this week in lectures, signings, panel discussions, workshops, and Q&As

ON KAWARA — SILENCE

On Kawara exhibition explores time and place on a daily basis (photo by David Heald / © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York)

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Ave. at 89th St.
Friday – Wednesday through May 3, $18-$25 (pay-what-you-wish Saturday 5:45-7:45)
212-423-3587
guggenheim.org

In many ways, Japanese Conceptual artist On Kawara was the first blogger, sharing details of his life via his own social-media platforms long before the internet, but never actually revealing much about his true self. As the splendid Guggenheim exhibition “On Kawara — Silence” discloses, Kawara, who was born in Japan in 1933 and spent most of his life in New York City, where he died last July while the installation was being put together (with his participation), took a rather objective view of existence. His oeuvre comprises postcards he sent to friends and colleagues telling them what time he woke up that morning, extensive notebooks listing who he came into contact with that day, maps of where he went, telegrams to friends and colleagues confirming he was alive, and paintings of the date, accompanied by often random newspaper clippings from the same day. These elements tell us everything about Kawara, and nothing. “How can we avoid misrepresenting the art of On Kawara?” senior curator Jeffrey Weiss asks in his catalog essay, “Bounded Infinity.” “Perhaps misrepresentation of Kawara’s work is not only inevitable but useful. To be sure, regarding the work of any artist, the things we choose to say are always haunted by the things we leave out. With Kawara, however, this aspect of interpretation is specifically, even strategically compounded by the work’s evasive status.” This evasiveness extends into the Guggenheim’s online bio of Kawara, which merely states, “29,771 days,” the exact length of time he was on this planet.

On Kawara, “Telegram to Sol LeWitt, Febryary 5, 1970,” from “I Am Still Alive,” 1970-2000 (© On Kawara. Photo by Kris McKay © The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York)

Such series as “I Got Up,” “Today,” “I Met,” “I Am Still Alive,” and “One Hundred Years” engage viewers and encourage exploration despite their obvious repetitiveness, as they lead you to ponder the days of your own past, the people you’ve met, the places you’ve been, and the things that happened on specific dates, which hold different memories for different people, eliciting unique emotional responses. Every Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm on the rotunda, there are continuous live readings of “One Million Years,” Kawara’s lists of dates going back and forward one million years, the annums echoing through the Guggenheim. But mostly Kawara’s output is centered on the here and now, where we are at this precise time and place. “He tells us: ‘It is today!’” artist Daniel Buren writes in his catalog essay, “A Moment’s Footprint.” “On Kawara — Silence” is also a natural fit for the Guggenheim; the show is arranged primarily chronologically by series, so as visitors rise up the museum’s spiraling walkway, they circle through intriguing aspects of Kawara’s daily existence. “It had always been his dream to have a show at the Guggenheim because of the cyclical nature of time and the way that the building represents that,” assistant curator Anne Wheeler points out in an online video. “On Kawara — Silence” speaks volumes, about both him and us. (On April 28 at 6:30, “Duologues on Kawara: Alfredo Jaar and Tom McDonough” will examine Kawara’s work in relation to world events and sociocultural critique.)

DR. WALTER MISCHEL — HOW MIND AND BRAIN ENABLE SELF-CONTROL: THE MARSHMALLOW TEST AND BEYOND

Dr. Walter Mischel will deliver free lecture at the Schomburg Center

Who: Dr. Walter Mischel
What: “How Mind and Brain Enable Self-Control: The Marshmallow Test and Beyond,” part of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s Brain Insight Lectures series
Where: Langston Hughes Auditorium, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Blvd., 917-275-6975
When: Tuesday, May 5, free with advance RSVP here, 6:30
Why: Columbia University psychologist Dr. Walter Mischel, whose Marshmallow Test showed that young children would rather wait for two marshmallows than eat one immediately, will deliver a free public lecture on the brain, temptation, and willpower, in conjunction with the recent release of his latest book, The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self-Control (Little, Brown, September 2014, $29). As he explains on his Columbia website, “One of our long-term longitudinal studies examines the ways in which the ability to delay gratification, assessed in our laboratory situations in early childhood, predicts a variety of consequential developmental outcomes in the life course and serves as a protective factor against chronic vulnerabilities such as rejection sensitivity.” Advance registration is strongly recommended, because in this case waiting might not yield you a happier outcome.

