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

THE BIG QUIZ THING: PRESIDENTS DAY EDITION

The New-York Historical Society will host a special Presidents Day edition of the Big Quiz Thing on February 16

Who: Noah Tarnow and competitors
What: The Big Quiz Thing
Where: New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West at 77th St., 212-873-3400
When: Monday, February 16, $25 (includes two beer/wine tickets), 6:30
Why: The New-York Historical Society is celebrating Presidents Day by not only opening its doors on Monday, February 16, but hosting a special multimedia holiday edition of the Big Quiz Thing. “The Live Game Show Spectacular,” which has spread to L.A., Boston, and Chicago, was created in 2002 by Noah Tarnow, the self-proclaimed “Official Quizmaster of New York City.” Study up on those heads of state if you want to impress your friends and win prizes, but keep an eye out for such teams as 88 Lines of Coke for 44 Presidents, Jean-Claude Van Damme We’re Good at Trivia, and Rick Santorum and the Eurythmics, as well as a surprise guest quizmaster. The festivities will take place in the library, and every ticket comes with two drinks. Future Big Quiz Things include an Oscar-themed battle and screening on February 22 at (le) poisson rouge and the Brooklyn Brain Jam on March 15 at Littlefield.

FUNLAND: PLEASURES & PERILS OF THE EROTIC FAIRGROUND

”Jump for Joy” is one of the highlights of immersive “Funland” exhibit at the Museum of Sex (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Museum of Sex
233 Fifth Ave. at 27th St.
Daily through spring 2015, $17.50
Portal of Love: Sunday, February 15, $25-$30, 10:00 pm – 4:00 am
212-689-6337
www.museum.museumofsex.com

When it comes right down to it, sex, in all its iterations, if done right, should be fun, if a little dangerous. And that’s the premise behind the Museum of Sex’s playful interactive exhibition “Funland: Pleasures & Perils of the Erotic Fairground.” Bompass & Parr, the jelly-loving London-based conceptual art duo of Sam Bompass and Harry Parr that has celebrated death in the architectural design competition Monumental Masonry, created a multisensory church organ promoting the wonders of whisky with the Flavour Conductor, and built the cake-inspired nine-hole Crazy Golf course on Selfridge’s roof, has now transformed a section of the Museum of Sex into a kinky carnival where visitors get to shed a bit of their inhibition and have a rousingly bawdy good time — while getting to release orgasmic endorphins in public. “Funland” comprises a handful of amorous attractions that add tantalizing twists to fairground favorites, all set in a luridly lit amorously red setting, with a carny, carnal soundscape by Dom James. Begin with “Foreplay Derby,” in which challengers roll balls into a hole in order to make their assigned gold phallus cross a finish line first; the winner just might get whipped by a seductively clad museum worker. “The Tunnel of Love” is a hall of mirrors that leads to a sculpture of a G-spot that is also a Theremin that plays music when you wave your hand over it.

“Grope Mountain” is a three-sided climbing wall where you have to grab on to casts of sexual body parts and orifices in order to successfully make it across. And in “Jump for Joy,” visitors remove their jackets and shoes and spend several minutes bouncing around a room of giant inflated breasts, like kids playing in a balloon room; be prepared to exit somewhat dizzy and winded. The exhibit also includes a vitrine that offers daringly shaped edible delights and the “Erotic Picture Palace,” which shows NSFW old movies and carnival footage, including The Rotascope. Professor Vanessa Toulmin of the National Fairground Archive at the University of Sheffield puts it all in cultural context in her essay “As Graceful as They Were Disgraceful: Eroticism and the Fairground,” in which she writes, “Despite the attempts by moral puritans to tame the baying crowds, the elements of untamed sexuality, the Baktinian world of the carnivalesque remained beneath the veneer of the modernistic fairground roundabouts and carousels. . . . However, it was entry into the sideshows that revealed to the visitor the full frontal erotic reality of the female nude. . . . The sideshows of the twentieth century were a continuous link to the bacchanalia of the medieval and preindustrial European fairs, offering sex, nudity, and the wonders of gay Paree for a penny or a dime.” The Museum of Sex offers its own whimsical twenty-first-century take on bacchanalia for $17.50 plus tax.

