Functional Forms Finding Figures (Series #1)

Metroland’s favorite local arts publication (see, we’re not that self-involved), 200 Proof Magazine, will soon be unveiling its third issue, and in celebration the mag is mounting an installation by the art collective ADDle at Troy’s Fulton Street Gallery, beginning Aug. 20. (Copies of the new 200 Proof Magazine can be picked up at the gallery, at Albany’s Firlefanz Gallery, the Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza and other locations.)

Functional Forms Finding Figures (Series #1) has an ambitious, if free-spirited, goal to combine “the minds of two characters under one common goal: Functionality and the notion that art-as-object should do more than sit on its ass.” To that end, FFFF (S #1) will feature Flowairs, which, apparently, are outsized representations of plant life that will “challenge organic shapes and mechanical production.” (This image should give you an idea of what they’re up to.) The dynamic environment of the show will include sound, moving image, colors and smell. Plus, tasty food and drink to stimulate the gourmand’s—as well as the aesthete’s—senses.

Functional Forms Finding Figures (Series #1) will have its grand opening at Fulton Street Gallery (408 Fulton St., Troy) on Friday (Aug. 20). The show runs through Aug. 28. The opening, which will feature food, drink and “less conventional surprises,” runs 6-10 PM. For more information, call 274-8464.

33 Fainting Spells

Founded and led by choreographers Danya and Gaelen Hanson, 33 Fainting Spells is a dance company based in Seattle that has been making original dances for 10 years. This year, they unveiled a new piece, and they’re in the area this week to show it off. 33 Fainting Spells will perform Our Little Sunbeam, a work that was premiered in May. The Hansons, along with Linas Phillips, created the piece and wrote the original music to accompany it. And they are, of course, the performers as well. Our Little Sunbeam is described as a collision between Chekhov’s Ivanov (the play on which the piece is based) and the U.S. space program. What this means, we don’t know, but it sounds interesting, doesn’t it? Elizabeth Zimmer of the Village Voice said, “Give them an hour; they’ll remake your vision of the American dance landscape.”

33 Fainting Spells will perform Our Little Sunbeam and other works at Jacob’s Pillow (358 George Carter Road, Becket, Mass.) beginning tonight (Thursday, Aug. 19) through Saturday (Aug. 21) at 8:15 PM; there will also be performances on Saturday at 2:15 PM and Sunday (Aug. 22) at 5 PM. For more information or to buy tickets, call the Pillow at (413) 243-0745.

Films by Boris Barnet

Bard Summerscape concludes its Russian film series tonight (and the next two evenings) with three rarely-seen—but must-see—films by director Boris Barnet.

Boris who?

Barnet, that’s who—the unsung director Village Voice critic J. Hoberman has called a “one-man Soviet new wave.” An actor-turned-director, Barnet began his career at the end of the silent era with comedies like The House on Trubnaya Square, which screens tonight. Trubnaya is the story of a sweet-natured bumpkin and her duck in the big bad city; it includes a justly celebrated tour de force that parodies the Odessa steps sequence in Potemkin. This is followed Friday by the 1945 World War II drama Dark is the Night, about a group of villagers who hide several Russian soldiers from the Nazis.

Saturday’s film, Alenka (shot in color and released in 1961), tells the story of a group of Russians who are resettling in Kazakhstan. Only recently restored, this eccentric, gentle comedy mixes a bit of animation with the live action.

While a nice DVD double feature of a couple of his films has recently become available (The Girl With the Hatbox and Outskirts), none of these films are on video. So, no excuses.

Boris Barnet’s House on Trubnaya Square will be shown tonight (Thursday, Aug. 19) at 6 PM at the Bard College Film Center (Annandale-on-Hudson). Dark is the Night will be shown tomorrow (Friday, Aug. 20) at 7 PM, and Alenka will be screened Saturday (Aug. 21) at 5 PM. Tickets for all shows are $10.