SYNESTHESIA #1…Or Dinner Theatre Your Grandmother Would Hate.

Posted on 09. Sep, 2011 by danikadruttman in Art at Roger Smith, Arts, Events, Hotel

PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS HERE

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The Roger Smith Hotel and Roger Smith Arts are pleased to present SYNESTHESIA #1. Taking place on September 28th, it will be the first in a series of elaborately directed dinners centered around a 10 course tasting menu created by Chef de Cuisine, Daniel Mowles, and interspersed with a wild and edgy cocktail of performance art, music, poetry, and dance.

Conceived and directed by the Roger Smith Arts team of Matt Semler and Danika Druttman, the evening is intended to be an all out attack on the senses. “What we want to do is make people choke on their food” says Semler. “Not just because the food itself will be so good, but also because what’s going to be going on around them will be so stunning, that they might actually forget to chew.”

Mowles, a master of flavor combination, will create his 10 courses drawing from the following culinary concepts:

Green Tea Truffles, Sour Cherry Jam, Tangerine, Curry Aioli, Green Apple Truffle Mignotte, Hudson Valley Foie Gras, Frisée, Scallop Tartar, Aged Cheddar Grits, Summer Peaches and American Caviar.

The performances and art interactions will include the works of poet Richard Jeffrey Newman, performance art collective BabySkinGlove, Colombian/Japanese Butoh Duo LEIMAY, Australian classical guitarist Rupert Boyd, sound artist Alan Sondheim.

The evening is priced at $75 a head and tickets can be purchased http://synesthesia.eventbrite.com/

For further inquiries call 212.339.2092 or email rogersmitharts@rogersmith.com

PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS HERE

SYNESTHESIA #2 will take place on October 27^th. Artists and menu will be announced October 3^rd.

Performers:

Consisting of over fifteen artists, BabySkinGlove is a performance collective based out of Brooklyn directed by Bailey Nolan. Their productions are avant garde interpretations of historical events. BabySkinGlove aims to remove the audience from their true location and transport them to a psychic place, leaving each voyeur with a different, unique, and decidedly inspirational experience. In the past year BabySkinGlove has collaborated with accomplished artists including Ryan Trecartin, Vanessa Beecroft, Amanda Lepore and James Franco.

Australian born guitarist Rupert Boyd is acclaimed as one of the most talented guitarists of his generation. He has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Spain, Italy, France and Australia, and has been described by The Washington Post as “truly evocative”, and by Classical Guitar Magazine as “a player who deserves to be heard.”

LEIMAY is the parapluie for Ximena Garnica art works, Shige Moriya art works and the collaboration work between these two artists at the intersection of dance, performance, and installation art. Their work has been developed in residencies at the Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center, the New Hazlett Theater, the National Museum of Dance, and Hanoi Contemporary Arts Center. LEIMAY is a project of the experimental and contemporary art and performance space known as CAVE.

Richard Jeffrey Newman is the author of The Silence Of Men (CavanKerry Press, 2006), a book of poetry, and three books of translations from classical Persian literature: Selections from Saadi’s Gulistan, Selections from Saadi’s Bustan (Global Scholarly Press 2004 and 2006) and, most recently, The Teller of Tales: Stories from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. He is Professor of English at Nassau Community College.

Alan Sondheim is an independent writer / theorist / artist. He co-founded the Cybermind and Wryting email lists. He is editor of Being on Line and author of .echo, Disorders of the Real and The Wayward. He is also published widely online and his video/sound work is internationally exhibited.

PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS HERE

Listening To Your Food: Synesthesia

From www.foodiggity.com

Last week we did a test run and here are a few of Daniel’s ideas…more coming soon!

The Roger Smith is a hub for social media in #NYC. People. Art. Food. Wine. For 10% off our best available rooms rate: bit.ly/RSrooms

twitter: twitter.com/rshotel
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blog: bit.ly/RSlife
web: rogersmith.com/

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My $100 Art Collection. By John Knowles

Posted on 08. Sep, 2011 by JohnKnowles in Art at Roger Smith, Arts, Community, Hotel

In an effort to stimulate a collector’s mentality, we at the Roger Smith have initiated, under the motivation and guidance of James Knowles, an art collectors program.

