In New York this week Richard Price is interviewed by Philip Gourevitch, David Byrne presents Creation in Reverse, Joyce Carol Oates and Elaine Showalter chat over brunch, Tao Lin (who will also be reading at The Rumpus’s first anniversary party) and CAConrad read at The Animal Farm Reading Series, Dave Eggers at the Strand, Women of Antifolk, and the Bruce High Quality Foundation present a re-staging of the first lecture ever dedicated to the art of magic.
MONDAY 1/11: Richard Price, author of Lush Life and Clockers, and writer for The Wire, who has been called “king of American urban fiction,” will be interviewed by The Paris Review’s Philip Gourevitch. Barnes & Noble. 150 E. 86th St. Free. 7:00pm.
Creation in Reverse: In addition to being one of the founding members of Talking Heads, David Byrne, is also an artist and filmmaker. His latest projects include a musical collaboration with Fatboy Slim invoking the life of Imelda Marcos and a travelogue entitled Bicycle Diaries. He will present a short video/audio lecture called “Creation in Reverse,” speaking to the ways that venue and context shape artistic creation, followed by a Q&A. The Bell House. 149 7th Street. 8:00pm. Free. No tickets. First come first served.
BEST AMERICAN MAGAZINE WRITING 2009: Readings by Chris Jones, David Lipsky and Selena Roberts. The Best American Magazine Writing contains some of the year’s most captivating essays, columns, reporting, and criticism. Chosen from the winners and finalists of the 2009 National Magazine Awards, this year’s selections include the haunting story by Chris Jones (Esquire) of an American soldier’s final journey home and an insightful account by David Lipsky (Rolling Stone) of David Foster Wallace and his final days. Half-King. 505 W. 23rd St. Free. 7:00pm.
TUESDAY 1/12: Light Industry presents Riddles of the Sphynx – Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen. 16mm. Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen’s film addresses the position of women in patriarchy through the prism of psychoanalysis. Riddles draws on the critical writings and investigations by both filmmakers into the codes of narrative cinema, and offers an alternative formal structure through which to consider the images and meanings of female representation in film. $7. 7:30pm. 90 min.
The Werner Herzog (Directed) and David Lynch (Executive Produced) collaboration My Son My Son, What Have Ye Done is playing at the IFC Center. 323 6th Ave. at W. 3rd St. 5:35pm, 10:10pm.
The Secret Science Club presents computer scientist Christoph Bregler of NYU’s Courant Institute. Dr. Bregler is a master of designing systems to track human movement and train computers to recognize and animate all that “you-ness.” Jumping off from collaborations with dancers animators, film producers and game designers, Dr. Bregler discusses: Motion capture, Obama-ness v. Palin-ness and flying “Squidballs.” The Bell House. 149 7th St. Free. 7:30pm.
WEDNESDAY 1/13: The Bruce High Quality Foundation University Presents EDIFYING: Christine Rebet, Poison Lecture. Christine Rebet’s Poison Lecture (2009) re-stages the first formal lecture ever dedicated to the art of magic, delivered in Boston in 1927 by renowned conjurer John Mulholland who later on during the Cold War became a consultant to CIA operative agents. X-Initiative. 548 W. 22nd. 7:00pm.
Love Among the Ruins – Reading and cocktail party to celebrate the first issue of the online journal Love Among the Ruins, with Mark Bowen, Frances Post and Erin Markman. Free wine, beer and cupcakes. KGB Bar. 85 E. 4th St.
THURSDAY 1/14: Dave Eggers will be on hand at the Strand Bookstore at 12:00 noon to sign copies of Zeitoun, a non-fictional book about hurricane Katrina from the perspective of a Syrian-American, The Wild Things, and McSweeney’s 33: The San Francisco Panorama.
The Animal Farm Reading Series: Tao Lin (Shoplifting from American Apparel) (An interview of Tao Lin by The Rumpus can be found here), and CAConrad (The Book of Frank) will read. Happy Ending. 302 Broome St.
Bernard King presents: Venus Flytrap—Women of Antifolk, with Rachel Trachtenburg (of the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players), Deenah Vollmer (of Old Hat) and Nan Turner (of Schwervon!). Sidewalk Cafe. 94 Ave. A. 8:00-after midnight.
FRIDAY 1/15: Real Estate, The Beets, Beach Fossils, Total Slacker, and The Tony Castles perform at The St. James Church (the 2nd oldest church in New York). St. James Church. 32 James (bt. Henry & Madison).
SATURDAY 1/16: The Heavy with James Dean Wells of the Gay Blades. 92Y Tribeca. 200 Hudson St. Doors 8:00pm. Show 9:00.
SUNDAY 1/17: Joyce Carol Oates and Elaine Showalter. A discussion between longtime friends and colleagues about Elaine Showalter’s A Jury of Her Peers, a comprehensive history of American women writers from 1650-2000. Upon its publication in 2009, Joyce Carol Oates called the book “a work of astonishing vision, breadth, intelligence and audacity…required reading for all who have an interest in American literary history.” Includes light brunch and opportunity for informal conversation with the authors and fellow audience members. 92Y. Lexington and 92nd St. 11:00am.
ART: Demons, Yarns & Tales: Tapestries by Contemporary Artists. This show, which just opened, includes work by Gary Hume, Beatriz Milhazes, and Kara Walker, among many others. James Cohan Gallery. 533 W. 26th St.
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News about notable happenings in New York can be sent to rozalia-AT-therumpus.net
Original Notable New York Illustration © André da Loba
Other images in order of appearance: Ecstasy, 1997 by David Byrne; photo of a 1936 meeting at the Club of the Magischer Klub Wien; Canoca, 2008 (tapestry) by Beatriz Milhazes.
