[note: many, if not most, of these links may no longer be working, but such is the nature of the digital. hopefully, the url and context are enough to help you find any further information you want. if not, feel free to contact me, and i’ll try to help.]
octubre 2015
¡hola, difus@s!
the fall season got off to a frenetic, if mixed, start this past month, with a dizzying number of options for pretty much every night. many of those featured personal favorites (e.g., jack quartet, international contemporary ensemble, ivo dimchev, 600 highwaymen, dawn upshaw, elevator repair service), but, try as i might (18 shows!), i didn’t get to see them all.
of what i did see, the musical performances and art exhibitions were the month’s unequivocal highlights. international contemporary ensemble (ice) members rebekah heller and levy lorenzo’s metafagote show at abrons art center was riveting; her mastery of the bassoon (and the music she’s inspired for it) is phenomenal, and levy’s handling of electronic instruments (which i’d never seen and have no idea what they might be called) was as engrossing to watch as to hear. the first night of the resonant bodies festival opened with another ice collaborator, soprano tony arnold, whose program was one of the most ambitious and flawlessly executed i’ve ever heard (e.g., her command of jason eckhardt’s exigent compositions was even more assured here than it was at roulette in may). dawn upshaw (always a joy to hear) and lucy shelton (whose influence on the field must be tremendous) completed the program, with all three sharing the stage for the final number. godspeed you! black emperor, whose terminal 5 concert i caught at the month’s end, must be incapable of delivering a bad show. that was the eighth time i’d seen them (across five different cities), and every single concert has been pretty much perfect.
though i only had a day and a half for gallery hopping (which kept me limited to chelsea), the art on display was exceptional. trevor paglen's show at metro pictures and will ryman: two rooms at paul kasmin are as politically incisive as they are formally beautiful. see them before they close in october. dan flavin: corners, barriers, and corridors is simply gorgeous, so much so it feels almost effortless (but such immaculate installation is clearly the product of much curatorial consideration); that he’s now considered a “crowd pleaser” (as one of my students commented) leaves me a bit ambivalent, especially given the number of #artselfies that show has produced…but i’m still an ardent fan. wolfgang tillmans: pcr and gordon matta-clark: energy & abstraction further reinforced just why david zwirner is one of the most widely respected gallerists worldwide. sarah sze at tanya bonakdar brought more of her signature obsessively complex installation (which is sometimes feels too virtuosic by half, i’ll admit), but measuring stick in the upstairs gallery and the architectural intervention in the back downstairs gallery both floored me, so much so that i want to go back spend more time with them before the show closes on october 17. christian marclay: surround sounds at paula cooper is pretty damn brilliant, perhaps not as epic as the clock (and mercifully so, as one can actually get into the gallery to see this one) but still excellent. the recreation of roy lichtenstein’s greene street mural at gagosian is stunning, raising all sorts of questions (some more intentional than others) regarding the contemporary status of public and street art, as well as their relationship to the market. dana schutz: fight in an elevator at petzel is exemplary contemporary painting, serious in subject and accomplished in technique but also a lot of fun—the titular work portrays solange knowles and jay-z’s may 2014 tussle.
the one pleasant surprise among the theater and performance events this past month was nufonia must fall at bam, a kind of live-film puppet show whose intricacy and execution were just dazzling. the story may not have been the most original, but it was disarmingly sincere and tender. going to the sunday matinee with kids all over the place probably heightened my enjoyment (which, let’s be honest, is usually not the case); i only wish i’d had access to such wildly imaginative, beautifully presented theater at their ages. 17 border crossings wasn’t a surprise, per se, as it came highly recommended by geoff sobelle (whose the object lesson at bam was one of last fall’s highlights), but it was quite good. the stagecraft was particularly impressive; thaddeus phillips does more with a table, chair, and a few lights than many performers do with a stage full of equipment. the stories comprising the work are all entertaining and often subtly political, and phillips is a charming performer and expert mimic. one of the shortest stories, which takes place on the beach in málaga and falls in the middle of the work, was the most affecting, but the rest of the script needed tighter organization and more rigorous editing to achieve that impact.
elsewhere, jack ferver and marc swanson’s chambre was a terrific take on genet’s the maids, an adept (if surprisingly straightforward) adaptation of the play bookended by two wonderful monologues that constituted an ingenious framing on the artists’ part. both andrew ondrejcak’s and 600 highwaymen’s contributions to the park avenue armory’s under construction series were unique glimpses into the artistic process. builders association’s elements of oz was, like all their work, a master class in set design and media technology, but the text was a little too loose to explore their themes (hollywood, the economy, and fantasy; the tedium and risk of filmmaking; etc.) in any depth. the use of a custom app to augment the on-stage action wasn’t too thrilling, except for one moment early on involving youtube renditions of “over the rainbow” (which mr. isherwood rightly singled out in his review).
