this week in art

OUT OF HAND: MATERIALIZING THE POSTDIGITAL

Richard Dupont’s digitally created “Going Around by Passing Through” greets people outside the Museum of Arts & Design as part of “Out of Hand” exhibition (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Museum of Arts & Design
2 Columbus Circle at 58th St. & Broadway
Through June 1, $12-$18 (pay-what-you-wish Thursday & Fridays, 6:00 – 9:00)
800-838-3006
www.madmuseum.org

Exhibitions at the Museum of Arts & Design often feature handcrafted objects, often with a folkie appeal. But “Out of Hand: Materializing the Postdigital” changes that dramatically, gathering more than 120 works from the past nine years that have been created using cutting-edge digital technology. Divided thematically into “Modeling Nature,” “New Geometries,” “Rebooting Revivals,” “Remixing the Figure,” “Pattern as Structure,” and “Processuality,” the pieces range from chairs, tables, and lamps to clothing, jewelry, and abstract and figurative sculptures. Artists have employed such techniques as 3D printing, digital scanning, and manipulated computer animation to create the objects, and nearby videos show how some of the works have been made, while the labels list the exact methods used. Barry X Ball reimagines Giusto Le Court’s seventeenth-century “La Invidia” in the golden honeycomb calcite sculpture “Envy.” Michael Schmidt’s “Fully Articulated 3D-Printed Dress” is made of laser-cut Strathmore. HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts offers a new form of transportation with “Rapid Racer,” which was made in one solid piece using 3D printing. Nick Hornby references art history and uses algorithms in making the white marble resin composite “I Never Wanted to Weigh More Heavily on a Man than a Bird (Coco Chanel).” Marc Newson used mathematical formulas to create the fractal “Doudou Necklace.” The exhibition also features works by Frank Stella, Chuck Close, Anish Kapoor, Ron Arad, Wim Delvoye, Maya Lin, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Roxy Paine, Zaha Hadid, and Richard Dupont, who uses himself as a virtual model in an untitled, heavily distorted full-body sculpture on the fifth floor and the large-scale head, “Going Around by Passing Through,” that resides outside the museum. “There’s this deep resistance to the idea that a digitally sourced thing can be an art piece,” Dupont says in a promotional video for the exhibition that explores his process. “Out of Hand” should significantly reduce such resistance in the future. (The show ends June 1, but on June 14, Andrew Payne of LIFT Architects will lead an afternoon workshop showing how to use 3D printing in design and programming.)

TONY OURSLER: VOX VERNACULAR

PERFORMANCE ARTS SERIES
New York Public Library
Stephen A. Schwartzman Building
South Court Auditorium
Fifth Ave. at 42nd St.
Wednesday, May 21, free, 6:00
www.nypl.org
www.yalepress.yale.edu

For more than thirty years, multimedia installation artist Tony Oursler has been creating eye-catching works that examine unique aspects of the human experience, often involving videos projected onto miniature environments and larger-scale sculptures. The new book Tony Oursler / Vox Vernacular (Yale, February 25, $65) takes a look at a different side of the native New Yorker, focusing on the language and text that accompanies his pieces — for example, “L7-L5,” “Spillchamber,” “Lock 2,4,6” and “The Influence Machine” — which often play out like tiny dramas. On May 21, a group of his friends will gather at the South Court Auditorium at the New York Public Library for a performance and book launch, with Tony Conrad, Constance DeJong, Jim Fletcher, Joe Gibbons, Kim Gordon, Josie Keefe, Tracy Leipold, Brandon Olson, Jason Scott, and Holly Stanton presenting transcripts from Tony Oursler / Vox Vernacular, bringing these works, dating from 1977 to 2013, to life in a new, poetic way, accompanied by video clips. After the event, Oursler will sign copies of the book, which also includes two hundred illustrations (190 in color) and contributions by Laurent Busine and Denis Gielen of the Musée des Arts Contemporains au Grand-Hornu and Billy Rubin. This one-night-only free event should offer a fascinating perspective on one of the art world’s most consistently inventive and entertaining creators.

