this week in art

LAST CHANCE: THE FEVERISH LIBRARY

“The Feverish Library” features a different kind of book collection (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Friedrich Petzel Gallery
537 West 22nd St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Through October 20, free, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
212-680-9467
www.petzel.com

How can you go wrong with an exhibition whose main image is a still of Burgess Meredith as book lover Henry Bemis holding up his glasses at the end of the classic Twilight Zone episode “Time Enough at Last”? Well, there actually isn’t time enough, as today is your last chance to see a celebration of a potentially dying breed, the printed book. Taking its name from a quote by Jorge Luis Borges, “The Feverish Library,” organized in cooperation with Matthew Higgs at Friedrich Petzel in Chelsea, features works by more than three dozen artists that incorporate books and the concept of reading. Gavin Brown creates a grid of paperbacks on the floor. Cindy Sherman photographs herself in front of a bookshelf. Richard Artschwager’s “Book” is a huge open wooden tome that can’t be read. Erica Baum’s “Author” shows a cross-section of printed pages. Liam Gillick’s “Prototype Construction of One Manuscript” is a wrapped pile of four reams of red paper. The all-star collection of artists also includes works by John Baldessari, Martin Creed, Hans-Peter Feldman, Taba Auerbach, Carol Bove, Martin Kippenberger, Richard Prince, Wade Guyton, Rachel Whiteread, Sean Landers, Wolfgang Tillmans, David Hammons, and others. In addition, in a nod to Joseph Kosuth, at the front is a collection of the favorite books of Petzel artists; Dana Schutz picks Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, Nicola Tyson goes with Laurie Weeks’s Zippermouth, Troy Brauntuch selects Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, Sarah Morris prefers Vladimir Nabokov’s Transparent Things, and John Stezakar chooses Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows.

DOOMSDAY FILM FESTIVAL & SYMPOSIUM

Hajime Sato’s GOKE, BODY SNATCHER FROM HELL sees dark days ahead

92YTribeca
200 Hudson St. at Canal St.
October 19-21, $12
212-415-5500
www.92y.org
www.doomsdayfilmfest.com

Despite the endless proclamations by a Facebook friend of ours that the world was going to end on September 21, 2012, it seems that we’re still here. But that doesn’t mean the end won’t eventually come, though hopefully not as predicted by the works that make up the annual Doomsday Film Festival & Symposium, running at 92YTribeca October 19-21. The three-day gathering promises to “explore our collective fascination with the apocalypse in film, art, and culture,” beginning with a group art show curated by Jenny He that looks at the end of days, with works by Rachel Abrams, Caitlin Bates, Holly Kempf, Allicette Torres, and others. The festival opens Friday night at 7:30 with Aaron D. Guadamuz’s short Yuichi: The Beginning of the End and Hajime Sato’s 1968 low-budget extraterrestrial mélange Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell, followed by a panel discussion focusing on Japan and the apocalypse with Grady Hendrix, Travis Crawford, and Linda Hoaglund, moderated by Marc Walkow. (In addition, as part of 92YTribeca’s Friday Night Dinner series, Rabbi-in-Residence Dan Ain and historian Stéphane Gerson will discuss “Nostradamus and Prophecies of Doom” at 7:00, with wine, cocktails, and a meal prepared by chef Russell Moss.) At 10:00, John Boorman’s psychotic 1974 fantasy, Zardoz, starring a naked Sean Connery, will be preceded by trivia from copresenter Arrow in the Head. On Saturday at 6:00, James Cameron’s revolutionary The Terminator will be screened, followed by a panel examining artificial intelligence with Steven Levy, Dennis Shasha, Manoj Narang, and Molly Sauter, moderated by Malcolm Harris. At 9:00 the festival celebrates the tenth anniversary of Danny Boyle’s awesome 28 Days Later, with discounted tickets if you come dressed as a zombie. Sunday kicks off at 1:30 with Walon Green and Ed Spiegel’s Oscar-winning documentary The Hellstrom Chronicle, introduced by star Lawrence Pressman and followed by a panel discussion entitled “Prophecies of Science” as well as a live insect-handling demonstration by Margaret Stevens. At 4:00, ten shorts of fifteen minutes or less will precede Peter Watkins’s forty-eight minute BBC film The War Game, about a nuclear attack on Britain. At 5:30, Kim Rosenfield, Aaron Winslow, Trisha Low, Lanny Jordan, and Andy Sterling will read “Apocalyptic Poetry” in the art gallery. The Doomsday fest meets its own end Sunday night at 6:00 with Deborah Stratman’s These Blazeing Starrs! [Comets] leading into Geoff Murphy’s 1985 postapocalyptic tale The Quiet Earth, for those few survivors left out there.

