From new and unexpected re-appropriations of architecture, to Ganguro (a Japanese subculture where young woman weave their hair into cornrows and tan to look like their favorite hip-hop stars), to an oral history of New York City nightlife, Vibrant Space utilizes discussion as both forum and tool to make visible that which surrounds and form us.
Programs include:
Harlem’s Future:
A Town Hall on the Role of the Arts and Development in Harlem
January 27th, 2011 7:00pm
A New Order:
Case Studies in Re-appropriations of Space Life
February 24th, 2011 7:00pm
Nightlife:
An Oral History of New York’s Club Culture
March 17th, 2011, 7:00pm
The New Black:
Fashion and Design on Branding Culture
April 7th, 2011, 7:00pm
Ecstatic Skin:
The Evolution of Subcultures in a Global World
May 5th, 2011, 7:00pm
All programs are to be held at Museum of Arts and Design, 2 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10019
For tickets and additional information please visit http://vibrant.madmuseum.org, or call 212.299.7740
January 27th, 2011 7:00pm
Harlem’s Future: A Town Hall on the Role of the Arts and Development in Harlem
Bringing together community leaders, historians, developers, and artists, this program will transform MAD’s vintage theater into a town hall for a discussion of how the arts shaped Harlem’s past and present, and what influence they will have on its future as the neighborhood is altered by outside developers and an influx of upwardly mobile urbanites of diverse ethnicities.
The townhall participants will include Jonelle Procope, President and CEO of the Apollo Theater, Patricia Cruz, President, Harlem Stage, Curtis L. Archer, President, Harlem Community Development Corporation, and Voza Rivers, Artist and Chairman, Harlem Arts Alliance.
February 24th, 2011 7:00pm
A New Order: Case Studies in Re-appropriations of Space Life
From squatters reclaiming neglected buildings and architects devising alternative residential systems to “guerilla” public art projects, creative individuals have long been fascinated with finding new ways to improve their daily lives by altering their environments. However, of late there seems to be a groundswell of these projects. Is this the manifestation of a desire to build in a time of limited economic resources? Or have the needs of daily life simply evolved past our current configurations? Bringing together a team of artists, architects, and scientists, including Felix Burrichter, Editor and Chief Pin-Up Magazine, Eva Franch, Director of Store Front for Art and Architecture, and Improv Everywhere, New World Order: Case Studies in Re-appropriations of Space and Lifestyle, will presents case studies for re-imagining our environments and in turn reimagining the very way in which we live.
March 17th, 2011, 7:00pm
Nightlife: An Oral History of New York’s Club Culture
Studio 54, the Palladium, and the Limelight. These New York clubs have become synonymous for wasted debauchery, expressive attire, and a damn good time. However, such infamy often overshadows the instrumental force this New York nightlife had on the evolution of performance, music, and cultural production. Without these centers for inhabited creativity, such parings as Grace Jones and Keith Haring, Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder, Madonna and the House of Aviance, could not have taken place. Such legendary nightlife luminaries of the late ’80s and ’90s as Michael Alig, Joey Arias, Ladyfag, and Michael Musto will discuss how nightlife served as a nexus for vital artistic collaborations, specifically how such communities where formed, evolved, and the too often underappreciated artistry found in the city after the sun has set.
The New Black: Fashion and Design on Branding Culture
April 7th, 2011, 7:00pm
From Vogue Black to BET, specialized media outlets have grown to express and reflect a lively and flourishing global African community. However, with commercial interests playing a major role in the production of such cultural outlets, concern is growing over the role these media outlets have in the branding of this identity.
Bringing together media makers, journalists, designers, and artists the New Black explores the complex web of fashion, magazines, blogs, and arts that work towards and against commercial interests in the branding of a global African identity.
Ecstatic Skin: The Evolution of Subcultures in a Global World
May 5th, 2011, 7:00pm
6 USD Members, 8 USD General
Deeply tanning their skin and braiding their hair into cornrows, Japan’s Gankuro Girls mix contemporary Japanese make-up and attire with that of American hip-hop into a striking new form of personal expression. By incorporating previous subcultures and utilizing camera phones and online promotion, the Gankuro Girls emerged in the 1990s as a new subculture paradigm.
In the past, subcultures grew slowly over time and in relative seclusion. Now, such subcultures like Bruners and the dandies of the African Bakongo increasingly engage with the media to broaden their profile and recruit new members. While others shun digital expression for the raw, visceral experiences only found from in person interactions.
Bringing together sociologists with real members of these communities, Ecstatic Skin explores the impact of digital and social media on the evolution of these subcultures, an environment of cultural production which shapes personal identity as intensely as any physical space.