CELLIST INBAL SEGEV: RECITAL AT THE FLAG ART FOUNDATION

Inbal Segeb will perform works for solo cello at FLAG Art Foundation (photo by ME Reps)

MUSIC FOR SOLO CELLO BY BACH AND PENDERECKI
The FLAG Art Foundation
545 West 25th St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves., ninth floor
Wednesday, May 21, free with advance RSVP, 6:00
www.flagartfoundation.org
www.inbalsegev.com

The FLAG Art Foundation exhibition “Roy Lichtenstein: Nudes and Interiors” comes to a close on May 21 with a special live performance by Israeli-American cellist Inbal Segev. The New York-based Segev, whose albums include Nigun: A Celebration of Jewish Music and Beethoven, Boccherini: Cello Sonatas and is a founding member of the Amerigo Trio, will perform J. S. Bach’s Suite in C Major and Krzysztof Penderecki’s Divertimento on her 1673 Francesco Ruggieri cello. The exhibit features more than three dozen drawings, collages, and sculptures by Lichtenstein, along with two new works by curators Ewan Gibbs and Hilary Harkness. The solo recital will take place at 7:00 in the gallery, following a 6:00 cocktail reception with wine and light refreshments. Advance RSVP is a must.

ZÜRICH MEETS NEW YORK: A FESTIVAL OF SWISS INGENUITY

Zürich Meets New York festival honors upcoming centennial of the Dada movement

Multiple locations
May 16-23, free – $20
www.zurichmeetsnewyork.org

In The Third Man, one of the greatest movies ever made, Harry Lime (Orson Welles) tells his childhood friend Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten), “You know what the fellow said — in Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace — and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.” Of course, Switzerland has contributed a whole lot more to international culture and history than the cuckoo clock — and by the way, who doesn’t love the cuckoo clock? — as evidenced by this month’s Zürich Meets New York: A Festival of Swiss Ingenuity. From May 16 to 23, more than two dozen events will be taking place around the city, from concerts and dance to panel discussions and film screenings, from art exhibits and seminars to theater and scientific conversations, with a particular focus on the one hundredth anniversary of the Dada movement, which was born at the Cabaret Voltaire. Aside from “How Black Holes Shape Our Universe,” a multimedia presentation at the Explorers Club that requires a $20 ticket, everything else is absolutely free, although most events require advance RSVP. Below are only some of the highlights; other participants and programs include Dieter Meier of Yello, game developer Tim Schafer, Jungian analyst Christopher Hauke, complexity scientist Dirk Helbing, financial economist Didier Sornette, IBM director of research John E. Kelly, novelists Renata Adler and Ben Marcus discussing the work of Max Frisch, and a pair of documentaries about artist Urs Fischer.

Friday, May 16
“Collegium Novum Zurich: Live Music & Silent Films,” David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, Broadway between 62nd & 63rd Sts., featuring screenings of shorts by Hans Richter, James Sibley Watson Jr. and Melville Webber, René Clair, and Joris Ivens with live musical accompaniment, free with advance RSVP, 7:00

Saturday, May 17
“Giants Are Small: Dada Bomb,” Dada performance art journey, free with advance RSVP, 7:00

Sunday, May 18
through
Thursday, May 22
“Dada on Tour,” art exhibition in a “nomadic” tent, Whitebox Art Center, 329 Broome St. between Chrystie St. & Bowery, free, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm

Monday, May 19
“What Can Robots and Economics Teach Us About Humanity?,” with Rolf Pfeifer and Ernst Fehr, moderated by Maria Konnikova, New York Academy of Sciences, 7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich St., 40th Floor, free with advance RSVP, 7:00

