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Come Out and Play Festival

Why is play so important? Because, says Catherine Herdlick, play makes hard things fun. Deciphering complicated social issues and nuances is easy when it’s all part of a game. Herdlick is the co-founder of The Come Out and Play Festival taking place this weekend.

The 24 entirely free games in this festival are designed with New York’s public spaces in mind.  Most of the events will be concentrated around Tompkins Square Park and Bluestockings bookstore, the sponsor for the event.  “This is an homage to the city of New York,” Herdlick said.  “It’s a party for the city.”   Since New York is such a stressful and exhausting place to live, she says we are especially good at play.  Most New Yorkers would probably relish playing Pigeon Piñata Pummel, Super Happy Fun City Bingo or Manhattan Megaputt. Herdlick designed Bike Friendly City for the festival.  Played on Sunday at 3 pm, the object of the game is to ‘pimp and build bike lanes for points and cred.’ Herdlick used to ride with Critical Mass, but said it stopped being fun when the events took on a political protest subtext.  This game is designed to recapture the spirit and adventure of biking in the city. 

Herdlick and the other four gamers behind the festival all used to (or still) work at Gamelab.  Before long, they realized each of them independently create and play outdoor games on their own.  Having teamed up, they are now experienced players.  This is their second play festival in New York.  They also held one in Amsterdam and are associated with London’s Hide and Seek Festival. 

Most of the game designers have tech backgrounds but games like Thread, Metrophile or Search Brigade don’t use any devices.  Fort Amsterdam uses GPS and the Comfort of Strangers uses an ipaq PDA and headphones.  Other games use text messaging or Bluetooth. Hendlick says technology like text-messaging is so incorporated into daily life that it doesn’t feel intrusive.  In addition, for certain adults, it can actually serve to lower the barrier to play.  “You can play as a grown-up with a gadget,” she said.

Herdlick, who did her graduate thesis on Play and Public Space at Parsons School of Design, said that generally three different kinds of people are attracted to game design; people with a technology background, performers or philosophers.  “These are the three elements that drive any game,” she said.  Jane McGonigal, designer of The Lost Sport of Olympia, possibly best expresses all three qualities.  McGonigal has a PhD from Berkeley in Performance Studies and MIT Technology Review named her as one of the top 35 innovators changing the world.  Scheduled for play in Central Park on Saturday at 4:30 pm, it is billed as a long lost Olympic game.  Herdlick said it is an “authentic fictional mythology--a new class of folk game.”  Playable by people of all ages, she describes it as “simple and elegant as tag.”—Sherry Mazzocchi

The Come Out and Play Festival starts this Friday and runs through Sunday.

The Chelsea Hotel in all its Fading Glory

Last night both Julia Calfee and Ed Hamilton took  to the mini stage at McNally Robinson to talk about the Chelsea Hotel. Julia showed slides from her luscious book Inside: The Chelsea Hotel. The 81 black and white unposed photos from her book are all shot in natural light and printed the old fashioned way, in a darkroom. Even though the photos have been taken within the past four years, they seem to capture a bygone era--possibly the hotel's last gasp of bohemian glory.

Ed read a chapter entitled The Truth About Those Fancy Hotels from his gem of a book, Legends of the Chelsea Hotel. He told me later that he likes to read that story because it conveys the craziness of the hotel.  The audience had questions about the artistic energy that pervades the hotel, the "millions of dollars worth of artwork" on the walls, and the photo of Rose Wood.  My favorite question was when someone asked Julia and Ed if they were ever worried that the lack of sanitary conditions would put their health at risk.  Ed said he had worried more about the junkies, but now it's the new management that concerns him.--Sherry Mazzocchi

World Science Festival

Hats off to Brian Greene and Tracy Day for organizing the supremely successful World Science Festival.  Greene, professor of physics at Columbia University and author of The Elegant Universe and Fabric of the Cosmos, wrote an op-ed in Sunday's New York Times saying we have failed children because science is boring.  We've stressed the details--the mind numbing drills, solving equations and learning all of the parts of the cell.  These things are all important, but we are missing the bigger picture.  The fundamental reason that science is so profound is because we search for answers to questions like where did we come from and why is the universe the way it is.  When you pursue science with a sense of wonder and curiosity instead of drudgery and drill, children will want to be scientists.  In essence, we have taught science backwards.  Inspire and captivate first, then present the details.

