April 24, 2013 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Sun K. Kwak: Painting with Tape

Click to enlarge

These are pretty spectacular. New York-based Korean artist Sun K. Kwak creates installations—or as she prefers to refer to them: three-dimensional sculptural drawings—using black masking tape and spontaneously drawing with it, which freely shifts between two and three dimensional planes. There’s an incredible energy and fluidity to these. It’s hard to understand how she achieves such painterly strokes by tearing away the tape from the surface. In 2009 Kwak had a site-specific installation at the Brooklyn Museum titled Enfolding 280 Hours referring in part to the number of hours spent on the project. The sprawling freehand drawings wove over the surfaces of the architectural spaces to dramatic affect. Wish I had seen it live.

You can see Sun K. Kwak in her process as well as hear her speak about her work in the video below:

Photos: courtesy of the artist; artpulse; and Brooklyn Museum

April 19, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

NYC Culture on the Cheap: Weekend 4/19

Free& Cheap things to do

Free & Cheap things to do this weekend in NYC (4/19/13 to 4/21/13) in art, music, film, performance, architecture, photography, and more. Fun and interesting events all weekend long. Click through on images above for official event pages with more info or in the descriptions below.

1. MUSIC: All weekend – New York City Opera Moses in Egypt & La Perichole. $25 and up

2. ART/MUSIC: Fri 4/19 and Sat 4/20 through 5/25 – Running to Stand Still. New works by Ken Solomon of 100 iPhone size watercolor paintings that form a close-up listen of one man’s self-deprecating portrait of white American man transitioning from vibrant, curious youth to mid-life. At Josee Bienvenu Gallery. 10am to 6pm. FREE

3. THEATER: All weekend – Mayday Mayday: A True Story by the Man Who Fell . “Laugh out loud funny and tear-inducingly moving.” 8pm. 3pm on Sunday.$25 to $35.

4. POETRY/PERFORMANCE: Fri 4/19 – Strand Poetry Slam. 7 to 8pm $15.

5. MUSIC: Fri 4/19 & Sat 4/20: The Losers Lounge tribute to Elvis Costello. $25

6. FILM: All weekend and through 4/28 – Tribeca Film Festival. See schedule $8 to $16

7. READINGS/LECTURES: Fri 4/19 & Sat 4/20 – Shakespeare Week readings, lectures and poetry in the South Court Auditorium in the NY Public Library. 1:15pm. See schedule

8. ART/TECH: Sat 4/20 & through 5/4 – A. Bill Miller’s Gridworks: 12 to 5pm FREE

9. THEATER/MULTIMEDIA/PERFORMANCE: Sat 4/20 & Sun 4/21 – The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer. A multimedia, one-man, micro-epic puppet show. “Akin to a theatrical Wall-E.” See showtimes. $30.

10. FILM/TALK: Sat 4/20 – Hear the filmmakers of “The Pretty One” discuss their drama about a woman’s decision to assume her twin’s identity. 3pm Soho Apple Store. FREE

11. MUSIC: Sat 4/20 – 7th Annual Record Store Day – venture into the doorway of your favorite local record shop this coming Saturday, for this year’s exclusive releases not available via download. Here are some releases and here is a map with events. FREE

12. PHOTOGRAPHY/MUSIC: All weekend – Madonna: Retrospective of never before seen photos at W Times Square. FREE

13. RIDE/MEMORIAL: Sun 4/21: 8th Annual Memorial Ride to remember pedestrians & cyclists killed in NYC over the past year. 12pm. See ride schedules. FREE.

14. ART/LITERATURE: Sun 4/21 – Brooklyn Zine Fest. Flip through zines from more than 80 writers and artist. 11am to 6pm. FREE

15. ARCHITECTURE: All weekend & through 7/14 – The Woolworth Building@100 at the Skyscraper Museum. 12 to 6pm. $5.

MORE…
ART >> Fri 4/19 –Claes Oldenburg: The Street and The Store  Claes Oldenburg: Mouse Museum/Ray Gun Wing. FREE Fridays from 4 to 8pm at MoMA.

ART/TECH >> Sat 4/20 – Rhizome Seven on Seven Conference pairs seven leading artists with seven technologists in teams of two challenging them to develop something new. 12 to 8pm. $39.50

April 18, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Trevor Jackson: Hand-Painted Artillery Plates

Click to enlarge

I’m not exactly sure what designer/artist Trevor Jackson had in mind when he made these plates, but on the day after the U.S. Senate disappointingly blocked gun-control legislation, and based on the moniker “Agitdelft”—from Agitation Delft akin to Agitation Propaganda— under which the Seattle-based Jackson creates these ceramic works, I’m going to choose to interpret them as a make-love-not-war/pro-gun-control statement.

