Curious Burlesque is no more.

THE END

FIN

FINITO

NO MAS

We’re sorry to have sprung it on you so suddenly, but all good things must come to an end – all good decisions are sporadic.

Heres one last flyer to better burn the concept into your retinas…

xx

June 4th 2011 // 2-7pm

BOS 2011 will be the first time False Gallery is open to the public.
Curator Ms. Marquise works with local, American and international artists. Having curated two
group shows, one solo show and numerous performance art events, she decided to present
all previous works, ongoing projects and works in progress in a per-appointment gallery
in the style of a showroom. Current works exhibited include artists Jorden Haley and David
Bray.

False Gallery is located at a production space called hausNY, within a historically landmarked
building whose grounds and interior are sensitive to overcrowding. The
curators asks you to be courteous to others who reside in the building on your way up and down
the stairs, and please RSVP for groups of 8+ guests.

// hausNY
// 670 bushwick ave.
// brooklyn, ny 11221

▼▼▼▼▼▼▼

photo :: Axel Dupeux

model & installation :: LenaMarquise

price :: $1,000USD

◆◆◆◆

Bushwick Daily X Curbs&Stoops
GROUP SHOW

pre‐sale // June 3, 7pm‐10pm
reception // June 4, 7pm‐10pm

BushwickDaily.com is an online publication featuring photographically enhanced
articles about the borough of Bushwick in Brooklyn, NY.  This BOS ’11 BushwickDaily.com
is presenting its first group art show, based at Curbs & Stoops for which
the writers and editors of BushwickDaily.com have paired up the subjects of the weekly
feature articles, assigning them the task of creating, in the medium of their choice, pieces
about one another. Co-curated by Katarina Hybenova Lena Marquise of False Gallery.

Artist list ::
Andrew Birk, Axel Dupeux, Katelan Foisy, Ryan Ford, Rafael Fuchs, Richard Haines,
Mary Judge, James Marshall, Lena Marquise, Alicia Papanek, Frank Rathbone, Tescia
Seufferlein, Allison Somers, Jackie Summers, Ari Sneider, Linda Thach, Veng RWK,
Jason Zucker

Beverage Sponsor :: DogfishHead Craft Ales

// Curbs & Stoops Active Space
// 566 Johnson Ave.
// Brooklyn, NY

On a block in Chelsea devoid of nearly all advertising, at the west side edge of the world, hangs a lonely sign “Scores”, across from which is a series of large black doors and an ever growing line of sophisticated, middle aged spectators who had all signed up for the earliest time slot on this particular Tuesday evening.

A large, yet soft-spoken bouncer – in traditional security regalia of black sports jacket, black everything – is armed with one blue starred stamp and a short, bouncy sidekick on a walkie talkie – the ear piece strapped to his head.

They let us in 5-10 at a time, “good thing it’s warm out”, I thought as I took one last look down the line before I was ushered in with a handfull of strangers chatting behind me. Only a few steps beyond the door, total darkness set in, with one dim 5watt bulb hanging low in an old dusty fixture above our heads, it seemed as though it might as well have been shining darkness rather than light; I got tingle rolled down my spine. A few minutes later the line had become an exercise for my eyes, to acclimate to the deep black of the walls and the textures of indiscernible paint and concrete, plastic and metal.

Finally, arriving at the “concierge / check-in” of the hotel [venue] I was handed a playing card [10 of spades] and was told to walk to my right and make a left up the stairs.

HERE IS WHEN IT GETS CONFUSING.

By the time you reach the holding area, a smokey red velvet lined jazz lounge [sometimes] playing live music, you forget that you had just walked up X amount of flights, delivering you from the X floor to the X one. Here you listen for when your playing card is called by a crooner of a jazz lounge host, over a vintage microphone, you are ushered to the elevator by the lady of the dance floor. Then, you are handed a mask, ordered not to talk and crammed into an elevator where you will most certainly be separated from your friends. The elevator makes a random stop on either the X, X, X, or X floor, of which you have no say and no knowledge [if the liftman sees you looking at the number display he will shut it off, as I found out]. By the time you are ejected from this elevator, you realize that when everyone is wearing masks and are not allowed to speak [thus becoming anonymous] they become extremely rude, pushy and retain few physical limits when cutting you off. Granted, by now the later time slot / younger ticket holders had filtered in and mixed up the age demographic. We stampeded out of the elevator, I paused, body acclimating to the change in atmosphere.

