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

THINKSWISS: GENÈVE MEETS NEW YORK

Foofwa d’Imobilité will pay tribute to Pina Bausch, Merce Cunningham, and Michael Jackson as part of ThinkSwiss festival

A FESTIVAL OF GLOBAL IDEAS BORN IN GENEVA: JEAN CALVIN, JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU, ALBERT GALLATIN, HENRY DUNANT
Multiple locations
March 6-12, free – $35
212-599-5700, ext 1061
www.thinkswissny.org

“The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless,” Geneva philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote nearly three centuries ago. The Social Contract author’s native country is celebrating the three hundredth anniversary of the master thinker’s birth with a series of events around the world, including this month’s ThinkSwiss Festival of Global Ideas Born in Geneva. Examining issues that impact both America and Switzerland, the week-long festival includes live music and dance, panel discussions, literary readings, film screenings, and art exhibits, most of which are free but require advance RSVP. Things get under way on March 6 ($10) with a screening of Swiss director Jacob Berger’s 2002 feature film Loving Father (Aime Ton Père) and his 2002 short I Think About Alain Tanner (Je pense à Alain Tanner) as part of FIAF’s weekly CinémaTuesdays series, with Berger on hand to participate in a Q&A at 7:00. On March 7, the American Red Cross will host “Can the Geneva Conventions Still Protect Civilians and Non-Combatants in Contemporary Warfare?” a roundtable with Philip Gourevitch, Colonel (ret.) Dick Jackson, Roger Mayou, and Gabor Rona, moderated by Walter A. Füllemann. On March 8, the exhibition “L’Esprit de Genève by Its Posters” will open at Posters Please, and the NYU Presidential Medal Ceremony will include a conversation between honoree Michel Butor and Lois Oppenheim examining “L’Esprit de Genève: From Albert Gallatin to Michel Butor.” On March 9 ($35, lunch included), Adam Gopnik will moderate the discussion “A la Table de Rousseau: What Is Progressive About Education Today?” at FIAF with Butor, Megan Laverty, Jean-Michel Olivier, and Shimon Waronker, followed by “How to Read Rousseau in the 21st Century,” led by François Jacob. Also on March 9 ($25), Pascal Couchepin, Thomas Kean, Eliot Spitzer, Benjamin Barber, Guillaume Chenevière, Victor Gourevitch, Amin Husain, Laura Flanders, Nannerl Keohane, Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, and Simon Schama will occupy the Celeste Bartos Forum at the New York Public Library for “Occupy Rousseau: Inequality & Social Justice,” which seeks to answer the question “What would Jean-Jacques Rousseau say about our democracies if he were among us today?” On March 10, pianist Louis Schwizgebel, cellist Lionel Cottet, and violinist François Sochard will perform the U.S. premiere of “Variations on a Theme by J.J. Rousseau” by Friedrich W. Kalkbrenner and André-François Marescotti, Ravel’s “Ondine,” Brahms’s “Scherzo in C Minor” and “Hungarian Dances Nos. 1, 2, 6 and 7,” Mendelssohn’s “Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 49,” and Liszt’s “Les Cloches de Genève” in the program “Soloists from L’Orchestre International de Genève” at Merkin Concert Hall. On March 11 at 4:00, Foofwa d’Imobilité will pay tribute to dance legends Pina Bausch, Merce Cunningham, and Michael Jackson in “Pina Jackson in Mercemoriam” at the Kitchen, and the Marc Perrenoud Trio will perform at 7:00 at the Allen Room. And on March 12, Rebecca MacKinnon will moderate “Breaking Through Internet Censorship” at the Cooper Union with Stéphane Koch, Ebtihal Mubarak, Thérèse Obrecht, Anas Qtiesh, and a surprise guest, and journalist and writer Jean-Michel Olivier will give a lecture in French at the Haskell Library at FIAF.

