Friday, November 20, 2009
Art
FREE BOOZE! Art Events Tonight
Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 3:37 PM
Blane De St. Croix and critic Jill Connor discuss the former's Mountain Strip installation at Black & White Project Space, 483 Driggs Ave (between North 9th and North 10th Sts), 7pm
French art collective Le Dernier Cri (work pictured) take over at Cinders, 103 Havemeyer St (between Grand and Hope Sts), 7-10pm
Deceptive sculptors present Evidence of the Paranormal at Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, 438 Union Ave (between Metropolitan Ave and Devoe St), 7-9pm
Johan Nobell's trashy landscapes and John Stoney's pencil classicism at Pierogi, 177 North 9th St (between Bedford and Driggs Aves), 7-9pm
Group photography show and Grand Opening at K&K, 109 Broadway (between Bedford Ave and Berry St), 7-10pm
Greenpoint
Big group show Party at Chris's House at Janet Kurnatowski Gallery, 205 Norman Ave (at Humboldt St), 7-9pm
Manhattan art parties after the jump.
TV / Media Breaking: American Woman Doesn't Want to Be on Television
Posted by Mark Asch on Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 3:11 PM
It is very impressive, we suppose, that a person is secure enough in her employment and plans for the future that she can give 22 months' notice. I, too, had considered announcing that I would leave The Measure in September of 2011, to move to Copenhagen and pursue my long-term professional goal of living on government assistance while biking around drunk on Aquavit all day, but it'd be pretty presumptuous of me to expect there'd even still be a Measure in September of 2011, and not just an iPhone app that transmits Mike Conklin's withering dissections of indie-rock dinosaurs directly into your prefrontal cortex in bursts of 12 phonemes or less.
Music Jim DeRogatis: "The Pixies Are a Cynical Corporation Cashing in on Blatant Nostalgia"
Posted by Mike Conklin on Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 2:39 PM
When a group of revered and influential rockers come back together after a decade of acrimonious separation and/or inactivity, all but the most hard-hearted punks can grant them one lap around the reunion circuit playing the old should-have-been-hits, if only to collect the accolades and the cash that probably eluded them the first time.Boston's proto-alternative quartet the Pixies took that victory lap in 2004. Now, while they remain popular enough to play three nights at the Aragon Ballroom—Friday and Saturday sold out, though Thursday only was about half full—it's hard to consider them anything but a cynical corporation cashing in on blatant nostalgia—a hipper version of Creedence Clearwater Revisited or Journey and whoever is singing with that group these days.
So go ahead, guys, and let him know that he should lighten up and stop being such a ridiculous asshole, and to quit being such an indie-purist while he's at it. And be sure to tell him that, duh, it's not possible that there's anything wrong with what the band's doing because they're not forcing anyone to buy anything! Altough maybe you don't have to, since it seems he already has his own commenters starting to show up. Just_A_Girl, for instance, thinks it was totally "pretentions" of him to compare them to Journey. Which is totally fair, come to think of it. I prefer to compare them to Kiss.
Film Werewolves, Vampires, Tweens, Twilight, New Moon, I am Tired, Meh
Posted by Jonny Diamond on Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 2:01 PM
Because the most important movie of OUR TIME is coming out tonight, we decided to give into America's craze for Vampires vs. Werewolves and round up some of our favorite clips of the genres' respective money shots: The wolf transformation, and the vampire suck. Here are two (just a taste), followed by like a billion after the jump. (Thanks to intern Deirdre for her tireless YouTube searching...)
An American Werewolf in Paris
This is probably the least sexy Julie Delpy nude moment you will ever see on screen, though not as laughable as some of those scenes with Ethan Hawke in those dumb sunrise/sunset movies.
Music Show Review: Sleigh Bells at (Le) Poisson Rouge
Posted by Jeff Klingman on Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 1:28 PM
Art Neue Galerie Reaches New Millenium: Free Nights Start Next Month
Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 12:53 PM
Most museums have free nights—MoMA from 4-8pm on Fridays, the New Museum from 7-9pm on Thursdays, ICP is by donation from 5-8pm on Fridays—but it took a Bloomberg grant to bring the Neue Galerie around to the practice. And it's just in time, because the museum's current show, From Klimt to Klee: Masterworks from the Serge Sabarsky Collection (through February 15), should not be missed.
News Your Capital "CHRIST" Christmas Gift for Wii Players
Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 12:19 PM
Art / Film Tim Burton is a Lot Funnier Than His Marketing Managers Let On
Posted by Henry Stewart on Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 11:44 AM
My colleague Benjamin Sutton should have a fuller review of this show up soon, but in the meantime here's a brief impression:
News MTA Has the Best New Fake Twitter
Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Music This Dude from the Fiery Furnaces Hasn't the Slightest Idea When to Shut the Fuck Up
Posted by Mike Conklin on Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Anyway, because Beck is actually a lot cooler and with much better taste than I ever give him credit for, he released a 10-minute tribute to Partch on his website earlier this week. Was it in response to Friedberger being an idiot? We'll probably never know.
