(Via Governor’s Ball)
New York City’s very own massive music festival, Governor’s Ball just announced its epic lineup for 2016. If it wasn’t for the consistently good curation each summer on Randall’s Island, it’s hard to imagine anyone would suffer the trappings of #ThatFestivalLyfe: water-gouging, being herded around like cattle and jammed, sweaty and dehydrated amongst so many feather-adorned man buns and general douchebaggery.
(Photo by Nicole Disser)
I had high expectations when the Party by Ostbahnhof, the performance-centric circuit rager inspired by Berlin’s “trash drag” scene, kicked off in December at Verboten. Derek Marshall, ex-pat owner of The Club in Kreuzberg, was infectiously giddy upon his return to the States. And the Party was bound to be a hit if it was any bit as raucous as Olympia Bukkakis, a regular drag performer at Marshall’s underground hot spot for the arty queer scene in the Bushwick of Berlin. Which is why I’m not at all surprised to see the Party’s return to Verboten on January 15.
Troublemakers: The Story of Land Art
Friday January 8 through Thursday January 14 at IFC Center: $14
Save for a few grainy photos in art history books and the factory settings on our Macs, few of us have had much contact with land art, a movement started by a group of New York City-based artists in the ’60s. Now, land art (also called environmental art and earthworks)– stone mosaics, tree branch sculptures floating in a misty lake, flattened grass forming massive patterns that can only be really appreciated from the sky– is the stuff of screen savers, but Troublemakers makes the case for a fascinating foundation.
An image posted in response to the event. via becausecapitalism.org.
A Bushwick-based photographer, hoping to drum up some hype for the nabe with a list of 200 influencers… what could go wrong?
Earlier this week Rafael Fuchs, owner of an eponymous gallery in The BogArt, launched an event page announcing a party to begin his newest project, an effort to highlight “the 200 most influential people in 2016” in Bushwick.
But after a heated debate erupted on the page about art’s role in gentrification and who gets to define the community, Fuchs backtracked and canceled the event. Per the Facebook page:
For the sake of peace in the community, we are canceling the event.
We Don’t wish to cause any trauma to anyone and any grief to the community, neither to create a platform that will ignite unnecessary violence.
We cannot tolerate any racial and hate notions and comments from anyone.
Fuchs projects is an art gallery, not a social organization, and we will continue our program, exhibiting innovative and challenging works in different media, especially photography.
This week and next: more performance festivals than you ever knew could happen at the same time. And plenty more to choose from.
FESTIVALS
(image via ps122.org)
Former home of the cube. (Photos: Daniel Maurer)
Hard to believe, but it’s now been over a year since our beloved Astor Place cube was boxed up and unceremoniously hoisted onto a flatbed and hauled off. We were briefly consoled by a human cube on Halloween, but mostly there’s been a hole in our heart — or, at Astor Place, anyway — where the cube used to be. This week, however, excavation of the future Astor Plaza finally commenced, and the city tells us the reconstruction should be completed by spring.
Sure, we’re well into January, but we’re only just now recovering from our post-New Year’s Eve haze and putting together the pieces of the night. Personally, I put my faith in the You Are So Lucky masquerade ball, put on by some of the wild-eyed dreamers from The Danger (RIP) and JunXion. They bused attendees to a secret location that ended up being a former copper baron’s 72-room, 22-acre estate, and it was pretty amazing, as Instagram photos attest. The only downside was that it was all the way out in Yonkers. Luckily, photographer Nick McManus was back in Brooklyn to document the festivities there. From sundown to sunrise, he hit no less than 16 parties and shared with us his group portraits from each. Click through the slideshow to see who turned up.
(Photo: Nicole Disser)
After a hopeful move to a new location, the beleaguered St. Mark’s Bookshop is once again in danger of closing due to a dispute with its landlord. This time, it’s facing possible eviction by the New York City Housing Authority, which alleges that the beloved bookshop owes over $62,000 in rent.
David Coss (top, right) with his Saxophonist and fans as they performed their final set at Garage on it’s closing night. (Photo: Nick McManus)
Last week, as part of our A Lot About a Plot series, we looked back on the history of some bygone jazz joints, including the Village Gate and Nick’s Tavern. Now you can add another Village venue to the list: Garage Restaurant & Cafe closed its doors on Sunday. So much for its claim of hosting “more live jazz than anywhere in the world.”
(Image via Aviv/ Facebook)
T-Rextasy, Band Practice, Doubles
Friday January 8, 8 pm at Aviv: $7
Picture a femme Parquet Courts fronted by Ellen Page all hopped up on candy and you’re sort of getting at what T-Rextasy are all about. Their sound defies what might first be taken for twee, instead invoking an array of complexity of sweet, sassy, sour, sad, and snappy feelings delivered in a way that’s interchangeably manic, then replete with earnest babbling from the front, supported by plucky punk guitars and primitive, clap-clap drums from the rear.