By the damp chill in the air I could tell I was on the X floor, I walked around some bedroom chambers, a living room full of shelves, clocks and letters from Lady MacBeth. “A clue!” I thought, despite already knowing the premise. I walked in and out of tiny rooms, observing the meticulous decoration as much as I observed the other guests. When I had first imagined the scenes being interactive, my main concern had been people being too polite to ruffle through the drawers and notes. But the rapid news of such a liberally interactive installation must have spread fast, because everyone in eyesight was poking, prodding and sifting through relics like monkeys on a field trip. I circled my way through the layers of draped fabric and electric candles into a ballroom overwhelmed with the scent of pine. In the middle was a dance scene with three couples ballroom dancing in the broad sense of the term. In my corner of the floor, governess put a cloak on a young girl, then the couple hurriedly took off. I follow them; I loose track of the girl but follow the matron back up to the mezzanine of clocks, where she covers them, slowly, with cloths. I wander off to the balcony overlooking the ballroom scene I was standing on only moments ago, now on the dance floor a couple is fighting. A bald witchy woman is hissing at a man, they throw each other across the floor gracefully, landing like cats, or birds, or professional dancers. The man runs off to the side, up the stairs, across the floor – suddenly a crowd of 50 guests is hurdling themselves up the stairs trying to stay on someone’s heels. All heels are lost; I pick a doorway – and find myself on the X floor.

I see a new crowd in a corner in the room, heads bowed to peer down at something. Lady Macbeth is waiting impatiently, body contorting in spastic yet controlled, rhythmically precise movements, building with the crescendo of the song driving her madness. She balances on the edge of a bathtub before loosing her grip – her husband runs in, with blood covered hands, her back too is now stained red. She strips him nude while they embrace in a sequence of frantic kisses, intermittently pausing for his entry into the tub, his last strands of public discomfort shine in his eyes and stain his breath like pigments of hesitation. Rapidly, he rubs off the blood, then hesitantly with a staccato in his step he emerges from the tub to join his Lady; they walk back to the corner and lie down in bed. Then suddenly he sits up, jumps out of bed and leaves the room again; half the spectators follow, some stay – here the Lady rubs her hands repeating “out, out damn spot” as she throws herself violently against the walls and bed, repeatedly. I grow bored and wonder what other performances are going on as I stand glued to my spot, so I exit through the glass doors surrounding the bedroom chambers, and walk through a garden with half walls of brick and large statues of mary bathed in blue light, as I search for performances and a couple particular rooms I remember from the walk through, half of which I never do find. As I continue across the floor turns softer, and the scent of warm moist soil surrounds me. In the distance I see small mounds with white upward crosses stuck into the crests. At the end of the narrow path in the soil is an old abandoned stroller, one I would kill to have. I find my way to another staircase and climb upward.

On the X floor a scent of mulch fills my nostrils [maybe a little too much, as my tissues were coated in black upon exhausting the contents of my nose that night], enormous walls of crates and boxes unwind into a room with a pool table and a wall of 300 playing cards, many of queens, all tacked in one corner. Later, this would be the scene between two men and the bald witch, who will dance and laugh with a card between their lip-lock. The boy witch walks over, standing much too close, he urges me to move silently, seconds before the other man hurdles past and onto the wood bar with a loud thud. Two minutes later the girl on my left has her mask knocked by a stray foot in the tumultuous fray on the pool table. Another girl nearly trips over her own feet, which would have landed her face first on a wood box, trying to outrun the crowd to secure a front seat at the other end of the room to which the action has moved. The crowd is too much for me, and so I escape into rooms that are filled with black magic and dry purple flowers above my head, and others filled with musk like grandma’s. I look for an air freshener, a plug-in of sorts for at least 3minutes before I admit that if I were to find one, it would certainly not be labeled “grandma,” and that all objects, garments and fabrics in the room must contain centuries of history to smell so pungently of the past.

I wander back towards the room full of taxidermy birds, animal heads and bones as if it’s my one familiar sight in this strange massive world. The path there is a hallway of what seem to be a number of rooms and shops through wich actors move, there stands a girl with a box and a key, which a guest tries to touch and nearly gets her hand slapped. Another girl gets chosen and rushed off, pulled by her arm into a little room, to experience a solo show, a creepy lap dance of sorts with incantations and rituals I was not privy to this time around. I walk around the corner, a taxidermist’s workshop, nearby is a candy store; each room decorated and etched inch by inch to the last detail. A funeral parlor with a coffin, books, quill, ink wells and death certificates, stamped with the year 1934. And with that clue, things started to make sense. But, I have said too much already, I will leave not only the remaining X and X floors a mystery, but also the conclusion with it’s occasionally malfunctioning noose.

Folks, this is a must see. I don’t want to ruin ALL the fun and surprises so you will just have to trust me. I know here in Bushwick tickets upwards of $75 sound like less than a steal – but think of it as taking yourself on a date [yes, it's that good]. Save your pennies, and tip cheap, cut corners, don’t cut your hair – do ANYTHING and everything to get your asses to Sleep No More. A-SAP.

