this week in art

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “SORROW” BY THE NATIONAL

SUNDAY SESSIONS SEASON FINALE: RAGNAR KJARTANSSON PRESENTS A LOT OF SORROW FEATURING THE NATIONAL
MoMA PS1, VW Dome
22-25 Jackson Ave. at 46th Ave.
Sunday, May 5, 415, 12 noon – 6:00 pm
718-784-2084
www.momaps1.org

One hundred years ago, Dick Burnett recorded what is believed to be the first version of the traditional folk song “Man of Constant Sorrow,” which was later made famous in the 2000 Coen brothers film “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” The tune includes such lines as “For six long years I’ve been in trouble / No pleasures here on earth I found / For in this world I’m bound to ramble.” On May 5 at MoMA PS1, Matt Berninger will be rambling for some six hours (that might feel like six years) as he leads the Brooklyn-based band the National through six consecutive hours of their 2010 song “Sorrow,” from their album High Violet. It’s part of a durational performance for the season finale of “Sunday Sessions” at the Long Island City institution, where the group is collaborating with Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson, who regularly combines multidisciplinary elements into his work. This time he’ll be creating a sculptural presence in the music of twins Aaron Dessner (guitar and keyboard) and Bryce Dessner (guitar), brothers Bryan Devendorf (drums) and Scott Devendorf (bass), and lead singer Berninger, whose brother, Tom, directed the tour documentary Mistaken for Strangers, which recently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival — O brother, where art thou? indeed. “Parting is such sweet sorrow,” Juliet tells Romeo, but for this performance, the Men of Constant “Sorrow,” whose new album, Trouble Will Find Me, drops May 20, might be looking to part ways with this song after six straight hours of it, no matter how much they might change and adapt it as they play.

FIRST SATURDAY: JOHN SINGER SARGENT WATERCOLORS

John Singer Sargent, “A Tramp,” translucent watercolor and touches of opaque watercolor, circa 1904–6 (courtesy Brooklyn Museum)

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, May 4, free, 5:00 – 11:00 (some events require free tickets distributed in advance at the Visitor Center)
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

The Brooklyn Museum celebrates its collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, “John Singer Sargent Watercolors,” in the May edition of the free monthly First Saturday program. There will be several gallery talks, including one by curator Teresa Carbone, on the show, which brings together ninety-three pieces from the two institutions. In addition, there will be an art workshop in which participants will make their own watercolor postcard, pop-up immersive theatrical happening inspired by Sargent’s paintings, a garden party with a photo booth and swing music by Les Chauds Lapins, a book-club talk with Janet Wallach on Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell (whom Sargent painted), screenings of Lisa Duva’s Cat Scratch Fever and Dominique Monfery’s Eleanor’s Secret, live performances by Layali El Andalus, Jesse Boykins III, Young Magic, and East Village Radio DJ Hannah Rad, and more. The galleries will remain open late so visitors can also check out “LaToya Ruby Frazier: A Haunted Capital,” “Käthe Kollwitz: Prints from the ‘War’ and ‘Death’ Portfolios,” “‘Workt by Hand’: Hidden Labor and Historical Quilts,” “Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui,” “Raw/Cooked: Marela Zacarias,” and other exhibitions.

WORLD NOMADS TUNISIA

Jonah Bokaer’s THE ULYSSES SYNDROME is part of FIAF festival focusing on the past, present, and future of Tunisia

French Institute Alliance Française (and other venues)
Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th St.
Le Skyroom, 22 East 60th St.
Tinker Auditorium, 55 East 59th St.
May 1 – June 1, free – $40
212-355-6100
www.fiaf.org