Monday, May 19
through
Thursday, May 22
“Dada Pop-Up: The Absurdities of Our Times,” opening will include spontaneous performances and exchanges, Whitebox Art Center, 329 Broome St. between Chrystie St. & Bowery, free, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm

Tuesday, May 20
and
Wednesday, May 21
“Simone Aughterlony/Antonija Livingstone/Hahn Rowe: In Disguise,” dance performance with choreographer Simone Aughterlony, performer Antonija Livingstone, and composer Hahn Rowe, the Kitchen, 512 West 19th St. between Tenth and Eleventh Aves., free with advance RSVP, 8:30

FRIEZE PROJECTS: “TIDE AND CURRENT TAXI” BY MARIE LORENZ

Frieze Art Fair New York
Randall’s Island Park
Through May 12, free with Frieze admission of $43, 11:00 am – 6:00/7:00 pm
www.friezeprojectsny.org
www.tideandcurrenttaxi.org
twi-ny slideshow

When we first heard about Marie Lorenz’s Frieze Project, an extension of her long-running “Tide and Current Taxi” series, in which the Brooklyn-based artist takes people around New York waterways in small rowboats she has designed and built using salvaged materials, we knew we had to get on board, being longtime fans of New York’s underutilized maritime side. We were especially excited about the “taxi” prospect after traveling to Frieze via the fair’s torturous school-bus shuttle, a ridiculously bumpy, shock-absorber-free sojourn from the Guggenheim that makes the Coney Island Cyclone feel like a kiddie ride. Lorenz’s project is described on the Frieze site as “an alternative ferry service,” so we went to sign up for a trip at the outdoor wooden dispatch booth as an alternate exit from the fair, which runs through May 12 on Randall’s Island. The small wooden structure is decorated with a strung-together collection of broken bottles and animal bones Lorenz has picked up on shorelines and landfills during her travels, and a monitor streams a live feed from a camera on the bow of the rowboat, showing the current journey. We asked if we could be dropped off on the other side of the river at the end of the day. Charlie, the dispatcher who would also accompany us on our excursion, quickly said that Lorenz had been waiting for someone to ask that, as everyone else had taken the trip more as a tour of the shoreline than as an actual taxi. We weren’t about to get back on that school bus, and the ferry was stupid expensive ($19 round trip only), so we were ready for an adventure.

Marie and Charlie shepherd us across the East River as part of special Frieze Project (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

At seven o’clock, we returned to the dispatch booth, where we put on big boots and life preservers and were led over to the boat, which looks a lot smaller when you see it on the vast East River. We took an instant liking to Lorenz, a charming and energetic young woman whose father was a water enthusiast. She first started “Tide and Current Taxi” back in 2005, documenting every single ride. We waited for some of the big ferries to pass by so as not to get caught in their wake, then began our journey paddling across the river while Lorenz tried to figure out where it would be best to drop us off on the other side, as there were no nearby easy debarkation points on the Manhattan shoreline. We all decided to use the remnants of an abandoned pier, where we would have to do some crawling and jumping over rotting wood and crumbling cement to make it onto the FDR Drive walkway. Ever the good sport, Lorenz climbed out first, just to make sure it could be done, raising her arms in triumph when she accomplished the feat. The two of us followed, discovering that it was not quite as simple as Lorenz had made it look, but it was absolutely thrilling as we both landed on the sidewalk, raising our arms in triumph as well (and checking to see if any cops were around). Happiness mixed with a little sadness as we wished Lorenz and Charlie a fond farewell; I think all four of us felt we had shared a special, unique experience, one that we will treasure for a long time.