Over coffee at Lily’s, with myself, Danika Druttman and James Knowles, we tossed around the idea of building a young collectors art program. To be honest the idea might have been in circulation for sometime (you never know where the origin of these things comes from). Whether we came up with it or it had been a rolling stone, nothing is new, just rearranged…

James Knowles as Ben Franklin #RogersRewards

Anyway, out of his wallet he pulls two crisp $100 bills and presents them to the both of us.

The objective is to build a body of work with the intent of capturing and stimulating a collector’s imagination. For a long time our efforts have been focused on the subject and perspective of the artist and their motivations. This new initiative takes into account the mind and eye of the collector, the stories and perspectives of the people who purchase works of art.

Sent into the summer months with an idea, we now revisit the concept with newly acquired works of art. After spending a couple weeks at the Vermont Studio Center, I returned to New York with two works from a fellow artist in residence, Ester Hasskamp.

As I canvassed her studio during the open studio visit, my eye was drawn to a small black piece of paper with a threaded outline of a blue moon and its rays. Without receiving a formal title from the artist, I call it “Blue Moon & Ray”.

The second work that caught my attention was a gravestone rubbing with the name Alice. This stimulated a funny memory that involves my sister Phoebe. Phoebe and I went to support the new Bier Garden that had just opened in our neighborhood. There was a live band that was playing one of those songs similar to “Sweet Caroline” where a full crowded bar participate in the chorus… This song, which neither of us had ever heard, has burned itself into my memory as a bar room classic and will always stimulate the question, “Who the fuck is Alice?”

“Who the fuck is Alice?”

As we begin to build our collectors’ portfolios we have a confidence that our decisions have the potential to appreciate in value with each contribution. The stories that motivate the purchase and relationships that we build with the artist become long-lasting.

This is just the beginning.

As we grow this collection, we embrace artists and collectors alike to participate. As the collector has his/her own identity and personality, so will the collection. I have created my own personal blog that will follow my contributions to the overall collection and will also be providing updates to Roger Smith Life as the project grows.

Not to make it too much of a competition, but I am interested to see what Danika brings to the table.

Cheerio.

Be well,
John Knowles
a.k.a Panman

Follow @pancity on twitter.
Other related links
My100artcollection.tumblr.com
Panmanmixtapes.tumblr.com

The Roger Smith is a hub for social media in #NYC. People. Art. Food. Wine. For 10% off our best available rooms rate: bit.ly/RSrooms

twitter: twitter.com/rshotel
fb: facebook.com/rogersmithhotel
blog: bit.ly/RSlife
web: rogersmith.com/

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INTERview @RSHotel : Danika on Community Building in NYC

Posted on 21. Jan, 2011 by Birdsong in Community, Hotel, the LAB

By John Birdsong

It was right at the end of the year when James Knowles and I conducted these interviews. They are in many ways an opportunity for people to reflect on the past year, but also a chance to look forward. Danika Druttman has been working at the hotel now for around two years now and is an integral component (along with Director Matthew Semler) to the operations and curation of The LAB Gallery and Roger Smith Arts. This is the first part of her interview series, and in this one she talks about looking forward in 2011 and the community building she has been a part of all along.

Meet Danika. Gallerist. Londoner. New Yorker. Roger Smith.

http://www.thelabgallery.com
http://www.rogersmith.com
http://www.rogersmithlife.com

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The Turner Prize 2009 by Danika Druttman

Posted on 28. Jan, 2010 by BrianSimpson in Arts, Community

The Turner Prize 2009 may be over, but I am still thinking about it. While back in London for the holidays, I popped in to Tate Britain to check out the exhibition of the shortlisted artists. To give you a little back story about The Prize, it was founded by The Tate in 1984, and has emerged as one of the most well publicized and controversial art prizes around. Its intention is to highlight developments in contemporary British art. The exhibition itself, is designed to enable the public to view and inspire dialogue about the work of the shortlisted artists. Over the years the Turner Prize has developed a reputation for encouraging the debate ‘is it art?’ with their annual pickings. YBA’s (Young British Artist’s) have over the years populated a notable percentage of the artists included (Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Antony Gormley, for starters). They sculpted and ultimately iconicized the 1990′s British contemporary art scene; high on volume, charisma and ‘boxless ideas’, Sensationalist is a word often used to describe the YBA’s and their art.
In spite of The Turner Prize’s reputation, 2009 can not be described as loud. I thought it was elegant and thoughtful; here are the pieces that I enjoyed the most.