OPENING DAY AT PIER 16

Free tours aboard the Ambrose are part of South Street Seaport Museum opening-day festivities

South Street Seaport Museum
12 Fulton St.
Saturday, April 25, free, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
212-748-8600
southstreetseaportmuseum.org
www.southstreetseaport.com

The South Street Seaport Museum will celebrate its opening day on April 25 with a full slate of free activities on board its historic vessels and offering special one-dollar six-month memberships. The festivities include a 2:00 bell-ringing by city councilmember Margaret Chin on the lightship Ambrose, a scavenger hunt, a Float Your Boat buoyancy demonstration of clay boats, a mobile print shop, the talk “How to Get There from Here: Sailor’s Navigation,” the scientific program It’s Alive! about living organisms in New York Harbor, the uprigging of the 1893 Fredonia schooner Lettie G. Howard, tours of “Street of Ships” Schermerhorn Row, a participatory mural on the Seaport Storywall, a photo booth, deck tours of the nineteenth-century schooner Pioneer and the Ambrose, temporary tattoos, line tossing, live music by the Lobbyists, tours of the 2911 barque Peking with “Sailor Stories” by museum historian Jack Putnam, the Naked Angels theater group presentation of the concert/play Seawife, a historic district walking tour, and more.

SAKURA MATSURI 2015

Large crowds will gather to see the blooming cherry trees at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden this weekend (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Brooklyn Botanic Garden
900 Washington Ave. at Eastern Parkway
Saturday, April 25, and Sunday, April 26, $20-$25 (children under twelve free), 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
718-623-7200
www.bbg.org

It’s been a ridiculously cold and long winter, but springtime finally seems to be here, and with it comes one of our favorite annual festivals, the Sakura Matsuri at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The weekend celebrates the beauty of the blossoming of the cherry trees with live music and dance, parades, workshops, demonstrations, martial arts, fashion shows, Ikebana flower arranging, a bonsai exhibit, Shogi chess, garden tours, shopping, book signings, Japanese food, and more. Below are just some of the highlights of this always lovely party, with many events going on all day long.

Saturday, April 25

The Battersby Show: Beginner Cosplay Crafting, with Charles Battersby, Ann Milana, Lady Ava, Mink-the-Satyr, and Uncle Yo, J-Lounge at Osborne Garden, 12 noon

Sogetsu Ikebana Demonstration, with Yoko Ikura and Shoko Iwata, auditorium, 1:00

Dancejapan with Sachiyo Ito, Main Stage, Cherry Esplanade, 1:15

Ukioy-e Illustration Demonstration with Artist Jed Henry, J-Lounge at Osborne Garden, 2:00

Samurai Sword Soul, Main Stage, Cherry Esplanade, 2:15

Urasenke Tea Ceremony, auditorium, 3:00 & 4:15

Takarabune Dance, Main Stage, Cherry Esplanade, 3:15

Hanagasa Odori Parade with flower hat dance by the Japanese Folk Dance Institute of New York, J-Lounge at Osborne Garden, 4:15

Akim Funk Buddha’s Urban Tea Ceremony, Main Stage, Cherry Esplanade, 5:00

Sunday, April 26

Children’s Suzuki Recital, Brooklyn College Preparatory Center, auditorium, 11:30

Awa Odori Parade, with Takarabune Dance, J-Lounge at Osborne Garden, 12 noon & 3:00

The Battersby Show: What Is Cosplay? with Charles Battersby, Aleta Pardalis, Dokudel, Mario Bueno, Uncle Yo, and YuffieBunny, J-Lounge at Osborne Garden, 1:00

Rock and Roll Love book signing with Misako Rocks!, J-Lounge at Osborne Garden, 2:00

Sohenryu-Style Tea Ceremony with Soumi Shimizu and Sōkyo Shimizu, auditorium, 2:30

Japanese Folk Dance Institute of New York performs Minbu dances, Main Stage, Cherry Esplanade, 3:00

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

NY Suwa Taiko Kids All Stars, Main Stage, Cherry Esplanade, 4:15

The Sixth Annual Sakura Matsuri Cosplay Fashion Show, with original music by Taiko Masala, Main Stage, Cherry Esplanade, 5:15

MICHIKO GODAI: YOKOHAMA ROSA

Japan Society
333 East 47th St. at First Ave.
Saturday, April 25, 7:30, and Sunday, April 26, 2:30, $35
212-715-1258
www.japansociety.org

Japan Society’s multidisciplinary “Stories from the War” series continues with the one-woman show Yokohama Rosa, about the transformation of a Japanese woman, known as Merii-san, before, during, and after WWII. The play is written and performed by Michiko Godai (Death Note, Pride), who puts on the production every year in Yokohama on the anniversary of the end of the war. The Saturday-night performance will be followed by a Meet-the-Artists reception, while the Sunday matinee includes admission to the exhibition “Life of Cats: Selections from the Hiraki Ukiyo-e Collection.” In conjunction with the show, Japan Society will be holding The Life of Yokohama Merii Language Workshops on Saturday and Sunday, taught by Kazue Kurahara ($105, including theater ticket).

