Culture

James and I went to a couple of openings last night at Apex and KS Art before seeing Adam Bock’s play Thugs at Soho Rep. Before I distract you too much, tickets to the play are only $15, and I recommend seeing it if you’re interested at all in theater, or if you ever worked as a temp in NYC. Our friend Anne Kauffman directed it. It’s described on the website:

Mysterious things are happening on the 9th floor of a big law firm. What could a new temp have to fear? A new play about work, thunder, and people you don’t know.

It’s quite like a music chamber piece in form.

On the way home around 9, the Eighth Avenue trains were running express. They said it was due to some kind of “passenger emergency.” We decided to take the A to 34th and walk back down to our apartment. As we passed through the 14th Street station, we saw plenty of cops, some yellow tape, and a body bag on the platform plus some amount of blood. When things like that happen, one always expects to come home and see all kinds of headlines, but it’s strange that it actually takes a while for what seem like pretty shocking events to show up in the media, whether online or on NY1.

Today, the New York Daily News has the story.

A man trying to board a crowded C train between cars was crushed to death last night when the train started moving and he became wedged against the platform, police said.

No, I’m not dead. Just slowed down by the weather (except today) and a huge number of projects.

As a follow-up to my post on Galapagos planning to lobby for aid for emerging artists, here is a good article on the Galagos site on why this is important, titled Canaries in the goldmine: The emerging arts in New York City.

When I first came to New York in 1989, I found it hard to believe that artists — whether visual artists, actors, dancers, etc. — could afford to live here. Given the real estate prices of today, those seem like the cheap halcyon days. I worry very much about the ability of NYC to remain an arts capital when it is so expensive for people to live within 3 subway stops of Manhattan. Those patrons and collectors that support new art are unlikely to venture out that far unfortunately. Williamsburg is so close, and I still hear people talk about it like it’s Kansas.

From Crain’s New York I learn that Williamsburg’s Galapagos is trying to do something about this.

In an effort to keep up and coming artists in New York, Galapagos Art Space in Williamsburg plans to meet with the Department of Cultural Affairs tomorrow to begin lobbying for government aid for emerging artists.

Executives at Galapagos, which presents 140 performances a month attracting an average of 8,000 people, say New York City is at risk of losing its status as an international cultural capital because beginning artists can’t afford to live here anymore.

“There’s not the inflow of young artists moving in the city like there used to be,” says Robert Elmes, director of Galapagos. “The conversation at this point isn’t whether or not there’s opportunity in New York, but just what other city they should go to.”

Mr. Elmes says his theater has already seen a significant drop in proposals from college students or recent graduates to come there and present their work.

Instead, young artists are heading to places like Pittsburgh, or even overseas to Berlin, which has been aggressive about promoting itself as an affordable hub for emerging arts.

When we attended the Whitney Biennial press preview, I was struck by the fact that the curators travelled to Berlin to visit American artists’ studios. I know a number of people that find it cheaper to live and work there part of the year, while still showing with a New York gallery. One example is D-L Alvarez, who shows with Derek Eller Gallery.

On a related note, James and I are troubled by our ability to see as much emerging art as we once did, since we don’t own a car. Many interesting Brooklyn galleries are increasingly spread far away from each other, and from a convenient subway stop. As an example, check out this map from WAGMAG. Visiting VertexList, Klaus Von Nichtssagend, and Outrageous Look in one day is quite a trek.