If you’re looking to purchase one of these ceramic pieces, you can do that here.

via Far4

April 17, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Wellington Writers Walk

Click to enlarge

Though built about ten years ago, I don’t think I’ve ever come across the type-filled Wellington Writers Walk before. A project of the New Zealand Society of Authors, the waterfront park is full of bold concrete plaques and more subtle “benchmarks” emblazoned with 19 quotations from some of New Zealand’s best known writers, both past and present. The plaques have been designed by renowned typographer Catherine Griffiths and the benchmarks (some actual seats) by Wellington architect Fiona Christeller. Pretty impressive architypeture.

Photos courtesy Wellington Writers Walk; Catherine Griffiths; Bruce Connew; and Jason Busch.

via LetterScapes by Anna Saccani

April 16, 2013 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

JR’s Inside Out Project in Times Square

Click to enlarge

Well this should be fun. French street artist JR (previously here and here) is bringing his large-scale participatory Inside Out Project to NYC starting next week. People are invited to take their self-portraits in a specially designed photo booth stationed in Times Square. Some of the black and white instantly-printed 3′ x 4′ posters will be displayed in Times Square but each portrait-taker is encouraged to take their poster back to display publicly in their home community. The photo booth truck will be making early visits to the four other boroughs as well, with the initial portraits featuring community members from NYC Hurricane Sandy-affected areas.

Inside Out New York City coincides with the world premiere of the documentary film Inside Out: The People’s Art Project on April 20th as part of the Tribeca Film Festival, and will later have its television debut on HBO on May 20th.

I would imagine there will be lines, so you might want to pick a weekday to head over to the photo booth truck, but based on our own personal experience with the Inside Out Project, I highly recommend participating one way or another.

Inside Out New York City will run from April 22 to May 10, 2013 in Times Square.

Photos courtesy Times Square Alliance; Inside Out Project; Inside Out NYC’s facebook page; and collabcubed.

April 15, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Kambiz Sabri: To the Best of My Memory

Click to enlarge

Iranian sculptor Kambiz Sabri started as a painter in his youth, but later was encouraged to study and work in architecture. From there he rediscovered his artistic talents and studied sculpture, graphics and industrial design. It seems that all of these areas of study have been combined in his sculpture, with its object-based quality and architectural elements, as well as its bold graphic style. His ‘Dive’ series with people plunged head-first into different color televisions is what first caught my eye and makes for a great image, whether two-dimensional or three. You can see more of Sabri’s art on his site.

April 12, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

NYC Culture on the Cheap: Weekend 4/12

Free& Cheap things to do

Free & Cheap things to do this weekend in NYC (4/12/13 to 4/14/13) from art exhibits, to music, multiple literature-related events, a Gif festival, theater, dance, talks and food! Fun and interesting events all weekend long. Click through on images above for official event pages with more info or in the descriptions below.

1. FOOD: Fri 4/12 Artisanal’s 3rd Annual Grilled Cheese Contest on National Grilled Cheese Day (who knew?) Taste and cast your vote. 3 to 5pm. $15. Tickets here.

2. MUSIC/ART: All Weekend – 3rd Annual Brain-Cave Festival featuring more than 30 of Brooklyn’s most versatile underground and indie artists and musicians. $12 to $40. Tkts here

3. MUSIC: Fri 4/12 –The Crystal Ark play their electronic dance music live. 7pm. FREE

4. ART/COMICS: Fri 4/12 and Sat 4/13 & through 5/11 – The Art of Harvey Kurtzman, cartoonist, writer, and founding editor and creator of MAD magazine. One of the most important figures in comic art. At the Society of Illustrators. 12pm to 5pm FREE

5. MUSIC: Fri 4/12 – Stereo Total (love these guys!) witty alternative/indie/pop based in Berlin but drawing from musical influences across Europe. 7pm Doors $18

6. LITERATURE/TALK: Fri 4/12 – Pulitzer Prize winning author Junot Diaz talks with the New Yorker’s Hilton Als. 7pm. Purchase of his latest book or $20 gift card.

