Urban Eye

January 07, 2010

By JULIE BLOOM


Taking It to the Street

After its debut in August, the Asphalt Orchestra, a brain-child of Bang on a Can, was described by Anthony Tommasini as "part parade spectacle, part halftime show and part cutting-edge contemporary-music concert." If you missed hearing this radical 12-member band the first time, then you're in luck tonight, because they are performing a free show at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center beginning at 8:30 p.m. Listen out for an eclectic mix of songs by Björk, Zappa, Mingus and others.

The Living Room as Art
For those of you who found the London apartment in "An Education" swoon-inducing or the Los Angeles bungalow in "A Single Man" as enticing as the very chic clothes, then head to Greenwich House's newest exhibition, "Studio Pottery and Mid Century Style," at 6 p.m. tonight. The show features a meticulous recreation of an American living room around 1960. The exhibition will include ceramics from the late 1950s and early to mid-1960s by Peter Voulkos, Gertrude and Otto Natzler as well as furniture by Florence Knoll, Eero Saarinen, Eames and others, not to mention textiles and lighting. To kick off the event, guests are invited to dress up in their own "Mad Men"-inspired frocks and nibble on period food and drink while they take in the stylish scene.

Audio Slide Show: 'This Freedom'
A look at the show "Once and for All We're Gonna Tell You Who We Are So Shut Up and Listen."
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Back to School
The question of what makes a good teacher has been a subject of hot debate in recent weeks. For evidence look no further than the divided reaction to a study Teach for America released about its participants and Amanda Ripley's article in this month's issue of The Atlantic. Tonight Cabinet, the art magazine based in Brooklyn, is presenting a more creative take on the issue with "Darcy Lange: The Art of Teaching." The program will include a viewing and a discussion of a current exhibition of video work by Mr. Lange. In the 1970s, this New Zealand artist took his camera into schools in Britain to record daily events in the classroom. After the screening, a discussion about pedagogy and art will be led by panelists including Kelly Baum of the Princeton University Art Museum, Simon Critchley, a philosophy professor at the New School and Jeff Dolven, an English professor at Princeton. Drinks will be served.