You know things are going to get interesting when performance artists get pregnant. Enter: Marni Kotak, who is making Bushwick's Microscope Gallery her very own maternity ward... and you're invited. Kotak is ready to deliver her spawn sometime over the next six weeks, and starting tomorrow will be on display to all, eventually giving birth in front of a live audience. You can read more about the project, called the Birth of Baby X, right here (and on the chance you're left craving more, the Village Voice recently interviewed the artist.) more ›

Another day, another ridiculous performance art piece brought to our attention by the New York Times. Today, we're introduced to Tania Bruguera, a Guggenheim-fellowed artist who has taken it upon herself to spend a year living like an illegal immigrant in Queens, setting up shop in a cramped apartment in Corona where her real-life illegal immigrant roommates "just don't get it." more ›

Finally, Lady Gaga was able to publicly demonstrate her love for the Yankees. The performer, who memorably flipped the bird at a Mets game last week, appeared at last night's Subway Series matchup between the Amazin's and Bombers. While it's unknown what she wore to enter the new Yankee Stadium, she was spotted in a luxury suite in a bra and underwear, with a Yankees jersey and a leopard print beret. So, in case you're keeping count: Vuvuzelas and iPads are banned at Yankee Stadium, Lady Gaga in underwear is A-OK! more ›

Marina Abramović's performance art retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art closes on Memorial Day, which means if you've been wanting to sit across from her, you'll have to go today, tomorrow or Monday. We wonder if superfan Paco Blancas will be there for a final good-bye. more ›

The latest famous face to sit in front of Marina Abramović at MoMA was none other than James Franco, who got up bright n' early this morning to be first in line to sit across from the performance artist. (Though we're guessing that celebrities get to cut the line—we hear Hans Gruber was first yesterday.) Wonder if Franco lasted longer than Lou Reed's 9 minutes... more ›

According to the Twitter rumor mill, Lady Gaga entered MoMA a little bit after noon today and may be waiting her turn to sit down in front of legendary performance artist Marina Abramović. She's allegedly with her artist pal Terence Koh, but while some are reporting they have seen the duo circling around Abramović, others haven't spotted her in the area at all. Maybe she's just grabbing the junk of Marina's naked minions until her turn comes up? Stay tuned! (You can watch the live feed here... hopefully she won't get stage fright.) more ›

Marina Ambramovic's "The Artist Is Present" is still going on at MoMA, and while her silent staring contests have been the center of attention lately, the nude models positioned at the entryway are speaking out about their silent shifts. more ›

NYU art students were wowed last week when they got a surprise visit from the glamorous first lady of France. Her foundation runs an exchange between the school and the Sorbonne in Paris, so Carla Bruni-Sarkozy came to check out the art. She proclaimed some wine glasses tied together with wire, "Beautiful," and was photographed by a student/performance artist wearing pink rain boots and six cameras around her neck. According to the New Yorker, she left students and faculty alike tongue-tied: A student said, “It was like we were trying to talk, but no words were coming out,” while N.Y.U. chair Nancy Barton confessed, "I was a little bit of a deer in the headlights. I kept calling her Carla." more ›

New York performance artist Nate Hill has worn many masks: Chinatown trash artist, free bouncy rides guy, candy crack delivery guy, and his best personality to date, Death Bear. According to Animal, he may be ready to cash in on that last persona. The site says "a bunch of producers from LA have been hounding him and [he] is actively seeking advice on how best to proceed with a Hollywood hustle." Can Death Bear revive reality television? Here's a look at him in action: more ›

This past Saturday performance artist Marina Abramovic met her match at MoMA, where she has set up her ongoing piece titled: "The Artist is Present." Ready to receive her visitors for the day, she was approached by a woman donning a similar look to her own; BombBlog reports that this guest "sat, to the bafflement of the museum staff and visitors, all day." Turns out this was Anya Liftig, a Brooklyn-based performance artist, and this was all part of her own piece, titled “The Anxiety of Influence." more ›

Over the weekend, P.S.1 in Long Island City housed Brooklyn Is Burning, an event curated by Sarvia Jasso and Andres Bedoya that promotes and embraces artistic expression. So certainly the museum that welcomed such an event into their space would also embrace all forms of art... right? Well, it seems even P.S.1 has its limits. more ›