7. ART/OPENING: Fri 4/12 – Opening reception of Richard Hughes exhibit at Anton Kern where the artist turns the the gallery into a stage for a dance performed by lamp posts, walls, and statues. Fri 6 to 8pm and through 5/18 10am to 6pm. FREE.

8. ART/TECH: All Weekend – Moving the Still: A GIF Festival, every 15 minutes on the hour on the BAM sign at Lafayette and Flatbush Aves, SE corner. Through 6/30. FREE.

9. THEATER: Fri 4/12 & Sat 4/13 – Exile by Nastaran Ahmadi An Iranian-American video game tester develops a game set in a post-nuclear-apocalypse Iran, even as her own relationship becomes a fallout zone. 7pm and also 3pm Sat, $19

10. ART: Fri 4/12 & Sat 4/13 – Pratt MFA Open Studios – over 100 artists presented in all mediums. Fri 5 to 9pm, Sat 12 to 6pm. FREE

11. DANCE: Fri 4/12 & Sat 4/13 – A House Made of Salt: Miriam Wolf’s evening length work is a dance for two performers dealing with some of the most fundamental rules that govern us as humans. $10 to $15

12. TRIBUTE/PERFORMANCE ART: Fri 4/12 & Sat 4/13 – Avant-Gard-A-Rama : New Moon. A tribute to the late downtown mentor performance artist Tom Murrin. Hosts Dynasty Handbag and Jonathan Ames with Elevator Repair Service and many more. 8pm $15

13. ART: Sat 4/13 & Sun 4/14 –Black Power: featuring works by Ron Wimberly, Coby Kennedy, and Jorden Haley. 12pm to 5pm at Superchief Gallery at Culturefix. FREE.

14. TALK/PERFORMANCE/MUSIC: Sat 4/13 – Ask Isaac: Isaac Mizrahi answers questions and murders some tunes with the Ben Waltzer Quintet. 7:30pm at the Laurie Beechman Theater $30 tickets.

15. READINGS/PARTY: Sun 4/14 – Inaugural Downtown Literary Festival. Daylong celebration of literary culture of NYC, readings, snacks and afte-party at Pravda with Russian Lit-themed cocktails. 10am to after 7pm.

16. ART/MUSIC/PERFORMANCE: Sun 4/14 – Sister Spit: a literary performance cabaret featuring novelists, magic marker artists, poets, performance artists and more from the queer, feminist, POC underground. 3pm $10 to $12.

17. MUSIC: Sun 4/14 – Vensaire/The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!/Zula/MyBody. 8 to 11:45pm at the Silent Barn in Bushwick $7

18. ART/TECH: Next Sat 4/20 – Get tickets for Seven on Seven Conference. 12 to 6pm. 7 leading artists are paired with 7 game-changing technologists and challenged to develop something new over the course of the day. $39.50

MORE…

MUSIC >> Sat 4/13 – Project Bone Machine: an exciting bill of great bands perform Tom Waits’ 1992 album Bone Machine in tracklist order. Bushwick. 10pm $5.

FILM >> Sun 4/14 – Subway Series Films: Tunnel Stories & Spraymasters. Two films, one short, the other long, focus on the artists, taggers, and vandals, who make their mark underground in tunnels and on trains. 7:30pm. Suggested donation $9.

April 11, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

The Rodnik Band: Pop Art Dresses

Click to enlarge.

Em came across these very fun dresses—verging on costumes—by London-based designer Philip Colbert who calls his label The Rodnik Band. Inspired by art and driven by a strong sense of fun, Colbert’s designs “walk the humourous line between fashion and art.” The Rodnik Band Label is presented as an ironic pop band, where Colbert writes songs based on each collection that are performed at the runway shows. Colbert’s world is a wacky one that aims to reinvent the way people look at fashion. I’d say it’s working.

via wendybrandes

April 11, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Andrew Baines: Doorways to Potential

Click to enlarge

Last December, Australian artist Andrew Baines (previously here) was up to his surreal shenanigans again. This time his bowler-topped volunteers strolled around and stood in front of 15 crimson red doors illuminated by the early morning sun across Australia’s Henley Beach shoreline. The performance/installation was aptly titled Doorways to Potential and included suited volunteers the likes of politician Alexander Downer, Iconic TV personality Jane Doyle plus numerous luminaries from varied fields.

The event symbolically highlighted the work of international charity Common Ground, based in New York (and now flourishing throughout Australia) that takes the homeless off the streets, sets them up in a unit and then assists them to achieve their professional goals.