SUNDAY SESSIONS

Mårten Spångberg will be at MoMA PS1 for a special performance and book signing (photo by Gaetano Cammarota)

MoMA PS1
22-25 Jackson Ave. at 46th Ave.
Sunday, March 4, 1:00 – 6:00
Series continues through May 13
Suggested admission: $10 (free for MoMA ticket holders within thirty days of ticket)
718-784-2084
www.ps1.org

MoMA PS1’s weekly Sunday Sessions continues on March 4 with another afternoon of diverse, cutting-edge programming. Darren Bader, whose sculptures are on view in “Images” (and where salad is served on Saturdays and Mondays), will present “E-Party” under the Performance Dome, an exploration of the letter E[e] with Enya and Ed Hardy at 1:00, Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’Eclisse at 2:30, and an experimental dance party at 4:30 with DJs Justin Strauss, Darshan Jesrani, and Domie Nation. At 3:00 in the Mini-Kunsthalle, dancer-choreographer Maria Hassabi has invited Swedish multidisciplinary artist Mårten Spångberg to give an hour-long comedic lecture in conjunction with the publication of his latest book, Spangbergianism, followed by a discussion moderated by André Lepecki. “It’s an exorcism, an attempt to engage in the lowest and dirtiest truths, delusions, opportunisms and what we don’t talk about. It shows no mercy,” Spångberg writes in the preface. Also at 3:00, ARTBOOK @ MOMA PS1 will present Lars Müller in conversation with Steven Holl in the museum lobby, followed by a book signing of Steven Holl: Color Light Time and Steven Holl: Scale. In addition, be sure to check out the current exhibitions, which include “Darren Bader: Images,” “Clifford Owens: Anthology,” “Frances Stark: My Best Thing,” and shows by Henry Taylor, Surasi Kusolwong, Rania Stephan, and the art collective Chim↑Pom.

FIRST SATURDAYS: FIERCE, PHENOMENAL WOMEN

Rachel Kneebone, “The Descent,” porcelain, 2008 (© Rachel Kneebone; photo by Stephen White, courtesy White Cube)

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, March 3, 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 honors “Fierce, Phenomenal Women” in its March First Saturday programming with a series of events celebrating the second sex. The evening will feature live performances by Alakande! Spread Joy!, Making Friendz, Fredericks Brown, the Brooklyn Ballet, and Queen Godis, artist and curator talks with Mary Lucier, Kate Gilmore, and Catherine Morris, a book talk with author Sara Marcus, a presentation of “The Bad Feminist Readings,” a newspaper illustration workshop, a dance party hosted by DJs Reborn, Moni, Selly, and shErOck, and an action station where visitors can contribute to a community panel inspired by Judy Chicago’s “The Dinner Party.” In addition, the galleries will be open late, giving visitors plenty of opportunity to check out “Playing House,” “Rachel Kneebone: Regarding Rodin,” “Raw/Cooked: Shura Chernozatonskaya,” “Newspaper Fiction: The New York Journalism of Djuna Barnes, 1913–1919,” “Question Bridge: Black Males,” and “19th-Century Modern.”

LAST DAYS HERE

Pentagram leader Bobby Liebling struggles through some very hard times in LAST DAYS HERE

LAST DAYS HERE (Don Argott & Demian Fenton, 2011)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at West Third St.
Opens Friday, March 2
212-924-7771
www.ifccenter.com
www.914pictures.com