No, there can never be too much James Franco news. The actor has been making the rounds screening Howl, where a lucky NY Mag writer caught up with him. Instead of asking about his portrayal of Alan Ginsberg, however, Franco was asked about his role on General Hospital. And thank goodness for that, because frankly we couldn't get through the first paragraph of the explanation he penned for the Wall Street Journal. more ›

Usually Nate Hill's antics just creep us out, but he's really on to something with his latest project: Death Bear. Here's how it works... you can make an appointment with the Death Bear, who will show up at the appointed time and "take things from you that trigger painful memories and stow them away in his cave where they will remain forever allowing you to move on with your life." In other words, Nate Hill is collecting your old ex's stuff, which he probably then sells on eBay. His next appointments available are, fittingly, Valentine's Day weekend. more ›

It's gonna be a scorcher today, the first day of Williamsburg Walks -- where the neighborhood creates a pedestrian-only zone on Bedford Avenue between Metropolitan and North 9th Street. more ›

Back in January video emerged of an enthusiastic street performer, Matthew Silver, dancing in front of Earwax record store on Bedford Avenue. It seems that a war has been going on since, between the employees of the store and the ever-growing troupe of Silver's clowns (dubbed the BC Fools) that adorn the outside of its shop. more ›

Clams: We were going to shows on a regular basis and after a while I found myself coming up with ideas for acts...but I'm really shy in real life, so I didn't think it was something I'd ever do. Just for fun, I took a class with Jo Boobs, who put me in her show, Paperback Burlesque at the Cutting Room...and I've been hooked ever since. more ›

In 2004, Mark Russell resigned from his position as Artistic Director of P.S. 122 after more than two decades spent developing the theater into a mecca for wildly adventurous performance art. And he hasn't looked back; in addition to serving as Artistic Director for Portland's Time Based Art Festival, Russell has remained a major force in New York with his Under the Radar Festival, now in its fourth year and headquartered at the Public Theater. The event draws performers and audiences from around the world for what has arguably become the most exciting theater festival in New York City, a town lousy with them. Russell's impeccable taste is integral to Under the Radar's success; as Eric Bogosian – who got his start at P.S. 122 in the 80s – puts it: "Russell is a genius at finding the awkward new stuff, the gems and diamonds no one's noticed yet. If the 'artist is the antenna of the race,' then Mark is the antenna of the antenna." more ›

COMEDY: In November, shortly after the WGA strike sent SNL to reruns, the cast took the UCB Theater stage for an off-air show. If you missed that one, there's a chance to catch some of the cast doing stand-up at Comix tonight. The site says "sold out" but the people at the venue say they just added more tickets! So give a call and enjoy "An Evening with the Writers and Performers from Saturday Night Live." The money raised will go toward the Writers Guild of America. And yes, Andy Samberg (pictured with cat) will be there. Andy Samberg, originally scheduled to be there, has dropped out of the show. more ›

There’s such a dizzying number of ways to throw money away on New Year’s Eve that it’s always tempting to just stay home and avoid the throngs of staggering amateurs altogether. But what to do about dinner? If you're not in the mood to cook, it's really not such a bad night to sample some of the New Year's Eve restaurant specials, as long as you're willing to a few extra bucks. Rather than deluge you with a mind-numbing list of restaurant recommendations, we’ve winnowed it down to a manageable number of not-outrageously-priced options, all things considered. As of last night all of them were still accepting reservations for the 31st. more ›

LISTEN UP: Last month we set up shop at White Rabbit, which was transformed into Gothamist House, with WOXY for 4 days of shows. Now WOXY has put together "Best of" podcasts from each of those days, and the first one is up -- so give a listen! Gothamist House Day 1.mp3 ART: First Friday's are so over, tonight come to Williamsburg for Every 2nd Friday. Pick up a copy of "the only comprehensive guide... more ›

SPA: FreeNYC tells us that "in honor of their 20th Anniversary, Nina's European Day Spa is offering up some free and discounted treatments!" Get there before 7pm and you'll get a free eyebrow threading or waxing, free mini microdermabrasion, and free hand treatments. Free: it's a beautiful price. more ›

