Events

WINTER OPEN HOUSE
Opening: Henry Taylor, Darren Bader: Images

Sunday, January 29, 2012
12:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Please join us for our Winter Open House to celebrate the opening of Henry Taylor and Darren Bader: Images.

The opening celebration includes an e-flux lecture by poet, journalist, and artist Bilal Khbeiz; a performance by Megafortress; a screening of YouTube Virals from Tahrir Cinema and conversation with Egyptian artist Lara Baladi; a cash bar; and an M. Wells Sandwich Station.

M. Wells Sandwich Station

12:00–6:00 PM, Courtyard

M. Wells will be preparing two slamming sandwiches, "The Casablanca" and "The Steak Frites," on an outdoor grill in the courtyard all afternoon.

Egyptian Artist Lara Baladi presents YouTube Virals Screened in Tahrir Cinema

12:00–3:00 PM: Screening of Tahrir Cinema program (loop)
3:00 PM: Conversation with Artist and Curator Lara Baladi via Skype from Cairo

On the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution on January 25th, artist Lara Baladi presents the uprising through a selection of YouTube virals, many of which were screened in Tahrir Cinema.

Although the Egyptian revolution has been called the 'Facebook Revolution', the majority of Egyptians did not and still don't have access to the Internet, and therefore have no access to news coverage other than through the Egyptian media. During the July 2011 sit-in in Tahrir Square in Cairo, a group of artists and filmmakers lit up a corner of the square with an open-source 'revolutionary' screen: Tahrir Cinema. Every night, a filmmaker, journalist, or activist presented a selection of visual material related to the Egyptian revolution, ranging from raw footage to documentary, from HD to mobile camera quality, from animation to YouTube virals. Lara Baladi is a Cairo-based artist and one of the founders of Tahrir Cinema with the non-profit Egyptian media initiative Mosireen.

ARTBOOK and Cabinet present The Last Calendar

2:00 PM, ARTBOOK @ MoMA PS1

Join ARTBOOK @ MoMA PS1 for the launch of Cabinet's newest special edition, The Last Calendar. This oversized, beautifully produced 2012 wall calendar ignores the familiar holidays in favor of more than sixty significant dates in the history of apocalyptic prophecy. The edition also features stunning artwork by Swedish duo Bigert & Bergström, who illustrate twelve methods of divination—including divination through the observation of oil (Eleomancy), or through that of tea leaves (Tasseography). A reading of these prophesies will commence at 2 PM at MoMA PS1, at a location to be disclosed on the day, using tract-style pamphlets to be handed out to visitors. The Last Calendar will be available for purchase for the Armageddon-like price of $12, tax included.

e-flux book co-op lecture by Bilal Khbeiz with introduction by artist Walid Raad

4:00 PM

Due to a complex chain of events, poet, essayist, journalist, and artist Bilal Khbeiz was forced to leave his home in Beirut permanently, adopting Los Angeles as his home before relocating to Washington, DC. While the circumstances surrounding his own exile are closely linked to the open wounds of the Lebanese Civil War, the feeling of estrangement felt most acutely by the exile can also be familiar to those who have not left their native country. For this event, Khbeiz presents a program titled "exile, memory, and mythology."

Bilal Khbeiz (1963, Kfarchouba) is a poet, essayist, journalist, and artist. He regularly contributes to Beirut Al-Masaa, Annahar, Almustaqbal, Elaph and Future TV. His publications include Tragedy in a Moment of Vision (2007), The Enduring Image and the Vanishing World (2005), and Globalization and the Manufacture of Transient Events (2003). Together with friend and collaborator Jon Rich, he is a frequent contributor to e-flux journal.

Performance by Megafortress

6:00 PM

Megafortress (New York musician Bill Gillim) layers processed voice, sampled bells, and synthesizer to concoct a strain of 'secular devotional music', resulting in stirring compositions that are simple, yet unpredictable. Using material originally conceived as a series of fictional field recordings, Megafortress transforms both home-brewed and studio-produced elements into sparsely layered, contemplative vocal meditations.

Clifford Owens: Anthology, Rania Stephan, Frances Stark: My Best Thing, Surasi Kusolwong, and Chim↑Pom will also be on view.