Bryce Dessner, Aaron Dessner + Matthew Ritchie: Oct 31

Artist Talk with Bryce Dessner, Aaron Dessner, and Matthew Ritchie
October 31, 6pm
BAM: Hillman Attic Studio
$8; $4 for Friends of BAM

Brothers Bryce and Aaron Dessner of international indie rock fame The National, and British-born visual artist Matthew Ritchie, known for his kaleidoscopic, cosmological projects, have come together to introduce The Long Count. Their new collaboration will lend itself to a discussion on music, art, and genesis.
http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=1264

The Long Count, Part of the 2009 Next Wave Festival, will be performed at BAM on October 28, 30 & 31 at 8pm. The stage has been designed by Matthew Ritchie and the show is a music / theater piece that merges the Mayan creation myth with Bryce and Aaron's experience growing up as twins in Cincinnati, OH during the era of the Cincinnati Reds Big Red Machine. The production consists of 70 minutes of music composed by Bryce and Aaron and played by an 11 piece ensemble as well as Bryce and Aaron. Guest vocalists Kim and Kelley Deal (The Breeders, The Pixies), Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond), and Matt Berninger (The National) round out the line-up in this visionary collaboration between music and art. In addition, David Sheppard will be creating live audio loops and surround sound audio effects throughout the performance. http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=1263

A bonus for Hot Art Action readers! The song "Bull Run" featuring vocals by Kelley Deal is available for free download here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/ulk1bq

Sylvere Lotringer on Paul Virilio: Oct 29

Sylvere Lotringer: Paul Virilio: The Itinerary of Catastrophe
Thursday, October 29, 7pm
SVA Theatre, 333 West 23 Street

Writer and cultural theorist Sylvere Lotringer will give a talk on philosopher Paul Virilio’s proposition of speed and catastrophe as the generative principle of contemporary society, following a screening of The Itinerary of Catastrophe, a filmed conversation with Virilio. Lotringer is professor emeritus at Columbia University, where he founded the influential journal Semiotext(e). He is the co-author of Pure War (Semiotext(e), 1983) and Crepuscular Dawn (Semiotext(e), 2002) and the author of Overexposed: Perverting Perversions (Semiotext(e), 2007). Presented by the MFA Art Criticism and Writing Department. Free and open to the public

http://www.schoolofvisualarts.edu/events/index.jsp?sid0=70&page_id=181&content_id=3120

The Institute for Aesthetic Research: Oct 28+ Nov 4, 11, 18

The Institute for Aesthetic Research
Wednesdays, 6-8pm
October 21, 28 and November 4, 11, 18
Exit Art, 475 Tenth Ave

As part of America for Sale, artists Daniel Lichtman and David Baumflek will host The Institute for Aesthetic Research (IAR) - a program of public events, talks and discussions focused on Art, Economics and Institutional Critique. They will attempt to translate the traditional role of the “think tank” into the sphere of cultural production and visual art. As the traditional think tank situates itself between the academy, special interests and government, the IAR will consider how to place itself critically within the circuits of distribution and legitimization of aesthetic objects and ideas. The IAR will itself be an experiment in the dynamics of cultural-political discourse. These five weekly meetings will culminate in a collectively-produced publication that explores the possibilities of cultural production in contestation, or outside the realm of Neoliberalism. Organized by David Baumflek and Daniel Lichtman

October 28: Timothy Murray and Renate Ferro will discuss how politically-minded new media of the 1990s and early 2000s have been co-opted by advanced strategies of viral marketing on the web.

November 4: John Baldachinno will discuss art, pedagogy and politics in contemporary art practice.

November 11: Ethan Spigland will screen SHALLOW, a film he and collaborator Malcom McLaren produced. A discussion will follow.

November 18: Organizers David Baumflek and Daniel Lichtman will lead a discussion on the entries submitted by local and internet-based participants for the IAR publication. Audience members will contribute to a discussion in editing and finalizing the publication. Adam Simon will facilitate the discussion.

http://www.exitart.org/site/pub/exhibition_programs/SEA/america_for_sale.html#events

Emre Huner and Lauren Cornell: Oct 28

Emre Huner and Lauren Cornell
Wednesday, October 28, 6:30 pm
apexart, 291 Church Street

Emre Huner, current apexart resident, and Lauren Cornell, Executive Director Rhizome, will discuss utopian constructs, speculative fiction, and the juggernaut of modernism. In their conversation they will touch upon the inspirations for Huner's latest work from the New York World's Fair, to the NASA Space Program, and Walt Disney.

http://www.apexart.org/events/huner.htm

Lorna Simpson: Oct 27

Lorna Simpson
Tuesday, October 27, 7pm
Aperture Gallery, 547 West 27th Street, 4th Fl

Simpson was first known in the mid-eighties for confronting and challenging conventional views toward gender, identity, culture, history, and memory with her large-scale, formally elegant, and subtly provocative photographic and textual works. Simpson uses the image of the African-American woman to examine the ways in which gender and culture shape the interactions, relationships, and experiences of our lives in contemporary, multi-racial America. Recently, she has turned her attention to moving images; in film and video works such as Call Waiting, Simpson presents individuals engaged in intimate and enigmatic elliptical conversations that elude easy interpretation while addressing the mysteries of both identity and desire. Her newest works include figurative drawings of characters from her video works and a collection of drawings of women's heads, turned in profile to reveal their various hairstyles. Simpson is currently creating installations involving found vintage photographs accompanied by her own drawings and new photography.