Here’s a fun timelapse video of the event:

Photos by Morne De Klerk/Getty Images and Mark Brake.

April 10, 2013 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

cartonLAB: Venn Diagram

Click to enlarge

The latest from the folks at cartonLAB (previously here, here, & here) is their one-third of the Mustang Gallery’s three-part exhibit installation Diagrama de Venn (Venn Diagram)—in Alicante, Spain—which consists of a cumulative and collaborative process between three groups of artists: cartonLAB, street artist Rosh, and Erre Gálvez. Each artist will take their turn inhabiting the gallery space with a work that intervenes, interacts, and adds to, the previous artist’s installation, each in their own unique style. In addition, for each installation, the public was (and will be) enlisted to help with the production and installation aspects.

cartonLAB, along with the help of graphic and package design students, among others, made giant cardboard box people, climbing the gallery walls, lying on the gallery floor, as well as sitting and flying through the space. You can see in the bottom two photos Rosh’s work that followed; spray-painting some of the boxes and reconfiguring them into piles and graffitied walls. We’ll have to wait and see what Erre Gálvez will come up with toward the end of the month with his typographic(?) take.

I really like the collaborative concept behind Diagrama Venn. It’s got a bit of a Layer Tennis feel, only in 3D.

Photos courtesy of cartonLAB and mag’s facebook

April 9, 2013 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

SEAT: E/B Office

Click to enlarge

SEAT is an installation by NYC-based E/B Office (previously here). Composed of approximately 300 simple wooden chairs arrayed and stacked in a sine wave surface drawn into an agitated vortex rising from the ground, chairs are transformed from detached useable objects into structural and spatial components of an ambiguously occupiable edifice. It’s intended to be legible as a collection of individual seats, but when approached, visitors realize that sitting down in any one of them amounts to a deliberate act of occupation; a temporary social contract to redefine their perception of sitting embodied as architecture. Chairs around the immediate periphery are rotated for outward observation of the city and the surrounding neighborhood. At the base of the vortex, chairs turn inward to create an intimate, compressive space for visitors to converse and regard the upward flow of chairs transcending their function. Chairs suspended above ground between these zones re-constitute the role of the seated object as one that can also play as structure, decoration, and enclosure.

The chairs are additively assembled through a modified “corbelling” process achieved by sequentially attaching chairs beginning at the edges and corners working towards the center. The chairs are resiliently connected to each other via simple lag bolts, clamps, and screws that are hidden from view. Nice!

April 8, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Hands Project in Barcelona

Click to enlarge

HANDS is a street art installation with socioeconomic commentary through the placement of white cast hands doing a variety of things in conspicuous places throughout the streets of Barcelona including: making a finger-gun by an ATM toward its user; prying into a payphone coin slot; or dangling a noose. Artists Octavi Serra & Mateu Targa, with help from Daniel Llugany & Pau Garcia, are the masterminds behind the project, a manifestation against the current economic crisis in Spain that, along with Greece, are the most affected countries in the European Union with record-high levels of unemployment.

via juxtapoz

April 8, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Nadín Ospina: Pre-Columbian Pop

Click to enlarge

Colombian artist Nadín Ospina was inspired to create Pre-Columbian style statues after unknowingly buying fake Pre-Columbian pieces. Much of Ospina’s work combines cartoon characters from U.S. mass entertainment culture with Latin American and Pre-Columbian artistic traditions. The result are stone statues of Snoopy, Mickey Mouse, the Simpsons and a host of other familiar cartoon icons. Using Aztec, Mayan, or Incan art forms with pop-culture imagery in an ironic and humorous manner, Ospina touches on themes of corruption and globalization.

Some of Nadín Ospina’s work will be on view as part of a group show titled Pre-Columbian Remix at the Neuberger Museum of Art at SUNY Purchase from April 28 to July 14, 2013.

Photos courtesy of the artist, galeria animal, and artnet.

April 5, 2013 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

NYC Culture on the Cheap: Weekend 4/5

Cheap things to do this we

Free & Cheap things to do this weekend in NYC (4/5/13 to 4/7/13) in art, music, theater, performance, dance, architecture, film, design and general fun. Click through on images to event pages for more info or in the descriptions below.

