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Arts
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I've always loved the idea of science and art colliding like two supernovas. Like our own CHF's exhibits or National Geographic's photographs, it just feels nice and interdisciplinary when the two get together.
In Miro Dance Theatre's dance performance Spooky Action, the company is doing just that. Inspired by their time at the Fermilab national accelerator laboratory, choreographer Amanda Miller and her troupe see quantum entanglement not as a boring, esoteric subject you'd read about in a textbook but as a love affair between two particles.
Viewing it this way allows scientific ideas to spread to the masses or if not to the masses, at least to people who wouldn't usually read up on physics. Rebecca Davis Dance Co. recently worked on a similar concept but instead of focusing on the hard sciences, they found inspiration in economics so I hope it's a growing trend. Perhaps someone can write a soundtrack to the Big Bang next?
Thu., March 19, 6:30 p.m., free, Miro Studio, Girard College, 2101 S. College Ave., 215-962-4773, mirodancetheater.org
Don't know what to do tonight? Don't worry, we've got you covered.
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| A damn good doodle. |
| sketchbookproject.blogspot.com |
I don't know about you, but I can't let go of my sketchbooks. I've got a few from elementary school and more recent years lying around, but my most prized one is that which I shared with a friend in eighth grade. Essentially an extended note passed to each other between classes, it contains cartoons of beloved and despised teachers, a "Most Overrated Things of All Time" list and other artifacts of teenage angst.
That collaborative, notebook-loving vibe also seems to define The Sketchbook Project, a traveling exhibit that's stopping at Philly's Chris' Jazz Café for one night only. Thought up by the Art House Gallery in Atlanta, Ga., it invited artists from across the country to fill up their notebooks with doodles, thoughts and words. Some people opted to share their Moleskines with fellow artists (which is the route I would have taken), while others kept their drawings to themselves. Either way, many of the pieces are reminiscent of middle school in the best way possible and the dreamy, imaginative and bored way it makes you feel. My favorite part of the exhibit is the fact that you get to actually pick up the art with your hands and examine it up-close. You surely can't do that at the PMA.
Wed., March 4, 5-7 p.m., Chris' Jazz Café, 1421 Sansom St., 215-568-3131, arthousecoop.com/sketchbookproject.
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| mewgallery.org |
Mew Gallery's housing situation doesn't warrant a panic attack just yet. But you should still skedaddle over to the store's annual Pay the Rent Event like it's do or die, because with these strange days upon us, it very well could be. For a suggested donation of $5, you get access to sales on Anna Burke photography, Tranquility jewelry, Un De Six clothing, J.L. Shnabel paintings and much more. And, of course, you'll enjoy that warm, tingly feeling of knowing you did good by supporting a great fashion and art store. We all remember when Conspiracy Showroom shut its cute, little doors last month. Let's keep that from happening to Mew.
Tue., March 3, 6-10 p.m., $5, South Philadelphia Tap Room, 1509 Mifflin St., 215-271-SPTR.
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| Obamart. |
In this week's issue, Robin Rice wrote about two galleries that found inspiration in our new commander in chief. The exhibits, "Obama-rama" at Projects Gallery and "Yes We Did: An Obama Celebration" at Sande Webster Gallery, are both worth checking out, if only to recall the mania you may have felt immediately after the election. (It's harder to be unreasonably joyful about the stimulus package, but that's for another post entirely.)
Rice didn't mention the other Obama-themed exhibit in town, Jayson Musson's "Barack Obama Battles the Pink Robots" at the Last Drop Café (1300 Pine Street). Known more for his musical art than his visual art — he's a rapper for Philly group Plastic Little — Musson is also a talented illustrator, painter and comic writer. His watercolors at this month's exhibit, though, are far more lighthearted than his other works, which often convey a sense of political unrest. Conversely, his pieces on Obama are utterly ecstatic. Without any sarcasm, they portray the childlike awe he inspired in many upon being elected. In some, like the pictured work, Musson also reveals the danger in trusting Obama too much. After all, the man's not a superhero.