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

http://www.newschool.edu/eventDetail.aspx?id=36458

Blind Handshake: Oct 27

Tuesday, October 27, 6:30pm
SVA, 133/141 West 21 Street, room 101C
Free and open to the public

In a panel moderated by Gloria Kury, David Humphrey, Geoff Kaplan and Molly Nesbit will discuss their collaboration on two 2009 books about contemporary art--Humphrey’s Blind Handshake and Nesbit’s Midnight, The Tempest Essays. Kury is an art historian who has taught at Yale and SVA, and is the founder and director of Periscope Publications; Humphrey is a writer and visual artist who is a recipient of the Rome Prize and a senior critic at the Yale School of Art; Kaplan is a graphic designer at the General Working Group and teaches at California College of the Arts; and Nesbit is a professor of art at Vassar College and the J. Kirk T. Varnedoe Visiting Professor of 2007 at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Presented by the BFA Visual and Critical Studies and MFA Design Criticism Departments.

http://www.schoolofvisualarts.edu/events/index.jsp?sid0=70&page_id=181&content_id=3118

Contemporary African Art Since 1980: Oct 27

Tuesday, October 27, 6pm
NYPL: Margaret Liebman Berger Forum (Room 227)
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, 5th Avenue and 42nd Street

Okwui Enwezor and Chika Okeke-Agulu's Contemporary African Art Since 1980 is the first major survey of the work of contemporary African artists, working either in or outside of Africa. Its focus is on historical transitions: from the end of the 1960s postcolonial utopias during the 1980s to the geopolitical, economic, technological, and cultural shifts incited by globalization. Enwezor, a leading curator and scholar of contemporary art, and Okeke-Agulu, Assistant Professor of Art and Archeology and African American Studies at Princeton University, are editors of NKa Journal of Contemporary African Art.

http://www.nypl.org/research/calendar/eventdesc.cfm?id=5836

Bill Viola: Oct 27

Walter Annenberg Annual Lecture: Bill Viola
Tuesday, October 27 7 pm
Whitney Museum

A pioneer in the medium of video art, Bill Viola has been instrumental in establishing video as a vital form of contemporary art. Often drawing on religious iconography and historical narratives, Viola’s work exhibits a simple and elegant beauty that exceeds the complex technology of its presentation. As he states, “It only takes an instant for an impression to become a vision.” In this fifth Annenberg Lecture, Viola will speak about his work in conversation with Adam D. Weinberg, the Whitney’s Alice Pratt Brown Director.

Admission is free, but registration is required. Seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

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

Creative Survival Skills: Oct 27

Artist at the Helm: Creative Survival Skills for Navigation
Tuesday, October 27th, 6:30 – 8pm
CUE Art Foundation, 511 West 25th Street

As the art world transforms itself, artists find they must adapt to societal changes in order to persevere. Once upon a time, one could network by walking into a gallery with a portfolio in hand or by attending exhibition openings– but today, the story is much more complex. For that reason, a guided roundtable discussion bringing together emerging and established artists and art organizers (i.e curators and media professionals) will provide a platform for sharing anecdotes and advice on surviving in this ever-changing system. While the more seasoned speakers may bring forth traditional methods, the younger participants can offer their understanding of cutting edge practice. Artists at all stages in their careers serve to benefit from first hand accounts and insights into how to promote oneself today through creative and timely means of networking and audience development. Focus will be placed on methods for resource sharing, the effectiveness of web verses “real world” strategies, and the importance of community building for the endurance of an artist’s livelihood.

Speakers include Gema Alava, Colleen Asper, Jennifer Dudley, Pablo Helguera, Paddy Johnson, Paul Laster, Trong Nguyen, Christina Ray, and Joshua Selman.

http://www.artfagcity.com/2009/10/26/art-fag-city-at-cue-foundation-tomorrow/

Branding the New Deal: Oct 26

Branding the New Deal
Monday, October 26, 7:30pm (free /by donation)
The Change You Want To See Gallery
84 Havemeyer Street, at Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn
and live-streamed at http://livestream.com/notanalternative

The Change You Want To See Gallery continues its series on Symbols, Branding and Persuasion with an exploration of branding in the context of electoral and legislative politics. The evening will start with a presentation by media theorist Stephen Duncombe, author of Dream: Reimagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy and the forthcoming Branding the New Deal. Afterward Jessica Teal, design manager for the Obama 2008 presidential campaign will join Duncombe for a conversation via video skype.

Like it or not, propaganda and mass persuasion are part of modern democratic politics. Many progressives today have an adverse reaction to propaganda: ours is a politics based in reason and rationality, not symbols and fantasy. Given our last administration’s fondness for selling fantasies as reality, this aversion to branding, marketing and propaganda is understandable. But it is also naïve. Mass persuasion is a necessary part of democratic politics, the real issue is what ethics it embodies and which values it expresses.

Looking critically at how the Roosevelt Administration tried to “brand” the New Deal and how the Obama campaign leveraged principles of marketing and advertising gives us an opportunity to think about different models of political persuasion.

Upcoming in this series:
Monday, Nov 2, 7:30pm–9:30pm: author Carrie McLaren and artist Steve Lambert
Thursday, Nov 5, 7:30-9:30pm: consultant Loid Der workshop on branding

http://thechangeyouwanttosee.com/blog/symbols-branding-and-persuasion-an-art-politics-presentation-series