SHORE IN LENAPEHOKING (NYC)

Emily Johnson / Catalyst’s SHORE consists of dance, story, volunteerism, and feast

April 23-25, New York Live Arts, 219 West 19th St., 212-691-6500, $15-$30, 7:30
April 24-26, multiple locations, free with preregistration
newyorklivearts.org
www.catalystdance.com

In our 2011 twi-ny talk with Emily Johnson, the Alaska-born, Minneapolis-based choreographer, performer, and director said, “I want the feeling of ‘home’ to lead to a kind of intimacy so that people feel comfortable, responsible even, for it. I think we tend to look at things as static when, in reality, our bodies and places house past, present, and future, at once. It’s anything but static.” The concluding piece of the trilogy Johnson was referring to, which began with The Thank-you Bar and continued with Niicugni, is happening this week: Shore is a multiday four-part work that brings together people and the land, performer and audience, art and community, celebrating the interdependence of all living things and emphasizing our responsibility to the planet and one another. (It seems particularly fitting that Johnson and her Catalyst company are here in New York during Earth Week.) Shore began on April 19 with a volunteer community action program in the Rockaways, helping restore dunes, as well as a curated reading with Ben Weaver, Sahar Muradi, Chris Moore, Emmanuel Iduma, Tim Carrier, and Live Linesat at the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council on Rutgers Slip. On April 24, Emily Johnson/Catalyst, Gibney Dance, the Lenape Center, and the Billion Oyster Project will team up for another community action volunteer initiative, restoring an estuary on Governors Island to reintroduce oysters (and eat some as well).

On April 23-25, the performance aspect of Shore will begin on the outdoor basketball court at PS 11 on West Twenty-First St. and make its way into New York Live Arts; the piece is conceived, choreographed, and written by Johnson, with direction by Ain Gordon, music direction and lead collaboration by James Everest (who composed the soundscore with Nona Marie Invie and Fletcher Barnhill), costumes by Angie Vo, and a cast that includes Johnson, Invie, Barnhill, Aretha Aoki, Krista Langberg, Christina Courtin, Julia Bither, the Shore Choir, and twenty local dancers. The Thank-you Bar and Niicugni were both unusual, unpredictable works that challenged traditional relationships between performer and audience while making creative use of light, sound, and space, so we’re expecting this piece to be rather unique and special as well. Shore comes to a close April 26 with a potluck feast at the North Brooklyn Boat Club, where preregistered participants will bring dishes and stories to share, listen to live music by Weaver, go on a guided canoe trip on Newtown Creek under the Pulaski Bridge, and learn about ecology and the environment. Bicyclists can meet up earlier and ride over to the feast together. Another part of Shore, which was previously presented last June in Minneapolis, are essays that are being posted on the Catalyst website. “At each event, our attention was redirected back to the earth, to our relationship with the land, with plants and animals, with water and air,” writes Diane Wilson. “I imagined Shore as a place where all of these elements were brought back together in harmony with people, just as they were when our ancestors used the ceremony of art to convey our relationship with the natural world. On the podium set up on the grass, Emily asked, ‘What was the most joyful day of my life? It just might be today.’” Shore should be another memorable performance from a dazzlingly gifted talent.

TWI-NY TALK: ETHAN NICHTERN AND THE ROAD HOME

Shastri Ethan Nichtern will be celebrating the release of THE ROAD HOME with events on April 21 & 28

Shastri Ethan Nichtern will be celebrating the release of THE ROAD HOME with special events on April 21 & 28

ABC Carpet & Home, 888 Broadway at 19th St., 212-473-3000
Tuesday, April 21, $30 (includes copy of book), 7:00
Shambhala Meditation Center of New York, 118 West 22nd St., 212-675-6544
Tuesday, April 28, $5-$10 suggested donation, 7:00
www.ethannichtern.com
us.macmillan.com