Through Sat., Feb. 28, Last Drop Café, 1300 Pine St., 215-893-9262, lastdropcoffeehouse.com
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| His name is Randi Warhol. Get it? |
In the same way that Christmas, birthdays and graduations are letdowns because they're wrapped up in so many expectations, Valentine's Day is sure to be a bummer if you deconstruct it. So don't. The weather's going to be nice, there's a bunch of cool stuff going on, and you probably got a box of chocolates from your mom — so what do you have to complain about, really? My suggestions for Long Live Monogamy Day:
1. Check out local artist Myles Smutney Hyde's one-day installation. Entitled "Heartless," it's the size of a room and features her usual juxtaposition of skulls, girliness and morbidity. The accompanying party speaks to the horny teenager in you: There's a kissing booth, a Spin the Bottle session and free PBR. Just like seventh grade, right? (Sat, Feb. 14, 10 p.m.-2 a.m., free, Vesuvio, 736 S. 8th St., 215-922-8380, momtried.com)
2. Use your hands with your date at The Hacktory, where you'll learn how to make a monogrammed heart or card that plays music. It'll be just like that scene in Ghost, except you'll be holding a glue gun, you're geekier, and your date is alive. Hopefully. (Fri., Feb. 13, 6:30-9:30 p.m., free, The Hacktory, 1524 Brandywine St., 215-564-6686, thehacktory.org)
3. See "Saturday Night Live with boobs in it," AKA Revival Burlesque's Andy Warhol-inspired show, "The Flesh Factory: A Night of Pop Art, Pasties and Perverts." I'm going just to see if a deadpanned Warhol will be wearing glorious, glittery tittie tassels. (Fri.-Sun., Feb. 13-15, 8 p.m., $15, Walking Fish Theatre, 2509 Frankford Ave., 215-427-9255, walkingfishtheatre.com)
4. Take assistant editor Molly Eichel's advice and watch snails go at it.
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| Her first buyer's remorse. |
While cruising Frankord Avenue's First Friday this weekend, I came across a batch of quirky trading cards in Rocket Cat Cafe and Highwire Gallery. Called "Recessive Traits" cards, they juxtapose illustrations of children's book characters with images of M&Ms and supermodels. What makes 'em interesting are the witty captions at the bottom, which comment on the allure of commercial products and the transition from childhood to adulthood.
For instance, below a picture of a little boy looking eagerly at two cartons of cigarettes, the caption reads, "It was then that Billy made the choice that would haunt him forever: Winston or Marlboro." Or, describing a toddler with Reese's candy in his lap: "He would miss his family, that was true, but now he had something far sweeter to love."
The artist who's responsible for this work is Ken Miller, a Philadelphian and member of Highwire Gallery. You can buy his T-shirts, bags and greeting cards on recessivetraits.com, but the trading cards are nowhere to be found online. I'd like to do what the back of the cards tell me to and "Collect them all!" Clog readers, do you know where else I could find them?
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| Goodbye, love. |
| siteforrent.com |
Don't know what to do tonight? Don't worry, we've got you covered.
Remember when Jonathan Larson's rock musical Rent was a youthful, fresh take on living with AIDS in New York City? And how innovative it was that Larson based it off of La Bohème, meshing the roughed-up city with Pucinni's flawless opera? Well, the production just turned 15, oldie. (And if that doesn't make you feel old, consider this quote from Larson: "[My dream is] to bring musical theater to the MTV generation." What would that mean today — a Hills musical?) Anyway, it's not on Broadway anymore. Thankfully, though, it's returning to the Academy of Music for five more nights, with three original cast members performing. Check it out before MTV — and Rent, for that matter — become relics of the past.
Tue, Feb. 3, 7:30 p.m., $25-$80, Academy of Music, Broad & Locust sts., 215-893-1930, kimmelcenter.org.
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