THOMAS HIRSCHHORN: CONCORDIA, CONCORDIA

Thomas Hirschhorn installation keeps visitors on the outside of capsized ship (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Gladstone Gallery
530 West 21st St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Through October 20
www.gladstonegallery.com
concordia, concordia slideshow

On January 13 of this year, the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia hit a reef, ran aground, and capsized, resulting in the death of thirty-two passengers. Although the captain, Francesco Schettino, was blamed for the disaster and has been labeled a coward for abandoning ship — at one point he referred to the crash as a “banal accident” — his crew ended up being named Seafarers of the Year for their heroism in helping to save more than 4,000 passengers. Swiss-born, Paris-based artist Thomas Hirschhorn has re-created the inside of the ship in the large-scale installation “Concordia, Concordia,” which continues at the Gladstone Gallery in Chelsea through Saturday. Hirschhorn has painstakingly reconstructed the inside of the vast ocean liner, leaning over on its side, filling the space with upturned chairs, life preservers, dishes, tables, a neon beer sign, a flat-screen monitor, and other elements, but the work is oddly cold and dispassionate, a kind of overly controlled chaos. In many of his past pieces, visitors were able to walk in for a more intimate and up-close experience (“Cavemanman” “Superficial Engagement”), but here one must stand outside of it, looking in as if it were a wreck by the side of the highway. “I want to do a Big work to show that the saying ‘Too Big to Fail’ no longer makes any sense,” Hirschhorn explains in his official statement about the project. “On the contrary, when something is Too Big, it must Fail — this is what I want to give Form to.” In conjunction with “Concordia, Concordia” and his upcoming Gramschi Monument, the DIA Art Foundation on West 22nd St. is showing Hirschhorn’s “Timeline: Work in Public Space” through November 3.

MARINA ABRAMOVIC IN CONVERSATION WITH MARCO ANELLI

Marco Anelli photographed every person who sat opposite Marina Abramović during her marathon staring sessions at MoMA (© Marco Anelli)

The Strand Book Store
Third Floor Rare Book Room
828 Broadway at 12th St.
Tuesday, October 16, 7:00 (must buy copy of book or $10 Strand gift card)
212-473-1452
www.strandbooks.com
www.marcoanelli.com

In the spring of 2010, Yugoslavian-born performance artist Marina Abramović sat in a chair in MoMA’s atrium for seventy-eight days, staring deeply into the eyes of individual visitors as part of the retrospective “The Artist Is Present.” It was a powerful sight to see, filled with energy and emotion. Earlier this year, Matthew Akers documented the immensely popular event in a film also titled The Artist Is Present, going behind the scenes of Abramović’s creative process. Now Italian photojournalist Marco Anelli, who specializes in photographing long-term projects, has published Portraits in the Presence of Marina Abramović (September 2012, Damiani, $40), which captures every single person who sat across from Abramović and includes the amount of time they did so. (People were allowed to sit for as long as they wanted, from several minutes to many hours.) The book also features pieces by Abramović and curators Klaus Biesenbach and Chrissie Iles. On Tuesday, October 16, Abramović and Anelli, who pulled off quite a feat of duration himself, will discuss the project in a special presentation at the Strand. You must purchase a copy of the book or a $10 Strand gift card in order to attend what should be a fascinating discussion.

TOMAS SARACENO ON THE ROOF: CLOUD CITY

Met visitors are invited to walk through Tomás Saraceno’s engaging environment of the future, “Cloud City” (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden
1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd St.
Tuesday – Sunday through November 4 (weather permitting)
Recommended admission: $20 adults, children under twelve free
212-535-7710
www.metmuseum.org
cloud city slideshow