The museum also has a large yet intimate new café/den/bar appropriately called Play, where you can grab a drink or dinner while perusing a book from its extensive sexually charged library. For Valentine’s Day weekend, MoSex is hosting “Get Steamy” specials, with “The Full Treatment: 3 Aphrodisiac Shooters,” a trio of vodka-infused cocktails (Lychee Libidinal, Pomegranate Virility, and Citrous Oxide); bath and body packages; and extended hours, remaining open till midnight on Friday and Saturday. And on Sunday night from 8:00 till 4:00, “Portal of Love” will feature modern burlesque and genre-bending performances by ill-Esha, BRANX, Brightside, Of the Trees, PartyFoul 5000, Soohan, the Bill Wurtzel Trio, House of Screwball, Groucho Fractal, Magic Mike, Cat Wolf, Wild Torus, Kevin Karpt, Evelyn Von Gizycki, Lindsee Lonesome, and the Merry Pranksters, live painting by Joness Jones and Harrison Lance Crawford, and workshops led by Val Tignini (“Kundalini Rising”), David Young (“Guided Dual Flute Meditation”), Richard Anton Diaz (“Activating Sexual Energy”), and Jane Bernard (“Intuitive Thinking”). You can also check out the other exhibitions at the museum: “The Eve of Porn: Linda Lovelace” examines the controversy surrounding Deep Throat and the treatment of its star, while “The Sex Lives of Animals” is an engaging and educational exploration of animal sexual behavior.

THE MYTH MAKERS: AVIAN AVATARS

The Tourist, a Victoria crowned pigeon, hovers not far from Macy’s (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Garment District Plazas
Broadway between 41st & 36th Sts.
Through April 30 (all events free with advance RSVP)
“Chocolate and Roses” tour February 14 at 3:00
www.garmentdistrictnyc.com
www.themythmakers.blogspot.com
avian avatars slideshow

This rather cold and bleak winter hasn’t stopped a group of very large, determined birds from migrating to the Garment District and nesting right smack on Broadway. Married couple and artistic collaborators Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein have placed five monumental sculptures between Thirty-Sixth and Forty-First Streets, giant birds constructed from found materials both natural (maple saplings) and machine-made (various repurposed plastic objects). Since 2010, Dodson and Moerlein, as the Myth Makers, have been installing public projects inspired by nature and wildlife throughout the Northeast and other locations. They work primarily with new-growth saplings, culling them from forestry sites and then steaming and bending the wood, weaving them into beautiful arcs and outlines. For “Avian Avatars,” the first winter installation sponsored by the Garment District Alliance, the Myth Makers have incorporated a New York City sensibility into the works, which stand between eighteen and twenty-six feet high, each one accompanied by an inspirational quote by a famous figure. At the north end is the Scold, a crow whose feathers are made of yellow “caution” and “cuidado” tape, sending out a warning to all comers in two languages. According to Dodson and Moerlein’s mythology, the crow is “a raucous chatterbox [that] has an opinion on everything.” Feel free to step inside for a different kind of view while considering this pearl from Henry David Thoreau: “I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life….” One block south is an owl known as the Great Spirit, whose fur is made of white and brown plastic bags snapping in the breeze. Described as “a humble leader [that] embraces the strengths and weaknesses of humanity,” the Great Spirit gazes intensely over the city as it shares this thought from Mother Teresa: “Not all of us can do great things. But we can [each] do small things with great love.”