After having explored the art and culture of Africa, Haiti, Lebanon, and Morocco in past years, FIAF’s 2013 World Nomads festival heads to Tunisia this spring for a month of multidisciplinary programs that look at the history of the small North African nation, particularly within the context of the recent revolution that led to the downfall of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The now-biennial festival begins on May 3 ($35, 8:00) with a concert in Florence Gould Hall featuring singer Sonia M’Barek and the Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture ensemble, followed by a reception with Tunisian delicacies. Also on Friday night (free, 7:00), brother-and-sister choreographers Selma and Sofiane Ouissi will debut a twelve-minute video in Tinker Auditorium about Tunisian women potters. On May 4 (free), visitors are encouraged to add their own message of peace to a canvas supplied by Tunisian graffiti artists eL Seed and Jaye at the New Museum’s Ideas City street festival on Rivington St. On May 6 ($40, 12:30), Syhem Belkhodja, Dora Bouchoucha, Kenza Fourati, Lina Lazaar Jameel, and Leila Souissi will gather at FIAF for the English-language panel discussion “The Role of Women in Tunisian Society,” which includes lunch and wine. The next afternoon (free, 1:00), Belkhodja, Bouchoucha, Lazaar Jameel, and Amna Guellali will be joined via Skype by Hélé Béji and El Iza Mohamedou for the “Women in Tunisia” talk “Art, Women & Politics” at White Box, which is also hosting a free Tunisian photography exhibition highlighting work by Héla Ammar, Amine Boussoffara, Wassim Ghozlani, Amine Landoulsi, Zied Ben Romdhane, Rim Temimi, and Patricia Triki that is part of the World Nomads visual arts program “The After Revolution.” Tuesday in May ($10), FIAF will screen Tunisian movies curated by Bouchoucha as part of its weekly CinémaTuesdays series, including such films as Moufida Tlatli’s The Silences of the Palace and Hinde Boujemaa’s It Was Better Tomorrow. Tinker Auditorium will be turned into a traditional Souk, or Tunisian craft market, May 8-10 (free, 5:30 – 8:00), with food and crafts available for purchase. On May 9-10 ($25, 8:00), choreographer Jonah Bokaer delves into his relationship with his Tunisian-born father in the meditative The Ulysses Syndrome, set to a Mediterranean soundscape. On May 12 (free, reception at 6:00), eL Seed and Jaye will be at 5Pointz in Long Island City to create a mural with Meres One and others and screen a film about them. On May 14 ($25, 8:00), Radhouane El Meddeb will perform the solo piece Sous leurs pieds, le paradis, which honors the role of women in Tunisian society, set to music by Oum Kaithoum. Singer Ghalia Benali will take the stage at FIAF on May 15 ($25, 8:00), Tunisian DJs will spin at CATCH Roof on May 15 (free, 10:30), and Emel Mathlouthi will perform previously banned songs on May 22 ($25, 8:00) at FIAF. In addition, throughout the festival the FIAF Gallery will host a multimedia exhibition with works by Héla Ammar, Amel Ben Attia, Nicène Kossentini, Mouna Jemal Siala, and Mohamed Ben Slama that focuses on women artists and the aftermath of the revolution.

A MARRIAGE: 1 (SUBURBIA)

Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin use sugar to add to a white picket fence as part of performance installation examining same-sex marriage and the America dream (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

HERE
145 Sixth Ave. at Dominick St.
Through May 4 (Tuesday – Sunday, 8:30), $10 in advance, $20 within twenty-four hours
Installation free Tuesday – Sunday 2:00 – 10:00
212-647-0202
www.here.org
a marriage: 1 (suburbia) / sugar cube picket slideshow