THEATER: Sarah Maxfield, the brains behind theater collective Red Metal Mailbox, brings THROW, the bi-monthly performance series she curates, to The Chocolate Factory in Long Island City. Imbibe cheap beer and vibe new work by Rebecca Davis, Betsy Miller & Dancers, and Tara O'Con. After each experiment, Maxfield moderates an exchange in which each performer interrogates the audience in hopes of culling constructive criticism from the increasingly lubricated crowd. Who’ll be the first to declare, “Worst performance art EVER”? - John Del Signore more ›

THEATER: New York Magazine called Kanene Holder’s last solo show, SITCHAASSDOWN “21 pitch-perfect snapshots of the black experience”. His current multimedia performance art installation, Committing that Black on Black Crime Called Blackface, goes down in the front window of chashama on 37th Street. Between the hours of 5:30pm and 8pm, curious passers-by can behold Holder paying satirical homage to Buckwheat “via a self-muzzled/pantomiming character who navigates a racist cauldron of images while staring into circus mirrors for glimpses and reconfirmations of reality, by repetitively applying and removing black-face makeup. The menacing screens around him “flash a motley crew of visual memorabilia and supplanted nostalgic references to "the good ole' days" of minstrel shows then and now.” - John Del Signore more ›

THEATER: With his zany imagination and distinctive bass-baritone voice, Joseph Keckler (myspace) has been generating buzz throughout the gooey honeycomb of the downtown performance art cabaret scene. Tonight he sprinkles his particular blend of whimsical catnip at Dixon Place with Cat Lady, in which a man re-enacts an ordinary day with his mother, who runs a community theater with cat actors out of her home. “Past lives are recalled, songs are sung, and finally a trip to the vet's is made in this comedic and dark exploration of the relationship between art and trauma.” Part of the HOT! Festival. – John Del Signore more ›

MOVIE: It's certainly not the kind of night for an outdoor movie, so we suggest sitting in the cool a/c and watching the 1978 classic Dawn of the Dead. "Gone is the possibility of mankind’s dominance in this sequel to Night of the Living Dead; the zombies are in control now, with a group of AWOL soldiers and TV producers on the run from the staggering hordes. A deserted shopping mall offers a safe hideout, as well as the setup for Romero’s savage satire on consumer culture." The early screening will be introduced by producer Richard Rubenstein, more info here. more ›

MOVIES: It's a perfect night to head to the movies. Get a double-feature in at the MoMA with Fabricating Tom Zé followed by David Cronenberg's Crash. Let's focus on the former film. Tom Zé (pictured) is a Brazilian songwriter and composer and this documentary (filmed during a 2005 European tour) charts his "personal universe". Zé is an "uncompromising and inspired artist...seen by many (including David Byrne and Arto Lindsay) as revitalizing the ever-evolving Tropicalia movement. Zé, who narrates his own story, is a very special musical phenomenon in a genre mostly associated with Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil—both of whom warmly assess the musical genius of their friend." more ›

You may think you lived in a cramped apartment, but what would it be like to share a four-story, clear vinyl tenement no wider than your shoulders? A group of six international artists is 15 days into a radical experiment in "two-dimensional" living. FLATLAND is a piece of performance art being staged over a three-week period at the Sculpture Center in Long Island City, Queens. Attempting to carry on their individual work while adapting to the strange environment, the artists who inhabit the transparent structure have kept a blog of their experiences thus far. more ›

prompted a free speech case heard by the Supreme Court and was the only film banned in New York as well as 24 states and 4 countries. For those interested in the underground film movement in New York in the '60s, Smith is a really seminal, though obscure figure. This documentary portrait gives a real sense of Smith's struggles to get his work made and his role within the scene, from his exotic, free-form film shoots on SoHo apartment roofs to his late night, drug-fueled performance art pieces. Ultimately we see how Smith unfortunate insistence that his work remain unfinished (ostensibly to safeguard against getting banned again) kept him woefully obscure. But Jordan's documentary is a wonderful opportunity to see much of his luscious, weird and provocative work blown up on the big screen as well as hear from the crazy crew of friends and enemies who knew Smith. The film is playing now at Film Forum through April 24th, so don't miss it. more ›