FRIEZE ART FAIR WEEK 2014

Paul McCarthy’s giant “Balloon Dog” welcomes visitors to the 2013 Frieze New York art fair (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Paul McCarthy’s giant “Balloon Dog” welcomed visitors to the 2013 Frieze New York art fair (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

FRIEZE NEW YORK
Randall’s Island Park
May 9-12, $43 ($76 with catalog), 11:00 am – 6:00/7:00 pm
646-346-2845
friezenewyork.com
frieze new york 2013 online slideshow

Much like the Armory Show is the anchor of March’s art-fair extravaganza, Frieze is the centerpiece of May’s explosion, which includes no fewer than eleven fairs. Of course, Frieze is also the most expensive, with admission $43 ($76 if you want the catalog as well) and a round-trip ferry ticket going for $19. (A bus from the Guggenheim is $7; bus and ferry tickets must be purchased in advance.) Still, Frieze is a sprawling, exciting fair, with art from nearly two hundred galleries placed all around Randall’s Island. This year’s Frieze Projects feature interventions by Darren Bader, a soccer installation by Eduardo Basualdo, a playground sculpture by Eva Kotátková, an alternative Tide and Current Taxi ferry by Marie Lorenz, a piece focusing on “invisible communities” by Koki Tanaka, and a Jimi Hendrix–inspired mini-music festival by Naama Tsabar. Frieze Sounds consists of newly commissioned audio works by Keren Cytter, Cally Spooner, and Hannah Weinberger. In addition, visitors can reserve a room (prices start at $350) in Al’s Grand Hotel, a collaboration between original creator Allen Ruppersberg and Public Fiction. Food and drink will be available from Blue Bottle Coffee, Court Street Grocers, Furanku, Frankies Spuntino, Marlow & Sons, Mission Cantina, Momofuku Milk Bar, Roberta’s, and the Fat Radish, with some restaurants requiring advance reservations.

Friday, May 9
Frieze Talks: Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alekhina of Pussy Riot / Zona Prava in conversation with David Remnick, 4:00

Saturday, May 10
Frieze Talks: Adam Szymczyk in conversation with Jenny Jaskey, 4:00

Sunday, May 11
Frieze Talks: The World Wide Web at 25: Terms and Conditions, with Orit Gat, Tyler Coburn, Gene McHugh, and Christiane Paul, 12 noon

Frieze Talks: Keynote Lecture by Kenneth Goldsmith, 4:00

Monday, May 12
Frieze Talks: U.S. premiere of The Act of Killing: The Director’s Cut (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012), screening followed by Joshua Oppenheimer in conversation with Thomas Keenan and Dana Stevens, 12 noon

Andy Yoder’s “Early One Morning” is one of 2014’s Pule Projects

PULSE NEW YORK CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR
The Metropolitan Pavilion
125 West 18th St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
May 8-11, $15-$35
www.pulse-art.com

Pulse is consistently one of the best fairs of the season, with innovative works spread out in a convenient layout. Held at the Metropolitan Pavilion, Pulse consists of works from approximately fifty galleries. This year’s Pulse Projects are Andy Yoder’s “Early One Morning,” Charles Lutz’s “LOAD,” Jasmina Cibic’s “Fruits of Our Land,” Samuel Jablon’s “Poet Sculpture,” Sean Fader’s “#wishingpelt,” Shantell Martin’s “You Are You,” Simon Vega’s “The Whitney Museum of Central American Art, a Post-Apocalyptic Dream,” Tamara Gayer’s “All the World’s Affair,” and Zoe Buckman’s “Present Life.” Below is a list of the “Pulse Perspectives: New Models” talks and panel discussions.

Thursday May 8
Claire Breukel and Simón Vega, 1:00

Adarsh Alphons, Ann Fensterstock, Saul Ostrow, 3:00

Daniel Temkin and Benjamin Sutton, 6:00

Friday May 9
Mark Ellwood and Ben Hartley, 1:00

Sherry Dobbin and Carlos Pomares, 3:00

PULSE Prize Jury: discussion and announcement of the 2014 Pulse Prize winner, 6:00

