Event Description
David Lang premieres Composition as Explanation, a work based on Gertrude Stein’s 1925 text, which explores the notion of the artist’s talk in tribute to The Arts Club’s legacy of cultural conversations. It will be performed continuously throughout the building by Eighth Blackbird and will be complemented by live presentations that similarly consider what it means for artists to discuss their work in person.
Derrick Adams Passing Time. Within the Arts Club exhibition space, multidisciplinary artist Derrick Adams constructs a lounge environment, equipped with the essential components of a domestic living room environment. Visitors are invited to sit casually and flip through Arts Club archives of artist and exhibition catalogs, mapping the history of the organization. Visitors are further encouraged to participate in informal conversations taking place within the installation, while Adams spins vinyl records of music from the past and present from turntables stationed on the coffee table, or just relax for a moment and pass time.
Suzanne Bocanegra with Paul Lazar, When a Priest Marries a Witch, an Artist LectureIn 2010, Bocanegra was asked by the Museum of Modern Art to give a lecture about her work. For that lecture, she made a theater piece in which Paul Lazar, an actor long associated with the Wooster Group, performs as Bocanegra, telling the story of how she became an artist, growing up in Pasadena, Texas. Part personal narrative, part cultural history, the piece focuses on a wild scandal that happened in her local Catholic church. Spectators hear both Paul and her recorded voice telling the story and (sort of ) together, they tell a tale about identity, artistic expression, the Pope, and obviously, a witch.
Mark Dion In a lecture, compellingly illustrated by film strip, the earth’s 4.5 billion years isrecounted. The presentation illuminates the geological and biological history of our planet leading up to birth, work and death of eminent Earth Works artist, Robert Smithson.
Irena Haiduk presents an evening program on polite art, the first step in surrounding yourself with things in the right way.
Pablo Helguera, 10 New Kindergarten Chats (after Mr. Sullivan) In about 1918, Louis Sullivan published a book entitledKindergarten Chats, which outlined his philosophy of design and architecture. Helguera presents a reprise of these short texts by creating new talks on the same topics, revisited for the 21st century.
Geof Oppenheimer In this multimode production, Oppenheimer delves into the Arts Club’s archive to present a social and psychic bricolage that explores and reimagines the Club’s history of creative liberty, class construction, and desire for social change.
Walid Raad contributes stories and documents. Some are included in the catalog. Others are ondisplay in The Art Club’s restrooms.
Edra Soto Manual GRAFT Iron rejas became ubiquitous in the architecture of post-war Puerto Rico due to the security they provided and their ability to allow for cross ventilation. Today, these iron rejas are viewed not so much as a protection device, but as a language that pertains to the island’s visual culture. As part of an ongoing exploration of these design elements, Edra Soto presents Manual GRAFT, an architectural intervention that arrives via performative gestures and a process-based experience that unfolds in front of the viewers, unveiling the artistic process. Soto will install a related pattern on the glass walls that encloses The Arts Club’s famous Mies van der Rohe staircase.
After party to follow at 7 pm for performers, Arts Club members, and guests.