But instead of merely bemoaning that we do a lousy job of inspiring children and adults to take a greater interest in science, he has actually done something about it.  He and Tracy Day put together this hugely successful festival with experts from a wide array of fields, including a hefty amount of Nobel Laureates.  Over 40 events with 22,000 attendees were completely sold out.  The science street fair for children in Washington Square Park was attended by over 100,000 people.  Not only that, if you missed the festival entirely, you will be able to watch nearly everything on the website within the next few days.

In one of the events, Greene said that while the ideas of quantum mechanics are not widely absorbed by the public, our culture has freely adopted its language.  We all use the technology made possible by physics--televisions, cell phones and iPods, but most of us don't have a clue why these things work.  We live in a world shaped by science.  Solutions to the biggest problems we face--climate change, fossil fuel dependence, health care, aging infrastructures and scarce resources--all require science.  Greene said that science is the greatest of all adventure stories.  We need the most adventuresome of souls to conquer these problems.--Sherry Mazzocchi

Ramachandran and Kurzweil at the WSF

The World Science Festival opened in Chelsea at the Rubin Museum of Art last night.  Moderated by Fair Game's Faith Salie, both Vilayanur Ramachandran and Ray Kurzweil held forth in an event called Humanity Now/Humanity Next, about technology and the brain.  Ramachandran talked about his work with synesthesia, mirror neurons and phantom limbs.  One in fifty people (mostly poets, artists and novelists) have synesthesia--a cross wiring of the brain where numbers are associated with colors or tastes have shapes.  Words, said Ramachandran, have swirling halos of association and with synesthesia, their penumbra is bigger so there is a greater overlap.  It's no wonder that artists, poets and writers are more genetically inclined to have it--since they traffic in metaphors. He also explained an amazing technique they used on a man with phantom limb pain.  The man complained that his missing hand felt like it was clenched so hard that the nails were digging in his palm.  An experiment was devised where he looked at the mirror image of his actual hand where the missing hand would be.  By looking at the mirror image, the brain could see the "hand" wasn't clenched and, after it was massaged, the pain went away. Ramachandran said you can actually see empathy in the brain through the phenomenon of mirror neurons. When a monkey is in pain, it fires off a neuron.  When the same monkey see another monkey in pain, it fires off the same neuron.  "It's a case of monkey see, monkey do," he said.

By 2029, Kurzweil said we would see the ultimate merger--a billion-fold increase in technology where machines will be able to pass the Turing test by responding in a way that is indistinguishable from humans--particularly with empathy and humor.  Biology is now an information technology science where, in the near future, nanobots released into the bloodstream will be responsible for regulating bodily functions like detecting and destroying cancer cells.  Citing the exponential growth similar to  Moore's Law in technology, Kurzweil said solar energy will be so developed in seven years that it could provide 100% of the planet's energy needs.  "We are less than five years away from the tipping point," he said, "and there are billions of venture capital dollars going into this."

