Night School Public Seminar 12: Jan Verwoert

Night School Public Seminar 12: Jan Verwoert
New Museum, 235 Bowery

Friday, February 27, 7pm
Saturday, February 28, 3pm
Sunday, February 29, 4pm

What is the future of medium-specific practices after Conceptualism?
What is the future of Conceptual art after the 1990s?

How have the basic conditions of art practice changed and what words and models could we use to open up the potentials at the heart of these developments in art after Conceptualism?

The talk will start off addressing the conditions of contemporary practice. The idea is to invent a new language that would acknowledge a shared sense of crisis and doubt, yet fight the senseless paranoia over legitimation that too much bad-faith criticism today exploits in the wake of second-generation institutional critique together, through discussions that describe potentials. In other words: In response to the concerns of contemporary art practice, how could a critical vocabulary be developed that would break the spell of the oedipal infatuation with the laws of (institutional) legitimacy—and instead help to transform criticism into a truly gay science based on a shared sense of appreciation and irreverence?

http://newmuseum.org/events

Cheryl Furjanic + Sync or Swim: Feb 25

New York Premiere and Discussion with Director Cheryl Furjanic
Wednesday, February 25, 6pm
MoMA, Theater 1 (The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 1), T1

This informative and entertaining film dives into the world of synchronized swimming, following dedicated young women as they compete for spots on the U.S. national team and train relentlessly in pursuit of an Olympic medal. In the midst of their training, they must pull together to support a teammate during a personal tragedy. 90 min.(2008)

http://www.moma.org/calendar/films.php?id=12250&ref=calendar

Rapid Response: Towering Inferno: Feb 24

Rapid Response: Towering Inferno
Tuesday, February 24, 6:30 pm
Studio-X
180 Varick Street, STE 1610, (between King and Charleton Streets)

The spectacle of Beijing's TVCC tower set ablaze on February 9, 2009 spurred debate about not only regulation and building practice, but also the future of Chinese development. Not long after undergoing international scrutiny for its political and environmental policies in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics--its lasting symbol being the Bird's Nest--the Chinese state once again experienced international attention that revolved around iconic architecture. Deemed by many to be the end of the "boom," what does the fire imply for a construction trajectory that has fixated on China as a land of opportunity, and for questions of sustainability and urban development in other Chinese and global cities?

JEFFREY JOHNSON, Columbia University GSAPP; Director, China-Lab
JOSEPH GRIMA, Director, Storefront for Art and Architecture; author of "Instant Asia: Fast Forward through the Architecture of a Changing Continent"
JYOTI HOSAGRAHAR, Columbia University GSAPP and SIPA; Director, Sustainable Urbanism International

Free and open to the public, RSVP: gdb2106@columbia.edu

Held on the last Tuesday of each month, RAPID RESPONSE is an open and undetermined platform for quick response to events that have transpired over the past thirty days. [Studio-X is a downtown studio for experimental design and research run by the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation of Columbia University.]

http://www.arch.columbia.edu/studiox/

Paul Sietsema: Feb 23

Subjective Histories of Sculpture III: Paul Sietsema
Monday, February 23, 6:30 pm
Theresa Lang Center at The New School
55 West 13th Street, 2nd floor

SculptureCenter, in collaboration with the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School, presents a series of artist-led lectures: Subjective Histories of Sculpture II. This lecture series furthers SculptureCenter's exploration of how contemporary artists think about sculpture - its conventions, and its legacies.

$5 General Admission, SculptureCenter Members and Students Free
For tickets call 212-229-5488 or email boxoffice@newschool.edu

http://www.sculpture-center.org/eventsUpcomingEvents.htm

Tony Feher on Dan Flavin: Feb 23

Monday, February 23, 6:30pm
Dia Art Foundation, 535 West 22nd Street

New York-based artist Tony Feher was born in 1956 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Among his recent one-person shows are exhibitions at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis (2007); Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas (2005); La Fundación La Caixa, Lleida, Spain (2004); and University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley (2002). Admission is $6; $3 for members, students, and seniors.
Tickets are available at the lecture only. For reservations call 212 293 5583 or artistsonartists@diaart.org

http://www.diacenter.org/prg/lectures/artists/index.html

Zoe Leonard: Feb 22

Sunday, February 22, 12:30pm
Zoe Leonard in conversation with Lynne Cooke
Dia Beacon, Beacon, NY