“Avian Avatars” are nesting along Broadway through April (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Next up is the falcon called the Taste Maker, boasting a dark black head (made from burned saplings) and a body covered in thin plastic tubing. The Myth Makers consider the falcon to be “an uncompromising harbinger of taste,” explaining that “the critic is not a populist,” and they relate the bird to something Ayn Rand once said: “The truth is not for all . . . but only for those who seek it.” The Realist is that favorite New York City flying icon, the red-tailed hawk, in this case showing off a glorious plumage composed of red plastic barricade fencing that is so familiar on construction sites. “Everyone has a killer instinct, a desire to fly, and an ambition to achieve their fifteen minutes of fame,” the Myth Makers proclaim, while Bruce Springsteen adds some words to live by: “When it comes to luck, you make your own.” The final bird is a proud Victoria crowned pigeon called the Tourist, its feathers formed by golf clubs with colorful handles, while purple plastic pieces sit atop its head, affirming its royalty. Its legend states, “Visitors drawn to this vibrant city shape culture with their impulsive consumer behavior,” while Malcolm Gladwell adds, “Who we are cannot be separated from where we’re from.”

Towering bird sculptures are made with bent sapling branches and repurposed plastic (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

As with all of the Myth Makers’ work, “Avian Avatars” is temporary, although it will not go up in flames as so many of their other projects are designed to do. The five birds will continue roosting on Broadway through April, as the snow melts away and spring is on the horizon. Several of the pieces can be entered, so feel free to walk inside; don’t be surprised if you’re sharing space with real birds, as sparrows twitter and flit through the wooden shapes. A thoroughly congenial pair, Dodson and Morelein will be hosting a series of special events, all free with advance RSVP, in conjunction with the installation, which brings a playful life to the area. On February 14 at 3:00, they will be presenting a romantic Valentine’s Day “Chocolate and Roses” tour; be sure to ask them about how they met. After the tour, they will head over to Harlow at 109 East Fifty-Sixth St. to inaugurate their “Love Birds” indoor installation, complete with a reception and cocktail party. On March 7, they will give a tour for Armory Arts Week. On March 25, they will team up for a behind-the-scenes conversation at 3:00 and will then discuss public art projects at the Artists Talk on Art panel at the Jefferson Market Library at 6:00, followed by a Q&A. And on April 24, they will give their last tour as part of International Sculpture Day, shortly before “Avian Avatars” flies away for good.

ALL-STAR SATURDAY NIGHT

Who: Current and former NBA stars
What: All-Star Saturday Night (and other events all week)
Where: Barclays Center, 620 Atlantic Ave., 718-618-6700
When: Saturday, February 14, 8:30
Why: The NBA All-Star Game might be taking place on Sunday at Madison Square Garden, but the All-Stars and other top NBA and WNBA players and legends will be in Brooklyn the night before, participating in skills competitions that are usually a whole lot more fun and exciting than the no-defense game. Shooting Stars features Team Bosh (Chris Bosh, Dominique Wilkins, Swin Cash), Team Curry (Stephen Curry, Dell Curry, Sue Bird), Team Davis (Anthony Davis, Scottie Pippen, Elena Delle Donne), and Team Westbrook (Russell Westbrook, Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, Tamika Catchings) showing what they got from different spots on the court. Trey Burke, Jimmy Butler, Michael Carter-Williams, Brandon Knight, Kyle Lowry, Jeff Teague, Isaiah Thomas, and John Wall will go up against one another in the Skills Challenge. Battling it out in the Three-Point Contest will be Marco Belinelli, Stephen Curry, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Kyle Korver, Wesley Matthews, J. J. Redick, and Klay Thompson. And then Mason Plumlee, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Zach LaVine, and Victor Oladipo will put the icing on the cake in the Slam Dunk competition. In addition, there will be special events February 10-16 at the NBA House in Moynihan Station ($20), the All-Star Celebrity Game (with Kevin Hart, Ansel Elgort, Anthony Anderson, Common, Mo’ne Davis, Win Butler, Chadwick Boseman, Nick Cannon,Allan Houston,Chris Mullin, Blake Leeper, Michael Rapaport, Robert Pera, Kristen Ledlow, Abhishek Bachchan, Shoni Schimmel, Skylar Diggins, and Tina Charles, coached by Carmelo Anthony, Spike Lee, Mike Golic, and Mike Greenberg) at the Garden on February 13 at 7:00 ($15-$105), the Rising Stars Challenge, pitting the U.S. (Trey Burke, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Carter-Williams, Zach LaVine, Shabazz Muhammad, Nerlens Noel, Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Payton, Mason Plumlee, Cody Zeller) against the world (Steven Adams, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bojan Bogdanovic, Gorgui Dieng, Dante Exum, Rudy Gobert, Nikola Mirotic, Kelly Olynyk, Dennis Schroder, Andrew Wiggins), on February 13 at 9:00 at Barclays ($22-$87), an open practice at the World’s Most Famous Arena on February 14 at 10:30 am ($15-$105), and the NY Heroes: Bravest vs. Finest game at Barclays on February 15 at 12:30, followed by the NBA D-League All-Star Game at 2:00 ($10-$70).

