Target Free Thursday Nights in October Highlighted by Student Open House, Featuring Eclectic Mix of Music, Film, and Art-Making
The Walker Art Center’s Target Free Thursday Nights in October are highlighted by Student Open House: Free for All on Thursday, October 16, 5–9 pm. The evening features a music showcase celebrating the fifth anniversary of local indie label Afternoon Records; a screening of the graffiti documentary Bomb It; an art-making activity; and a photo booth. Other Target Free Thursday Nights programs in October include a screening/discussion of Brett Morgen’s Chicago 10, a documentary on the trial of the eight protesters who disrupted the 1968 Democratic Convention (October 2, 7 pm); an open rehearsal of Eiko & Koma’s Walker-commissioned work Hunger (October 2, 7 pm), which will have its world premiere in the McGuire Theater October 9–11; a workshop with multimedia theater group The Builders Association (October 9, 6–9 pm), who present their Walker-commissioned Continuous City in the McGuire Theater October 23–25; a screening of Mike Leigh’s Life is Sweet (October 9, 7:30 pm), part of the monthlong Regis Dialogue and Retrospective series Mike Leigh: Moments; the curator talk Doryun Chong on Tetsumi Kudo (October 23, 7 pm), during which Chong will discuss the late Japanese artist’s work, featured in the exhibition Tetsumi Kudo: Garden of Metamorphosis, opening October 18; and a Mack Lecture with art critic/writer Claire Bishop (October 30, 7 pm), who will discuss the ethics of performance and representation in contemporary art. Also, Sound Bites gallery talks are offered throughout the month on select Thursday evenings at 6:30 and 7 pm. Sound Bites illuminate an artist or work of art from the Walker’s world-class collection or one of its special exhibitions.
Target Free Thursday Nights sponsored by Target.
Target Free Thursday Nights
October 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Galleries open 5–9; special events follow.
Free
Thursday, October 2
Sound Bites: Short Talks about Art, 6:30 and 7 p
m
Yayoi Kusama’s Oven-Pan
Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby
Join a tour guide for a close-up look at Yayoi Kusama’s lively, plush Oven-Pan and stretch your definition of what sculpture can be.
Screening/Discussion: Chicago 10, 7 pm
Cinema
Introduced by director Brett Morgen
At the 1968 Democratic Convention, the Chicago Police Department violently clashed with protesters and the resulting riots were witnessed live by a television audience of more than 50 million. Eight protesters were charged with conspiracy. Chicago 10 explores the buildup to and unraveling of their trial. Filmmaker Brett Morgen (The Kid Stays in the Picture, On the Ropes) amassed 180 hours of 16mm film, 40 hours of video, 14,000 photographs, 200+ hours of audio, 23,000 pages of court transcripts—and commingled it all with motion-capture animation to craft this work of experimental cinema—a parable of hope with connections to current events. 2007, 35mm, 110 minutes.
Following the screening, join Morgen and documentary filmmaker Matt Ehling (Urban Warrior, Security and the Constitution) for a discussion about their practices in media and their commitment to staying true to a story. Moderated by University of Minnesota media and ethics scholar Jane Kirtley.
Open Rehearsal with Eiko & Koma, 7 pm
McGuire Theater
Dancer/choreographers Eiko & Koma return to the Walker to mount an original work involving movement and live painting. Catch a glimpse of their world premiere performance as they rehearse in the McGuire Theater, then stay for a Q&A with the artists and members of their company. Attend Eiko & Koma’s premiere of Hunger on Thursday, October 9 for the special member price of $15.
Thursday, October 9
Workshop: The Builders Association, 6–9 pm
Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab
Upload your own story to the Web site of multimedia theater group the Builders Association—it may be included in their upcoming performance of Continuous City October 23– 25. Attend opening night on October 23 for the special member ticket price of $15.
Film: Life Is Sweet, 7:30 pm
Directed by Mike Leigh
Cinema
Alternately funny and painful, Life Is Sweet centers on a family with twin daughters: one who is well-adjusted and upbeat; the other who uses sarcasm and social critique to mask terrible secrets. Joining Alison Steadman, who shines as the twins’ mother, are several regulars who went on to grow up on Mike Leigh’s screen: David Thewlis, Jim Broadbent, and Timothy Spall. The film won three National Society of Film Critics awards, including Best Film. 1991, 35mm, 103 minutes.
Thursday, October 16
Student Open House: Free for All, 5–9 pm
This year’s Student Open House features an eclectic mix of music, film, and art-making.
Music: Now, Now Every Children, We All Have Hooks for Hands, and Crescent Moon Is in Big Trouble, 6:30 pm
Gallery 8 Café
Five years ago, as a senior at Southwest High School, Ian Anderson founded the indie label Afternoon Records. Working out of his parents’ house, he started off with a handful of high school bands and has since gained a large underground following. Now all grown up, Afternoon Records celebrates its fifth anniversary by showcasing the talents of Now, Now Every Children, We All Have Hooks for Hands, and Crescent Moon Is in Big Trouble.
Film: Bomb It, 6 pm
Cinema
Bomb It, directed by Jon Reiss, investigates the subversive art form of graffiti. Through interviews (Taki 183, Cornbread, Zephyr, Revs, Os Gemeos, Shepard Fairey, Revok, and Mear One) and guerrilla footage of painters in action, the film tells the story of graffiti from its origins in cave paintings through its explosion in New York City in the 1970s and ‘80s, and samples the current state of graffiti globally. 2007, video, 93 minutes.
Art-Making: The Blackbook, 5–9 pm
Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab
Take inspiration from the film Bomb It and get loose with paint pens and Sharpies with artist/muralist Peyton.
Photo Booth, 5–9 pm
Gallery 8 Café
Tuck in your shirt, comb your hair, and get your picture taken with your friends in an instant photo booth.
Sound Bites: Short Talks about Art, 6:30 and 7 pm
Eero Saarinen
Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby
Gain an overview of the exhibition Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future, which highlights the work of this revolutionary Finnish-American architect and designer.
Thursday, October 23
Curator Talk: Doryun Chong on Tetsumi Kudo, 7 pm
Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby
Join exhibition curator Doryun Chong as he discusses Tetsumi Kudo’s ideas about a “new ecology” that critiqued the Western dualistic way of pitting humanity against nature and technology in the post-atomic age.
Thursday, October 30
Sound Bites: Short Talks about Art, 6:30 and 7 pm
Mary Esch’s Red Riding Hood Studies
Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby
An insightful tour guide delves into the artist’s interpretation of this devilish narrative.
Mack Lecture: Claire Bishop
Outsourcing Authenticity: Delegated Performance in Contemporary Art, 7 pm
Cinema
Free tickets available at the Bazinet Garden Lobby desk from 6 pm
Art critic Claire Bishop, author of Installation Art: A Critical History, and editor of the book Participation, has written extensively on the impulse of contemporary artists toward a practice that embraces social engagement, redefines community, and challenges the relationship of aesthetic form to political context. For this talk, Bishop will focus on the complex ethics of performance and representation in contemporary art. Drawing on recent works where artists employ others in an act of performance, Bishop will discuss issues of authorship and authenticity that arise in these situations.