Zoe Leonard was born in 1961 in Liberty, New York, and now lives and works in New York City. She has exhibited internationally since 1990, including recent solo presentations at the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio (2007); Villa Arson, Nice, France (2007); Paula Cooper Gallery, New York City (2003); Center for Contemporary Art, Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw (1999); Centre National de la Photographie, Paris (1998); Kunsthalle Basel (1997); and the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago (1993). In 2007, Leonard was the subject of a 20-year career retrospective at the Kunstmuseum Winterthur, in Winterthur, Switzerland, which will travel to the Reina Sofía in Madrid in winter 2008.

http://www.diacenter.org/prg/conversations/index.html

Serkan Ozkaya and Daniel Bozhkov: Feb 21

Saturday, February 21, 6pm
Cabinet, 300 Nevins Street, Brooklyn

Conversation with Serkan Ozkaya and Daniel Bozhkov to be followed by an opening for "A Series of Coincidences" featuring: Serkan Ozkaya: Installation, Daniel Bozhkov: Object, John Menick: Video, Dario Robleto: Text. Organized by Regine Basha. FREE. No RSVP necessary.

http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/events/eventspace.php

Back to the Future… Feb 21

Back to the Future…An Experimental Discussion on Contemporary Feminist Practice
Saturday, February 21, 6:30 pm
Whitney Museum, Fifth Floor galleries
RSVP Required: Reservations on a first-come, first-served basis

Back to the Future was organized by Jen Kennedy, an art historian, and Liz Linden, an artist. They are both currently participants in the Whitney Independent Study Program. At this town-hall-style public discussion, participants will be asked to engage in a temporally specific, group experiment aimed at frank dialogue about feminisms of our day. Relying on a provisional, substitutive vocabulary, our event aims to explore terrain that is not circumscribed by the semantics and tactics of past positions by looking at what, in our contemporary conception of feminism-as-lived-practice, we hold to be intrinsic, innate, and unique.

What happens when we are forced to temporarily set aside the terms of the past and asked to discuss feminism in a language that is rooted artificially and solely in the present? It is our goal that through a non-scripted, non-hierarchical collaboration with the participants, we will use a "Dictionary of Temporary Approximations" to explore the nature of feminisms present, with the intention of ultimately rejuvenating these original terms by returning them to our conversation at the end of the experiment. It is our hope that this will result in a radical expansion of the notion of feminism, bringing it into alignment with contemporary practice.

http://www.whitney.org/www/educational_programs/public_programs.jsp#backtothefuture

Janine Antoni and Patrick Killoran: Feb 21

SkowheganTALKS: Janine Antoni and Patrick Killoran
Saturday, February 21, 3pm
New Museum, 235 Bowery

SkowheganTALKS, a lecture series organized by the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, features conversations between some of the most influential visual artists working today. The third talk of the second season of the series includes a conversation between artists Janine Antoni and Patrick Killoran.

SkowheganTALKS features recent alumni of the residency program of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in conversation with artists who have been faculty members at Skowhegan. While the association with Skowhegan is the common factor among the artists, the conversations are not intended to focus on the artists’ respective experiences at Skowhegan, but rather will address subjects of broader interest including the participating artists' current and past work and the challenges and opportunities that are characteristic of working as an artist today. An especially interesting aspect of SkowheganTALKS is that the conversations are also intended explore the mentor-student relationship, a model that is becoming increasingly important for young artists in New York and worldwide.

$6 Members, $8 General Public
http://www.newmuseum.org/events/288

Laughing about N.O.Body

Laughing about N.O.Body: Presentation and debate with Zoe Leonard, Ulrike Müller, Pauline Boudry+Renate Lorenz
Wednesday, Feb 18, 6:30pm
Swiss Institute
495 Broadway 3rd Fl

The artists Pauline Boudry and Renate Lorenz talk about their project: the trip of the bearded lady's photograph from the social context of the 19th century freak show into the medical theatre of the early 20th century, the complex figure of the 'freak' and the meaning of film and performance for the reworking of historic photographs.
http://www.swissinstitute.net/events/upcoming.php?Event=90#jump

Takeshi Murata: Feb 17

Takeshi Murata: Conversation + Screening
Tuesday, February 17, 2009, 6:30 pm
EAI, 535 West 22nd Street, Fifth Floor