Now Friedberger's taken to his band's MySpace page with a pair of positively full-of-shit blog posts that are basically unreadable. In one of them, titled Imaginary Response (clever!), he appears to take a shot at Beck:
How fruitful an imaginary song proved in practice! So as we all move forward, shouldn't we admit that posting songs on the internet—being virtual, in other words—is so last year? So to speak. Isn't that what every music management company intern from Northeastern recommends that bands do? That can't be right
Yes! So last year! Said Friedberger in a blog post on fucking MySpace.
[via Pitchfork]
Music Eminem Pushes Relapse 2 Back, Releasing Expanded Relapse 1 Instead
Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 9:45 AM
No word on what those will sound like, but the announcement makes oblique references to the involvement of Dr. Dre and Just Blaze, so that's promising. Relapse 2, meanwhile, will come out next year sometime. On an unrelated note, did you see those amazing cyphers from the 2009 BET Awards? Best idea ever. Check out Eminem, Mos Def and Black Thought freestyling together after the jump.
Film Your Weekend at the Movies, "Just to See What All the Fuss Is About"
Posted by Jesse Hassenger on Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 8:56 AM
Thursday, November 19, 2009
News Forget the Rat Race: Life in France is Like a Hamster Wheel
Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 5:04 PM
There's a human-sized hamster wheel for fitness, grain pellets for food, hay for sleeping in and hamster hats to help you get into the role, all for the relatively affordable rate of 99 euros per night ($147)—although that price is expected to go up shortly as un-hamster-y amenities like wireless internet and TVs are added. Get a closer look after the jump, where, if you understand French, Tabary (pictured) discusses very rationally, practically intellectually, why he and Falquerho created the Hamster Villa. (io9)
Film / Music Wes Anderson Knows He's Made the Second Greatest Animated Fox Movie of All Time
Posted by Mark Asch on Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 4:29 PM
It also features, as the background music in an early, pastoral scene, the song "Love", an Oscar-nominated number from Disney's 1973 film of Robin Hood, the movie your film editor watched more times than any other movie in the years before he watched The Princess Bride more than any other movie.
In Disney's Robin Hood, of course, Robin Hood and Maid Marian are loving foxes as well. Roald Dahl's Mr. Fox (the book was published in 1970) is himself a Robin Hood figure, a dashing, justified thief who, along with his gang of fellow-animals (badgers, rabbits, etc in both Disney and Dahl), risks life and limb to steal from comically greedy English landowners.
Is the song in question embedded after the jump? Oh gee I don't know better click on the jump and find out.
Theater Casting Announced for Ethan Hawke's A Lie of the Mind
Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 3:57 PM
Art At Performa: Replaying Anna Halprin’s Parades & Changes
Posted by Alexis Clements on Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 3:25 PM
Originally staged in 1965, the piece caused a sensation both in the dance world and with the general public. When the work was mounted for the first time in New York in 1967, arrest warrants were issued for the artists involved. Why all the fuss? At the time nudity on the city’s stages was illegal and rarely used, even among those who would thwart the law. Today, nudity in performance art and dance has become banal in some sense, or at the very least expected in many settings. Halprin’s use of the nude body was one of the earliest, most deliberate and prolonged examples. That said, the lack of clothing was only one of the conventions that Parades & Changes was pushing up against. Perhaps more importantly was her testing of conventions of sexuality, authorship, and even the definition of dance.
Art / Special Events 28 Hours of Innovative Art Begin in Approximately 27 Hours
Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 2:52 PM
Film Omar Bin Laden Interested in Peacemaking Role at UN. Yes, That Bin Laden.
Posted by Jonny Diamond on Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 2:21 PM
Although my father was stern and did not hesitate to use his cane, there were good times when he stopped his war plans and played with us.
Which is kind of like how my dad would sometimes stop watching Canadian football and tell me to get him a beer. Lil Bin Laden also revealed a possible career path, demonstrating a pretty shrewd sense of the current American political climate:
I would like to be in a position to promote peace. I believe that the United Nations would be ideal for me.
C U THERE! Also, he likes horses.
Art Latin American Art Fair PINTA 09 Opens Tomorrow
Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 1:51 PM
More so than the art fair week in early spring, PINTA offers an opportunity to catch smaller and lesser-known galleries from countries with vibrant but often under-represented contemporary art scenes like Brazil, Cuba and Chile. PINTA is open tomorrow and Saturday from 12-8pm and Sunday 12-7pm. Click here for details.
Art Jeanne-Claude, Artistic and Life Partner of Christo, Is Dead
Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 1:20 PM
The French artist was best known for her works with husband Christo that often involved draping large monuments, buildings and landscapes in fabric—the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, a stretch of coast in Sydney, Pont Neuf in Paris, for instance. A family statement explained that the pair's two current works-in-progress (one in Colorado, the other in the United Arab Emirates), will continue as planned, though they'll clearly have a more solemn emotional impact than the usual giddy wonder the duo's spectacular installations evoke. (ArtsBeat)