American dream or suburban nightmare? Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin, who got married in 2008, take a sharp but playful look at the institution, examining domestic bliss from the 1950s to the present in their immersive multimedia performance piece A Marriage: 1 (Suburbia). Vaughan and Margolin have transformed nearly every room at HERE into a marital landscape that includes twists on such suburban mainstays as the garden hose, the ironing board, a pair of comfy armchairs surrounding an old radio, shirts hanging on a clothesline, the Game of Life, and a white picket fence. Now that same-sex marriage is legal in so many states, is this really what gays want? “The suburban ideal, the traditional nuclear family, emerald lawns and Betty Crocker . . . is now part of our heritage as well, and for better or worse we have to deal with it,” they write at the entrance to the exhibit. “This is our attempt to unpack those structures as we continue to construct our own.” In “First Seasons,” they’ve compiled thematically linked clips of scenes from four classic family sitcoms — The Cosby Show, Roseanne, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and Leave It to Beaver — laying the groundwork for what is considered the ideal in American society. Meanwhile, in a two-channel video, Deb Margolin, Joe Stackell, Lisa Kron, Yoshiko Chuma, and Penny Arcade share their opinions on same-sex marriage, and Vaughan and Margolin read the full transcript of the Perry v. Schwarzenegger Prop 8 case into plastic bags that form a floating balloon sculpture. Each night at 8:30, Vaughan and Margolin put on a sixty-minute performance, from typing pithy sayings on wallpaper (“There is something so deep and so comfortable in this version of living”) to making a Welcome mat out of bubblegum. On April 30, they added a picket to a white fence using sugar cubes and vanilla icing, then painting one side with red food coloring, questioning the supposed sweetness of suburbia. Purchasing a ticket allows you into the performance and to return for any of the others, which continue through May 4; admission to the exhibition itself is free. Be sure to get there well before 8:30 in order to take it all in; there’s a lot to see — even in the unisex bathrooms — running the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous, in thought-provoking and very funny ways. (To read our interview with Nick and Jake, go here.)

OSCAR DOTTER: NORDIC POP

Oscar Dotter’s “Nordic Pop” exhibit examines people’s role in the fate of the environment and the polar bear (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Gallery 151
132 West 18th St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
Through May 3, free, 1:00 – 7:00
www.nordicpop.com

“If I Were a Polar Bear I’d Eat You,” declares the light-up sign luring visitors into Gallery 151 in Chelsea. Once inside, they’re surrounded by the multimedia exhibition “Nordic Pop” by New York City–based self-taught artist Oscar Dotter, an examination of climate change and the fate of the polar bear through paintings, sculptures, film, and installation. Incorporating such series as “The Dots” and “Abstract Polar,” along with a pair of life-size polar bears at the center, Dotter points a clear finger at humanity’s responsibility to protect nature — and how we’re failing in this purest of goals. In addition to the works, Dotter is selling “Nordic Pop” merchandise (buttons, shirts, skateboards, etc.) and holding a raffle ($20 donation) to win one of his paintings, with the proceeds going to the World Wildlife Fund and its mission to save the polar bear.

IDEAS CITY: UNTAPPED CAPITAL

Markus Kayser’s “SolarSinter” is part of “Adhocracy” exhibit opening at New Museum during Ideas City festival

The second biannual Ideas City festival takes place May 1-4, with more than one hundred programs featuring conferences, workshops, seminars, panel discussions, walking tours, live music and dance, interactive art installations, a street festival, and other events tackling urgent urban issues at home and around the globe. Following up on 2011’s Festival of Ideas for the New City, this year’s theme is “Untapped Capital,” exploring ways to better use available resources to provide better infrastructure and general societal needs. On May 1, the keynote address will be delivered by MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito at the Great Hall of the Cooper Union, who will examine the internet’s role in untapped capital. On May 2 at the Great Hall, four prestigious panels will examine “Ad Hoc Strategies,” “Waste,” “Play,” and “Youth,” with such impressive guests as Jeffrey Inaba, Emeka Okafor, Thaddeus Pawlowski, Nancy Lublin, Barry McGee, Charles Renfro, and Carlos Motta. On May 3, the Old School at 233 Mott St. will host a series of workshops, including “A Discussion about the Armed Forces and the Arts,” “Social Mirroring,” “Hack City,” “Wherefore Store and Designing for Future Economies,” and “Revitalizing Space — Unlocking Creativity,” while “Pitching the City: New Ideas for New York” will be held at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral. Among the projects on view throughout the four-day presentation are the Uni Portable Library, “TrafficCom” by Tomorrow Lab and Change Admin, “In Art and Cooperation We Trust!” by Trust Art, and “The Plastic Bag Mandala” by what makes you move. On May 4, the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral will host “Music of the Invisible”; the talk and performance “Big Art in All Spaces” occurs at Dixon Place; Downtown Art will stage the roaming outdoor opera The Great Struggle for Cheap Meat; and First City Green will screen the multichannel video Urban Exquis III. Also on Saturday, Streetfest offers dozens of fascinating presentations downtown, including Art in Odd Places 2013: “NUMBER,” “Ask a Prisoner,” “Dance for DNA,” “Raw Candy Innovation,” “Sewer in a Suitcase,” “SUSTAIN: Steering Urban Sustainability through Action, Innovation & Networks,” “Truck Farm,” “Unboxed,” and “The Urban Habitat Project.” Home base for the festival is the New Museum, where you can catch “The Money Shot: Roundtable with Karen Finley” on May 3 at 1:00, “Performance Beyond the Limits: Short Works” with Erin Markey, Sally May, Brigham Mosley, and Tobaron Waxman on May 3 at 7:00, a screening of Robert Garcia and Kevin Couliau’s Doin’ It in the Park, followed by a Q&A with the director on May 4 at 8:00, “Change of State” video projections on the facade of the museum on Saturday night, and other special events.