I first met Ethan Nichtern about ten years ago, when my wife started studying at the Interdependence Project (IDP), a nonprofit organization dedicated to secular Buddhist meditation practice and community activism; its motto is “Change your mind to change the world.” Nichtern, a Brown grad and the son of Buddhist teacher and songwriter David Nichtern, was not at all what I expected; he was wise beyond his twentysomething years, a big sports and indie rock fan, a beer lover, and a pop-culture junkie with a playful sense of humor. The IDP has grown significantly since its humble beginnings in 2006, with a popular podcast, satellite meditation groups around the country, and such online and in-person classes as “Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction,” “Tools for Living: Practical Buddhism for Work and Relationships,” and “Core Texts of Buddhism: Essential Writings from the Pali Canon to Today” (as well as a recently completed six-week course that Nichtern taught with my wife, a longtime student of his, a former IDP board member, and a recent graduate of the IDP Immersion Teacher Training program).

This week, Nichtern will publish his third book, The Road Home: A Contemporary Exploration of the Buddhist Path (North Point Press, April 21, $25), in which he takes readers on a journey into self-awareness and redefining the nature of home. “Where is your home? Is your address your home? Is your body your home? Do you feel at home in your own mind? Where, oh, where is home?” he asks in the introduction. “In many ways, these have been the central questions of my life. The quest to answer these questions — or at least to feel more capable of understanding them — is the primary reason I have chosen the path of Buddhism and the primary reason I practice and teach the path to others.”

In celebration of the release of the book, the follow-up to One City: A Declaration of Interdependence and Your Emoticons Won’t Save You, Nichtern will be at ABC Carpet & Home on April 21 and the Weekly Dharma Gathering at Shambhala on April 28; in addition, he will be leading the eight-week online series “The Road Home” on Thursday nights at 7:00 from April 23 to June 11, examining “The Path of Awakening in Four Stages.” While preparing for all of these events, Shastri Ethan Nichtern answered some questions about Buddhism, Radiohead, the Mets, and meditation.

twi-ny: The Road Home is your third book. What is the writing process like for you? Are you like the rest of us, panicking as deadlines loom, or are you able to incorporate your meditation practice to create a more calm environment?

Ethan Nichtern: I mean, meditation definitely helps, but it doesn’t cure any of the anxiety of having to complete a project. My writing process is fairly nonlinear. In a way, The Road Home is the first book I’ve written, because the ideas in the book cover the thirteen years that I have been teaching Buddhism in the contemporary world. It definitely feels like the most complete thing that I’ve written. Even though I’ve only really been putting it together the last few years. So I think mindfulness is about being in the process and letting the words and chapters emerge when they need to.

When a deadline looms it feels similar to having an object of mindfulness, a date by which you have to finish which helps to anchor you, just the same way the breath can anchor you in mindfulness meditation. However, if you expect your meditation practice to stop anxiety, you’ll probably be disappointed. Meditation is calming, yes, but primarily because it helps you deal with difficult emotions like anxiety, not stop them.

twi-ny: You’ve become a kind of Buddhist meditation rock star, and now you’ll be going out on the road, on a twenty-four-city tour in which people will be lining up to hear you talk, take pictures with you, and have you sign their books. Meanwhile, in the book itself, Sharon Salzberg writes in the foreword, “Ethan is the future of Buddhism.” How do you control your ego under such circumstances and high praise?

EN: Well, being well known for Buddhism is probably about the same level of popularity as being a roadie for a real rock star! Much of the time when I lead a retreat or workshop it’s just a small group of people who really want to come to terms with their own minds and also benefit others. So it’s very human and very humbling to share tools and discuss with people these very helpful humanistic processes that Buddhism offers. No glow sticks, no stage. It’s definitely true that when I give a talk more people come in then used to, and it’s amazing to think that I have something to offer them that is both very, very modern and very ancient, but the whole thing is so simple and down to earth that there’s really not a ton of room to let your “ego” run wild.

twi-ny: In the new book, you explore the nature of karma. What is the most misunderstood part of karma by the general population?

EN: I’m really happy that I went into karma in depth in The Road Home because it is so important and so misunderstood. I think the biggest misunderstanding, which has actually come up throughout history, but might be more pronounced by our consumer capitalist culture, is that karma is some kind of cosmic bank account. So the thinking is if I do something good, it’s like money goes into my hidden bank account in the cosmos, and then the universe owes me one. This leads to all sorts of weird and manipulative moral positions, and it leads us to resent the very real fact that most of the time we can’t get what we want. It’s a complicated conversation, but it’s much better to think of karma as the study of our habitual conditioning and acquired mental filters that cause us to perceive and react to our experience in certain ways. It’s not a commodity; it’s a study of habit.

twi-ny: In 2009, you led the IDP in a twenty-four-hour sit in the display windows of ABC Carpet, with you making it through the entire period. What was that experience like? I remember seeing you at one point on a break, looking kind of wobbly as you took in some fresh air.

