This Week’s Must-see Art Events: Get Your Ass to This Contemporary Fluxus Theater Event

by Corinna Kirsch and Whitney Kimball on November 3, 2014 Events

cat book

For more about this collage, see Wednesday’s talk at Artists Space.

Who wants to go on a “goth walk”? Who wants to go to an art fair? Who wants to discuss feminism over the latest copy of the New York Times?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above, then this week will hold much excitement for  you. Additionally, this weekend at the Kitchen, a massive contemporary restaging of a Fluxus theater piece should bring down the house. Meanwhile, the Bruce High Quality Foundation’s benefit, featuring Blood Orange, might actually be the best party in town for months to come. And if you’re in Philly, you can see a whole bunch of up-and-coming artists, plus watch mermaids in the park all weekend. It’s going to be a good week.

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  3. W
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  6. S

Mon

IFC Center

323 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10014
8:00 PM Website

Sagrada: The Mystery of Creation

When in doubt, watch a gem at the IFC Center. This week they’re screening Stefan Haupt’s new documentary Sagrada: The Mystery of Creation on the unfinished basilica of Sagrada Familia, “one of the most iconic and enduring human structures ever built.” One hundred and twenty-five years after its conception, people are still working to finish it.

The screening will be followed by a discussion between George Ranalli, Dean, Spitzer School of Architecture, and Engineer Daniel Sesil of Leslie E. Robertson Associates, moderated by Thomas Wong, Design Partner in Ennead Architects. Additional speakers TBA.

Tue

Museum of Arts and Design

2 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019
10:00 AM- 6:00 PM Website

New Territories: Laboratories for Design, Craft, and Art in Latin America

A 75-person survey of artists, designers, craftspersons, and collectives from Latin America working in this decade— “the first” of its ilk in a Stateside museum. From the Museum of Art and Design’s site, it looks like another “Makers” show, broadly themed with watchwords like experimentation, crafts, space, and repurposing. But at least it’s not another all-white dude show.

Wed

Momenta Art

56 Bogart Street
Brooklyn, NY 11206
7:00 - 8:30 PMWebsite

The New York Times Feminist Reading Group, hosted by Jen Kennedy and Liz Linden

If you’ve never been to a New York Times Feminist Reading Group session, let me tell you, it’s the most an art event has come to replicating life at the AFC office. You read stuff, you point out flaws, you praise the work well done, and most importantly, you end up relating what you read to other aspects of your life. You don’t need to bring anything—newspapers are provided—but if you’ve already read the Times that day, that’ll help.

The Boiler

191 N. 14th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11249
VIP ($600) opening on Tuesday November 4, 2014, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM; Official ($300) opening on Wednesday November 5, 2014, 6:00 to 8:00 PM Website

2014 Annual NURTUREart Benefit

Not every benefit includes a free artwork with the price of admission. Not every benefit lets you choose which artwork you take home, either. But NURTUREart lets you do both. For $300, you and your date can celebrate another year with the Bushwick non-profit best-known for supporting emerging talent from the high-school level onwards. For $600 you can attend Tuesday’s VIP opening and get first dibs on artwork before the hordes arrive on Wednesday.

Artists Space Books & Talks

55 Walker Street
New York, NY 10013
7:00 PM; $5 entrance donation; members free, guaranteed entryWebsite

Malicious Damage: The Defaced Library Books of Kenneth Halliwell & Joe Orton

Writers Ilsa Colsell and Francesca Coppa will be in conversation about a story that’s rarely told on this side of the pond. Beginning in 1959, the British writers Kenneth Halliwell and Joe Orton defaced library books, re-collaging covers and rearranging the text, and were then thrown in prison for it.

Thu

The Park Avenue Armory

67th and Park Avenue
New York, NY 10065
Thursday through Saturday: 12:00 to 8:00 PM Sunday: 12:00 to 5:00 PM; Admission rates vary from $20 and upWebsite

The International Fine Print Dealers Association Print Fair

The Armory is a lovely place for an art fair. Maybe it’s just the fluffy carpet that gives it a down-home feeling, but the pace is just right, too; there’s never any crowds barrelling down the aisles about to knock you over. I went to the IFPDA exhibition last year, and I’d certainly go again. From old master to contemporary prints, the works is entirely varied, and you’re likely to find any number of works that will challenge you to rethink what you know about print style. At an art fair, it’s rare enough to just be able to glimpse a work over someone’s shoulders.

548 West 22nd Street (DIA building)

New York, NY 10011
Opening night: Thursday November 6, 6:00 to 8:00 PM
Art fair: Friday and Saturday November 7 and 8, 12:00 to 7:00 PM; Sunday November 9, 12:00 to 6:00 PM; exhibition: Monday November 10 through Saturday November 15, 12:00 to 7:00 PMWebsite

Independent Projects

The IFPDA isn’t the only art fair taking place this week. If you can manage, put on your puffy coat and trudge on over to the Independent’s new fair, Independent Projects, held at the same place as always, ye olde Dia building. Some changes this time around: each gallery will bring a solo project, and after this weekend, when the dealers leave, the works will remain on view as an “exhibition.” And dealers at this iteration of the Independent are bigger and blue-chippier than ever: Gagosian, Gladstone, and Mitchell-Innes & Nash among them. So much for calling the Independent the alt fair ever again.