the rest of the month was, alas, an object lesson in the relationship between expectation and disappointment, especially antigone (no further commentary necessary). as soon as i learned ivo dimchev was returning to abrons, i exchanged some tickets (and sacrificed others) to see him do 15 songs from my shows, which was billed as a concert but which i expected would be more, given his mastery of experimental theater…but it was actually less. his costume was terrific, but he seemed oddly timid (so far from the moxie of fest). unfortunately, the songs devolved into monotony by the third number; in the shows, perhaps, they provide some contrast, but taken together, they’re hard to differentiate. should he choose to continue exploring this vein, i ardently hope he spends some time at shows by taylor mac, antony haggarty, justin vivian bond, joey arias, and their peers.
similarly, if elevator repair service wants to continue exploring beyond their renowned literary interpretations, i hope they’ll do so in better company than sibyl kempson, whose fondly, collette richland rivals charles mees' the big love as the most execrable exercise in “post-modern” pretense i’ve ever suffered through. the company apparently wanted a “challenge,” and they got in the form a play that feels like a staged version of a blendtec commercial (“grand budapest hotel and the temple of my familiar, will it blend?”). the cast’s challenges were evident in their performances, as they struggled to find some relationship to the text and each other—which kept bringing the wisdom of beavis and butthead (and this catchy tune) back to me…but perhaps they were inspired by this episode of mythbusters? seldom, outside the new york dating scene, have i seen so much energy and commitment so woefully misplaced. nevertheless, i’m still a fan of the company and willing to see them more, provided they’re working with a different playwright.
on the other hand, i doubt i’m willing to see wayne mcgregor much more. he’s certainly interested in interesting things, but his choreography itself isn’t particularly engaging, whether conceptually, aesthetically, or affectively. tree of codes started out well but quickly devolved into middlebrow schlock; similarly, i am capitalism, despite koosil-ja’s impressive physical stamina, treated its subject with as much depth as one might expect from a twentysomething at an MFA show. both left me wanting to see christian rizzo’s ni fleurs, ni ford-mustangs again.
but enough of whinging, we’ve got much to look forward to this month (and, since i’m running a few days late on this, i can say that october is off to a strong start already):
performance + theater: despite september’s disappointments, i’m quite excited for this category in october. taylor mac takes on the role of playwright with the opening of hir at playwrights horizons, and gob squad returns to the city with before your very eyes at the public (this spring’s western society is on my list of favorites for the year). the wooster group opens a short run of harold pinter’s the room at the performing garage near the end of the month, and recently minted macarthur genius basil twist’s new sisters’ follies (starring joey arias and julie atlas muz) plays all month at abrons. la mama takes on disability and performance with teatro pathologico’s medea and gardiner comfort’s the elephant in every room i enter. also on my short list are the alcoholic movie musical (because i’m doing sober october, natch) and the exalted.
dance: two of the dance performances presented as part of lincoln center’s white light festival should be very, very good: aakash odedra company’s inked + murmur and anne teresa de keersmaeker’s partita 2 (i can’t recommend the other dance ticket in that festival). the former includes a piece choreographed by damien jalet, whom i first saw in a performance that was part of jim hodges’ show at barbara gladstone and was excellent. (i desperately want some place in new york to bring us d’avant, the piece jalet and cherkaoui reprised in london this past may.) i’ll never miss a chance to see anne teresa de keersmaeker after seeing her seminal fase during the 2014 lincoln center festival. bam, where i first saw de keersmaeker (with en atendant & cesena) brings another top-notch dance experience to town, sankai juku’s usuma: memories before history. other shows i’d recommend taking a look at are seán curran company’s dream’d in a dream, moriah evans’ social dance 9–12: encounter, jon kinzel’s cowhand con man, okwui okpokwasili’s bronx gothic, and spectrum dance theater’s the minstrel show revisited (especially after the recent furor over the production of the mikado planned for skirball).
music: having missed seeing the jack quartet this past month, i can’t wait for their six-hour marathon performance as part of the sonic festival. national sawdust, a new music space in williamsburg, just opened and has many, many good shows lined up for its inaugural month, e.g., a terry riley festival, a john zorn festival, a modern classical mixtape. (my ardent hope is that the local doucheoisie don’t turn this new venue into a middlebrow union pool…) terry riley also gets a piano party at roulette this month while john luther adams gets three nights of premieres (clouds of forgetting, clouds of unknowing; for lou harrison; and in the white silence) at the miller theatre. the white light festival has the best of music new and old, with heretical angels and theodora. bam presents philip miller’s “multimedia chamber opera,” refuse the hour, with william kentridge. on the more popular (but no less thoughtful) end of the spectrum, john grant presents his new album at le poisson rouge, dane terry “gets out for once” at dixon, and joe’s pub brings two shows of phenomenal (if quite different) female vocalists, “first ladies of disco featuring martha wash, linda clifford and evelyn ‘champagne’ king” and fado diva mariza.