While doing work for Philly record label Relapse, hard rock fan Sean “Pellet” Pelletier became obsessed with Bobby Liebling, lead singer and songwriter for the 1970s Virginia doom metal band Pentagram. Over the course of four decades, the highly influential but deeply troubled group had gone through myriad lineup changes and constant breakups, never achieving mass success primarily because of the wildly unpredictable and self-destructive frontman. In his mid-fifties, Liebling was a casualty of the classic sex, drugs, and rock and roll story, living in his parents’ basement, smoking crack, and picking at the horrific oozing scabs on his bandage-wrapped arms. He is the unlikeliest of heavy metal heroes, but Pelletier is so determined to help bring Liebling and Pentagram back into the public limelight that he becomes their manager, trying against all odds to get the band back together to make a new record and go out on tour. But when he finally convinces Liebling to give up the pipe, the singer turns to another addiction, the love of his much younger girlfriend, Hallie Miller, an extremely strange and inexplicable relationship. For Last Days Here, an almost hard-to-believe combination of VH1’s Behind the Music and Bands Reunited, directors Don Argott (Rock School, The Art of the Steal) and Demian Fenton followed Pelletier and Liebling around for three years, speaking with Liebling’s parents, such former Pentagram members as Geof O’Keefe, Greg Mayne, Gary Isom, and Joe Hasselvander, über fan Callae Gotz, and music producer Murray Krugman, who share personal tales about the rise and many falls of Liebling and Pentagram. Liebling gives the filmmakers access to every part of his life, resulting in an intimate portrait of a bizarre existence; it is almost impossible to equate the basement-dwelling, near-death Liebling with the metal madman responsible for such songs as “Be Forewarned,” “When the Screams Come,” “Livin’ in a Ram’s Head,” “Relentless,” and “Day of Reckoning.” Argott and Fenton focus on Liebling while not getting overinvolved with the music itself, which is kept to a minimum; you don’t have to be a fan of heavy metal to appreciate this compelling tale of survival. Last Days Here opens March 2 at the IFC Center, with Argott and Fenton appearing at the 7:55 and 9:55 Friday-night screenings.

WHITNEY BIENNIAL 2012: LIVE EVENTS

Dawn Kasper has moved into the Whitney and will present live performances May 23-25 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Whitney Museum of American Art
945 Madison Ave. at 75th St.
March 1 – May 27, $18 (pay-what-you-wish Fridays 6:00 – 9:00)
212-570-3600
www.whitney.org

The seventy-sixth Whitney Biennial opens today with an entire floor dedicated to live performance and performance-based installation. The premier events include a series of residencies beginning March 1-11 with Sarah Michelson’s “Devotion Study #1 — The American Dancer” and continuing March 14 – April 8 with a new multimedia piece by Michael Clark in collaboration with Charles Atlas. The specially commissioned works, which take place on the fourth floor in a white space with rows of folding chairs, require advance tickets for some performances while at other times are first come, first served with regular museum admission. Atlas will also screen several of his films April 11-15, participate in a conversation with biennial curators and Robert Swinston on April 12, and present the live audio-visual show “Atlas/Basinski” on April 20-21. The rock band the Red Krayola will perform ensemble music and a free-form freakout on April 13 and opera on April 14, while Richard Maxwell will hold open rehearsals for a new play April 25-29. Alicia Hall Moran and Jason Moran’s “BLEED” involves five days of live music May 9-13, while K8 Hardy will examine the state of fashion with a unique runway show on May 20. Buster Keaton fan Dawn Kasper has taken all of her possessions from her L.A. studio apartment and moved into the Whitney’s third floor, where she will be rearranging her cluttered space and hosting performances with friends May 23-25. From May 23 through June 3, Lutz Bacher, whose “Celestial Handbook” framed pages hang on walls throughout the museum, will be scattering hundreds of baseballs to redefine her space. Arika’s philosophical foray “A survey is a process of listening” invites audiences to share their thoughts May 2-6, while Yair Oelbaum and Kai Althoff will perform the play There we will be buried May 16-19. On Sundays and other select days, Georgia Sagri will create a book with the concept “Working the No Work.” And Tom Thayer’s third-floor installation will come to life May 20 and 27.