1. ART: All Weekend – The Affordable Art Fair at the Metropolitan Pavilion. $15.

2. THEATER/FILM: National Theater Live: People Alan Bennetts much anticipated sixth play premiering at London’s National Theater, screened live. 7pm $25

3. TALK: All Weekend – The Talk Shop: Pop-Up Conversation Salon. 12 to 5pm FREE

4. FILM – All Weekend – KinofestNYC: Ukrainian Film Festival $12 to $15. See Schedule

5. ART/TECH: Fri 4/5 & Sat 4/6 through 4/20 – F.A.T. GOLD at Eyebeam: (Free Art & Technology Lab) brings together an international group of 25 collaborators comprised of artists, hackers, engineers, musicians, and graffiti writers, and invites the public to experience and engage with the collective’s groundbreaking projects. Fri – YouTube Open Mic Night and Sat – Your Art Party, both nights till 11pm and beyond. FREE

6. NATURE/WALK: All Weekend & through 4/22 – The Orchid Show at NY Botanical Gardens $20 to $25 (use discount code 9919 for 20% off)

7. FILM: Fri 3/29 – All Weekend – Upstream Color an intriguing looking film that doesn’t follow a linear narrative. at IFC. $13.50

8. FOOD: Sat 4/6 & Sun 4/7 – Smorgasburg returns to Williamsburg on Saturdays, at the adjacent location at East River State Park, and Sundays in Dumbo. 10am to 6pm. FREE

9. BOOKS/READINGS: Sat 4/6 & Sun 4/7 – Anarchist Book Fair with readings, workshops & films. LES. 10am to 9pm. FREE

10. FOOD: Sat 4/6 – SoHA Square Grand Opening. South Harlem’s Neighborhood Market Place. 10am to 6pm. FREE

11. ART/PERFORMANCE: Sat 4/6 – Swell Sound & Vison Festival: features digital projections, provocative performances and interactive installations offering multiple opportunities for audience participation. 8pm. Williamsburg. $10

12.THEATER: All weekend – Shaheed: The Dream and Death of Benazir Bhutto. $25 and up.

13. CREATIVE THINKING/ART/FUN: Sat 4/6 – Load OUT A Reuse and Repurposing RIOT. an afternoon of repurposing and recycling activities that showcase creative thinking about sustainability and the arts! 12 to 3pm. $5.

14. ART/TALK/TOUR: Sun 4/7 – Breakfast with artist Jon Kessler at Swiss Institute and tour “The Web” installation with him. 12pm. $7 with RSVP

15. ART/VIDEO/FUN: Sun 4/7 – Abstract Currents: An Interactive Video Event with DJ Tamaryn at MoMA. 8:30pm to 11:30pm. $18

16. MUSIC: Sun 4/7 – Bonjour: music that freely crosses the boundaries between pop, minimalist and contemporary. 2 to 3pm. Suggested donation $5

17. MUSIC: Sun 4/7 – Sophie Auster sings her moody jazz- and post-punk-informed songs. 7:30pm $12.

18. ART/PARTICIPATORY: Sun 4/7 – Anarko Art Festival on the LES. Live collaborative multimedia art experience, both immersive and participatory. 7 to 11:30 pm FREE

PLUS…
>>MUSIC: Sun 4/7 – Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Xray Eyeballs at Webster Hall. 8pm $30 (Sold Out, but you never know if people are selling tickets…)
>>ART: Fri 4/5 – David Scanavino opening reception at Klaus Von Nichtessagend Gallery. 6 to 8pm. Exhibit up through 5/12. FREE
>>COMEDY: Wednesday 4/10 – Stef Comedy Jam at Launch Pad. Comedian Stephan Mark plus Free Beer and Pizza. 9pm to 4am

April 3, 2013 by collabcubed - 2 Comments

One Square Meter of Roots: Swarte

Click to enlarge

It’s hard not to think of Gotye’s Someone that I Used to Know video when looking at these works by Romanian duo Swarte. But love, anger, and heartbreak don’t seem to be on Corina Olaru and Manuela Vulpescu’s agenda. Instead, their collaborative series of 18 pieces titled One Square Meter of Roots combines painting, drawing, body art and, finally, photography, in an exploration of what made more than 70 tribes from all over the world able to survive and conserve themselves over time. The balance between emotions and symbols varies from one work to another, offering personal reflection and identification to and from the viewer with each artwork’s message and story explained here by the artists.

