Today’s “Fab 5”/ Selected NYCity Events – FRIDAY, NOV. 01, 2013

Mathematics and ‘The Simpsons’
A discussion on how writers for “The Simpsons” incorporated mathematical concepts into scripts for the show will feature Simon Singh, author of “The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets,” released this week.
National Museum of Mathematics, 11 East 26th St.
At 7 p.m./ $12, $10 for members; limited availability.
542-0566, singh.momath.org

Canstruction at Brookfield Place (through Nov. 13)
“The purpose of this annual event at the former World Financial Center is twofold: families can admire exquisite structures designed entirely from cans of food (past creations have included giant electric mixers, rocket ships, cartoon characters and castles), and each can will be donated to City Harvest at the end of the exhibit. While the event is free, families are encouraged to contribute a can or two of their own to feed the hungry.” (nycgo.com)

Find time for this one – the structures that are created solely from cans are amazing!

TED NASH BIG BAND
“The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra is full of talented instrumentalists who regularly step out on their own, but few have the ambition of Ted Nash, who plays all varieties of saxophone and reed instruments in the ensemble. As on his new release, “Chakra,” Nash helms his own seventeen-piece big band, whose healthy size enables him to realize his evolving gifts as a composer and arranger.” (NewYorker mag)
Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th St. and Broadway
At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., $35 to $45 cover, with a $10 minimum
258-9595, jalc.org

CHRIS HADFIELD
Colonel Chris Hadfield, who has spent more than four thousand hours in space, talks with the journalist Miles O’Brien about his new book, “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything.”
Barnes & Noble—Union Square, 33 E. 17th St.
at 7PM / FREE
212-253-0810

Colin Meloy
“The frontman of the indie-rock band the Decemberists embarks on his first solo tour in five years. He’ll draw from his decade-long solo and group catalogs, as well as perform covers of songs by the Kinks — the latest subject of his fan-favorite series of cover EPs, which are recorded exclusively for the road.” (Anderson-NYT)
Town Hall, 123 West 43rd St.
At 8 p.m./ $33.50 to $40.
982-2787, the-townhall-nyc.org

Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm dates and check times, as schedules are subject to change. ================================================================================

What’s on View:
Special Exhibitions @ 4 Museum Mile / Fifth Ave. Museums:

“Legends of the Dead Ball Era” (1900-1919) (through Dec. 1)
“Eighteenth Century Pastels” (through Dec. 29)
“Julia Margaret Cameron” (through Jan. 5, 2014)
“Medieval Treasures From Hildesheim” (through Jan. 5, 2014)
“Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade, 1500-1800″ (through Jan. 5, 2014)
‘Balthus: Cats and Girls — Paintings and Provocations’ (through Jan. 12, 2014)
“Brush Writing in the Arts of Japan” (through Jan. 12, 2014)
“Venetian Glass by Carlo Scarpa, The Venini Co., 1932–1947” (through March 2, 2014)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave, at 82nd St.
(212) 535-7710 / metmuseum.org

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Metropolitan’s northern branch at the Cloisters – special mention:
Janet Cardiff / The Forty Part Motet (through Dec 8)
The Forty Part Motet (2001), a sound installation by Janet Cardiff, is the first presentation of contemporary art at The Cloisters. Regarded as the artist’s masterwork, and consisting of forty high-fidelity speakers positioned on stands in a large oval configuration throughout the Fuentidueña Chapel, the fourteen-minute work, with a three-minute spoken interlude, continuously plays an eleven-minute reworking of the forty-part motet Spem in alium numquam habui (1556?/1573?) by Tudor composer Thomas Tallis.
Visitors are encouraged to walk among the loudspeakers and hear the individual unaccompanied voices—bass, baritone, alto, tenor, and child soprano—one part per speaker—as well as the polyphonic choral effect of the combined singers in an immersive experience. The Forty Part Motet is most often presented in a neutral gallery setting, but in this case the setting is the Cloisters’ Fuentidueña Chapel, which features the late twelfth-century apse from the church of San Martín at Fuentidueña, near Segovia, Spain, on permanent loan from the Spanish Government. Set within a churchlike gallery space, and with superb acoustics, it has for more than fifty years proved a fine venue for concerts of early music.
Worth the trip to far northern manhattan.
subway: #1 to 59th St,, transfer, “take the A train” to 190th St,
walk about ½ mile N to the Cloisters, a beautiful location, esp in the fall, overlooking the Hudson Palisades.
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‘Robert Motherwell: Early Collages’ (through Jan. 5, 2014)
‘Christopher Wool’ (through Jan. 22, 2014)
“Kandinsky in Paris, 1934–1944“ (through Apr. 23, 2014)

Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th St.
(212) 423-3500 / guggenheim.org.

‘Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Hals: Masterpieces of Dutch Painting From the Mauritshuis’ (through Jan. 19, 2014)
Frick Collection, 1 East 70th St., at Fifth Ave.
admission is by timed tickets.
288-0700 / frick.org

‘The Armory Show at 100: Modern Art and Revolution’ (through Feb. 23)
New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, at 77th St.
(212) 873-3400 / nyhistory.org.

========================================================== Museum Mile is a section of Fifth Avenue which contains one of the densest displays of culture in the world. Ten museums can be found along this section of Fifth Avenue:

• 110th Street – Museum for African Art

• 105th Street – El Museo del Barrio

• 103rd Street – Museum of the City of New York

• 92nd Street – The Jewish Museum

• 91st Street –  Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

• 89th Street – National Academy Museum

• 88th Street – Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

• 86th Street – Neue Galerie New York

• 83rd Street – Goethe-Institut

Last, but certainly not least, America’s premier museum
• 82nd Street – The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Additionally, though technically not part of the Museum Mile, the Frick Collection on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 70th St. and the The Morgan Library & Museum on Madison Ave and 37th St are also located near Fifth Ave. Now plan your own museum crawl. ==================================================================================== What’s on View: Top Photography Exhibitions
(NYCity / Manhattan’s WestSide)   

Museum of Modern Art 11 West 53rd Street / 212-708-9400
XL: 19NewAcquisitions in Photography (through Dec. 31)
Walker Evans: American Photographs (through Jan. 26, 2014) 

Metropolitan Museum of Art 1000 Fifth Avenue (at 82nd Street) / 212-535-7710
Julia Margaret Cameron (through Jan. 5, 2014)
Everyday Ephiphanies: Photography and Daily Life Since 1969  (through Jan. 26, 2014)

ICP 1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street / 212-857-0000
Lewis Hine
The Future of America: Lewis Hine’s New Deal Photographs
JFK November 22, 1963: A Bystander’s View of History
Zoe Strauss: 10 Years
All these exhibitions run from Oct 4, 2013–Jan 19, 2014

American Museum Natural History 
79th St. And Central Park West / (212) 313-7278
Picturing Science: Museum Scientists and Imaging Technologies (through May 31, 2014)

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For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar: “NYCity Events: Manhattan’s WestSide” dated 10/24 and 10/22.