WANG JIANWEI: SPIRAL RAMP LIBRARY

Who: Wang Jianwei
What: “Spiral Ramp Library,” live performance held in conjunction with the closing of the exhibition “Wang Jianwei: Time Temple”
Where: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Ave. at 89th St., 212-423-3587
When: Thursday, February 12, $12, 8:00, and Friday, February 13, $15, 8:00
Why: “I always want to position my works, the exhibitions, and the audience’s relationship to the exhibitions as part of a process. The process includes changes that take place during different periods of time. For example, the production of works as time, the exhibition cycle as time, and the audience’s viewing experience in different locations as time,” Beijing-based artist Wang Jianwei says in a video about his Guggenheim exhibition, “Time Temple.” The exhibition consists of a room of painting and sculpture on view through February 16; the fifty-five-minute film The Morning Time Disappeared, inspired by Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, screening daily at 1:00; and the live multimedia performance event “Spiral Ramp Library,” taking place February 12-13 in the museum’s rotunda, incorporating sound, video, dance, theater, and improvisation, gathering ideas generated by the exhibition’s opening event, in which twenty speakers discussed ten topics, including maps, Jorge Luis Borges, climate, Frank Lloyd Wright, the universe, and the Guggenheim itself, in a way reimagining the building as Borges’s Tower of Babel in which every person is a book. (The February 13 performance will be followed by a Q&A with Wang.)

THE OTHER MAN: F. W. DE KLERK AND THE END OF APARTHEID

Former South African president offers insight into his life and career in new documentary (photo by Baraka Productions)

F. W. DE KLERK AND THE END OF APARTHEID (Nicolas Rossier, 2014)
Quad Cinema
34 West 13th St.
Opens Friday, February 6
212-255-2243
www.quadcinema.com
www.firstrunfeatures.com

In The Other Man: F. W. de Klerk and the End of Apartheid, filmmaker Nicolas Rossier examines the legacy of the man who won the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela, painting an intriguing portrait of former South African president Frederik Willem de Klerk, who ended the ban on the African National Congress and ultimately ceded power to Mandela. “I’ve come to the conclusion that apartheid was wrong, that it was morally unjustifiable, and therefore it had to be changed,” de Klerk states emphatically in the film. “And I’m not justifying in any way the wrongs which took place and which was done to the majority of the people living in South Africa in the period of apartheid and separate development.” De Klerk was born into a privileged family, his father one of the chief architects of apartheid, which its supporters prefer to call “separate development.” Taking over the presidency in 1989 from P. W. Botha, de Klerk saw the inevitable downfall of white leadership in South Africa and worked with Mandela to create a new future for the country. Rossier speaks with such anti-apartheid activists as Mathews Phosa, Albie Sachs, Yasmin Sooka, Randall Robinson, and Father Michael Lapsley; such members of de Klerk’s inner circle as Director General David Steward, cabinet ministers Leon Wessels and Roelf Meyer, and friend and foreign ministry spokeswoman Alayne Reesberg; journalists Allister Sparks and Max du Preez; human rights abuse investigator Richard Goldstone; U.S. assistant secretary of state Chester Crocker; former SADF soldier Piet Croucamp; and former South African president Thabo Mbeki, who share wide-ranging opinions and stories about de Klerk as a man and a politician, examining his motives and responsibilities and placing them in context of the changes swirling throughout his country.

