Slope Weekday Events Spotlight: June 13-16
Welcome to the week, which features very engaging events to say the least: A.I. dreaming, 17 instruments playing, Japanese body horror, and more!
Secret Science Club presents Roboticist Hod Lipson
When: Monday, June 13. Doors: 7:30pm, Show: 8pm
Where: The Bell House, 149 7th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues)
What: A roboticist who works in the areas of artificial intelligence and digital manufacturing, Hod Lipson designs cool, biologically inspired machines—and he sees a future where robots are not only autonomous but creative. He and his colleagues build robots that do what you’d least expect robots to do: Self replicate, self-reflect, ask questions, and even come up with their own ideas. At the next Secret Science Club, Hod Lipson asks: Can robots ultimately design and make other robots? Can machines be curious? Will robots ever be truly self-aware? Can they evolve? Dream?
How much: Free.
Yaa Gyasi in conversation with Tracy K. Smith
When: Monday, June 13 at 7:30pm
Where: Central Library, Dweck Center, 10 Grand Army Plaza
What: A riveting, kaleidoscopic debut novel and the beginning of a major career: a novel about race, history, ancestry, love, and time that traces the descendants of two sisters torn apart in eighteenth-century Africa across three hundred years in Ghana and America.Two half sisters, Effia and Esi, unknown to each other, are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Stretching from the wars of Ghana to slavery and the Civil War in America, from the coal mines in the American South to the Great Migration to twentieth-century Harlem, Yaa Gyasi’s novel moves through histories and geographies and captures–with outstanding economy and force– the troubled spirit of our own nation. She has written a modern masterpiece.
How much: Free, but please RSVP.
John Yao and His 17-Piece Instrument Group with Matt McDonald Group
When: Tuesday, June 14 from 7pm-9:30pm
Where: ShapeShifter Lab, 18 Whitwell Place (between 1st and Carroll Streets)
What: A monthly residency at the Shapeshifter Lab featuring John Yao & His 17-piece Instrument and opening bands led by JY-17 members. We hope you can join us for a night of great music!
How much: $10 cover, at the door
And I Must Scream: An Examination of Body Horror in Japanese Animation, An Illustrated Lecture with JR Pepper
When: Tuesday, June 14 from 7pm-9pm
Where: Morbid Anatomy Museum, 424 3rd Avenue at 7th Street
What: Bio-morphic transformations, countless limbs, undulating tentacles and a decaying human form all define the term ‘body horror’. Although there are many films that exhibit this trope, arguably the versatility, artistry and sheer imaginative insanity of Japanese animation best exhibits the true primal fear that is body horror. ‘And I Must Scream’ will explore the various forms of body horror as exhibited in anime, including its origins in Japanese animation and the symbolic meanings behind it. Please be advised that there will be graphic and disturbing imagery and video in this lecture.
How much: $8, tickets available online.
B-B-B-B-Bits with Barats & Friends
When: Wednesday, June 15, door 7:30pm, show at 8pm
Where: Union Hall, 702 Union Street (near 5th Avenue)
What: This sketch/stand up/variety show assembled by Matt Barats and co-hosted with Gary Richardson, features some sopping hot bits from some piping wet comedians.
How much: $6, tickets available online.
Free Yoga in the Park presented by Bend + Bloom Yoga
When: Thursday, June 16
Where: Prospect Park’s Long Meadow, 7pm-8pm. Enter the park at Grand Army Plaza, Garfield, or 3rd Street. Proceed to Long Meadow and look for the sea of mats. Bring your own mat and water bottle plus a friend or two!
What: Join Bend + Bloom Yoga, lululemon athletica Brooklyn, and the Prospect Park Alliance every Thursday night from June 2 through August 25 for free, fresh-air yoga in beautiful Prospect Park. The series draws hundreds of Brooklynites, of all experience levels, each week to celebrate and experience yoga and wellness in our treasured park.
How much: Free, however an RSVP is required to sign the online waiver form.
Site:Brooklyn presents Landscape: A Sense of Place
When: Through Sunday, June 26. Thursdays-Sundays and by appointment.
Where: Site:Brooklyn, 165 7th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues)
What: How does an artist frame a landscape? Inevitably, it is an act of choosing: what goes in, what goes out? Poussin and Lorraine first brought landscape, which was previously relegated to merely backdrop for other images, into a subject of its own. After the Impressionist revolution, by the 20th century, the definition of “landscape” expanded considerably. Photography became widespread. Also, it included cityscapes and the explosion suburban subjects, conceptualization, abstraction, and gesture. Artists also brought in other materials such as video, collage, or elements earth or city themselves. Fundamentally, landscape posits the challenge of how we view and engage with the world around us. This exhibition seeks to show how contemporary artists take up this challenge. The exhibition is curated by Annette Rose-Shapiro.
How much: $10, at the door.
Jay Friedenberg: The Panoramic Landscape
When: Through July 3. Thursdays and Fridays, 4:00-7:00pm; Saturdays and Sundays, 11:00am-7:00pm.
Where: 440 Gallery, 440 6th Avenue, between 9th and 10th Streets
What: 440 Gallery will be presenting the second solo show by Jay Friedenberg, featuring large-scale panoramic scenes from around the globe. Friedenberg’s artwork is a combination of traditional and modern photographic techniques that is enhanced by digital effects to create fantastic color and compositions. The opening reception is Saturday, June 4 from 6pm-9pm.
How much: Free.