This sort of falls under the "guess you had to be there" category. So here's a set of phonecam flicks to help illustrate. I'm not purporting to be an art critic by any means, but I really enjoyed the evening of absurd, interactive performance art and breezy beats at Michael Portnoy's Milk the Weasel, Pull the Rug and Summer Session 2008 at the SculptureCenter in Long Island City last night. Thanks to Jeremy for the heads up and to him and Matthew for the jams. I woke up this morning with Eye in the Sky still playing in my head.

Read on for my attempt at putting this into words.

° Deux - Game and Performance mp3

° Black Dice - Roll Up mp3

I hadn't been to the SculptureCenter before, but it's easy to get to in the vicinity of PS1. The space is great. The courtyard was set up with round card tables to go along with the gambling theme. Inside I saw Marianne Vitale's "expo on dice-footed animals" which consisted of her reading from a text about ungulates to accompany a slideshow of her drawings. Meanwhile Michael Portnoy—his face hidden by black fringe hanging off the edge of a baseball cap—stomped around with a half-empty bottle of Jim Beam and barked directions like "bouncier!" and "rise up!" to her.

But the real treat was the dank and dark basement where you passed a series of installations before the gambling tables. Portnoy and another "dealer" led "games" in which nonsensical, absurd and imaginary things were done with strange die, ribbons, keys, etc. I thought the tables were really beautiful and reminded me of an idea I had for some pinball machines once. People were made to touch each other in made-up rituals like "scratching the ones." Fake money was tossed around. "Is it nines or fives?" had to be answered repeatedly. People got really into it. Someone even threw real money on the table at one point. It was all very Mad Hatter and looked totally fun.

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See also:
Long Island City Museum of Natural History
Grand Opening Gala
[Saturday, May 31st. 8pm to late / DJs at 12. 3629 Vernon Bd, L.I.C.]
Featuring specimens from the permanent collection
Performances by Slow/Dynamite
DJs Matthew Radune, Tropical Jeremy in the Athanasius Kircher Roof Garden

I can't tell you what to expect but I can say I've toured the building and it is neat.