Nelson Mandela and F. W. de Klerk won Nobel Peace Prize together in 1993

But just when it appears that Rossier (Aristide and the Endless Revolution, American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein), who also uses archival footage to show the history of apartheid in South Africa, might let de Klerk off the hook, allowing him to exploit the film as a platform for his own carefully worded apology and explanations, the documentary switches direction, looking into the massive violence that occurred under his government, which de Klerk denies participating in or knowing about despite growing evidence to the contrary. The film gets choppy and confused in its later stages, losing control of its narrative thread while injecting manipulative sentimentality and trying to squeeze too much information into seventy-five minutes, leaving viewers rather disoriented and befuddled. But The Other Man does give plenty of thought-provoking insight into the now-seventy-eight-year-old de Klerk, reevaluating the legacy of the man who negotiated with Mandela to end apartheid in South Africa. The film opens February 6 at the Quad, with Rossier participating in Q&As following select shows all weekend, the last being 4:30 on Sunday.

OSCAR BUZZ PRESENTS: LAST DAYS IN VIETNAM

Documentary looks at the mad rush to get out of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War (photo courtesy Bettmann/Corbis)

LAST DAYS IN VIETNAM (Rory Kennedy, 2014)
Maysles Cinema
343 Malcolm X Blvd. between 127th & 128th Sts.
Sunday, February 8, 7:30
Series runs February 7-18
212-582-6050
www.maysles.org/mdc
www.lastdaysinvietnam.com

To many, the fall of Saigon immediately brings to mind images of men, women, and children climbing the gate at the U.S. embassy, desperately trying to board American helicopters and escape the country as the North Vietnamese army approached. Director and producer Rory Kennedy takes viewers behind the scenes of that madness in the harrowing and revealing documentary Last Days in Vietnam. Kennedy, the youngest daughter of Bobby and Ethel Kennedy, and editor Don Kleszy have woven together remarkable footage from 1970s Vietnam as more than a dozen insiders share their compelling stories, which play out like a gripping thriller with a surprise, emotionally powerful ending. At the center of it all is the late U.S. ambassador Graham Martin, a stubborn patriot who continually refused to vacate the embassy until it was almost too late. U.S. Army captain Stuart Herrington gets personal as he talks about trying to help potential refugees. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and White House press secretary Ron Nessen discuss President Gerald Ford’s attempts to persuade Congress to fund a major evacuation. CIA analyst Frank Snepp and Special Forces advisor Richard Armitage delve into the military’s plans, while South Vietnamese Navy captain Kiem Do, South Vietnamese Army lieutenant Dam Pham, and Vietnamese student Binh Pho tell what it was like from their vantage points. USS Kirk chief engineer Hugh Doyle, USS Kirk captain Paul Jacobs, and Marine pilot Gerald Berry reveal stunning stories of bravery and daring during the evacuation on land and sea and in the air. If you think this is old news, you’re mistaken, as the film offers a whole new perspective on this seminal moment in the history of two nations — and it’s nearly impossible to watch it without thinking that something similar might occur in Iraq and Afghanistan soon. An American Experience production and nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, Last Days in Vietnam is screening February 8 at 7:30 as part of the Maysles Documentary Center series “Oscar Buzz Presents” and will be followed by a Q&A with Kennedy (Ethel, Ghosts of Abu Ghraib); the series includes such other Oscar-nominated and shortlisted films as Laura Poitras’s Citizenfour, Sam Cullman, Mark Becker, and Jennifer Grausman’s Art and Craft, and Al Hicks’s Keep on Keepin’ On.