Autumn in New York: Plays and Galleries, Oh My

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Despite lamenting the shortening days, autumn in New York is lovely…and busy! ‘Tis the season, and now there are a hundred and one things cultural offerings on the agenda. This leads to some tough choices. I have to skip a few gallery opening tonight…but I will be seeing the Woodshed Collective‘s The Confidence Man.

The Woodshed Collective, this genius, only in New York kind of organization, is putting on a free play. All you have to do is reserve a ticket in advance. Last summer they did a really nice job with Twelve Ophelias, a backcountry spin off of Hamlet, at McCarren Pool Park. The group focuses on site-specific installations of original new work. The Confidence Man is being performed on the Decommissioned U.S.C.G. Lilac at Pier 40 on the Hudson. As a spin off of Herman Melville’s story about a 19th c. con man on a riverboat, this is more than appropriate.

Here’s the kicker: the audience chooses how the performance will go. It’s like a choose-your-own-adventure book. To wit:

“The audience will choose what to see and which character’s story to follow just as one selects which newspaper stories to read, which YouTube videos to screen, or which online links to click. By allowing audience members to immerse themselves in the experience, the production seeks to blur the line between performer and patron…”

They warn you not to wear heels–you’ll be running all over the old ship. It’s all very exciting, and a fun way to kick off a new fall season. Up tomorrow: Johnny Madsen at Denise Bibro, Carla Klein and Rita Lundqvist at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, Juergen Teller at Lehman Maupin, Chris Ofili at David Zwirner, a group show at White Columns and the Kitchen and general wandering about Chelsea to see what’s happening. ‘Tis the season.

To Create: Paul McCarthy’s Painter video

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Is this a skewering the concept of the heroic male artist and a revolting use of media? Rather. McCarthy is known for that, as well as pushing the envelope of performance art and Santa Claus imagery. Generally I find his earlier work sickening. In this clip, I’m entranced and sympathetic and disgusted all at the same time. I identify with the painter. This video captures a sense of how it can be to try to create. To struggle with the beginnings of an idea.

Unfortunately, it kind of looks like me, stuck in a rut over this stupid paper I’m writing. Well, not quite like me. I don’t have ketchup or big hands. In fact, I’m much better looking. But it feels the same.

Note: I am not dead…

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nor have I been quite as productive as I had imagined when I got the idea to take a blog break. My novel isn’t finished–but I’m really excited to have a complete draft. Now I just need to mold it into something coherent and staggeringly genius.

I’m almost finished with my application for a grant to research emerging artists in Hungary. Keep your fingers crossed on that front, and perhaps yours intrepidly will be corresponding from Budapest in a year’s time.
Also, I finally got to harvest my urban garden! The four tomatoes are scrawny and ugly. However, let me brag about my amazing hot peppers. My herbs are growing like weeds, and I can’t make enough mojitos to keep up with my mint plant.

Despite having been away almost a month, this is not the resumption of your regularly scheduled blog. I’ll be back in full force after a long Labor day weekend. And my god!, the art world is exploding with awesomeness at that time. I would need to take a vacation just to see it all (but I won’t : ). Jerry Saltz’s pick for the upcoming season here. Mine to come!