April 2, 2013 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Pae White: Typography Yarn Installation

Click to enlarge

Los Angeles artist Pae White creates site specific installations merging art, design, and architecture. Presently at the South London Gallery you can find her latest installation titled Too Much Night, Again where 48km of yarn is interwoven and criss-crossed into connecting supergraphic letterforms spelling out the words “Unmattering” on one wall and “Tiger Time” on the opposite one. The work was inspired by a period of insomnia which is hinted at in its name. Depending on your location within the space, the words emerge and fade. Pretty spectacular.

You can see the exhibit being mounted in the video below as well as White being interviewed about her process. And if you’re in London before May 12th, you can see it at the South London Gallery.

Photos courtesy greengrassi by Andy Keate.

via it’s nice that

April 2, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Coming Soon: Natan Dvir

Click to enlarge

My favorite kind of street photography usually involves humor, but I’ve also noticed that I’m drawn to photographs that juxtapose large images, be they street art murals, bridge arches, or other structures, with miniature-looking people in front of them. Israeli photographer Natan Dvir combines both quite successfully in his series Coming Soon. Arriving in NYC in 2008, Dvir was struck by the super-sized ads/billboards at street level and their effect on the urban landscape, and began photographing them. The resulting images emphasize not only the evident contrast in size but socio-economic levels and ad-agency-dreamworld vs. reality as well.

You can see many more of Dvir’s photographs on his website or in person at the Anastasia Photo Gallery on the Lower East Side in NYC where his work is being exhibited through May 19, 2013.

via NYTimes

April 1, 2013 by collabcubed - 3 Comments

Zhu Jinshi: Boat

Click to enlarge

Consisting of 8,000 sheets of rice paper, 800 shafts of bamboo, and cotton, the 12-meter long structure titled Boat was presented last month at Art13 London by Chinese abstract artist Zhu Jinshi. The impressive installation was assembled over a three-day period by a crew of workers from Hong Kong who delicately layered the historically- and culturally-relevant paper onto the bamboo poles. The Boat acts as a metaphor with both western and eastern significance: the artist’s personal voyage from east to west; as well as honoring the dead’s passage from living to afterlife, something that Chinese viewers would recognize from the meaning of the Chinese character for ‘boat’. Even time travel could be insinuated by the spaceship quality of the interior.

Photos: Domus and wallpaper

via domus

Click to enlarge

Photos: courtesy of the artist; artpulse; and Brooklyn Museum

Free& Cheap things to do

Free & Cheap things to do this weekend in NYC (4/19/13 to 4/21/13) in art, music, film, performance, architecture, photography, and more. Fun and interesting events all weekend long. Click through on images above for official event pages with more info or in the descriptions below.

1. MUSIC: All weekend – New York City Opera Moses in Egypt & La Perichole. $25 and up

3. THEATER: All weekend – Mayday Mayday: A True Story by the Man Who Fell . “Laugh out loud funny and tear-inducingly moving.” 8pm. 3pm on Sunday.$25 to $35.

4. POETRY/PERFORMANCE: Fri 4/19 – Strand Poetry Slam. 7 to 8pm $15.

5. MUSIC: Fri 4/19 & Sat 4/20: The Losers Lounge tribute to Elvis Costello. $25

6. FILM: All weekend and through 4/28 – Tribeca Film Festival. See schedule $8 to $16

7. READINGS/LECTURES: Fri 4/19 & Sat 4/20 – Shakespeare Week readings, lectures and poetry in the South Court Auditorium in the NY Public Library. 1:15pm. See schedule

8. ART/TECH: Sat 4/20 & through 5/4 – A. Bill Miller’s Gridworks: 12 to 5pm FREE

9. THEATER/MULTIMEDIA/PERFORMANCE: Sat 4/20 & Sun 4/21 – The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer. A multimedia, one-man, micro-epic puppet show. “Akin to a theatrical Wall-E.” See showtimes. $30.

10. FILM/TALK: Sat 4/20 – Hear the filmmakers of “The Pretty One” discuss their drama about a woman’s decision to assume her twin’s identity. 3pm Soho Apple Store. FREE

11. MUSIC: Sat 4/20 – 7th Annual Record Store Day – venture into the doorway of your favorite local record shop this coming Saturday, for this year’s exclusive releases not available via download. Here are some releases and here is a map with events. FREE

12. PHOTOGRAPHY/MUSIC: All weekend – Madonna: Retrospective of never before seen photos at W Times Square. FREE

13. RIDE/MEMORIAL: Sun 4/21: 8th Annual Memorial Ride to remember pedestrians & cyclists killed in NYC over the past year. 12pm. See ride schedules. FREE.