Laida Lertxunde will be at the Whitney April 1 to screen and discuss such works as A LAX RIDDLE UNIT

Curators Elisabeth Sussman, Jay Sanders, Thomas Beard, and Ed Halter have put together a wide-ranging film series that runs throughout the biennial, with programs dedicated to shorts and feature-length works by Luther Price, Michael Robinson, Jerome Hiler, Nathaniel Dorsky, Laida Lertxunde, Thom Andersen, Moyra Davey, Kelly Reichardt, Matt Porterfield, Wu Tsang, Kevin Jerome Everson, and Laura Poitras, all of whom will participate in individual conversations; films by the recently deceased George Kuchar and Mike Kelly will also be screened, as well as the very much alive Frederick Wiseman’s 2010 Boxing Gym. With all of these special programs, you should allow yourself plenty of time to experience this year’s biennial — or even set aside a few days, because there’s a whole lot to see and experience.

STRANGER THAN FICTION — THE PROMISE: THE MAKING OF DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN

THE PROMISE: THE MAKING OF DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (Thom Zimny, 2010)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at West Third St.
Tuesday, February 28, $16, 8:00
212-924-7771
www.stfdocs.com
www.brucespringsteen.net

After the breakout success of Born to Run in 1975, Bruce Springsteen became embroiled in a lawsuit over control of his music that prevented him from going into the studio to make the highly anticipated follow-up. Springsteen found himself at a crossroads; “You didn’t know if this would be the last record you’d ever make,” he says in the revealing behind-the-scenes documentary The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town. Combining archival footage of the Darkness sessions shot by Barry Rebo with new interviews with all the members of the E Street Band in addition to producers Jimmy Iovine, Jon Landau, and others, editor and director Thom Zimny melds Bruce’s past with the present, delving deep into Springsteen’s complex, infuriating, and fiercely dedicated creative process. “I had to disregard my own mutation,” Springsteen says at one point, regarding his battle to avoid getting caught up in the hype that came with Born to Run, so he decided that his next album would be “a meditation on where are you going to stand.” Rebo captures Springsteen and the E Street Band — from a bare-chested Bruce to a bandanna-less Steve Van Zandt — rehearsing and recording alternate takes of familiar songs as well as tunes that would later wind up on such albums as The River and Tracks, opening up Bruce’s famous notebooks and examining his intense creative process, which included throwing away dozens and dozens of songs that he believed just didn’t fit within his vision of what Darkness should be. Two of the most fascinating parts of the The Promise involve Patti Smith discussing “Because the Night,” explaining that the lyrics she added are about her waiting for her boyfriend at the time (and later husband), Fred “Sonic” Smith, to call her, and Toby Scott talking about mixing the Darkness record to get the sound pictures in Bruce’s head onto vinyl. The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town is screening as part of the IFC Center’s Stranger Than Fiction series and will be followed by a Q&A with Zimny, Springsteen’s longtime director who just made the music video for Bruce’s latest single, “We Take Care of Our Own.”

MOCCA THURSDAYS: AL JAFFEE AND THE MAD FOLD-IN COLLECTION

Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art
594 Broadway (Suite 401) between Houston & Prince Sts.
Thursday, February 23, $7, 7:00
212-254-3511
www.moccany.org

For more than forty-five years, nearly every issue of MAD magazine ended with a fold-in surprise by Al Jaffee, a full-page piece of art that became something completely different when readers brought the A and the B together and folded it in. In conjunction with the recent release of The MAD Fold-In Collection: 1964-2010 (Chronicle, September 2011, $125) — a deluxe four-volume hardcover set that includes a reproduction of every one of the 410 fold-ins Jaffee and the “usual gang of idiots” created, including a copy of the original unfolded page as well as a digital image of the folded result — the ninety-year-old Jaffee will be at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art on Thursday night at 7:00, participating in a panel discussion with MAD art director Sam Viviano, MAD writer Arie Kaplan, and illustrator Arnold Roth, moderated by Danny Fingeroth. This is a rare chance to meet a living legend in the industry, a highly influential illustrator who counts among his minions Stephen Colbert, Gary Larson, and many others. You should also check out MOCCA’s current exhibits, which include “Michael Uslan: The Boy Who Loved Batman,” “Bat-Manga: The Secret History of Batman in Japan,” “Artists of Batman,” and “The Art of Howl: A Collaboration between Eric Drooker and Allen Ginsberg.”