Lucy Skaer
The skull of a sperm whale is no doubt breathtaking in its own right, however, I feel like the point of this piece was more to do with the art of viewing. Being forced to see the piece in stages, through slits in the wall, slowed down the viewing experience. Certainly in my case, the effect was that it made me look, REALLY look, at Skaer’s work. As a result I can say that this was my favorite piece. I invested the most of myself into the experience, in order to attempt to grasp the meaning of this work.

Richard Wright (winner)
What a grand number, yet delicate, subtle and mortally beautiful. Mortal is an appropriate word to use, Wright’s work is painted straight onto a wall, and when the show closes, the piece is painted over (the same goes for the exhibited piece at Tate Britain). The ephemeral quality represents a rebellion against the art institution yes, clearly, but for me personally, it was a curious experience to know that this was almost definitely the last time I was ever going to see this work again. It may be a shout, but I am going to suggest it anyway, many types of beauty are fleeting, yet this is also the type that is most memorable, and that is how I feel about this work.
This makes me think of an artist that we will be showing at The LAB in April, Morgan O’hara. Her work also has this finite quality, it lives for as long as it remains on the wall and once it has been painted over, we must rely on our memories and documentation to refer back to her work of art.

Lastly, you’ll see in the video that I included a little footage of the message boards, intended for the public to voice their opinions. What a pleasure to take the time to read through people’s thoughts, be them honest, funny, unimpressed, thrilled, and everything in between. To me, it highlights the continued importance of dialogue about contemporary art, whether you are in it or not.

About > Danika Druttman

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Julia, a dog named Waffle & The Ghost of Roger Smith

Posted on 21. Jan, 2010 by BrianSimpson in Community, Events, Hotel

Last night in the Penthouse of The Roger Smith Hotel Matt Semler & Danika Druttman, of The Lab Gallery, along with Julia Kaganskiy (MoMA) hosted a gathering of arts and tech enthusiasts. The main purpose was the introduction of smART Camp, a weekend long event in March, that will bring together influential artists, social network professionals and a community of people looking at ways the two are utilized for the exposure, education and sales for the art world.

The hotel, as many of you know, has a mysterious energy that seems to bring out the storyteller in all of its visitors, last night was no exception.
If you are skeptical… don’t believe me, believe Julia, Michelle Adam and a dog named Waffle.

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PURGATION OF NIKE a performance installation by ROBERT C. MORGAN

Posted on 22. Oct, 2009 by AdamWallace in Art at Roger Smith, Arts, Hotel, LAB Gallery, the LAB

The Lab (for Installation and Performance Art) was pleased to present the performance installation by Robert C. Morgan titled “The Purgation of Nike (1974-1984/2009)”. The piece is based on a 1984 professional studio recording of Morgan’s voice slowed down while reading excerpts from an old swim manual published in the late 1930s. The sound resembles a Tantric Buddhist chant and is the source that inspired the work.

PURGATION OF NIKE
by Robert C. Morgan
photographs by Adam Wallace

The space of the gallery was painted black, with a red glow in one corner and a large sand circle in the center. There was a steaming pot of water to one side, placed on an electric coil, lit with a halogen light. A rotating sequence of 20 digital images of the artists hands (photographed in 1974) were looped on two small monitors in the corner, and a large painting (1984) of a colossal leg rested against the adjacent wall, also lit by halogen.

The 30-minute performance took place Tuesday October 20, 2009 and involved the sound of the tape as Morgan marked the sand through a series of circular movements that constitute ideographic signs.

A collection of videos from the show:

For more information, or to schedule an interview with the artist, please contact Danika Druttman 212.339.2092

http://www.thelabgallery.com
http://www.rogersmithlife.com
http://www.rogersmith.com

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New York Walks: Grand Central Market

Posted on 12. Aug, 2009 by AdamWallace in Community, Hotel

Danika takes you on a tour of Midtown treasures. If you are looking for something to do and have an hour to spend you should explore the little secrets that New York has to offer.

For this New York Walks Danika takes you from the Roger Smith Hotel to Grand Central Market and then to one of Midtown great secrets.