Saturday May 10
Alice Gray Stites and Edward Winkleman, 1:00

Renée Vara and Patrick Regan, 3:00

Jake Yuzna and Kyle DeWoody, 6:00

Sunday May 11
Sue Stoffel, Andrew Gori, and Ambre Kelly, 1:00

Paddy Johnson, William Powhida, and Shawn Gallagher, 3:00

Cutlog brings cutting-edge art to the Clemente on the Lower East Side

CUTLOG
The Clemente
107 Suffolk St.
May 8-11, $15-$50
www.cutlogny.org

Cutlog is back for its second year, highlighting multimedia works by cutting-edge and established artists from approximately sixty galleries. Held at the Clemente on the Lower East Side, the fair features such installations as Mark L. Power’s “See God,” Guillaume Paturel’s “Shelter,” Hrafnhildur Arnardottir aka Shoplifter’s “Hairdoo for a Hallway,” Jessica Deane Rosner’s “The Ulysses Glove Project,” Joan Backes’s “Papier Mache Trees,” Igor Molochevsky’s “In Transition,” and Clara Feder’s “The Wall of Temptation.” There will also be video screenings and/or live performances by Anthony Haden-Guest, Fanni Futterknecht and Marianne Vlaschits, Robert Montgomery, Grayson Earle, Marc Grubstein, Cai Qing, and Bruno Levy & Deantoni Parks, among others.

OUTSIDER ART FAIR
Center 548
548 West 22nd St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
May 8–11, $20-$100
www.outsiderartfair.com

Self-taught artists are celebrated at the Outsider Art Fair, taking place at Center 548 in Chelsea. Some seventy galleries will be exhibiting the work of artists who often worked alone in obscurity, discovered only late in life or even after death. Baumann + Muksian have created a special curated space for the show, with works by “Crystal” John Urho Kemp, Sarah Lucas, Dr. Lakra, and Lewis Smith. “From very different eras and backgrounds, these works share a common ground: a masterly executed disrespect for social conventions and artistic norms in search of enlightenment and artistic freedom,” Daniel Baumann explains about the installation.

Saturday, May 10
Lost in Translation: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Self-Taught Artist, with Brooke Davis Anderson, Eric Fretz, Lenore Schorr, and Xaviera Simmons, moderated by Paul Laster, Center 548 rooftop, 2:00

Henry Darger: 40 Years Later, Anne Hill Blanchard symposium, with Michael Bonesteel, James Brett, Jim Elledge, and Jane Kallir, moderated by Valérie Rousseau, Center 548 rooftop, 4:00

CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR NYC
The Tunnel
May 8-11, $12-$20
269 11th Ave. between 27th & 28th Sts.
www.contemporaryartfairnyc.com

The fifth Contemporary Art Fair NYC, held in the Tunnel in Chelsea, focuses on independent artists and designers and the art of the craft, with prices mostly ranging from $100 to $6,000.

Marck, “Tank,” mixed media with electronical performance (photo courtesy Galerie von Braunbehrens)

DOWNTOWN ART FAIR
69th Regiment Armory
68 Lexington Ave. at 25th St.
May 8-11, $15-$45
www.downtownfair.com

Art Miami comes to New York for the inaugural Downtown Fair, comprising more than fifty galleries at the 69th Regiment Armory, promising to “provide a fresh alternative to acquire important never-before-exhibited works from both the primary and secondary markets in an intimate light.” The curators of No Longer Empty will give daily tours at 12:30, and there will be free shuttle bus service to and from the Frieze ferry.

Friday, May 9
A Conversation with Hunt Slonem about Bunnies!, moderated by Bruce Helander, 12:30

Lecture on 69th Regiment Armory History, with Roslyn Bernstein, 2:00

Saturday, May 10
The Curious Legacy of Collage and Its Current Affiliation to Contemporary Art, with Anthony Haden-Guest and Bruce Helander, 2:00

Sunday, May 11
Willem De Kooning, lecture by Molly Barnes, 2:00

COLLECTIVE 2 DESIGN FAIR
Skylight at Moynihan Station
360 West 33rd St. at Eighth Ave.
May 8-11, $15-$25
www.collectivedesignfair.com