14. ART/LITERATURE: Sun 4/21 – Brooklyn Zine Fest. Flip through zines from more than 80 writers and artist. 11am to 6pm. FREE

15. ARCHITECTURE: All weekend & through 7/14 – The Woolworth Building@100 at the Skyscraper Museum. 12 to 6pm. $5.

MORE… ART >> Fri 4/19 –Claes Oldenburg: The Street and The Store Claes Oldenburg: Mouse Museum/Ray Gun Wing. FREE Fridays from 4 to 8pm at MoMA.

ART/TECH >> Sat 4/20 – Rhizome Seven on Seven Conference pairs seven leading artists with seven technologists in teams of two challenging them to develop something new. 12 to 8pm. $39.50

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Photos courtesy Wellington Writers Walk; Catherine Griffiths; Bruce Connew; and Jason Busch.

Click to enlarge

Photos courtesy Times Square Alliance; Inside Out Project; Inside Out NYC’s facebook page; and collabcubed.

Click to enlarge

Free& Cheap things to do

1. FOOD: Fri 4/12 Artisanal’s 3rd Annual Grilled Cheese Contest on National Grilled Cheese Day (who knew?) Taste and cast your vote. 3 to 5pm. $15. Tickets here.

2. MUSIC/ART: All Weekend – 3rd Annual Brain-Cave Festival featuring more than 30 of Brooklyn’s most versatile underground and indie artists and musicians. $12 to $40. Tkts here

3. MUSIC: Fri 4/12 –The Crystal Ark play their electronic dance music live. 7pm. FREE

4. ART/COMICS: Fri 4/12 and Sat 4/13 & through 5/11 – The Art of Harvey Kurtzman, cartoonist, writer, and founding editor and creator of MAD magazine. One of the most important figures in comic art. At the Society of Illustrators. 12pm to 5pm FREE

5. MUSIC: Fri 4/12 – Stereo Total (love these guys!) witty alternative/indie/pop based in Berlin but drawing from musical influences across Europe. 7pm Doors $18

6. LITERATURE/TALK: Fri 4/12 – Pulitzer Prize winning author Junot Diaz talks with the New Yorker’s Hilton Als. 7pm. Purchase of his latest book or $20 gift card.

7. ART/OPENING: Fri 4/12 – Opening reception of Richard Hughes exhibit at Anton Kern where the artist turns the the gallery into a stage for a dance performed by lamp posts, walls, and statues. Fri 6 to 8pm and through 5/18 10am to 6pm. FREE.

8. ART/TECH: All Weekend – Moving the Still: A GIF Festival, every 15 minutes on the hour on the BAM sign at Lafayette and Flatbush Aves, SE corner. Through 6/30. FREE.

9. THEATER: Fri 4/12 & Sat 4/13 – Exile by Nastaran Ahmadi An Iranian-American video game tester develops a game set in a post-nuclear-apocalypse Iran, even as her own relationship becomes a fallout zone. 7pm and also 3pm Sat, $19

10. ART: Fri 4/12 & Sat 4/13 – Pratt MFA Open Studios – over 100 artists presented in all mediums. Fri 5 to 9pm, Sat 12 to 6pm. FREE

11. DANCE: Fri 4/12 & Sat 4/13 – A House Made of Salt: Miriam Wolf’s evening length work is a dance for two performers dealing with some of the most fundamental rules that govern us as humans. $10 to $15

12. TRIBUTE/PERFORMANCE ART: Fri 4/12 & Sat 4/13 – Avant-Gard-A-Rama: New Moon. A tribute to the late downtown mentor performance artist Tom Murrin. Hosts Dynasty Handbag and Jonathan Ames with Elevator Repair Service and many more. 8pm $15

13. ART: Sat 4/13 & Sun 4/14 –Black Power: featuring works by Ron Wimberly, Coby Kennedy, and Jorden Haley. 12pm to 5pm at Superchief Gallery at Culturefix. FREE.

14. TALK/PERFORMANCE/MUSIC: Sat 4/13 – Ask Isaac: Isaac Mizrahi answers questions and murders some tunes with the Ben Waltzer Quintet. 7:30pm at the Laurie Beechman Theater $30 tickets.