film: the cat-vant garde show at the museum of the moving image is definitely a must-see, if only for the people-watching; but, seriously, that event and the exhibition it accompanies speak volumes about contemporary culture. film forum brings three other must-sees for the cinephile: luchino visconti’s rocco and his brothers, guy maddin’s the forbidden room, and john water’s polyester *in odorama* (yes, watch it with scratch-n-sniff stickers!). the series that most interest me are “mathieu amalric: renaissance man” at anthology, “the waking dreams of wojciech has” at bam, and “frederick wiseman’s new york” at the museum of the moving image. for a little halloween fun, check out “les vampires & musidora” at anthology, “scary movies 9” at the film society at lincoln center, or “it came from within: a david cronenberg horror weekend” at the museum of the moving image.
art: “on the inner and outer self,” a group show that opened last month and closes this month, appeals to me both for the subject matter and for the site (church of st. paul the apostle). rashid johnson’s anxious men at the drawing center, shezad dawood’s it was a time / that was a time at pioneer works, rachel whiteread’s looking out at luring augustine in bushwick, scott lyall’s black glass at miguel abreu, and sue de beer’s the blue lenses are the shows i most want to see outside of chelsea. the turnover in museum shows also adds several shows to my to-see list: andrea del sarto: the renaissance workshop in action at the frick (a great point of comparison to contemporary artistic production), greater new york at moma ps1, walid raad at moma, and jim shaw: the end is here at the new museum.
as evidenced by the full list below, october is arguably the pinnacle of the fall season. dig in and share it with your friends…
abrazos,
p
octubre / october
1: godspeed you! black emperor (music)
1: national sawdust opening night: discover the space, vol. 1 (music)
1: national sawdust opening night: discover the space, vol. 2 (music)
1-2: claire chase: density 2036, parts i-iii (music)
1-3: 17 border crossings (theater)
1-3: adrienne truscott’s asking for it: a one-lady rape about comedy starring her pussy and little else! (performance, theater)
1-3: alessandro sciarroni: folk-s, will you still love me tomorrow? (dance)
1-3: crossing the line festival (art, dance, music, performance, theater)
1-3: how to live on earth (theater)
1-3: the feath3r theory presents: another 37 reasons to cry (a warholian production) (dance, performance)
1-4: antigone (theater)
1-4: jack ferver & marc swanson: chambre (music, performance)
1-4: justin vivian bond: dixie mccall's patterns for living (music, performance)
1-4: tabac rouge (dance, performance)
1-4: the absolute brightness of leonard pelkey (theater)
1-4: the builders association: elements of oz (theater)
1-6: the creeping garden (film)
1-7: gad elmaleh (all in english) (performance)
1-8: vittorio de sica: attore, regista, seduttore (film)
1-10: ronnie burkett theatre of marionettes: the daisy theatre (theater)
1-11: fall for dance festival (dance)
1-11: new york film festival (film)
1-11: the christians (theater)
1-18: fondly, colette richland (theater)
1-19: fulfillment (theater)
1-20: the forbidden room (film)
1-31: basil twist: sisters’ follies: between two worlds (world premiere) (performance, theater)
1-: barbecue (theater)
1-: eclipsed (theater)
1-: student body (theater)
1-: the flick (theater)
2: tanya tagaq in nanook of the north (music)
2-3: sin cha hong: laughing stone (dance)
2-4: laurie anderson: habeas corpus (performance)
2-11: new york city greek film festival (film)
3: terry riley festival: vol. 1 (music)
3: the story of tap, 2015 (dance)
3-4: rest upon the wind (theater)
3-22: faux-real presents lysistrata (theater)
4: terry riley festival: vol. 2 (music)
4: terry riley festival: vol. 3 (music)
4-25: above below (theater)
5: terry riley festival: vol. 4 (music)
5: terry riley festival: vol. 5 (music)
6: bulgarian concert evenings in new york (music)
6: lonnie holley (music)
6: underexposed (dance)
6-: first daughter suite (theater)
6-: futurity (theater)
7: carousel: cartoon slide shows and picture performances (art, performance)
7: john luther adams: clouds of forgetting, clouds of unknowing (music)
7-9: dream’d in a dream (dance)
7-10: jesse zaritt and jumatatu poe: more mutable than you (dance)
