The Hidden Agenda: Dreams Walking in Broad Daylight
Still from Burning Down the House music video, Talking Heads, 1983
Did David Byrne design bike racks? Yes, he did. Does that have anything to do with this? Not really, but now we both know that. Anyway, things continue to happen in the world amidst the existential dread you might be feeling about the state of it, and this week you have the option of leaning into it, distracting yourself from it, or both!
Monday, March 31
Performance - They, Who Sound
Lawndale Art Center - 7:30 PM
They, Who Sound livens up Lawndale (4912 Main St) again with its series of performances running over 14 years. This iteration features performances by Fear of the Object and Randi Long. Fear of the Object consists of Kjell Bjørgeengen (Norway), Chris Cogburn (Mexico/Austin), Michele Sruti (Italy/Norway), and Juan Manzano (Mexico). Randi Long consists of Randi Long creating sound with her own objects and sculptural work. This event is free, but it’s always nice to leave a donation to support the orgs and artists. While you’re there, why not check out the running exhibitions by Dario S. Bucheli, Farima Fooladi, and Carlos Vielma?
Performance - Merz Trio: Night Songs
DACAMERA @ The Menil Collection - 7:30 PM
Looking for something less experimental? DACAMERA brings Merz Trio to The Menil Collection (1533 Sul Ross St) for an evening of melody that draws together voices from Brahms and Beethoven to Thelonious Monk. The trio is made up by Julia Yang on cello, Brigid Coleridge on violin, and their guest artist Fei-Fei on piano. This event is sold out, but you can always shoot your shot and try rolling up. People love to cancel or not show up.
Wednesday, April 2
Performance - Death of a Salesman
Rec Room Arts - 7:30 PM
You’ve heard of it, but have you ever actually seen it? Rec Room Arts (100 Jackson Street, 130C) presents the final week of Death of a Salesman, performances running through Saturday, April 5th. This is a play that altered American theater from what I’ve heard. The Arthur Miller play established a style that’s influenced playwrights into the modern day with its interpretation of a dime-a-dozen disappointments dedicated to the American Dream. Rec Room promises “a visceral and haunting interpretation for a fractured nation,” and who doesn’t want to think about the state of the country even more than they already are?
Friday, April 4
Film - STOP MAKING SENSE
River Oaks Theatre - 7:30 PM
Presented as part of the Essentials series at River Oaks Theatre (2009 W Gray St), STOP MAKING SENSE is a concert film that documents performances by Talking Heads at the height of their popularity in 1983 as they tour for the album “Speaking in Tongues.” Originally released in 1984, the Jonathan Demme film received a 4K restoration last year for its 40th Anniversary. Filmed over the course of three nights in December 1983, the film features David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, and Jerry Harrison along with Bernie Worrell, Alex Weir, Steve Scales, Lynn Mabry and Edna Holt performing some of the band’s most memorable songs.
Performance - Frozen Section
Catastrophic Theatre @ MATCH - 8:00 PM
Post-apocalypse meets comedy in a community of workers and intentional shoppers at Tyler’s, a “grocery store at the edge of the world.” If you don’t have enough existential dread in your life, you can always count on Catastrophic Theatre to give you something confusing and weird to distract you for a while. This time, the group opens the world premiere of Frozen Section by New Orleans playwright Lisa D’Amour in Matchbox 3 of MATCH (3400 Main Street).
Saturday, April 5
HANDS-ON HOUSTON: Punch-Needle Patch
Crafts Center - 11:00 AM
During the pandemic, you probably took on a craft hobby that may or may not have fallen by the wayside. Luckily, HANDS-ON HOUSTON is a great opportunity to rekindle (or just spark) your interest in creativity and craft. This monthly series at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (4848 Main St.) features a teaching artist or guild who demonstrates a craft that connects to the exhibition on view. In this iteration, resident artist Stephanie Bursese and Houston Center for Photography mix textile and photography as participants experiment with punch-needle embroidery, leaving with a unique, textured patch.
HANDS-ON HOUSTON is a free drop-in event held the first Saturday of every month. Community members of all ages are welcome to come any time between 11 AM and 3 PM and participate in a 15 – 20-minute activity. Materials are provided.
Patterns of Thought, Stephanie Gonzalez, 2023
Visual Art - Openings for Melody Locke & Stephanie Gonzalez
The Jung Center - 5:00 PM
Feeling the weight of the world and looking for a deeper sense of meaning to root you back to everyday life? That’s the general goal of The Jung Center (5200 Montrose Blvd.) who opens two exhibitions this Friday evening: DREAMSCAPE: The Garden of Your Mind by Melody Locke and Energetic Landscapes: The Art of Consciousness by Stephanie Gonzalez. These exhibitions offer a look into the unconscious mind, exploring the landscapes of your inner self and exploring themes of oneness and meditation.
Community - Spring Block Party
Art League Houston - 6:00 PM
Art League’s block parties are equal parts market and art, featuring vendors, food, music, and general frivolity alongside the organization’s on view exhibitions. There’s a full list of vendors on ALH’s socials, but some personal favorites include Mystic Multiples, raíces plant shop, Rising Tide Projects, & Asana Ceramics. The event at Art League (1953 Montrose Blvd.) also acts as the closing reception for their current round of exhibitions, “Becoming Sticky: Equatorial Visions from Central America” by Tesora Garcia, Lorena Molina, and Martín Wannam, “Significant Otherness” by Eli Ruhala, and “We Have Been Here Before” by Brittany Ham.
Melissographia, Francisco Stelluti
Performance - The Chapel in the Hive
Moody Center for the Arts - 6:00 PM
Supporting Moody’s exhibition Breath(e): Toward Climate and Social Justice, they’ve organized The Chapel in the Hive. This a live performance by poet and scholar Joseph Campana and composer and performer Kurt Stallmann was inspired by an exploration of environmental issues ultimately considering the “sacred character of nature” through the honeybee. The duo has drawn on parables and proverbs from different traditions to ruminate on the sound of a chapel in a hive.
Presented in the Moody's Lois Chiles Studio Theater (6100 Main Street, MS-480), The Chapel in the Hive will be followed by a Q&A discussion with Breath(e) artist Garnett Puett.
