Mass MOCA

Currently two massive sculptures comprising Phoenix by the Chinese artist, Xu Bing, are installed in the vast space of Building Five at Mass MoCA. We first were introduced to the work of the artist through a 1995 exhibition Language Lost at Mass College of Art. It was our first exposure to contemporary Chinese art which has since moved to the critical mainstream. This is a portfolio of vintage images of that earlier project.

Hurricane Sandy flooded the Chelsea galleries resulting in the loss of entire exhibitors and millions of dollars worth of inventory in basement storage areas. During a holiday tour we found mostly business as usual with the major galleries with some still closed for renovation. We provide an in depth slide show of several of the more noteworthy exhibitions.

With one show already nearly sold out (Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum on Saturday, February 16), MASS MoCA'sWinter/Spring season has started with a bang before it's even been announced. The first big event of the season is FREE Day on Saturday, February 9. This annual event attracts thousands to MASS MoCA for a full day of art-making, tours, contests, demonstrations, performances, and more.

OMG, OMG. Hurry hurry hurry. Wilco Tickets are on sale to Mass MoCA members starting today. The "early bird" three day passes at a bargain $99 will go quick as a blink. But once they're gone there will be a discounted $124 for the passes which after this window of opportunity will cost $149. So be the first kind on your block to score passes to this sure to be awesome event.

There are ways to consume culture at affordable prices. There are half price tickets for Broadway shows and lawn access at Tanglewood. A movie costs about ten bucks or you can see it on Netflix. Kids pirate downloaded music and videos. But it takes deep pockets to travel the world visiting great monuments and museums. Only the mega rich can afford to own the contemporary art displayed in galleries and museums. For social and economic reasons the fine arts are more elitist and esoteric than other art forms. Then there are matters of taste- High Brow, Middle Brow and Kitsch.

The October 2012 WFF went off without a hitch, well almost. BerkshireFineArts has already given overviews of this year's film festival. This report is primarily about short films, or Shorts, and their highly succesful screenings during a five day long movie feast!

Many recall the fine cuisine of Chef Gerhard Schmid from his Gateways Inn in Lenox in the late ‘70s and ‘80s, and the Devonfield Inn, formerly known as Haus Andreas in Lee, from 1980-1994. He is now presiding over the kitchen of Haflinger Haus an elegant mansion in Adams, Mass. Some 40 members of the Berkshire International Club gathered there to enjoy his special Octoberfest menu.

Now in its 14th year the Williamstown Film Festival has been compressed from two weekends to one Wednesday through Sunday stretch. That saw an increase of guest artists and visitors who hung in for the duration of the unique cinematic event. Yet again, artistic director, Steve Lawson, concocted a heady mix of many short films and several stunning features. There was a sell out for the thursday opening night of Dreamscape, followed by a party at Mezze. On Friday Mass MoCA was packed for Knuckleball. This is the first of two reports and several interviews.

Using a digital high definition video camera Wolram Hissen, for three years, intersected with the Berkshire based artist Stephen Hannock. The resultant documentary Dreamscapes is featured in the 14th annual Williamstown Theatre Festival. This is the second of three installments of a studio visit and dialogue with the artist.

The documentary film Dreamscapes by Wolfram Hissen will be screened on Thursday October 18 at the annual Williamstown Film Festival. Following the film, its subject the artist Stephen Hannock, and Top Chef producer and chief judge, Tom Colicchio, will engage in a dialogue with tasting at the restaurant Mezze. Hannock has been involved by creating paintings for a dozen new restaurant projects with Colicchio and his partner Danny Meyer. We met with Hannock in his Berkshire studio to discuss the film and his latest art projects.

What started as a doodle in 1963 has catapulted to Earth as Jerry's Map. The vast installation by Jerry Gretzinger is on view at the Hunter Center of Mass MoCA for just one week. For an ET experience trip on over to the North Adams museum through Sunday, October 14. Beam me up Scottie.

The Williamstown Film Festival's 14th season will run October 17 through 21. On the schedule: 37 films (many of them premieres) a half-dozen parties, and events at MASS MoCA, the Clark Art Institute, and Images Cinema.

