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Flavorpill
Issue 282
  Artwork by: Michael Dumontier & Neil Farber
 
 
  Your event guide

Here's a snapshot of our favorite things to do in Chicago.
 




  Chicago
Feb 9-15, 2010
GO TO SITE
 

 

We hate to see a break-up right around Valentine's Day. Though the larger story was obscured by a mass-rubbernecking of the lurid details (see the Beachwood Reporter), Illinois' political power couple is effectively kaput — and before Quinn-Cohen could ever really go a-courtin'. Still, all that state-sponsored cynicism shouldn't keep you chilly to Cupid's arrow. Yes, February 14 can send my pap detector into Love Story of Endearment levels of overdrive, too; but there's simply too much to swoon over this week. The Nerds at Heart Love Fest caters to both breeder and non- for hip locals (ISO division), and the Naked at the Museum Scavenger Hunt offers a refreshingly juvenile alternative to so much commercialization. We've seen enough in-fighting. This week, Chicago is for lovers.

- Stephen Gossett, Managing Editor

 

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What's your Valentine's Day jam?


  SPECIAL FEATURE
Kissing in the museum
   
Performance artist Tino Sehgal's ephemeral pieces rely on empty space and spectator involvement. One such piece in his current solo show at the Guggenheim, The Kiss, involves a couple embracing on the floor of the rotunda in a "changing, slow-motion, amorous" entanglement. We decided to reinterpret Sehgal's performance piece in five NYC art institutions: The Metropolitan Museum, New Museum, Rubin Museum, P.S.1, and the Brooklyn Museum. Could we choreograph the same magic? »



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Tue Feb 9
 
 

  READING
Funny Ha Ha Loves You
when: Tuesday Feb 9 (6:30pm)
where: The Hideout (1354 W Wabansia Ave, 773.227.4433) map
price: $5
  In this age of TiVo, YouTube and World of Warcraft (not to mention Mr. Skin), it's easier than ever to entertain oneself alone in a darkened room, bereft of human contact. Kudos, then, to the comedic reading and monologue show Funny Ha-Ha. A bracing corrective to the creeping solitude of modern entertainment, it celebrates the written word with the gentle balm of communal laughter. Tonight's lineup features the writers Cameron Esposito, Fred Sasaki, James Kennedy, Robbie Q. Telfer, Kate Harding, and Claire Zulkey, plus short films from Steve Delahoyde; proceeds benefit the Neighborhood Writing Alliance. - Ben Bass

 


  Also Happening Tuesday
See all »
MORE FLAVOR: City Gem
Nerds at Heart Love Fest
@ Holiday Club

 
 
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Wed Feb 10
 
 

  MORE FLAVOR: Conference
College Art Association Conference 2010
when: Wednesday Feb 10 More times»
where: Various Chicago locations
price: Various prices
  For four days, Chicago serves as a visual-arts mecca for college-level educators, scholars, and students from around the globe. Among the many panel discussions at CAA 2010 are talks on privacy in the arts, experiments in transnational public art, the need for women's art spaces, and several Chicago-specific forums on art and architecture. Aside from the dozens of panels and speaker sessions (including a keynote from Dawoud Bey), the event features a book and trade fair, artist interviews, and plenty of creative pieces to view. - Morgan Phelps

 


  Also Happening Wednesday
See all »
MUSIC: Electronic
Holy Ghost!
@ SmartBar

 
 
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Thur Feb 11
 
 

  ART
An Evening with Dara Birnbaum
when: Thursday Feb 11 (6pm)
where: Gene Siskel Film Center (164 N State St, 312.846.2600) map
price: $10
  In the late '70s Dara Birnbaum was one of the first artists to swipe, sample, and deconstruct TV imagery. In pivotal videos such as Technology/Transformation: Wonder Woman she turned the medium back onto itself with its grammar and subtexts laid bare. Birnbaum's methods filtered into mainstream pop-culture in the '80s, but today she feels like a pioneer all over again — with the ascendance of YouTube and rampant mash-up madness, it's almost like she handed us the keys to the kingdom. Of course, Birnbaum didn't stop at Wonder Woman. If you don't have the luxury of flying to Portugal this year to see her touring retrospective, head to the Siskel Center's screening tonight, where Birnbaum offers an overview of her practice. - Karsten Lund

 


  Also Happening Thursday
See all »
PERFORMING ARTS: Comedy
Sandra Bernhard
@ Lakeshore Theater

MORE FLAVOR: Discussion
Wells Tower
@ Harold Washington Library

FILM
The Firemen's Ball
@ Ferguson Lecture Hall at Columbia College Chicago

 
 
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Fri Feb 12
 
 

  PERFORMING ARTS: Theatre
Abigail's Party
when: Friday Feb 12 (8pm) More times»
where: A Red Orchid Theatre (1531 N Wells St, 312.943.8722) map
price: $15 - 30
  In films like Secrets & LiesLife Is Sweet and Happy-Go-Lucky, Mike Leigh explores the foibles of human behavior. He does likewise in this stage depiction of a 1970s cocktail party gone awry, exposing the prejudices, pretensions, and peccadilloes of its aspiring suburban set. As he's done in filmdom, Leigh reached his sense of these characters through extensive improvisation with his original cast; what he's really after, of course, is their fundamental humanity in all its ragged beauty. A Red Orchid Theatre continues a cinema-tinged season that opened with a vehicle for Oscar nominee and ensemble member Michael Shannon. - Ben Bass

