New York City is in no shortage of amazing rooftops for public gatherings. Though I’ve never come across one as unique as this: X-Initiative presents the premiere of Pool Noodle Roof by Jeffrey Inaba’s Los Angeles-based practice, INABA. The rooftop space, which will be used for film screenings and special events, will be open to the public daily during selected visiting hours throughout the summer.

Four separate seating areas have been specially designed to cluster around an ‘X’ shaped carpet that covers the entire rooftop surface. The furniture, which is also X-shaped in plan, has been constructed from pool noodles – the long and cylindrical, foam water floatation toys commonly found in suburban backyard pools. The pool noodles have been cut and bunched vertically into chaise lounge and ottoman units of varying heights that accommodate up to 150 people. When viewed from above, the arrangement of vibrant colored buoyant seating material spells out the word, ‘bububluooopppp’ (the sound of something rising or sinking). Pretty clever!

I love it when interaction with public art installations is encouraged. When I tried to pet Jeff Koons’ balloon dog at the Met Rooftop, I received a much different reaction!

Islandwoo Tip: X has not disclosed their summer schedule yet but has promised to email Islandwoo. So follow me on Twitter to be the first to be notified.
Location: 548 West 22nd Street between 10th & 11th Aves. Be sure to also visit the newly opened High Line Park (Manhattan’s elevated park) nearby

P.S.1 Opening Day Celebration: Young Architects Program 2009

Date: Sunday, June 28, 2009, 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM
“Join us for this very special opening day!” Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Young Architects Program, P.S.1 and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) present Afterparty, an interactive environment serving as a cooling “urban shelter” in the heart of P.S.1’s courtyard with towering hut-like structures providing shade similar to that of a Bedouin tent. This will create a breeze and a “cool down” refuge for the kinetic Warm Up crowd.

Warm Up Summer Music Series

Date: Saturdays, July 4th to Sept. 5th, 2009, 2:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Warm Up is P.S.1′s critically acclaimed music series and has become one of the most anticipated summer events. The series is housed within the architectural installation created by the winner of the annual P.S.1 and MoMA organized Young Architects Program. Together, the music, architecture and exhibition program provide a unique multi-sensory experience for music fans, artists, and families alike.

Highlights from past Warm Ups include a stellar group of international DJs and live music ensembles: DJ Harvey, Groove Collective, Lovebug Starski, Afrika Bambaataa, Mad Professor, Richie Hawtin, Danny Krivit, Trevor Jackson, Francois K, DJ Craze, Frederic Galliano, Kid Koala, Derrick May, and many more.

Warm Up Admission:
$10 (includes access to all exhibitions as well) Cash only.
FREE to MoMA members and Long Island City residents with id. LIC residents can bring 1 guest so give that friend a call!

Islandwoo Tip: Avoid waiting in line and purchase tickets in advance from any agnès b. store located in New York City.

PS1 Warm Up Schedule (shows run 2:00PM – 9:00PM)

Saturday, July 4
The 2009 WarmUp season kicks off with Reagenz featuring Jonah Sharp (Space Continuum) & Move D (extended live set)
DJ set by Daniel Bell a.k.a DBX.
Get your dancin’ shoes on for another great season of music in Long Island City!

Saturday, July 11
Week 2 of WarmUp brings another exciting line-up of music by Arthur’s Landing plays the music of Arthur Russell; Danny Wang (Balihu, NYC/Berlin) and MV Carbon & Aki Onda.

Saturday, July 18
agnés b., proud sponsor of WarmUp, hosts a very special day of performances with SPANK DJs SeanB and DJ Will; Cheveu (Born Bad label); Xeno & Oaklander (Wierd Records) and DJ Pieter (Wierd Records).

Saturday, July 25
Alexi Delano (AD Music, NYC); Derek Plaslaiko (the Bunker/Specral, Queens); Elliott Sharp’s Carbon (with Zeena Parkins, David Weinstein, and many others)

Saturday, August 1
Balance Recordings & NDATL hosts. Chez Damier (Chicago); House of House (Live/DJ, Whatever We Want NYC); Kai Alce (Atlanta); Stars Like Fleas

Saturday, August 8
Music Committee of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company: Stephan Moore and David Behrman
Eats Tapes; Lovefingers with special guests

Saturday, August 15
Afro Acid hosts. DJ Pierre (Chicago); Phuture 303 (Chicago); House of Stank (New York); Growing

Saturday, August 22
Brennan Green (Chinatown); John Selway (CSM); Tim Love Lee (Tummy Touch); Talibam!
The Phenomenal Handclap Band (live)

Saturday, August 29
Timmy Regisford (Area Code) & Club Shelter); Duane Pitre

Saturday, September 5
Rong Music with Glenn Branca and special guests

Throughout its history, The NYC Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has used architecture as a vehicle for self-renewal and regeneration. The recently completed building project represents MoMA’s most extensive redefinition since its founding 75 years ago. In the expanded Museum lobby, Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi takes inspiration from the unique vitality of the streets of midtown Manhattan. This bustling interior promenade connects 53rd and 54th Streets and offers spectacular views of both The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden and the light-filled Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron Atrium, which soars 110 feet above street level.
Masterworks of modern sculpture, seasonal plantings, and reflecting pools once again welcome visitors to the beloved Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, which Taniguchi identified as “perhaps the most distinctive single element of the Museum today.” In the garden’s southern terrace you’ll find an elegant outdoor patio for The Modern, the Museum’s new fine-dining restaurant. With his design for The Museum of Modern Art, Taniguchi has demonstrated that architectural expression and the proper environment for looking at art can be brilliantly intertwined. The result, in the architect’s own words, is “an ideal environment for art and people [created] through the imaginative and disciplined use of light, materials, and space.” – moma.org Here’s a short video tour of the Marron Atrium, outdoor Rockefeller Sulpture Garden and some of the galleries on the 3rd floor of the museum.