EN: It was super tiring, because twenty-four hours was really a day and a half of waking time, which I didn’t think about beforehand, but it was amazing to be right there on Broadway with all the crowds passing by, being present with the city, and all the living people passing, especially the kids! It was so cool! The way I was sitting for most of the time was with my eyes open but slightly downward cast, which is often the way it is done in my tradition, the Shambhala tradition, but the window box I was sitting in was a little elevated from the street so I was at perfect eye level to make eye contact with children as they passed. It was a powerful experience for all the meditators involved. I hope we get to do it again soon.

twi-ny: You’ll be back at ABC Home for the April 21 launch of The Road Home. What can we expect from the gathering?

EN: A fun evening and a great conversation. I love how beautifully designed the hardcover version of the book turned out, and am very thankful to the folks at FSG for being so good at what they do. I’m sad the launch sold out so quickly, but I’ll be doing another event April 28 at the Shambhala Center. At ABC Carpet on April 21, which is a really cool spot, I will be joined by Sharon Salzberg, one of the best meditation teachers anywhere, who is a dear friend and mentor, and Dan Harris, the ABC news anchor who is an awesome guy and really down to earth, and has really stepped onto the path of Buddhist meditation wholeheartedly, and creates a great voice for skeptics about the whole practice. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone.

twi-ny: You love sprinkling your writing and talks with pop-culture references, from Radiohead to Star Wars. Are you looking forward to Star Wars: Episode VII?

EN: I am looking forward to the new Star Wars. I feel like J. J. Abrams is really good at sci-fi. He proved it with the new Star Trek movies, so I doubt there will be any Jar Jar Binks type of screenplay mistakes made. I do wish that the Jedi practices were more developed in their meditative and emotional dimensions. I love the early movies, but the spiritual dimension of them always strikes me as a little superficial, like a fortune-cookie version of Eastern thought, and I wish the Jedi practices were unveiled in a more contemplative way. But despite Star Wars feeling a bit superficial as a spiritual text, it’s always a ton of fun! So who really cares at the end of the day if it’s only quasiprofound?

Ethan Nichtern leads a twenty-four-hour sit at ABC Carpet & Home in 2009 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

twi-ny: What’s your favorite Radiohead album?

EN: It would be really hard to not call OK Computer the best Radiohead album, because it is now a classic of the 1990s, maybe the best complete album of the last twenty years. I like all of their albums, but I would say that my other favorite is Kid A. One of the chapter titles in The Road Home is “Where I End and You Begin,” which is so related to the Mahayana teachings, which is also one of my favorite songs from Hail to the Thief, which I think is an underrated album. I like them all.

twi-ny: If I’m not mistaken, you are, like me, a Mets fan. How can we use Buddhist meditation to help us through such annual disappointment come September?

EN: I mean, if we even make it to September before disappointment sets in, it means they are having a relatively good season. 🙂 It’s amazing how quickly we can identify personally with sports, but then when the season ends we have to let it go either way. And it’s that process of intense identification and hopefulness mixed with the annual need to just let go that I think makes being a sports fan in general a really good practice, especially when your team is perennially mediocre. Identify, hope, then let go! Then do it again next year. It’s beautiful.

twi-ny: Both you and my wife have tried to get me to meditate, but I’ve failed miserably. On a very general level, what is the most important first step for someone like me, who could probably benefit greatly from a more relaxed approach to life?

EN: I just think you have to keep it simple and short, like five minutes to start of just settling in with the breath. Everyone seems to be supportive of meditation now, but most people think it’s too hard for them to do personally. They usually have crazy expectations from a more idealistic spiritual standpoint about what is supposed to happen for them, like no more thoughts! And then they just confront their normal busy neurotic mind. So I would just let go of any expectations. You aren’t going to stop thinking! Classes on a regular basis can provide support and accountability, and you also realize that everyone is struggling in their own version the same way that you are, and I think the group environment can help overcome strange ideas about practice, of which there are so many. If I were you, I would just do it a little bit and not worry about how your thoughts feel while you aren’t doing it but instead focus on how you feel throughout the day after doing it for five minutes in the morning.