Kurzweil said we understand how the pancreas works--it can be explained by a 'messy algorithm," but science can take that algorithm, clean it up and amplify it with technology.  The focus in the coming years will be genetics, nanotechnology and robotics.  Oddly, he didn't talk very much about the singularity--the idea that knowledge will increase so fast that it's measurement will be a vertical trajectory.  He did say that now people are adding 3 months of life expectancy each year and in 15 years, expectancy will grow by one year every year--and not just for people being born now, but for adults, too.   "If you can hang in there," he said, "you could see the next century."--Sherry Mazzocchi

8th International Toy Theater Festival

This weekend, the folks at Great Small Works will present the Toy Theater Festival at St. Ann's Warehouse in Dumbo.  There are six different adult programs, weekend family programs, films, evening cabarets and more.    Tonight, Friday, is the opening reception and the festival runs through May 31st.  This only comes around once every two years, so don't miss this event. - Sherry Mazzocchi

Reunited at Rizzoli

Last night at Rizzoli, two old friends caught up.  David Bard, left, had Julia Calfee sign her new book, Inside: The Chelsea Hotel. 

Don't miss our very own Ed Hamilton reading from his book, Legends of the Chelsea Hotel, and Julia at McNally Robinson on June 2nd at 7 pm. - Sherry Mazzocchi

Art or Economics?

The art at current group show at the CUNY Graduate Center, Consent, is all displayed in glass cases.  To artist Sam Sebren, it had the effect of sterilizing the art and keeping the viewer at bay.  He wanted to play with the idea of violating consent--of breaking the glass and and stealing what's behind it. 

In a time of highly inflated prices, people talk more about what what art is worth than what it is. So Sebren figured he would skip the art and just display the money.  His installation is a one hundred dollar bill with a surveillance camera in the glass case.  At the opening, everyone came up to him and asked, "Are you the hundred dollar guy?"  They wall wanted to know if he painted the bill (he did not) and if it is real (it is).

Sebren said he doesn't really think it should be permissible to display money as art.  Not that not long ago, he said, no one would have ever dared exhibit a hundred dollar bill--it wouldn't have been considered art.  But now, we are so numb we just look it and accept the irony.  "I can't wait until this show is over," he said.  "I really need that $100."--Sherry Mazzocchi

Consent

at CUNY Graduate Center until April 13

Reverent Billy will be performing this Thursday on March 27th, at 8pm.

Sam Sebren and other artists will participate in a Roundtable Discussion on April 10th at 7pm.

FREE NEW YORK NON-FICTION SHORTS IN CHELSEA MARKET

*What: Free short films, free local wine, free cheese and free delicatessan snacks in Chelsea Market with a live performance by Drew and the Medicinal Pen.
*Where: Chelsea Market
Enter at 75 9th Avenue in Chelsea,
(Between 15th and 16th Streets)
* When: Monday, March 24th, 7:00 PM
Music at 7 PM | Films at 7:30 PM
*Admission: FREE

Head over to Chelsea next Monday, March 24th, for the first of three FREE programs of short films that Rooftop Films will be presenting within the lovely halls of Chelsea Market. The screening is free and open to all and we will also be serving complimentary New York cheeses (compliments of Chelsea Market Baskets), free wines, organic farm foods and chili popcorn (courtesy of The Green Table restaurant), and free kosher delicatessan snacks (courtesy of Friedman's Delicatessan). The screening will be preceded by a live performance by Drew and the Medicinal Pen.

As delicious as all those treats are, the best part of Monday's screening will--of course--be the films. We'll be showing a collection of some of our favorite New York documentaries from the last several years, including works by The Neistat Brothers, Charlie Ahearn, Lila Place, Caz Nozkowsi (and the Internets Celebrities), The DB, Carmen Vidal Balanzat, Vipal Monga, Greg King, Noah Lerner and Mike Novak. You'll see New York at dawn, travel to Harlem to meet a former playground legend, head to the Bronx with an African MC to visit the birthplace of hip-hop, ride the subway with an unabashed expressionistic dancer, and when it's all over you'll even be taught the best way to relieve yourself when you are far from home.

OPENINGS

G.R. N’Namdi Gallery is pleased to announce the Opening Reception for Herbert Gentry’s retrospective exhibition, entitled “The Man, The Master, The Magic” celebrating over forty years of work on February 15^th, 2008 from 6 until 10 pm.  This retrospective exhibition runs from February 15^th - April 12^th, 2008. The opening reception is sponsored by Uptown Magazine and Martell. The Gallery is located at 526 West 26th Street, #316.