15. READINGS/PARTY: Sun 4/14 – Inaugural Downtown Literary Festival. Daylong celebration of literary culture of NYC, readings, snacks and afte-party at Pravda with Russian Lit-themed cocktails. 10am to after 7pm.

16. ART/MUSIC/PERFORMANCE: Sun 4/14 – Sister Spit: a literary performance cabaret featuring novelists, magic marker artists, poets, performance artists and more from the queer, feminist, POC underground. 3pm $10 to $12.

17. MUSIC: Sun 4/14 – Vensaire/The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!/Zula/MyBody. 8 to 11:45pm at the Silent Barn in Bushwick $7

Click to enlarge.

Click to enlarge

Photos by Morne De Klerk/Getty Images and Mark Brake.

Click to enlarge

Photos courtesy of cartonLAB and mag’s facebook

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Photos courtesy of the artist, galeria animal, and artnet.

Cheap things to do this we

Free & Cheap things to do this weekend in NYC (4/5/13 to 4/7/13) in art, music, theater, performance, dance, architecture, film, design and general fun. Click through on images to event pages for more info or in the descriptions below.

1. ART: All Weekend – The Affordable Art Fair at the Metropolitan Pavilion. $15.

2. THEATER/FILM: National Theater Live: People Alan Bennetts much anticipated sixth play premiering at London’s National Theater, screened live. 7pm $25

3. TALK: All Weekend – The Talk Shop: Pop-Up Conversation Salon. 12 to 5pm FREE

4. FILM – All Weekend – KinofestNYC: Ukrainian Film Festival $12 to $15. See Schedule

6. NATURE/WALK: All Weekend & through 4/22 – The Orchid Show at NY Botanical Gardens $20 to $25 (use discount code 9919 for 20% off)

7. FILM: Fri 3/29 – All Weekend – Upstream Color an intriguing looking film that doesn’t follow a linear narrative. at IFC. $13.50

8. FOOD: Sat 4/6 & Sun 4/7 – Smorgasburg returns to Williamsburg on Saturdays, at the adjacent location at East River State Park, and Sundays in Dumbo. 10am to 6pm. FREE

9. BOOKS/READINGS: Sat 4/6 & Sun 4/7 – Anarchist Book Fair with readings, workshops & films. LES. 10am to 9pm. FREE

10. FOOD: Sat 4/6 – SoHA Square Grand Opening. South Harlem’s Neighborhood Market Place. 10am to 6pm. FREE

11. ART/PERFORMANCE: Sat 4/6 – Swell Sound & Vison Festival: features digital projections, provocative performances and interactive installations offering multiple opportunities for audience participation. 8pm. Williamsburg. $10

12.THEATER: All weekend – Shaheed: The Dream and Death of Benazir Bhutto. $25 and up.

13. CREATIVE THINKING/ART/FUN: Sat 4/6 – Load OUT A Reuse and Repurposing RIOT. an afternoon of repurposing and recycling activities that showcase creative thinking about sustainability and the arts! 12 to 3pm. $5.

14. ART/TALK/TOUR: Sun 4/7 – Breakfast with artist Jon Kessler at Swiss Institute and tour “The Web” installation with him. 12pm. $7 with RSVP

15. ART/VIDEO/FUN: Sun 4/7 – Abstract Currents: An Interactive Video Event with DJ Tamaryn at MoMA. 8:30pm to 11:30pm. $18

16. MUSIC: Sun 4/7 – Bonjour: music that freely crosses the boundaries between pop, minimalist and contemporary. 2 to 3pm. Suggested donation $5

17. MUSIC: Sun 4/7 – Sophie Auster sings her moody jazz- and post-punk-informed songs. 7:30pm $12.

18. ART/PARTICIPATORY: Sun 4/7 – Anarko Art Festival on the LES. Live collaborative multimedia art experience, both immersive and participatory. 7 to 11:30 pm FREE

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Photos courtesy greengrassi by Andy Keate.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Photos: Domus and wallpaper

MORE…
ART >> Fri 4/19 –Claes Oldenburg: The Street and The Store  Claes Oldenburg: Mouse Museum/Ray Gun Wing. FREE Fridays from 4 to 8pm at MoMA.

12. TRIBUTE/PERFORMANCE ART: Fri 4/12 & Sat 4/13 – Avant-Gard-A-Rama : New Moon. A tribute to the late downtown mentor performance artist Tom Murrin. Hosts Dynasty Handbag and Jonathan Ames with Elevator Repair Service and many more. 8pm $15