 


  Also Happening Friday
See all »
MUSIC: Rock/Pop
NOMO
@ Schubas

PERFORMING ARTS: Comedy
Lewis Black
@ The Chicago Theatre

 
 
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Sat Feb 13
 
 

  MUSIC: Hip-Hop
DOOM feat. Mos Def w/ Mike Relm
when: Saturday Feb 13 (7pm)
where: Congress Theater (2135 N Milwaukee Ave, 312.458.9668) map
price: $26.50 - 46.50
  After reportedly sending stunt doubles to perform in his place not too long ago, the metal-mask-sporting MC now known simply as DOOM often leaves people speculating if he'll actually show up to his own performances. The clever, comic-book-obsessed rhymer appeased critics last summer when he delivered a solid in-person set at Pitchfork Festival — with any luck, a sign of what's to come on his current tour with Grammy-nominated MC Mos Def. Joining the pair of lauded East Coast acts for the Chicago leg is audio/visual mash-up pioneer Mike Relm, justly famed in the scratch scene for his revolutionary approach to turntablism. - Max Herman

 


  Also Happening Saturday
See all »
MUSIC: Punk/Metal
F*cked Up
@ The Empty Bottle

MUSIC: Experimental
Zola Jesus
@ Permanent Records

VALENTINE'S DAY
Bikerman & The Jewish Avenger: Love Hurts
@ Metropolis Performing Arts Centre

 
 
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Sun Feb 14
 
 

  MUSIC: Rock/Pop
Nneka w/ Jerome Holloway
when: Sunday Feb 14 (9pm)
where: Double Door (1572 N Milwaukee Ave, 773.489.3160) map
price: $15 / $12 advance
  Already an established voice in Europe, Nigerian-German singer Nneka is quickly catching ears Stateside with her heartfelt, message-laced singles like the iTunes hit, "The Uncomfortable Truth." Singing about human rights, relationships, and personal-as-political willpower, Nneka has been brightening stages across America in support of her just released US debut, Concrete Jungle, a world-soul diaspora-uniter that easily lives up to the frequent Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill comparisons. - Max Herman

Note: Enter our giveaway to win a copy of Nneka's album Concrete Jungle and mixtape The Madness; and check out our interview.


 


  Also Happening Sunday
See all »
PERFORMING ARTS: Opera
Stars of Bolshoi
@ Harris Theater for Music and Dance

VALENTINE'S DAY
Casablanca Sweetheart Singalong
@ Music Box Theatre

VALENTINE'S DAY
Naked at the Museum Scavenger Hunt
@ The Art Institute of Chicago

 
 
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Mon Feb 15
 
 

  MUSIC: Experimental
The Residents: The Talking Light Tour
when: Monday Feb 15 (8pm)
where: Logan Square Auditorium (2539 N Kedzie Blvd, 773.252.6179) map
price: $25
  Existing comfortably outside the lines of convention since their debut in the late '60s, avant-garde art rockers the Residents have earned both darts and laurels for their complex, conceptual music and bizarre stage personas. Despite their delight in skewering pop-culture icons, the music's oblique criticism of Western imperialism, and their iconic disguise of eyeball helmets, top hats, and tuxedos, the band never lapsed into gimmickry. With surrealistic lyrics and broad, theatrical arrangements that move from thrillingly subversive to frolicking and warped, the Residents are as much an experience as they are a band. - Kim Bellware

 


  Also Happening Monday
See all »
ART
Lecture: Michael Rakowitz
@ University of Chicago, Cochrane Woods Arts Center, Rm 157

MUSIC: Rock/Pop
Editors
@ Vic Theatre

 
 
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Ongoing
 
 

  FILM: Documentary
Still Bill
when: Friday Feb 12 (7 & 9pm) More times»
where: Facets Cinémathèque (1517 W Fullerton Ave, 773.281.4114) map
price: $9
  After a string of soul classics such as "Grandma's Hands" and "Ain't No Sunshine," Bill Withers went a bit Salinger in 1985. Still Bill fills in some of that 25-year gap since his self-removal from public life. The new songs and studio/home footage are interesting from an archival, documentary perspective; and his recollection of childhood as an asthmatic, stutter-stricken outsider is affecting, but it's the portrait of the artist as an old man — at peace, yet still restlessly creative; private, yet engaged — that lingers in your mind. Like the 1972 smooth-soul masterpiece from which it takes its name, Still Bill welcomes its audience with a warmth and intimacy that belies its careful craftsmanship. - Stephen Gossett

 

 
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About Us
 
 
   
   

Cultural Partner






 

Editors

MANAGING EDITOR
Stephen Gossett

DEPUTY EDITOR
Karsten Lund

PUBLISHERS
Sascha Lewis
Mark Mangan

SENIOR EDITORS
Doug Levy
Leah Taylor

 

Flavorpill Chicago

All events featured on Flavorpill CHI are pure editorial — we never accept paid promotions or advertisements. If you know about an upcoming event that you think should be covered in Flavorpill CHI, email us a press release at chi_events at least two weeks prior to the event and we'll consider it.

To learn more about our staff and policies, see the credits and about us pages. If you'd like to respond to our editors about a listing published here, or have a general inquiry, please email chi_feedback.

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Flavorpill publishes weekly event guides in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and London; the Flavorpill Daily Dose, covering Art, Books, News, Music, and Film; and the Flavorwire, a blog featuring daily news and cultural commentary.


 
 
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