Curious Burlesque

+ Dance Party

May 8th, 2011

Burlesque Acts

 @12pm+1am

by ::

Curator //

Mademoiselle Lena

+

Rosy Roulette

+

Apathy Angel

————

MC and DJ Myles Blake

Photo Booth by Artist // Jorden Haley [ karbine.com ]

Giveaways

1. Free Drinks

2. Treats and Sweets

3. T-Shirt Couture from

BirdOvPrey.com

—————————————————————

Piano’s

[ pianosnyc.com ]

UPSTAIRS

158 Ludlow St.@stanton

nyc

21+ with ID

FREE admission

—————————————————————

Every second Sunday of the month, at Piano’s, resident performer Mademoiselle Lena of False Aristocracy, curates a night of dark and macabre Curious Burlesque and variety,

in two acts [ @ 12pm + 1am ].

The DANCE PARTY continues throughout the night, from 11pm to 4am.

This highly stylized event integrates live performance art with a light heartened dance party, and while the themes for each night will differ, the general aesthetic will remain the same.

Naughty RAFFLE for delicious treats, FREE DRINKS [drink tickets] and limited edition T-SHIRTS by BIRD OV PREY, various debauchery, comedic improv and music by the Myles Blake lasts all night!

]]> http://falsearistocracy.wordpress.com/2011/05/01/curious-burlesque-mothers-day-edition/feed/ 0 falsearistocracy curiousGENERIC http://falsearistocracy.wordpress.com/2011/04/17/monodramas-3-opera-review/ http://falsearistocracy.wordpress.com/2011/04/17/monodramas-3-opera-review/#comments Sun, 17 Apr 2011 02:57:31 +0000 falsearistocracy.com http://falsearistocracy.wordpress.com/?p=854 ]]>

The last time I tried to attend the NYC Opera, it was one of those summer runs where the admission is free.

It was one of those days that’s too hot at first but becomes uncomfortably chill as the sun sets behind the surprisingly tall buildings around 66th and broadway. We anticipated the crowds and thus arrived an hour early only to find not a single seat without a placeholder sweater or bag, beside a row of family members scowling at one another or an elderly couple scowling at you. To my surprise, the free opera my friend had been raving about for weeks was just a large projection of a prerecorded show, cast on a large white screen outside the main entrance of the opera house, for over 300 senior citizens of new york to gawk at in reminiscent of when their social security could accommodate a budget of live entertainment, and if this is indeed what the 21st century entailed.

We took a vote; it was in the favor of taking our picnic to central park, rather than the stairs of the opera house courtyard which too by the hour encroaching the screening was becoming unbearably crowded with early latecomers. The group of us sat in the park, each having a private monologue about the successes and failures of the trip; concealing my discomfort on the cold rocks and disappointment with my misconceptions of what a free opera would entail with occasional laughter, I silently wondered what my first opera in NYC would be.

A little over half a year later, a very gracious friend who I greatly appreciate the company of extended an invitation to the opening night of “Monodramas” [which runs March 25th - April 8th] via the hospitality of John Zorn and friends.

I pick up the program and read the three synopses for the pieces I am about to absorb. I have just enough time to finish them before the lights begin to dim; I close the program, reminding myself to look over the notes and artists later.

The first piece was by our friend John Zorn, which up until reading the program, I had assumed composed all the music for the evening. This first opera was roughly 20min long and called “La Machine de L’etre” ["The Machine of Being"] and focused on the direction of chaos via musical composition and projected drawings by Antonin Artaud in his less gracefully years from the end of his celebrated and schizophrenic life as a beautiful person. The most exciting parts where:

1. the drawings [projected into two word bubbles suspended above the actors, one of which combusted into flames as a finale - which I thought was a copout] by Artaud, because I have a childhood fascination with schizophrenia

2. The man in a red zoot suit who was suspended towards the finale [because if was the only color in the costumes and because it woke me up a little]

3. The fact that Zorn did not write any text for the piece, nor gave stage direction. He left all the visual aspects up to the interpretation of the stage director. What a guy. LET THIS BE A LESSON TO YOU.

The second piece was an old one by Arnold Schoenberg with text/libretto written in an actual language [German] by 26 year old psychology student Marie Pappenheim in the early 1900′s translated on a wide screen at the top of the stage. It was called “Erwartung” [program translation: "Waiting" // wiki translation: "Expectation"] and was the most coherent plot line of the three. It went on for about 30min displaying objective and subjective, loving and suspicious thoughts of a woman who, in a dream, is to meet her lover in the woods but discovers him dead. The drama builds, as the rose petals perpetually fall from the rafters, accumulating on the floor. The conclusion shows how she suspects herself to be the killer, or rather perpetrator of the relationship as she first approaches him still alive in the forest; an abstract flash forward within a lover’s mind.

