At night, the museum comes alive.
For one evening, performers are going to fill the Brooklyn Museum with all manners of theater, sound, and dance in what is a recent trend of fine-art establishments embracing live works in their usually quiet halls.
“I think there’s a hunger both on the institution side and the public side for experiential events, as opposed to just observing art,” said Stephen Shelley, who is organizing the event as a part of the Beat Festival, which is a week-long series of performance art in Brooklyn.
“People want experiences.”
Much like Jay-Z turning the Pace Gallery into a bizarre concert space or Tilda Swinton taking a nap at the Museum of Modern Art, various artists who specialize in experimental theater and art installations will attempt to change visitors’s expectations of a trip to the museum.
“We’re playing off the idea of a museum tour,” said Liza Wade Green, one of the members of a theater group called the Institute for Psychogeographic Adventure.
“We’ll be in every nook and cranny of the museum.”
And if that seems scary and unpredictable, a ticket-holder can also use the map provided, highlighting performance locations.
The night is a way to kick off the Beat Festival and highlight all the featured artists, some of whom are coming back to the Museum during the week while others are exploring other stages outside a traditional theater, such as the lobby of 1 Metrotech Center, home of this newspaper.
Beat Festival Opening Night at Brooklyn Museum [200 Eastern Pkwy. near Washington Avenue in Crown Heights, (718) 638–5000, www.brooklynmuseum.org], Sept. 12, 7 pm, free.
Reach reporter Jaime Lutz at jlutz@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-8310. Follow her on Twitter @jaime_lutz.