The Collective Design Fair is back for its second year, highlighting the artistic, commercial, and educational aspects of contemporary and twentieth-century design. Some three dozen exhibitors will have booths at Skylight at Moynihan Station at the post office, along with special Collective Settings installations that bring together designers and gallerists, including Robert Couturier and Cristina Grajales, Jonathan Adler and Paul Donzella, David Mann and Maison Gerard, and Alan Wanzenberg and 1950. Murray Moss and Franklin Getchell have curated a solo show by Hella Jongerius, and there are also Collective Conversations that will be held Saturday and Sunday in an area designed by BroLab.

Saturday, May 10
Car Culture, Design Culture, with Andrew Smith and Josh Rubin, 11:30 am

Nordic Influence: Designers Discuss the Scandinavian Legacy, with Glenn Adamson, Wendell Castle, Cathrine Raben Davidsen, and Joseph Walsh, 1:00

Creative License: Decorating with Collectible Design, with Sarah Medford, Cristina Grajales, India Mahdavi, and Suchi Reddy, 2:30

Jewelry Design: Quick Changes in an Ancient Medium, with Jane Adlin, Michele Oka Doner, and Jennifer Trask, 4:00

Manufacturing in Place: The Next Wave in Making and Process, with Rama Chorpash, and the Haas Brothers, 5:30

Sunday, May 11
Students Designing for the Future, with Ellen Lupton and Nikki Gonnissen, 11:30 am

Twenty Questions: New Frontiers in Design, with Henry Urbach, Murray Moss, and Franklin Getchell, 1:00

Design On Demand: New Takes on Rapid Manufacturing, with Julia Kaganskiy, Janos Stone, and Mihae S. Mukaida, 2:30

Dressing the Future: Fashion and 3D Printing, with Adam Brent, Partner, Gabi Asfour, and Bradley Rothenberg, 4:00

Select fair will feature a specially designed beer garden

SELECT FAIR
Altman Building
135 West 18th St.
May 8-11, $5-$20
www.select-fair.com

More than thirty galleries will have booths featuring progressive works at Select in the Altman Building, along with eight Select Project installations and four special projects, Lambert Fine Arts’ “The Directors Den,” “Meow Wolf” by a group of Santa Fe artists, Chelsea Maida’s “Sun Chandelier,” and the interactive performance piece “DOTART” by Tibor Hargitai. In addition, a beer garden will serve food and drink from Six Point Brewery and Brooklyn Bangers.

PooL takes a more low-key approach to the concept of the art fair

POOL ART FAIR
Off Soho Suites
11 Rivington St.
May 9-11, free
www.frereindependent-poolartf.squarespace.com

PooL Art Fair, from the same folks who put on March’s Independent, prefers a modest, low-key approach focusing on artists who do not have representation. The fair will include lectures, special projects and events, and curated installations at Off Soho Suites on Rivington St.

Chris Hefner, Detail from "The Americans (Shoreline)," charcoal on paper, 2013.

Chris Hefner, “The Americans (Shoreline),” detail, charcoal on paper, 2013

VERGE NYC
177 Prince St. between Thompson & Sullivan Sts.
May 9 – May 11, free
www.vergeartfair.com

The fifth annual boutique Verge art fair, “an ongoing experiment in art, markets, ideas, and the art culture,” consists of nearly two dozen galleries, mostly from New York, New Jersey, and Chicago, gathering at 177 Prince St., with two special exhibitions, “Tomorrow Stars” and “The Drawing Show.”

