Upper East Side
At the Guggenheim, Cai will make you believe, too
Contributor Heesun Wee has been writing for NewYorkology since 2005. By day, she's a video segment producer for Yahoo'sTech Ticker. She’s also writing a screenplay entitled “War Photographer.” Recently she stopped by the Guggenheim, which has just announced it will stay open an extra two hours every day for the final week of Cai Guo Qiang's installation. (That's 10 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. from May 23 through May 28.)
Art in New York lately has been disappointing me. I’ve cruised through the Chelsea gallery ghetto thinking, ‘This is it?’ If I wanted cutesy prints and photographs I’d buy Domino or some other glossy fashion magazine run by cookie-cutter 30-somethings in $300 blue jeans.
But the current car-and-light installation at the Guggenheim in New York is amazing. Part of a larger retrospective, Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want to Believe, is beautiful, violent, spatially stunning, postmodern, reflective of 9/11, and East meets West -- all wrapped into one.
Inopportune: Stage One is Cai’s largest installation to date. It showcases nine real cars that are suspended in a cyclone-like progression in the central atrium of the Frank Lloyd Wright rotunda. Thomas Krens, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, has said the project "may be the best artistic transformation of the Frank Lloyd Wright space we've ever seen."
Cai, born in southern China and now living in New York City, has said constant media images of car explosions after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks inspired the project.
Whether you’re on the ground floor looking up at the swirl of cars or peering down into the tornado-like shape of metal and flashing lights, it’s as if you’re inside a massive bomb about to go off, with Wright’s cylindrical museum as the bomb’s exterior casing.
I’ve always thought of the beige museum on the trash-less Upper East Side of Manhattan as peaceful. That’s no accident. Wright created the seashell-like building with an interior circular design. You take the elevator to the top and wind down a spiral ramp as you enjoy the art seamlessly.
But by installing his art – cars, stuffed wildlife, sculptures -- in the middle of the museum’s atrium and winding ramp – Cai interrupts the spatial peace. Throughout my visit I felt the push-and-pull of the beautiful building against the violence often depicted in the art. Indeed Cai has said his work explores both the beauty and violence human beings are capable of.
BEAUTY AND VIOLENCE
 This beauty-violence juxtaposition is a recurring theme for Cai. In his gunpowder drawings, also on view at the Guggenheim, his images are made with gunpowder, fuses and traditional materials such as ink. The explosions left behind on canvases have a blurry, eerie death quality. It was as if Cai was forcing me to imagine my own gunpowder-y body silhouette, in essence my own humanity, and asking, "What are you capable of? Do you know? Do you want to know?"
Cai created many of the gunpowder drawings on multi-part panels meant to resemble Asian paper scrolls. The long, continuous images stretch and fill the museum’s ramp, another clever move by Cai to meld his art with the space it inhabits.
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May 6, 2008 12:24 PM Comments (0)
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Sharpton: Protest to 'close this city down' Wednesday
To protest the acquittal of the three officers who shot Sean Bell as he was leaving his bachelor party in 2006, Rev. Al Sharpton has vowed to "close this city down" starting Wednesday at 3 p.m. with a series of civil disobedience actions.
 Sharpton has called for protesters to gather in at least six locations to pray (and presumably stop all traffic in the area.) NewYorkology created a map for the announced locations:
125th Street and Third Avenue
60th Street and Third Avenue
34th Street and Park Avenue
Varick and Houston streets, near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel
One Police Plaza, near the base of the Brooklyn Bridge
House of the Lord Church, 415 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn
In rendering the verdict April 25, the judge said the witnesses were unreliable and "at times, the testimony just didn't make sense."
While the judge said the actions of the three indicted NYPD officers did not rise to the level of criminal, "questions of carelessness and incompetence must be left to other forums," he said.
The police officers could still face federal charges over their actions, and after that determination, the NYPD will be allowed to determine its discipline for the trio. The stated aim of the upcoming protest is to persuade federal officials to "enforce laws to make police brutality illegal and prosecute officers that violate such laws.
Of special note to travelers to NYC, one of those 50 bullets fired by police was so off course that it sailed into a nearby AirTrain station. On the video, you can see suitcase-toting travelers ducking for cover.
