Art Rx
This week, three excellent film series are underway, plus YouTube wars, a talk, an opening, and a sound art experience.
It’s hard to believe summer’s almost over, but there you have it: August 13, and Labor Day suddenly seems not so far away! Time to make the best of the season, and with most of the art world gone on holiday, that means looking to film to fill the void.
The doctor recommends three excellent series underway throughout the city: civil rights cinema at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, a program devoted to 20th-century dandy Quentin Crisp at the Museum of Arts and Design, and New York films from the late ’60s and early ’70s at the Museum of the Moving Image. For those with far shorter attention spans, YouTube wars are happening at Littlefield. There’s also a talk, an opening, and a sound art experience — plenty to keep you satisfied, whatever your sensibility.
Art from the South Pacific
When: Tuesday, August 13, 6:30 pm
Where: International Studio & Curatorial Program (1040 Metropolitan Avenue, East Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
How often to do you get to hear about the art scene in the South Pacific? Not very, we assume, which makes tonight an excellent opportunity. Reuben Friend and Shelley Jahnke, two curators of contemporary Maori and Pacific Islander art, will talk about how indigenous Pacific artists have been overlooked in the past and about recent developments that have begun to change the situation.
YouTube Wars
When: Tuesday, August 13, 8 pm ($5)
Where: Littlefield (622 Degraw Street, Gowanus, Brooklyn)
OK, this definitely isn’t art. But it sounds awesome: “A no mercy, head-to-head battle of YouTube finds!” What better way to spend a Tuesday night than marveling at the brilliant inanity of the internet’s greatest gift to procrastination?
Portrait of the Bronx
When: Opens Wednesday, August 15, 5:30–8:30 pm
Where: Bronx Art Space (305 East 140th Street, #1A, South Bronx)
When the Bronx Documentary Center popped up two years ago, it was exciting to see a new burst of creativity in the borough. Now Bronx Art Space, which has actually been flying under our radar since 2008, is celebrating one of the center’s founders, Michael Kambler. A photojournalist for 25 years, Kambler will show never-before-seen images he shot in the Bronx, as well as portraits from Iraq, Afghanistan, Liberia, and other countries.
Civil Rights Cinema
When: Wednesday, August 15, & Thursday, August 16 (times vary, $13)
Where: BAM Rose Cinemas (Peter Jay Sharp Building, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Fort Greene, Brooklyn)
From today through August 28, BAMcinématek is commemorating the upcoming 50th anniversary of the March on Washington with a wide-ranging film series devoted to the civil rights movement. The program looks so good, we recommend you check it out and choose for yourself, but this documentary, Portrait of Jason, caught our eye. Here’s BAM’s description:
In one of the simplest and most radical documentaries ever made, raconteur, hustler, singer, and man about town Jason Holliday holds court in front of Shirley Clarke’s camera for nearly two hours. In a mix of confession, fabrication, plea for pity, and act of defiance, Jason describes the inner and outer life of a gay black drifter making his way through mid-century America.
Quentin Crisp
When: Thursday, August 15, 7 pm
Where: Museum of Arts and Design (2 Columbus Circle, Manhattan)
Meanwhile, another amazing film series is happening at the Museum of Arts and Design. Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Quentin Crisp honors the transgressive figure whom some call the original dandy and man-about-town. (He was also a writer and an actor.) The museum is holding regular screenings of “rare audiovisual documents” from his estate, and on Thursday, the focus will be a never-before-screened conversation between Crisp and the equally legendary performance artist Penny Arcade. Arcade will be there, too, speaking with filmmaker Steve Zehentner afterwards.
Labyrinthitis
When: Friday, August 16, 7–8 pm ($11)
Where: Eyebeam (540 West 21st Street, Chelsea, Manhattan)
We published an interview with Jacob Kirkegaard last week, and this week you have a chance to experience one of his immersive sound artworks (minus the crowds at MoMA). “Labyrinthitis” is, according to Eyebeam, “an interactive sound piece that consists entirely of tones generated within the artist’s inner ear, which in turn spark audible emissions within the audience’s own ears.” We’re definitely not clear on how this works, but luckily Kirkegaard will be on hand to explain.
New York in the Movies
When: Friday, August 16, 7 pm ($12)
Where: Museum of the Moving Image (36-01 35th Avenue, Astoria, Queens)
The third exciting film series of the week! Fun City: New York in the Movies 1967–75, curated by film critic J. Hoberman at the Museum of the Moving Image, explores the movie boom in New York City during those years. On Friday night, you can catch the landmark Superfly, a film you may not have seen but whose soundtrack, by Curtis Mayfield, you’ve likely heard. Not only that, but co-star Sheila Frazier will be speak after the screening, offering, in the museum’s words, “a unique opportunity to get a first-hand account of the making of Superfly and the cultural and social impact it had on black cinema and American life.”