Two years ago, Met visitors were invited to walk inside Doug and Mike Starn’s environmentally friendly rooftop installation, “Big Bambú,” a junglelike pathway made of bamboo. This year people can enter a much more futuristic construction, Argentine artist Tomás Saraceno’s space-age “Cloud City.” Sitting atop the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, “Cloud City” is a geometric environment of walk-in modules made of mirrors, transparent acrylic, steel, and cords that give visitors a warped, fascinating view of the world around them, playing with their perception of reality and physical space. Like a house of mirrors, sometimes what should be in front of you is behind you, or what should be beneath you is above you. Where you should see east is west, or north becomes south. Part spaceship, part mechanical creature, and part airborne apartment complex of the future, “Cloud City” changes with the seasons; in the summer, it was filled with light and the green of the trees, but as the cold fall weather takes over, it is far more colorless. In order to enter the biosphere, visitors, who must be at least ten years old and four feet tall and weigh less than four hundred pounds, need to pick up a timed ticket on the fourth floor and store their bags and cameras in a locker. Each person gets about twenty minutes to navigate the stairs, platforms, and cool obstructions; women might want to avoid wearing loose skirts or dresses, as people below can watch you wander through the different modules (and photos are allowed outside of the structure). In honor of the installation, which is part of Saraceno’s continuing “Air-Port-City” project, the Met has even created a special Cloud City cocktail, made with dry ice, that you can order from the rooftop bar.

NEW YORK COMIC CON

New York Comic Con celebrates King of the Nerds and more at the Javits Center (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
655 West 34th St. (11th Ave. between 34th & 39th Sts.)
October 11-14, sold out
www.newyorkcomiccon.com

If you’ve ever attended New York Comic Con, you know that the biblical prediction “The geek shall inherit the earth” is certainly true. For four days at the Javits Center, sci-fi and comic-book nerds will descend on the far west side, lining up for autograph signings (beware: some require substantial additional fees), giveaways, film screenings, panel discussions, concerts, and other special events that get bigger and bigger every year. The 2012 edition, which is completely sold out, includes a bevy of A-list, B-list, and C-list celebrities; among the wide variety of guests are Batman’s Adam West and Burt Ward, Carrie Fisher, Bill Paxton, Stan Lee, Bruce Campbell, Chris Columbus, Christopher Lloyd, Dee Snider, Anne Rice, Guillermo Del Toro, Kevin Bacon, Julianne Moore, Kirk Hammett, Tess Gerritsen, Rob Corddry, Ned Vizzini, Sean Astin, Seth Green, Kim Harrison, Terry O’Quinn, Vanessa Williams, Sir Terry Pratchett, Kevin Smith, Ron English, and legendary nerds Curtis Armstrong and Robert Carradine. Below are some of our recommendations for this massive celebration of a lot more than just comic books.

Thursday, October 11

Neal Adams Spotlight, with Josh Adams and Neal Adams, 1A14, 3:45

Robert Kirkman Autographing, Booth #1229, 5:00 – 6:00

Comic Studies Conference: Power and Sexuality in Comics, with Beverly Taylor, Cameron McKee, Evan Johnson, Mark Head, and Sam Cannon, 1A07, 5:15

Friday, October 12

CBLDF: The History of Comics Censorship, with Charles Brownstein, 1A08, 11:00 am

Adam West and Burt Ward Spotlight, with Adam West and Burt Ward, 1A23, 12:15

Christopher Lloyd Q&A, with Christopher Lloyd, 1A10, 12:30

Sir Terry Pratchett Introduces . . . Dodger, with Sir Terry Pratchett, Unbound Stage, 1:00

AMC Presents Kevin Smith’s Comic Book Men, with Bryan Johnson, Kevin Smith, Michael Zapcic, Ming Chen, and Walter Flanagan, IGN Theater, 2:45

Joe Simon Memorial Celebration, with Angelo Torres, Carmine Infantino, Jim Simon, Mark Waid, Paul Levitz, and Stephen Saffel, 1A01, 5:15

Robot Chicken, with Clare Grant, Kevin Shinick, Matthew Senreich, and Seth Green, IGN Theater, 6:30

Kirk Hammett, Lead Guitarist for Metallica, Talks to Kevin Clement about His Passion for Collecting Monster Movie Memorabilia, with Kevin Clement and Kirk Hammett, 1A23, 9:00

Fans will be on their hands and knees, begging to get in to several special WALKING DEAD events at this year’s New York Comic Con

Saturday, October 13

Once More with Feeling: 15 Years of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with Jane Espenson, Jenny Frison, Rebekah Isaacs, Scott Allie, and Sierra Hahn, 1A21, 11:15 am