The Bandana Splits bring nostalgic charm to MASS MoCA's Club B-10 on Saturday, October 6, 8 PM. The Brookyn-based trio -- Dawn Landes, Lauren Balthrop, and Annie Nero -- recreates the bubblegum pop and doo-wop styles of the 1950s and '60s with upbeat three-part harmonies featuring ukuleles, guitars, and even kazoos.

In his most recent body of work at New York's Dodge Gallery, David Cole navigates memory, history, national identity and the interlocking resonance of each. Cole's protean craftsmanship gives voice to both a scholarly knowledge of this nation's past and a conscientious understanding of what it means to be an American today.

There were volunteers assisting in another Art About Town project to paint colorful, geometric patterns on the streets of North Adams. It was a community celebration of the pop up galleries of the annual summer long DownStreet. There was a lot to see and do for children and art lovers of all ages.

Williamstown Theatre Festival supported the Berkshires community by bringing nearly 41,000 audience members from 44 states and 6 countries while they attended the work of 401 members of the WTF Company including staff, apprentices, and artists!

Amazingly, it has been fifty years since the last visit of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet to Jacob's Pillow. The classical ballet company demonstrated its diversity during a two hour program in three segments- In Tandem, Moonlight Sonata, and Carmina Burana. For most audience members it was a highlight of Pillow's 80th season.

The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute presents rare Chinese burial objects in an exclusive exhibition that considers both the discovery and the impact of modern Chinese archaeology, Unearthed: Recent Archaeological Discoveries from Northern China through October 21, 2012. The exhibition features objects recently excavated from sites in the Shanxi and Gansu provinces and never before seen outside of China, including a full-size stone sarcophagus discovered intact in 2004.

In a storefront on Summer Street in Adams, Ma., formerly a clothing store, five years ago the multi media artists Matt Belanger and Marianne Petit opened the alternative Greylock Arts. This summer they are celebrating with an anniversary exhibition including many of the artists from New York and the Berkshires that have been included in their edgy program. Their alternative, artist run space, is, hands down, the best in the Berkshires.

The cast has been announced for the final main stage production of the Williamstown Theatre Festival season. A Month in the Country by Ivan Turgenev will be directed by Richard Nelson who also worked on a new translation of the Russian drama. It opens on August 1 and continues through August 19.

It was steamy in the Shed last night for the sweltering launch of the gala, 2012, 75th season of Tanglewood. With Christoph von Dohnányi, a Conducting Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center in 1952, the orchestra replicated the very first BSO concert that took place on August 5, 1937. A capacity audience enjoyed the all-Beethoven program, opening with the Leonore Overture No. 3, followed by Symphony No. 6, Pastoral, and Symphony No. 5.

Williamstown Theatre Festival Artistic Director Jenny Gersten announced today the full cast and creative teams for Last of the Red Hot Lovers, which will be presented on the Nikos Stage from July 11 through July 22 (opening July 12), and the Preview Production of Far From Heaven, which will play the Main Stage from July 19 through July 29 (opening July 21). Both shows begin rehearsals today in preparation for their runs at the Festival.

A version of the traveling exhibition The Italians by the late photographer, Leonard Freed, will be presented in August at the Eclipse Mill Gallery by the gallerist/ entrepreneur Ralph Brill. We met with Brill to discuss Freed and other wide ranging thoughts and projects. There was a focus on North Adams as the former home of Arnold Printworks and Sprague Electric prior to becoming home to Mass MoCA.

During the intensely busy opening weekend we attempted to interact with artists in the sprawling Mass MoCA survey Oh Canada. The selection mostly focused on younger and lesser known artists. The exceptions proved to be two internationally recognized artists Wanda Koop and Michael Snow.

The 7th Annual season of The Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF) will celebrate this year with the latest in independent feature, documentary, short and family films. The festival runs from May 31 – June 3, 2012 in Great Barrington and June 1 – June 3rd in Pittsfield, MA and will be showcasing over 70 films in independent filmmaking.