Islandwoo Tips to make your trip to MoMA NYC a little better: Adult admission to the Museum is a steep $20. Admission is FREE for all visitors every Friday evening, 4:00–8:00 p.m. Admission is also FREE for employees of companies like American Express and Citi (stop by a local branch and ask for a business card!) Although food is not permitted in the museum, you may bring a snack in your pack to enjoy in the lovely Sculpture Garden. Also, visit the MoMA Design Store – directly across 53rd street from the Museum, the Design Store showcases a sophisticated collection of design objects, gifts, jewelry, personal accessories, furniture, and lighting, including items represented in the Museum’s design collection.

The Museum of Modern Art – 11 West 53 Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues (212) 708-9400 Museum Hours Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 10:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Friday 10:30 a.m.–8:00 p.m. (Tuesday closed)

Experience more NYC Museums:
Metropolitan Museum of Art – Jeff Koons on the Roof Garden
NYC Museum Mile with Artist James De La Vega
Brooklyn Museum of Art – MURAKAMI Exhibit
El Museo Del Barrio – Picasso’s Play

April 5 – July 13, 2008, Brooklyn Museum of Art

The most comprehensive retrospective to date of the work of internationally acclaimed Japanese artist Takashi Murakami includes more than ninety works in various media that span the artists entire career, installed in more than 18,500 square feet of gallery space. The Tokyo born artist has exhibited his work all over the world but is possibly best known for his 2003 collaboration with designer Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton. Together they created a hugely successful line of Monogram bags, notably the Louis Vuitton Multicolore brand.

Having made fans out of Hollywood actors, fashionados, and musical artist like Kanye West who’s album art for “Graduation” was done in collaboration with Murakami. Marc Jacobs describes the opening ceremony for the exhibit as a “fantastic collision of fashion, art, and music,” adding that Murakami’s cross-branding style is “reminiscent of the old days, where creative people didn’t stay in their box but bonded with each other and collaborated with each other.”

If you missed the Exhibit, this video will give you a partial look at an Exhibition that was absolutely amazing! (Don’t miss Hiropon and the Lonesome Cowboy in the segment “Milk and Cream”)

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James De La Vega is a New York City artist known primarily for his murals and the chalk drawings he creates on public surfaces such as sidewalks. His street murals can be found all over East Harlem, and his chalk drawings may show up anywhere in the city.

The Museum Mile Festival on Fifth Avenue – One day a year, for the past 29 years, nine of the country’s finest museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, El Museo del Barrio, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and all ones that call Fifth Avenue home, collectively open their doors for free to New Yorkers and visitors for a mile-long block party and visual art celebration. This traffic-free, music-and art-filled celebration fills the street and sidewalks of Fifth Avenue from 82nd to 105th street. The highlight for a lot of street art and chalk art fans are the numerous chalk drawings by James De La Vega. Below are some of the drawings found this year.

Islandwoo Tips to make your Museum Mile experience a little better: Start at 105th Street and walk down to 82nd Street as you don’t want to wait until it gets dark to see De La Vega’s chalk art. End at the Metropolitan Museum’s Cantor Roof Garden for an amazing sunset!

For more on Artist James De La Vega…

Pablo Picasso’s Flamencount de Orgaz – a play featuring flamenco music, dancing to Pablo Picasso’s paintings and visuals. Performed at El Museo Del Barrio on 5th ave/105th st in New York City.

Part I: Bullfight!

Part II: Les Demoiselles d’Avignon

Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon and Guernica on print versus the stage versions! Compare for yourself!

New York City artist Jeff Koons is known for his flawless execution, transforming everyday objects and fantasies into high art. He is also known for his public sculptures, such as the monumental floral sculpture Puppy, shown at Rockefeller Center and permanently installed at the Guggenheim Bilbao, and Split-Rocker, exhibited at the Papal Palace in Avignon, France. Most recently, in 2006, Balloon Flower (Red) was unveiled at 7 World Trade Center in New York City.

His current exhibition ‘Jeff Koons on the Roof’ on the Cantor Roof Garden, the rooftop garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, NY can be seen until October 26, 2008. Included in the exhibition is his art piece “Sacred Heart,” (and as Danny kindly pointed out) not to be confused with “Hanging Heart” which on November 14, 2007 sold at Sotheby’s auction house for $23.6 million – the most expensive piece by a living artist ever auctioned, at the time. It was bought by the Gagosian Gallery. Below are pictures and a video tour of ‘Jeff Koons on the Roof’ exhibit.

Islandwoo Tips to make your trip to the Cantor Roof Garden better: Open only May through October and closed Mondays. Go on a Friday or Saturday evening (roof garden closes at 8:30pm) and you can enjoy a memorable sunset over-looking central park and the manhattan skyline. Any other night the garden is closed at 4:30pm. Grab a drink or sandwich from ‘the bar’ and soak in the sculptures outdoors!

Jeff Koons’ Balloon Flower (Red) at 7 World Trade Center on Vesey Street in New York City (just north of the World Trade Center)

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