7-10: ponydance (dance)
7-10: rude mechs + deborah hay: match-play (performance, theater)
7-31: the alcoholic movie musical (theater)
8: late night rose: reicha, suk, & janáček (music)
8-18: medea (theater)
9: john luther adams: for lou harrison (music)
9: john zorn festival: asmodeus (music)
9: john zorn festival: madrigals books i-ii (music)
9-18: cheap&easy october (performance, theater)
9-29: luchino visconti's rocco and his brothers (film)
9-31: chase: what matters most? (performance, theater)
9-: frederick wiseman's new york (film)
10: axiom (music)
10: draftwork: maria bauman / andré zachery (dance)
10: john luther adams: in the white silence (music)
10: john zorn festival: cobra (music)
10: john zorn festival: improvisation (music)
10: the cat-vant garde film show (film)
12: kim brandt (dance)
13: a piano party for terry riley at 80 (music)
13: malcolm goldstein (music)
13-17: waiting for godot (theater)
14: bridget everett & the tender moments (music, performance)
14: the passion of joan of arc (music)
14-17: all vows (music)
14-18: silas riener: blue name (dance)
15: dane terry gets out for once (music)
15: solamente naturali (music)
15-17: social dance 9-12: encounter (dance)
15-17: sergei tcherepnin (performance)
15-18: rooms of light: the life of photographs (a song cycle) (music)
15-23: sonic festival (music)
15-27: the waking dreams of wojciech has (film)
15-: maurice pialat (film)
15-: the elephant in every room i enter (theater)
16: kaushiki chakraborty's sakhi (music)
16-17: first ladies of disco featuring martha wash, linda clifford and evelyn “champagne” king (music)
16-18: thomas defrantz and niv acosta curate (dance, performance)
16-: hir (theater)
17: john grant (music)
17-: before your very eyes (theater)
18: john zorn’s the book of heads: 35 etudes for solo guitar (film, music)
18: vincent d’onofrio & dana lyn: slim bone head volt (performance)
19: no holds barred (dance, performance)
19: polyester in odorama (film)
20: gershwin’s “rhapsody in blue” (music)
20: lea bertucci with bradley eros & anthony saunders (music)
20: the stoop series: annie-b parson: the virtuosity of structure (dance)
20-21: heretical angels (music)
21-24: okwui okpokwasili: bronx gothic (dance, performance)
21-24: texts&beheadings/elizabethr (theater)
21-31: jon kinzel: cowhand con man (dance)
21-: heart of a dog (film)
21-: lost girls (theater)
22-24: aakash odedra company: inked + murmur (dance)
22-24: chris schlichting: stripe tease (dance)
22-24: refuse the hour (music)
22-25: les vampires & musidora (film)
22-25: pat graney company: girl gods (dance)
22-25: quebec digital arts (art)
23-24: glasser and jonathan turner: charge (music)
23-25: colleen thomas: her(e) repetitive blueprint (dance)
25: the meeting hosted by justin sayre (performance)
26: boomerang with greg saunier, adam tendler, & poor remy (dance, music)
26: jennifer koh & shai wosner: bridge to beethoven i (music)
26: mariza (music)
26: works & process: hagoromo (dance, music, performance)
26-27: a modern classical mixtape (music)
27: constellation, a tribute for roy campbell, jr. (dance, music)
28: angela hewitt: the art of the fugue (music)
28-31: the exalted (theater)
28-31: umusuna: memories before history (dance)
28-: re-visions: american experimental film 1975-90 (film)
28-: the room (theater)
29: it helps to hate you a little: a lovestory (performance, theater)
29: william christie leads juilliard415 (music)
29-30: anne teresa de keersmaeker: partita 2 (dance)
29-31: mina nishimura: princess cabbage/celery of everything (dance)
29-31: the minstrel show revisited (dance, theater)
29-: eliza bent: toilet fire (performance)
29-: lionel popkin (dance)
29-: mathieu amalric: renaissance man (film)
30: film screening with live music: nosferatu (film, music)
30: john zorn festival: virtuosos with stephen gosling (music)
30: john zorn festival: virtuosos, vol 2: music for cello (music)
30: ymusic: come around part ii: qasim naqvi world premiere commission + repertory (music)
30-: amplify 2015: explorator (music)
30-: it came from within: a david cronenberg horror weekend (film)
30-: royal road (film)
30-: scary movies 9 (film)
31: john zorn festival: magickal chamber (music)
31: john zorn festival: simulacrum (music)
31: les arts florissants: theodora (music)
31-: full service (performance)