Industry City

33 34th Street, 6th Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11232
9:00 PMWebsite

Not for Profit: A Benefit for the Bruce High Quality Foundation University

Help the Bruce High Quality Foundation University continue to bring free art classes to the city, led by some of the best artists in the city. (Just lately, the programming has attracted such participants as Jayson Musson, Andrew Norman Wilson, Nicole Wittenberg, and artist/writer Sean J. Patrick Carney.) And for the low price of $50 per ticket, you should be able to afford the benefit, too.

P.S. There’s an open vodka bar and FUCKING BLOOD ORANGE IS PLAYING. Expect hordes.

Fri

Columbia University, International Affairs, Room 219

420 West 118 Street
New York, NY 10027
4:00 - 5:00 PM, free admissionWebsite

Film in Putin's Russia: Conformism and Resistance

Join one of Moscow’s most prominent film critics, Anton Dolin, as he discusses current trends in Russian cinema under the ties of a government known for censorship. (Plus, we realize we don’t link to events above Central Park hardly ever, so here’s an event for those off the 1 train.)

Please note that this talk will be held in Russian and simultaneously translated into English.

Little Berlin

2430 Coral Street
Philadelphia, PA 19125
6:00 to 10:00 PMWebsite

Hard to Please

If you want a sampler of what’s going on in the artist-run, DIY art world, then a cross-city show at Little Berlin is a good opportunity. Artists from Philly, New York, and Austin make work about how our need for power, and stuff, feeds into a violent culture. And having seen the participating collective BAIT perform live, I can say this should be on any emerging curator’s radar.

Artists: BAIT (Philadelphia, PA), Stephanie Bursese (Philadelphia, PA), Chiara No (Philadelphia, PA), Will Owen (Queens, NY), GaHee Park (New York, NY), Dani Frid Rossi (Brooklyn, NY), Caity Shaffer (Austin, TX), and Alexander Stewart (Chicago, IL).
Curated by Maddie Hewitt

Vox Populi

319 North 11th Street, 3rd floor
Philadelphia, PA 19107
6:00 PM Website

Shift Your Weight

Another show to hit curators’ radar: a debut show of Vox Populi’s newest members Timothy Belknap, Stephanie Bursese, Kelsey Halliday Johnson, Sharon Koelblinger, Christopher Manzione, and Kristen Neville Taylor. A cornerstone in the Philadelphia art scene, member artists are chosen carefully.

In addition to the opening, there will be a gallery talk on November 23rd from 3:00 – 5:00.

The Kitchen

512 West 19th Street
New York, NY 10011
Tickets $15 ($12 students, seniors)Website

21st-Century Staging of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s "Originale"

This looks like an art nerd’s Prince concert, an essential, absolutely unmissable rock legend event, except for Fluxus. On Friday and Saturday nights, a seldom-performed piece of Fluxus history comes to the Kitchen: Karlheinz Stockhausen’s 1961 musical theater piece Originale, which basically allows actors to do whatever they want within a loose set of theatrical prompts. The piece made a huge splash in 1964 when underground stars like Dick Higgins, Jackson Mac Low, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Breer, Billy Klüver, Max Neuhaus, Alvin Lucier, David Behrman, and Nam June Paik performed it in New York as part of the New York Festival of the Avant-Garde. This time, participants include:

Visual artist Joan Jonas; poet Eileen Myles; Big Art Group’s Caden Manson and Jemma Nelson, performance artist Justin Vivian Bond (11/7 only, costumed by threeASFOUR); pianist Stephen Drury; sound projectionist Joe Drew; performers Niv Acosta, Bishi, Nao Bustamante, Raul de Nieves, Ishmael Houston-Jones, Zach Layton, Rachel Mason (11/7), Narcissister, Colin Self (11/8), Alexandro Segade, Lucy Sexton and Saori Tsukada; musicians Stuart W. Gerber, Nick Hallett and Zach Layton; and filmmaker A.L. Steiner

Photo of the 1964 New York premiere, courtesy of Stockhausen Verlag.

Sat

Wissahickon Park, Philadelphia

Saturday and Sunday, all-day long
Website

Guerilla Outdoor Performance Festival

“I still need TWO MORE DOGS for this. The performance reenacting Daniel Radcliffe walking 12 dogs smoking a cigarette is this Saturday on Forbidden Drive in Wissahickon Park.”

That’s Philadelphia-based artist Beth Heinly on Facebook, making preparations for this weekend’s Guerilla Outdoor Performance Festival. Throughout the weekend, eleven performers will make use of public space by performing as river mermaids (Elizabeth Weinstein & Anna Kroll), building a simple structure (Tyler Kline), and performing standup comedy (Peter Morgan). Activities culminate in a “Goth Walk,” which is an opportunity for anybody who wants to to dress as a goth and walk in the park. To find specific performance spots, clikc on the link to the event’s Tumblr.

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