Arts Art In America
Today, The Stranger suggests you get your freak on, in the old-timey sense:
Circus Contraption’s ‘Grand American Traveling Dime Museum’ (CIRCUS) This is your last chance to peer inside Circus Contraption’s extraordinarily delightful cabinet of curiosities—clairvoyant aerialists, acrobatic devils, singing fetuses—before they cart the show off to New York City. Tonight’s is a preview with discounted tickets—$15. (Magnuson Community Center Auditorium, Magnuson Park, Building 47, 7400 Sand Point Way NE, 442-2004. Thurs—Sun through July 23, 8 pm, $20—$23, www.brownpapertickets.com, mature content.) AMY KATE HORN
In other freaks:
A Toronto performance artist is serving up nice cool glasses of breast milk, donated by local lactaters. (Which recalls the vagina beer project at Crawl Space last October.) The Canadian government has advised against drinking it (because the Canadian government is full of wussies). A quick office poll revealed that only four out of eleven editorial staffers would drink the milk (because our editorial department is also full of wussies). A few quotes from around the office:
“That’s fucking disgusting.ā€¯
“Only if I could milk my own glass—hubba hubba!ā€¯
“I wouldn’t drink the milk, but I’d definitely make out with her.ā€¯
And my favorite: “That’s a bodily secretion—it’s not meant for drinking!ā€¯
There are two good readings on deck tonight. From the readings calendar: “Ann Powers (who is brilliant) talks about Tori Amos (who is probably brilliant in her way). Greg Bear (who is a sci-fi writer) talks about Ray Bradbury (who is a sci-fi writer). Michael Klein (who knows about art) talks about Beverly Seems (artist). Experience Music Project, JBL Theater, 325 Fifth Ave N, 770-2702 for reservations, 7 pm, free.”
And, at the Rendezvous, John Yau reads poems that Matt Briggs wrote about in this week’s issue.
A 200-year-old poem, by the lyrical and lascivious Percy Bysshe Shelley, has been found: “Millions to fight compell’d, to fight or die/In mangled heaps on War’s red altar lie … /When legal murders swell the lists of pride;/When glory’s views the titled idiot guide.”
The Egyptian parliament is taking itself to the movies to decide what homo-sex scenes to censor: “I respect freedom of expression and creativity, but this is neither.”
Some critics are still squeamish: “The art world has stepped forward once again to demonstrate that there are still new levels of obscenity to shock us… Ugh. Double ugh.”
And pop artist Ron English is freaking out Houston commuters with this:
Some artist should make toilet paper out of sacred Torah pages so we can wipe our asses with their dumb religion while drinking Jesus beer. Religion is the cause of all the world's problems.