Thursday, May 8
Opening night party, free and open to the public, 6:00 – 10:00

NADA NEW YORK
Pier 36, Basketball City
299 South St. at the East River
May 9-11, free
www.newartdealers.org

More than one hundred exhibitors will take over Basketball City for the third annual NADA New York fair, including such twi-ny faves as Abrons Arts Center, the Hole, Klaus von Nichtssagend, Freight + Volume, and Eleven Rivington. The special projects include “Phaidon Presents Beta-Local and MOCAD,” including interactive community-centric installations, and “Shoot the Lobster,” a site-specific outdoor collaboration with pieces by Lena Henke and Marie Karlberg , Eli Ping, Jennie Jeun Lee, Ryan Foerster, Justin Lieberman, Denise Kupferschmidt, Eddie Martinez, Jeffrey Joyal, Bradley Kronz, Win McCarthy, and Nicholas Buffon.

Saturday, May 10
Contemporary Poetry, marathon reading with thirty poets, Tacombi Lounge, 12 noon – 6:00 pm

LittleCollector workshops by Amy Stevens and Shelter Serra, $20, 11:30 am

Sunday, May 11
LittleCollector workshops by Amy Stevens and Shelter Serra, $20, 11:30 am

El Local Club, conversation about Caribbean art practice and production, with Stefan Benchoam, Pablo Guardiola, and Radamés “Juni” Figueroa, 2:00

MOVIE MEDICINE: TALES FROM THE GIMLI HOSPITAL

A trio of nurses deal with a deadly epidemic in early Guy Maddin cult classic, TALES FROM THE GIMLI HOSPITAL

CABARET CINEMA: TALES FROM THE GIMLI HOSPITAL (Guy Maddin, 1988)
Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th St. at Seventh Ave.
Friday, May 9, free with $10 K2 minimum, 9:30
Series continues through August 29
212-620-5000
www.rmanyc.org

In his first feature-length film, Canadian DIY master Guy Maddin reaches into Icelandic sagas for the ultra-low-budget Tales from the Gimli Hospital. In many ways a kind of Scandinavian Frankenstein as if directed by Ingmar Bergman and George A. Romero, the seventy-two-minute mostly black-and-white Expressionist film is a story within a story (at times within another story) that an old woman, Amma (Margaret Anne MacLeod), is telling her grandchildren (Heather and David Neale) in a hospital room where their mother lies very ill. The dark, lurid fairy tale, set in “a Gimli we no longer know,” is about Einar the Lonely (assistant director Kyle McCulloch), a shy fish smoker who does not know how to relate to other people, particularly women. Felled by an epidemic, he is brought to Gimli Hospital in Manitoba, where other men battle this dread disease, which leaves stitchlike scars on their face and body. Einar is discouraged that the patient in the bed next to him, the portly Gunnar (Michael Gottli), is treated much nicer by the nurses than he is, but he is helpless to do anything about it. Gunnar is soon telling Einar the story of his true love, Snjófridur (Angela Heck), a tragic tale with a surprising twist that brings everything full circle. A unique visual stylist who regularly pays homage to the early days of cinema, Maddin, who directed and edited the picture (and wrote the script on Post-it Notes), purposely keeps things low-tech, including poor sound dubbing and bumpy, awkward cuts, incorporating such oddities as a puppet show anesthetic, Glima wrestling, fish-oil hair gel, an ominous soundtrack, and an over-the-top minstrel in blackface (McCulloch also); Maddin (My Winnipeg, Careful) also plays the weirdo surgeon who operates on Gunnar and Einar in rather strange fashion. In 2011, Maddin, who is part Icelandic, reimagined the film in the special Performa presentation Tales From the Gimli Hospital: Reframed, a reedited version with a live score by Icelandic musicians. The amateur nature of the original work led to its being rejected by the Toronto International Film Festival for ineptitude; it went on to become an instant cult classic, holding the midnight-movie slot at the Quad for nearly a year. Tales from the Gimli Hospital is screening May 9 as part of the Rubin Museum Cabaret Cinema series “Movie Medicine,” held in conjunction with the exhibition “Bodies in Balance: The Art of Tibetan Medicine”; the festival continues May 16 with John Schlesinger’s Sunday Bloody Sunday and May 23 with Michael Bastian introducing Luchino Visconti’s Death in Venice.