Prepare to Be Unsettled at a New MoMa Exhibition

If you’re planning a visit to New York’s Museum of Modern Art any time soon, brace yourself. No, we mean that literally—you’ll have to pass through two naked people flanking a doorway if you want to see “Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present,” which opened yesterday.
The “performers” will alternate, and include both opposite and same sex participants: It’s all part of a retrospective.
The museum is presenting an exhibition of approximately 50 of the Yugoslavian born artist’s works, and includes video works and photographs, as well as “re-performances” of her works. The artist will also perform a new solo work. It will be the longest duration of time that she has performed a single solo piece.
All performances will start before the museum opens and stop after it closes each day, to help viewers experience the timeless of the works.
Spoiler Alert: You may also see a nude woman on a bicycle seat and another nude performer lying under a skeleton.
Visitors at a preview were a bit unsettled, to say the least--which may be part of the point.
Warning: If you don’t like audience participation, watch out.
A series of lectures and gallery talks will accompany the exhibition. The Museum of Modern Art is at 11 West 53rd Street. Call (212) 708-9400 for more information.
And don’t forget that you can visit late one day a week: MoMa nights are the first Thursday of each month, when the museum stays open until 8:45 PM.

What Does the City Council Do? Take a Look at Yesterday's Agenda

Ever wonder what the New York City Council is up to, or, more specifically, what exactly it is that they do?
For starters, yesterday they gave clearance for New York’s MOMA (The Museum of Modern Art) to build an 82-story tower on West 53rd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues as part of the museum’s expansion. The 1000-foot-high tower will add 40,000 feet of new gallery space (a 30 percent increase), as well as 150 residential apartments and 100 hotel rooms. It will be on the same block as the current museum building.
What else has the New York City Council been doing with its time?
Well, you should no longer leave your car keys in the ignition while you stroll away to check out a store window--if indeed you had ever contemplated doing such a thing. Not only is it foolish (thieves, people) but it's also dangerous—unattended cars and vans have killed several people as they either rolled backwards or were stolen and then hit someone.
Leaving your car unattended can also be pricey--the fine has been increased from $5 (really? that’s all?) to $250.
Finally (busy day, apparently) the City Council took on advertising rules for businesses selling loan advice to people at the risk of foreclosure—the measure now requires print ads to disclose state regulations that govern the industry. (And they didn’t before?)
So ask not what your City Council does, New York—it passes random measures on just about anything.

Tim Burton Career Retrospective Coming To MoMa This Fall

Can’t wait for next year’s Alice in Wonderland, Hollywood cult film director Tim Burton’s cinematic take on the novel by Lewis Carroll? The Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in New York City will have a major career retrospective on Burton that should satisfy the appetite, on display from November 22, 2009, to April 26, 2010.
Burton is known as the legendary director and creative mastermind behind such classics as Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
The exhibit of all things Burton will consist of a film series, early childhood and recent drawings, and storyboards created during the production of his famous movies. Over 700 of his distinct drawings, paintings, photographs, moving-image works, costumes, props, and other personal items will be on display. Burton is not only a director, but a producer, writer, concept artist for live-action and animated films, fiction writer, photographer and illustrator, with success spanning his 27-year career. Burton’s work often deals with cynicism, sentiment, the intriguingly grotesque, humor, and the themes of adulthood and adolescence.
This exhibition at MoMa coincides with the publishing of The Art of Tim Burton, a limited edition hard cover book featuring over 1,000 illustrations on 430 pages. Entry to the Tim Burton career retrospective is included with admission to MoMa. Museum tickets are $20 for adults, $16 for seniors, $12 for full-time students with I.D., and free for persons under 16.