May 5, 2008 07:49 AM Comments (0)
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Bon Jovi to play Central Park in mid-July or later
 Jon Bon Jovi will play Central Park this summer sometime in mid-July or later, he told Sports Illustrated in an interview.
The magazine was talking to the Jersey-born rocker mainly about his ownership of the Philadelphia Soul Arena Football League team and then this came up:
SI.com: I know the Spectrum and the Wachovia Center serve as the homes of the Soul, but if Bon Jovi were a team, Giants Stadium would certainly be its home. What are your thoughts on Giants Stadium being torn down in 2010? You always close out your tours at Giants Stadium, do you plan on having a couple last shows there before it's demolished?
Bon Jovi: Actually I'm not going to do it this year. We always end every tour at Giants Stadium, but we're going to do Central Park this year. That hasn't been announced yet, there you go, we're doing Central Park. I think it's a great stadium, but in this day in age when it's all about those sky boxes and those revenue streams, I could see why they would want to get rid of it, but it's too bad. I think it a great place and a great place to play and I have nothing but good memories there. Bon Jovi's concert schedule currently lists his final tour dates as July 14 and 15 at Madison Square Garden, where tickets are on sale for $49.50 to $304.50.
This summer, Central Park SummerStage and other Rumsey Playfield shows are already set to include performers including Sheryl Crow (May 29,) Duran Duran (May 30/31,) Mavis Staples (June 13,) Vampire Weekend (June 14,) Santogold (July 20,) Crosby, Stills & Nash (July 29,) Sonny Rollins (August 6,) and Battles (August 16.)
Earlier: Ted Leo, Sonic Youth to play free River to River '08
Early SummerStage: Duran Duran, CSN, Seun Kuti
Met Opera plans free June 20 concert in Prospect Park
NY Philharmonic sets free summer park concert dates
NY Philharmonic to play free July 5 Gov. Island concert
April 30, 2008 07:30 AM Comments (0)
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Shakespeare in the Park to give tickets away online
People with day jobs all across New York City, rejoice! Standing in line for hours and hours to maybe get free tickets to Shakespeare in the Park may be a thing of yesterday.
Details from Playbill:With the new virtual line, the Public allows individuals who are registered at the Public Theater website to log on and submit a day-of request for tickets beginning at 12 AM ET. Each individual entry is able to request up to two tickets for that day's performance. At 1 PM registered users can log on to the Public website to see if their names have been randomly selected. The day-of tickets will be held at the Delacorte box office. However, most tickets will still be alotted to the legions who line up in Central Park the day of each show; only "a limited number" will go the online route.
Of course you can also "buy" the free tickets by donating $160 or $165 to the Public Theater.
This summer's first production is "Hamlet" -- set for May 27 through June 29 -- with Michael Stuhlbarg, Sam Waterston, Lauren Ambrose, Andre Braugher and Margaret Colin.
The second Shakespeare in the Park production for 2008 will be "Hair" -- from July 22 through August 17 -- with Jonathan Groff, Will Swenson, Patina Renea Miller and Allison Case directed by Dianne Paulus.
Image source: That's the front of the line for "Hair" in Central Pak on Sept. 24, 2007. They'd arrived at 11 p.m. the night before. Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
(Playbill story found via Playgoer.)
Earlier: Shakespeare in the Park summer '08: 'Hair,' 'Hamlet'
'Hair' in Central Park for Summer of Love anniversary
April 28, 2008 07:17 PM Comments (0)
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Bank of America offers free museum access for a year
Starting in May, Bank of America cardholders will get free admission during the first Saturday and Sunday of each month for the next year at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, International Center of Photography, New York Hall of Science, Jewish Museum, the Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium.
The bank's Museums on Us also offers free entrance to New Jersey's Liberty Science Center, Montclair Art Museum and the Newark Museum.
In past years, the bank's offerings were limited to May, but the Museums on Us website currently lists free weekend offerings through April 2009.
But if you don't have a Bank of America account, plenty of New York City's museums have free hours each week, and many are pay-what-you-wish, such as the Met Museum (which actually only costs a penny.)
Picture credit: Met Museum, Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
April 28, 2008 03:26 PM Comments (0)
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Lifebooker.com for easy spa appointments in NYC
 What OpenTable.com is to free restaurant reservations, Lifebooker.com now is to easy reservations to spa and fitness appointments.
