setting. For those moments, it was as if we were the only two people in the world, especially as she stroked my face and placed a hand gently on my chest. (Although we could have done without the shrill, noisy Water Taxi that passed by at an inopportune moment.) For a few minutes, a warm, caring connection was made between complete strangers, but it’s likely to be different for each person, as some other audience members spent the duration of the performance on their back, eyes closed, and also had strong emotional reactions, while others reported little effect. As with most interactive theater pieces, the more you open yourself mentally and psychologically, the more you can get out of it. I ended up getting a whole lot out of Everything by my side, which I’m extremely thankful for.