Mad about MAD, with Al Jaffee, Bob Wayne, Drew Friedman, John Ficarra, Peter Kuper, Ryan Flanders, and Sam Viviano, 1A23, 12:15

Bill Paxton and Johnn McLaughlin’s Seven Holes for Air Introduction, with Bill Paxton, David Uslan, Eric Reid, and John McLaughlin, 1E13, 12:30

Stan Lee’s World of Heroes, with Peter David and Stan Lee, 1E13, 3:00

Carrie, with Chloë Grace Moretz, Julianne Moore, Kevin Misher, and Kimberly Peirce, IGN Theater, 3:45

AMC’s The Walking Dead Panel Event, with Andrew Lincoln, Chandler Riggs, Chris Hardwick, Danai Gurira, David Morrissey, Gale Anne Hurd, Glen Mazzara, Michael Rooker, Norman Reedus, and Robert Kirkman, IGN Theater, 5:00

Sunday, October 14

666 Park Avenue Special Video Presentation and Q&A, with Dave Annable, David Wilcox, Erik Palladino, Helena Mattson, Matthew Miller, Mercedes Masöhn, Rachael Taylor, Robert Buckley, Samantha Logan, Terry O’Quinn, and Vanessa Williams, 1E13, 11:00 am

The Following Pilot Screening and Q&A, with Annie Parisse, James Purefoy, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Williamson, Marcos Siega, Natalie Zea, and Shawn Ashmore, 1E07, 12 noon

Josh Gates Q&A, with Josh Gates, 1A10, 1:30

Ian McDiarmid Spotlight, 1E13, 2:45

TATZU NISHI: DISCOVERING COLUMBUS

Visitors can get up close and personal with Gaetano Russo’s statue of Christopher Columbus in fab installation by Tatzu Nishi (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Columbus Circle
59th St. at the intersection of Broadway, Columbus, and Eighth Aves.
Extended through December 2, free with timed ticket
www.publicartfund.org
discovering columbus slideshow

For one hundred and twenty years, Sicilian sculptor Gaetano Russo’s Carrara marble statue of Christopher Columbus has towered high in the air in the middle of Columbus Circle, far from view atop a seventy-foot granite column. But now German-based Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi makes the Italian explorer much more accessible inside a customized American living room in the genius installation “Discovering Columbus.” Over the last decade, Nishi has created temporary structures built around existing architectural monuments in Guatemala City, Hamburg, Singapore, Basel, New South Wales, and, most famously, Liverpool, where he designed “Villa Victoria,” a functional hotel suite constructed around a statue of Queen Victoria. For his first project in the United States, Nishi has chosen to bring Russo’s thirteen-foot-tall statue, which was presented to New York City in honor of the four-hundredth anniversary of Columbus’s famous voyage, face-to-face with visitors, who can climb up six flights of stairs to enter an idealized, temporary American room replete with chairs, couches, a mirror, framed prints, a bookshelf — and the Columbus statue standing in the center, atop a coffee table. Everything was carefully selected by Nishi, from the newspapers, furniture, and artworks (by the likes of Andy Warhol, Willem de Kooning, and Jackson Pollock) to the flat-screen television and specially designed wallpaper, which features cartoon images of such American icons as Michael Jackson, Mickey Mouse, Elvis Presley, and McDonald’s. Visitors, who enter with free timed tickets that must be reserved in advance, can look but not touch (photos are allowed) as they walk around the statue, examining every nook, cranny, and crevice of the extremely weathered work; be sure to check out under Columbus’s cloak for a section that has not been nearly as ravaged by snow, rain, heat, wind, and bird droppings. And be sure to check it out from the ground on the southern side as well, where it appears as if Columbus is standing at the window, enjoying the remarkable view. It’s a spectacular opportunity to see such a landmark up close and personal, no matter your feelings about Columbus, whose discovery of America and treatment of the native population seem to increase in controversy every year. Nishi did not choose this specific monument for political reasons; instead, the Public Art Fund project is a joint venture with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, which will begin a major restoration of the statue after the installation closes to the public on November 18 [ed. note: now extended through December 2], keeping the stairs and scaffolding in place for the conservation team, which will work to maintain the promise made at the statue’s dedication on October 12, 1892: “in imperishable remembrance.” Tickets are going fast, so don’t hesitate to book a time now for this once-in-a-lifetime experience.