"The paintings and drawings in this retrospective exhibition vary in size and range from 1964 until 2003. Gentry’s formation as a painter should be considered in light of the passion he brought to his identity as a painter, “A painter paints, a fighter fights, a writer writes,” he would say. Gentry painted his world on canvas, alluding to his fascination with the power of social relationships and the allure of the journey. His aesthetic speaks through decisive lines and a strong sense of composition.  His canvasses are intuitively descriptive of his international experiences living in Harlem and throughout Europe. He stated: “Painting is very much about sex, it’s about love, it’s about putting things together”.  The drawings featured in this exhibition, although as extemporaneous as his paintings, are more laid-back and lovely. They're filled with sinfully sinuous lines forming erotic shapes inspired by the curvaceous form of the female body." (From the Press Release) 

man-laï and the Catalan Institute of America invite everyone to a book presentation and reception: XAVIER CARBONELL "fragments". Painter Xavier Carbonell will be attending the reception and signing books. “fragments” has been published in celebration of this exhibition of new work by the artist. Copies of the book will be available free of charge on a first come first serve basis.  Friday, Feb. 15, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
JADITE Galleries, 413 West 50th Street, NY NY





The Pavel Zoubok Gallery at 533 West 23rd Street in New York is hosting a May Wilson retrospective exhibition from February 15 - March 15, 2008 (opening reception on February 15, from 6 to 8 pm). It was under May Wilson's bed (After a stint living in the Chelsea Hotel, May moved into the building next door) that Valerie Solanas stored the gun she used to shoot Andy Warhol.

During the 1960s Wilson's work was included in Martha Jackson's "New Media New Forms: In Painting and Sculpture" exhibition which featured the works of artists that were often referred to as "Neo-Dada" or "New Realists" before the term "Pop Art" was adopted in the United States.

Wilson was also the subject of the excellent 1969 documentary, Woo Who? May Wilson, from which the current exhibition takes its name.

The exhibition at Pavel Zoubok is running in collaboration with the May Wilson exhibition at the Morris Museum in New Jersey.

Special Effects for Next to Nothing

While NYU film school students barely have computers in their classrooms, two self-taught guys in their early 20’s are creating the new video bible for filmmakers with no budget.  Last night at Motion Over Time Studios, Andrew Baron led a discussion with the creators of Indy Mogul, Erik Beck and Justin Johnson.  Indy Mogul, an internet TV show, is produced by Next New Networks, home to 16 shows and counting.

Justin Johnson started with Next New Networks and wanted to create a DIY filmmakers’ show.  He knew his friend Erik Beck, unhappily toiling away at a crummy temp job in Oakland, was a genius at creating special effects out of virtually nothing.  Johnson got him to audition and produce a pilot for the show and that’s how BFX was born.  Beck and Johnson just got back from Sundance, where they filmed all day, interviewing people like Moby, edited all night and produced segments every day of the festival.  Those shows have a freewheeling exuberantly unscripted quality.  The only scripted part was their dialog with the On Star Navigation system in their car.  Originally a much longer segment, they typed in naughty words to get odd answers.  Unfortunately, a lot got cut in the actual show.  “The responses got creepier and creepier,” Beck said.  Hopefully, they'll release the uncut version soon.

But the shows where you learn to rip out a heart or create Zombie make-up are all researched and worked out by Beck for BFX. He designs the effect, builds it, tests it and writes the show.  While Next New Networks pays their salaries and ultimately owns the content, Johnson and Beck have total creative control. If you want to learn how make a space suit, create an Evil Dead Chainsaw Arm for $30 or just be enormously entertained, this is your show.  What's in the future for these two?  I'm willing to bet next year, people will be interviewing them at Sundance.—Sherry Mazzocchi