The third piece “Neither” seemed longest, but was no longer than the second. It was intermediate in age compared to the other two pieces, being composed in 1976-77 by Morton Feldman to a libretto by Samuel Beckett. It was the most abstract but summed up concretely the subject of simultaneous objectivity and subjectivity within one persons internal dialog. The music was a repetitive nine note loop, with mildly coherent pronunciation [mostly the last line "unspeakable home" which resonated for hours after leaving the venue]. The tones changed whereas the notes stayed the same, to the effect of someone singing to you for 30minutes on a rather fast carousel ride. The lulling composition and brilliant soprano put me in a trance for some portions of the piece, but not enough to overlook the tacky reflective stage backgrounds [no doubt in an attempt to elongate the stage] or the musical theater kids they hired to play patty cake with themselves several times towards the height of the internal turmoil. However, the three tiers of suspended silver cubes lifting and falling made up for it all.

If you like tension, this is one’s for you.

PHOTOS HERE

A

Curious Burlesque + Dance Party

Sunday

April 10th

Burlesque Acts @12pm+1am

by ::

Curator

Mademoiselle Lena [ mademoisellelena.com ]

+

Rosabelle Selavy

+

Bianca Dagga

————

MC and DJ >> Myles Blake

Photo Booth >> Artist // Jorden Haley [ karbine.com ]

Giveaways >>

1. Free Drinks

2. Treats and Sweets

3. T-Shirt Couture from

BirdOvPrey.com

—————————————————————

Piano’s

[ pianosnyc.com ]

UPSTAIRS

158 Ludlow St.@stanton

nyc

21+ with ID

FREE admission

—————————————————————

Every second Sunday of the month, at Piano’s, resident performer Mademoiselle Lena of False Aristocracy, curates a night of dark and macabre Curious Burlesque and variety,

in two acts [ @ 12pm + 1am ].

The DANCE PARTY continues throughout the night, from 11pm to 4am.

This highly stylized event integrates live performance art with a light heartened dance party, and while the themes for each night will differ, the general aesthetic will remain the same.

Naughty RAFFLE for delicious treats, FREE DRINKS [drink tickets] and limited edition T-SHIRTS by BIRD OV PREY, various debauchery, comedic improv and music by the Myles Blake lasts all night!

PHOTOS HERE

join us…

FONDA NOLITA MOVIE NIGHTS PRESENTS… FUTURE SHORTS ‘ONE’ – LAUNCH NIGHT

Future Shorts ONE, the monthly global event, in conjunction with prō jekt′ : nycreturns to New York this March to launch a new partnership withTacombi (the infamous vintage taco van) and its downtown home, Fonda Nolita (267 Elizabeth Street) to bring you a night of tacos, beer and movies!

Future Shorts ONE connects audiences around the world with the best in short film and creative culture with events taking place anywhere from local bars to film studios sound stages, as well as new events taking place every month across 16 countries.

The official Future Shorts selection for March takes us across the globe, including clever stop-frame trickery on the streets of New York in Dosh’s Airlift, how one boy deals with growing up in suburban Rio De Janeiro in A Distacao de Ivan and navigating Kabul via skateboard in Skateistan. They join Minim’s orchestral, experimental take on everyday life, a nostalgic family portrait in Cousin, and much more…

Tickets are $25 and includes 5 mini tacos, mexicanmovie snacks and home brewed drinks
Sunday 13^th March / event opens 7pm / films start 7:30pm

>> TICKETS HERE <<

inquiries :: info@FalseAristocracy.com

A

Curious Burlesque + Dance Party

Sunday

March 13th

Burlesque Acts @12pm+1am

by ::

Curator

Mademoiselle Lena [ mademoisellelena.com ]

+

Mary Cyn [Original Cyn]

+

Sweet Lorraine

————

MC and DJ >> Myles Blake

Photo Booth >> Artist // Jorden Haley [ karbine.com ]

Giveaways >>

1. Free Drinks

2. Treats and Sweets

3. T-Shirt Couture from

BirdOvPrey.com

—————————————————————

Piano’s

[ pianosnyc.com ]

UPSTAIRS

158 Ludlow St.@stanton

nyc

21+ with ID

FREE admission

—————————————————————

Every second Sunday of the month, at Piano’s, resident performer Mademoiselle Lena of False Aristocracy, curates a night of dark and macabre Curious Burlesque and variety,

in two acts [ @ 12pm + 1am ].

The DANCE PARTY continues throughout the night, from 11pm to 4am.

This highly stylized event integrates live performance art with a light hearted dance party, and while the themes for each night will differ, the general aesthetic will remain the same.

Naughty RAFFLE for delicious treats, FREE DRINKS [drink tickets] and limited edition T-SHIRTS by BIRD OV PREY, various debauchery, comedic improv and music by the Myles Blake lasts all night!