The site lets you pick a service -- including mani/pedi, bikini wax, massage (with a male- or female- preference option,) accupuncture, cupping and men's shave. You then pick a day, time, and if you want, a neighborhood to narrow your reach. The site then reloads with all your options, including prices at each location, alternate times and types of services within the topic you've selected (such as Brazilian, landing strip, bikini updo, Bermuda Triangle basic, etc.)
You can book on the site for free, but you need to provide a credit card number to hold appointments. (But only the spa itself ends up paying Lifebooker a percentage, which is where the website makes its money.)
The site launched six months ago and currently offers appointments only in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The goal is to offer appointments at about 1,000 spas, salon and fitness providers from the tri-state area by the end of the year, a company spokesman told NewYorkology. Eventually the service will launch in other cities as well.
Companies already offering appointments inlcude Allure, Delluva Day Spa, Rita Hazan, Townhouse Spa, Paul Labrecque, Spa Chinois and White Tea Spa -- and some with special discounts for Lifebooker users.
The site also lets you read reviews written by other members who have actually booked past appointments at the spas. And you can earn reward points for future services.
Lifebooker is independently owned by 26-year-old entrepreneurs Andrew Unger and Dana Reichman.
Earlier: $50 massages, facials during Spa Week, April 14-20
April 28, 2008 01:37 PM Comments (0)
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Darwin, edible lawns on May's garden-events agenda
NewYorkology contributor Jane Berger has compiled a list of selected garden-related events for May. Jane is a professional landscape designer working throughout the Northeast and is editor and publisher of Garden Design Online.
 Brooklyn Botanic Garden (718) 623-7200
May 3 and 4
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sakura Matsuri, weekend-long Cherry Blossom Festival
May 6
6 to 8 p.m.
Annual Garden Secrets, lecture by BBG Curator Nancy Seaton
May 14
10:30 a.m. to noon
Urban Gardening Workshop, author Linda Yang
May 14
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Tour of NYC Flower Market led by floral designer Nancy Kitchen
May 31
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Japanese Pruning Techniques for Small Gardens, workshop with arborist Asher Browne & BBG curator Brian Funk
May 31
3 p.m.
Small Urban Gardens of Japan lecture with Asher Browne
NY Botanical Garden (718) 817-8747
Through June 15
Darwin’s Garden, special exhibition in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory
May 6
5 p.m. in the Ross Lecture Hall, NYBG
Darwin: Yesterday and Today, panel discussion featuring Darwin historian David Kohn, philosopher Michael Ruse and Rita Colwell, former director of the National Science Foundation.
May 8
6:30 p.m. at the Kaufman Theater, American Museum of Natural History
Human Evolution & the Complexity of Living Organisms panel discussion featuring Barbara Schaal, VP of the National Academy of Sciences; biologist & author Kenneth Miller and biochemist Gerald Edelman
May 17
10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in NYBG's Watson Bldg
Photo Workshop: The Power of Natural Light with photographer Allen Rokach
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April 23, 2008 09:42 AM Comments (0)
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Koons' 'Balloon Dog' marks its territory on Met roof
Artist Jeff Koons has installed three of his never-before-on-public-display schulptures in the roof garden of the Met Museum of Art, where they'll stay through the summer.
"Balloon Dog (Yellow,)" is similiar to “Balloon Dog (Magenta,)” which was installed at the
Palazzo Grassi in Venice in 2006.
It shares the rooftop space with "Sacred Heart (Red/Gold,)" and the Piglet-inspired "Coloring Book."
 The Met's Roof Garden Cafe will serve new cocktails by the same names as the three art works, along with the usual fare of soft drinks, beer, wine and food. It will also provide a martini bar on Friday and Saturda evenings from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
"I think everything balanced out just perfect. I don't think I've ever been happier with any artwork I've ever done," Koons this morning told media gathered for his press preview in the garden.
In recent years, the garden has hosted the work of artists including Sol LeWitt and Frank Stella. The roof draws up to 800 people an hour on sunny days in the summer, Met president Emily Rafferty said.
"Jeff Koons on the Roof" will be on display in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden from April 22 through October 26.
