More from NYC

Again, these pics and vidis could use tweaking or editing but didn't get it. Even so, I thought they came out pretty well considering they were shot with a new camera; all credit due to it, a Panasonic LX3, and my dear, sweet sig. other who gave it to me.

This is for the Jacksons (from Coney Island).

I love the seal + reflections footage from the Aquarium in the vidi here – I'm thinking about calling it art even without doing anything more to it.

Also happy with the vidis starting here (trains manipulating light).

This was at the "Sayonara Serenissima" party at Market Hotel (someone remarked, "What's the word for this place!"; as usual, I blurted the obvious: "Condemned."), organized as a send-off for SWOON and her art-boats. It was a great party for everything except dancing; this guy tried desperately nonetheless (kudos from moi). (After I got home, I discovered Texas's Tony Bones is on Swoon's team.)

Visuals starting here are from an event at Galapagos Art Space. (As you'll see, there's an abundance of aerialists in NYC.)

Visuals starting here are from a charming, semi-pro production by The Sky Box at House of Yes featuring 25 aerialists, a space ship, and a giant octopus in a lesbian Romeo + Juliet involving feuding aliens and robots. Probably the best aerialist performance I saw in NY was here; I also really liked the music (by SK5); and also the costumes and props, all made by the performers.

Another evening I enjoyed took place at HiChristina, self-described as "your home for avant garde art, performance, and uncommon expression"; I'd add, and total, sweet-natured wackiness. The event I attended was called "Shake (Hands)(Booty)(Milk)," and the main things that title leaves out are, it was highly participatory and I got to make some cool new friends. I got no visuals, but Fritz was shooting as if our very existence depended on it, so maybe visuals will come, so (tree in the forest) to speak (sorry, couldn't resist).

(UPDATE: The Village Voice is featuring HiChristina as one of their picks for "Best Wacky Gatherings of 2010.")

The Kippenberger exhibition at MoMA was fabulous; another fave exhibition was Horowitz at P.S. 1 (pics unfortunately not allowed at either).

The City Reliquary (visuals start here) is purportedly the museum of the City of New York, a small, all-volunteer place in Brooklyn that happened to have a fascinating and only-too-timely exhibit on milk cooperatives (along with a charming, general collection of artifacts). During the last Great Depression, a handful of milk distribution companies, abetted by the governmental representatives whose campaigns they financed, were underpaying farmers for milk and overcharging consumers. Farmers were literally losing their farms to mortgage banks, while mothers couldn't afford milk for their children. Finally farmers and consumers in New York State formed a cooperative to by-pass the distributors. After just one year, the coop was already successful enough to distribute profits to coop members. Such coops also introduced innovations such as the milk carton, much more efficient than the old glass bottles. I learned all that there, and more.

Visuals start here of the Boiler, a cool new space opened by Pierogi to accommodate works too large for their existing gallery.

Someone asked last nite whether I went to any shows, and I mentioned Big Art Group's production, SOS, which was probably my fave show; but I did also see two other laudable productions: one, M4M, a timely and intelligent re-working of Shakespeare's "problematic" Measure for Measure as a commercial transaction; and the other a highly entertaining comedic/musical re-working of Beowulf (I bought the CD).

Ok there's one more thing I have to mention before proceeding to the tap-dancing finale. I went to a reading by two humorists at the powerHouse Arena, with Benjamin Nugent, who writes for The New Yorker, and Simon Rich, who writes for Sat. Nite Live; and someone asked why they don't blog, and they both said it was because they have to revise everything they write a million times. So I took that as supportive of one of the policies/caveats stated in my sidebar at left.

You thought I was kidding; but no: here's some pretty kick-a**, subway tap-dancing (tho' the automated subway audio now loudly announces it's illegal to solicit money in the subway, the main effect of which seems to have been to reduce the number of competitors thereby reducing the overall quality -- there's "capitalism" for ya').

My posts on the March art fairs are here: Armory (more pics and vidis starting here), Pulse (more pics and vidis starting here), Scope (more pics and vidis starting here), Volta (more pics and vidis starting here); plus my succinct take on the trends here.