The Architectural League of New York announces its Beaux Arts Ball 2013 theme: -ism

Hey New Yorkers, it's that time of the year again and it's going to be extra special: The Architectural League of New York's annual Beaux Arts Ball at the 69th Regiment Armory is just around the corner, and this year, the event marks the centennial celebration of the iconic 1913 "Armory Show". The League announced Saturday, September 28, as the ball's date and emerging practices SITU STUDIO and Processional Arts Workshop as this year's featured artists to transform the space for one extravagant night.

Tickets are for sale now, but hurry – this event is hot! (See below for details)

Read on for more information we have received from the Architectural League.

“The International Exhibition of Modern Art,” known as “The Armory Show” because of its venue, introduced European modern art to the United States, shocking the country, shattering perceptions of beauty, and shifting the American cultural landscape. The theme of this yearʼs Ball, “-ism,” references the clashing and competing “-isms” – Cubism, Realism, Futurism, Fauvism – of the 1913 exhibition. In celebration, guests are invited to dress playfully as their favorite “ism.” SITU STUDIOʼs installation of faceted planes; Processional Arts Workshopʼs performance with over thirty puppets inspired by forms found in the original exhibition and created through volunteer workshops; costumes of the guests; original music by composer Nathan Halpern; and a DJ set by artist Jon Santos will coalesce in a highly charged and evocative environment to transform the Lexington Avenue Armory once again in the spirit of the original “Armory Show.”

Since the Leagueʼs revival of the event in 1990, the Beaux Arts Ball has become the premier annual party of the architecture and design community in New York with over 1,000 architects, designers, artists, and their friends attending. The Beaux Arts Ball helps support the programs of The Architectural League.

Beaux Arts Ball 2013: –ism from Architectural League of New York on Vimeo.

Event Details

BEAUX ARTS BALL 2013: -ISM
Saturday, September 28, 2013
9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
69th Regiment Armory
Lexington Avenue at 25th Street
New York City

Environment: SITU STUDIO
Performance Installation: Processional Arts Workshop
Music and Sound Installation: Nathan Halpern (with Mary Lattimore and Chris Ruggiero)
DJ Set: Jon Santos
Beer, wine, and light fare

Tickets are $75 in advance; $100 at the door (space permitting). Tickets and a full list of this yearʼs Benefit Committee are available on the Leagueʼs website or by phone at 212.753.1722 x10.

About the Artists

SITU STUDIO is a Brooklyn-based architectural design practice that engages in experimental work in a variety of media. A core commitment to material investigation as well as research and writing allows for the studio to develop flexible and multifaceted strategies to approach spatial problems. This dual emphasis enables the studioʼs design process to oscillate between the virtual and physical realms at all stages of a projectʼs development. Recently completed projects by the studio include: Heartwalk, a public art installation for Times Square, Hava Nagila: A Song for the People, an exhibition at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, and reOrder, an architectural installation at the Brooklyn Museum.

Processional Arts Workshop (PAW), led by artists Alex Kahn and Sophia Michahelles, creates site-specific performances and Carnivalesque events worldwide. PAWʼs projects engage hundreds of volunteers, at every stage of production, integrating pageant puppetry, mobile architecture, and illuminated structures. Recently, they have designed and directed performances for the PEN World Voices Festival on the High Line, Morningside Lights at Columbia University, Socrates Sculpture Park, and as master puppeteers for New Yorkʼs Village Halloween Parade. Globally they have collaborated with communities in Kiev, Istanbul, rural Italy, Trinidad, and many other locales.

Nathan Halpern is a composer and singer/songwriter from New York City. He has composed the original scores for such films as the Peabody Award-winning/Emmy-nominated Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present (HBO Films) and Robert Redford's Primetime Emmynominated All the President's Men Revisited (Discovery). For this project, he is collaborating with harpist Mary Lattimore and multi-instrumentalist/producer Chris Ruggiero.

Jon Santos is an artist living and working in New York City. He works in video, sound, performance, and sculpture. Recent performances/projects include Telegraph at Storefront for Art and Architecture Gala, The Last Weekend with Peter Coffin, and Social Mirroring at the New Museum. Santos is an adjunct faculty member at Pratt Institute, and the principal of Common Space, a multidisciplinary design studio based in New York.