2008 hours for the roof garden (weather permitting) are 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays through Thursdays, plus Sundays; and 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The Met Museum is closed Mondays except some holiday Mondays (including May 26 and Sept. 1.)
Earlier: Jeff Koons gets the Met Museum's rooftop for summer
Balloon inflation with Shrek, Scooby, and Koons' rabbit
April 21, 2008 12:48 PM Comments (0)
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Central Park curfew sweep nets CNN talent, drug bust
 You might not have known, but technically Central Park is closed from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m., 365 days a year -- even if you're an annoying reporter for CNN.
The New York Times is reporting that CNN's Richard Quest was arrested in the park around 3:40 a.m. and today faces a misdemeanor drug possession charge. From the Times:
As he was being escorted out, he volunteered, “I have meth in my pocket,” according to an official briefed on the case. Stay tuned to see if he mentions it on his business travel blog.
Update: Qust avoided jail time by agreeing to six months of drug counseling, according to the Associated Press.
Earlier: NY Philharmonic sets free summer park concert dates
Noir thriller will be staged in Central Park restrooms
Shakespeare in the Park summer '08: 'Hair,' 'Hamlet'
April 18, 2008 03:55 PM Comments (0)
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Pope arrives in NYC to visit U.N., Yankee Stadium, WTC
Pope Benedict XVI today starts a three-day trip to New York City with plans to address the United Nations, visit the World Trade Center site and a Jewish synagogue and celebrate mass at several locations including Yankee Stadium and Saint Patrick's Cathedral.
Extra security is in place and the traffic disruptions have begun.
Resources: St. Patricks gift shop with official pope in NY merchandise
Buses rerouted for the pope's visit (MTA)
Papal Visit Street Closures and Construction Embargo (NYC DOT)
Other coverage: Fiery Cab Outside St. Patrick's (Gothamist)
Tickets scarce for historic visit of Pope Benedict XVI (TicketNews.com)
First Papal Visit to an American Synagogue Is Set (Sun)
Security will halt John Paul-style stroll (Daily News)
Papal visit puts spotlight on Catholic sites in New York, D.C.
(USA Today)
The pope's schedule highlights in New York City:
Friday
9:45 a.m. - The pope arrives at JFK Airport and is welcomed by Cardinal Edward M. Egan, archbishop of New York and Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio, bishop of Brooklyn and others.
10 a.m. - The pope will address the United Nations and meet with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
5:22 p.m - The pope visits the Park East Synagogue, located at 163 East 67th St.
6 p.m. - Ecumenical prayer service at Saint Joseph Parish, located at 404 E. 87th St., before the pope returns to the papal residence on in NY on East 72nd Street (normally the home of Bishop Celestino Migliore) where Lidia Bastianich, of Felidia and Del Posto restaurants, will prepare the meal
Saturday
9 a.m. - The pope celebrates mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral with 3,000 deacons, priests and religious men and women from throughout the United States.
1:15 p.m. The pope departs Saint Patrick's and will travel by popemobile up 5th Avenue to 72nd Street. (This is your best chance to see the pope as its one of the only unticketed events.)
4:30 p.m. - The pope travels to Saint Joseph Seminary in Yonkers to bless youth with disabilities and rally with seminarians and young people.
Sunday
9:30 a.m. - The pope visits Ground Zero, blesses the ground with holy water and greets representatives of the Port Authority, fire and police workers, survivors and family members of those killed in the the Sept. 11 attacks.
2:30 p.m. - The pope celebrates mass at Yankee Stadium
8:30 p.m. - The pope departs JFK's Hangar 19 on Alitalia's "Shepherd One"
Resources:
St. Patricks gift shop's official pope in NY items
Buses rerouted for the pope's visit (MTA)
Papal Visit Street Closures and Construction Embargo (DOT)
Other coverage: Fiery Cab Outside St. Patrick's (Gothamist)
Tickets scarce for Pope Benedict XVI (TicketNews.com)
First Papal Visit to an American Synagogue Is Set (Sun)
Security will halt John Paul-style stroll (Daily News)
Papal visit puts spotlight on Catholic sites in New York, D.C.
(USA Today)
April 18, 2008 06:30 AM Comments (0)
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