In his first artist talk in New York City, Takeshi Murata will screen and speak about his recent and rarely seen video works, including works in progress. Joining in a conversation with Josh Kline of EAI, Murata will share insights into his innovative practice and continually evolving process, which ranges from intricate computer-aided, hand-drawn animations to exacting manipulations of the flaws, defects and broken code in digital video technology. Whether altering appropriated footage from cinema (B movies, vintage horror films), or creating Rorschach-like fields of seething color, form and motion, Murata produces astonishing visions that redefine the boundaries between abstraction and recognition.

http://www.eai.org/eai/publicProgramArtists.htm?id=115

Michael Blum: Feb 12

Artist talk: Michael Blum with Regine Basha
Thu, Feb 12, 7:00pm
New Museum, 235 Bowery

Artist Michael Blum speaks with curator Regine Basha. Blum’s work Exodus 2048, commissioned by the Van Abbemuseum for Be(com)ing Dutch, is installed on the fifth floor as part of Museum as Hub: Be(com)ing Dutch at a Distance. The multipart project presents an “Imagined Future” in the year 2048, in which the state of Israel has dissolved and the Van Abbemuseum serves as a temporary camp for Israeli refugees. The project’s “what-if” scenario addresses the role of the host and the refugee far into the future. In the context of the New Museum, the U.S.’s own particular history in relation to emigration and its strong relationship with Israel are reflected.

http://www.newmuseum.org/events/284

Museums and Civil Society: Feb 12

Museums and Civil Society: The Role of Artists, Institutions and Politics Now!
Thursday, February 12, 2-7pm
The New Museum, 235 Bowery (Sky Lounge)

Within the framework of the exhibition 'The Artist as Troublemaker – the Museum and Civil Society' at the Austrian Cultural Forum NYC (December 7th, 2008 – March 28th, 2009), the Kunsthaus Graz / LM Joanneum organizes in co-operation with the New Museum and the Austrian Cultural Forum a symposium on scenarios of recent and future museum practice and theory. Curators, artists and scholars will discuss urgent and fundamental issues, regarding the functioning of museums in a world of crisis.

For detailed schedule, see: http://www.newmuseum.org/events/299

Saya Woolfalk: Feb 11

66 Fifth Ave. , Kellen Auditorium
Wednesday, February 11, 3:15- 5:15pm

Saya Woolfalk is a New York based artist. She was an Artist-in-Residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem, and completed the Whitney Independent Study Program. She holds an MFA in Sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BA from Brown University. She has exhibited at PS1/MoMA Contemporary Art Center in LIC, NY; the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati and many more. She received an Art Matters grant to Japan, a NYFA grant, a Fulbright Fellowship to Brazil, a Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA grant and was a participant at Skowhegan, Yaddo and Sculpture Space. Her current project No Place is a series of short videos with anthropologist/filmmaker Rachel Lears. The name No Place is derived from the English word, “utopia,” coined by Sir Thomas More from the Greek “no” (ou) and “place” (topos). Constructed from household materials, the characters and narratives evoke traveler narratives, science fiction and academic anthropology to rework tropes of sexuality, gender and race.

http://www.parsons.newschool.edu/events/event_detail.aspx?eID=1029

Paul Graham: Feb 9

An Evening with Paul Graham
Monday, February 9, 7:00 p.m.
Visual Arts Theater, 333 West 23 Street

The first in a series of monthly conversations exploring contemporary photography among noted artists, critics, curators, and editors, The BFA Photography Department at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) and Dear Dave magazine present photographer Paul Graham in conversation with New York Times writer Philip Gefter. Graham's work is the subject of MoMA's a shimmer of possibility exhibition. Admission is free.

http://www.moma.org/calendar/events.php?id=12586&ref=calendar

Shahzia Sikander: Feb 4

Shahzia Sikander
Parsons Fine Arts Lecture Series
Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Auditorium
Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 66 Fifth Avenue
Wednesday, February 4, 3- 4:30 pm

Shahzia Sikander’s work spans a variety of mediums including drawing, wall installations, animation and video. Examining the provenance and cannon of Indo-Persian miniature painting, Sikander pioneered an experimental approach to the genre in the mid 1980s. Her work has successfully brought Indo-Persian miniature painting into the realm of contemporary art. Sikander’s work takes apart the conventional methods of addressing traditional miniature paintings and reassembles them to expand their associations.

Admission:Free; no tickets or reservations required; seating is first-come first-served

http://www.newschool.edu/eventDetail.aspx?id=27942