SAKURA MATSURI

Cosplay is one of the highlights of annual Sakura Matsuri at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Brooklyn Botanic Garden
900 Washington Ave. at Eastern Parkway
Saturday, April 27, and Sunday, April 28, $15-$20 (children under twelve free)
718-623-7200
www.bbg.org

Last weekend, we were in Washington, DC, where we were delighted to see that the cherry trees were in bloom, filling the streets with their beautiful pink and white blossoms, even though it was still unseasonably cold down there. The weather should be a whole lot milder this weekend for the annual Sakura Matsuri at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, with temperatures nearing seventy for the always charming Cherry Blossom Festival. Over the course of two days, there will be workshops, live music and dance, martial arts demonstrations, flower arranging, arts & crafts, food tastings, art exhibits, comedy, book signings, origami lessons, manga drawing, games, museum tours, and more. Below are only some of the highlights of one of the most enjoyable, though usually extremely crowded, festivals of the year; most programs are held both days.

Saturday

Bonsai Basics for Home Gardeners, Steinhardt Conservatory, 10:00 – 5:00

Ikebana Flower Arrangements with students of master Fumiko Allinder, Rotunda, 10:00 – 5:00

Vintage Kimonos: YokoDana Kimono, Magnolia Plaza, 11:00 – 5:00

Wagashi Japanese Sweet Shop: Minamoto Kitchoan, Magnolia Plaza, 11:00 – 5:00

Uncle Yo: Anime Stand-up Comedy, J-Lounge Stage at Osborne Garden, 12 noon

Manga Drawing and Book Signing with Misako Rocks, Osborne Garden, 12 noon – 4:45

Nihon Buyo classical dance: Dancejapan with Sachiyo Ito, Cherry Esplanade Stage, 1:00

Shogi: Japanese Chess, with New York Shogi Club, Osborne Garden, 1:00– 5:00

All-female marching band: Zakuro Chindon Band featuring vocalist Maiko, Cherry Esplanade Stage, 3:00

Traditional Tea Ceremony: Urasenke Chanoyu Center, Auditorium, 3:00

The BBG Parasol Society Games, J-Lounge Stage at Osborne Garden, 4:30 (preregistration required 2:00 – 4:00)

Sunday

Hana Kanzashi Hair Ornaments, Magnolia Plaza, 11:00 – 5:00

DJ Saiko Mikan’s Tokyo Teleport Station, J-Lounge Stage at Osborne Garden, 11:00 – 5:30

Harie Paper Collage Exhibit, with artist Junko Yamada, Members’ Room Annex, 1:00 – 5:00

Meet Puzzle Craftsman Maki Kaji, Osborne Garden, 1:00 – 5:00

Kuni Mikami and East of the Sun: Jazz-inspired renditions of traditional folk songs, Cherry Esplanade Stage, 2:00

Moku Hanga Woodblock Printing Demonstration with April Vollmer, Steinhardt Conservatory, 2:00

Ukiyo-e Illustration with Jed Henry, Osborne Garden, 3:00

Samurai Sword Soul, Cherry Esplanade Stage, 3:45

Magician Rich Kameda, J-Lounge Stage at Osborne Garden, 4:00