vip in the city

P.S. 1 Summer Celebration

5 Pointz, down the block from P.S. 1, is the latest incarnation of the a 200,000-square space on Crane Street. The space, formerly known as Phun Factory, billed itself as the world’s largest aerosol art museum. After a landlord-tenant dispute in 2001, Pat DiLillo, the group’s founder and director, stepped down. Onetime artist Meres, ne Jonathan Cohen, took over the project, rechristening it with its new name to symbolize NYC’s five boroughs coming together as one, and continues to offer a place for graffiti artists to showcase their work. The building originated as Gimbel’s former warehouse.

On the way out on the 7, we spied three kids adding their own contributions to the rooftop, seemingly undaunted by the scorching sun.

The outdoor courtyard of the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center — where the popular Warm Up music series is held on Summer Saturdays — features the new architectural installation by this year’s winner of the annual MoMA/P.S.1 Young Architects Program.

The entry by New York City-based OBRA, a design-oriented office in New York founded by partners Pablo Castro and Jennifer Lee, was selected from a field of twenty five proposals for a building project to transform the courtyard space with projected budget of $70,000. Their design, titled BEATFUSE!, is constructed of seven curved, interconnected shells made of plywood and polypropylene mesh. The project also encompasses “wooden tidal pools, water misters, and light strainers that create constantly changing shapes in the mist.” On view through September 2006.

The overhead shells and cool misters provided some relief from the heat and sun, which by this point, was becoming almost unbearable. Small children and babies everywhere – in the pools, at the craft stations, in the origami tent. And on the dance floor: from our vantage point on the concrete steps in front of the DJ booth, we watched a few busting out some excellent moves to the grooves (in the heart) of Deee-Lite.

At the Kevin Kinsella concert at Riverside Park South’s Pier I.

Riverside Park performances

After a hearty lunch, I dragged my full belly (and leftover chilaquiles) through the Upper East Side. Out of habit, I peeked across at 94th Street, to check in on the old high school.

AC’s friend SC called while I was inside the East 86th Street Barnes and Noble. After exiting the store – because I know how it irks me when people persist in holding long, loud telephone conversations in a bookstore. And yes, I realize that a bookstore is not a library, but can we show some consideration? – we started comparing notes on books we’d read recently. Naturally, “The Da Vinci Code” came up. I explained — again — that no, I hadn’t read it, but that I was meaning to very soon. (And really, I am: current inertia to the contrary.) SC suggested that to better appreciate The Code, I should first read “Angels & Demons.”

What? There’s a prerequisite for this thing? Is this true? I’m even further behind than I thought.

By the way, I just learned that author Dan Brown made over $88M in 2005, earning him a top ten slot in Forbes’s Annual Celebrity 100. I’d like say that I learned this from a studious reading Forbes magazine, but the information was actually gleaned through my random viewing of VH1’s “Forbes Celebrity 100: Who Made Bank.”

Passed by Central Park’s Summerstage on the way home, where Maldita Vecindad, Konono No. 1, Daara J were performing to a raucous and appreciative crowd. I’m seeing Konono No. 1 in concert at S.O.B.’s on Monday, so more on them tomorrow.

At Red Shade Plaza in Riverside Park South, Chashama, the not-for-profit NYC arts organization, presented the last of their “Site Specific Sundays” performances this summer.

This interpretive dance piece — accompanied by zither and harp — was titled “Three Elements”. I think this was the “Air” segment…

…but I may not have been the only one the “interpretation” eluded.

The dance performances that followed were more mainstream, and accompanied by piped in Brazilian music.

About half a mile North, on Pier I, The talented Howard Fishman Quartet (plus two) performed two jamming sets, fresh off their three night stint at Joe’s Pub earlier in the summer.

All This Intimacy

Saw Rajiv Joseph’s All This Intimacy , world premiering at The McGinn/Cazale Theatre, as part of Second Stage Theatre’s New Plays Uptown series.

The building at Broadway and 76th Street has a long and storied history. In 1929, the Manhattan Congregational Church commissioned the mixed use building to be erected over the site of their old church in order to generate revenue. Above the church’s three story sanctuary, the 626-room Manhattan Towers Hotel opened in Spring 1930. Not the best timing: within two years of opening, the hotel had gone out of business, and Manhattan Congregational Church soon ran into serious financial trouble, due to the loss of rental income and financial mismanagement. Through the next several decades, the fate of the building was in flux: it fell into receivership, was appropriated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, went up for auction (no takers) and was eventually reposessed by the city and used as U.S. Naval Barracks. Following the trend of several large Upper West Side buildings, it served for many years as an SRO, and after an extensive renovation, was eventually converted into coop apartments. The Promenade Theatre now occupies most the space that was originally the church sanctuary.

The play’s story centered around a 30-year old poet, who through moral weakness and a series of poor judgments (plus some bad luck), ends up simultaneously impregnating three women: his girlfriend, his married neighbor, and his college freshman student. The first half of the play was more comical, focusing on the whirlwind courtships and possibilities of new relationships; the second was decidedly darker as the toxic consequences of the protagonist’s indiscretions came into play. Well done, all around. Afterwards, there was a post-theatre discussion with the artistic team, including the playwright and the director, Giovanna Sardelli.

The audience was heavy with NYU Writing Program students – Joseph is a Tisch MFA graduate – and their contributions alternated between trenchant observation and random criticism. Responding to the playwright’s query about the message the audience might come away with after seeing the play, one young woman posited: “Men… SUCK.”

Well, yes. Sometimes.

A reception followed with Beard Papa creampuffs (love ) and a tasty port from “America’s Oldest Wineshop,” Acker Merrall & Condit.