By David J. Glenn
The area of Long Island City, Astoria, and Sunnyside has long been viewed as an industrial section simply passed through on the way to the Queensborough Bridge.
But a lot has changed. Many manufacturing plants, most notably Swingline, have moved elsewhere, and taking their place, or about to, has been an array of offices and arts venues.
Enter “Art Frenzy.” The Queens Council on the Arts and the Long Island Business Development Corporation have teamed up to offer what they've billed as “an extraordinary weekend of contemporary art, music and performance” beginning Thursday, May 17 and going through Sunday, May 20.
Highlighting the Art Frenzy is the QCA's re-designed “Art Loop Map” (see Pages E10-E11), a guide through the three communities that the QCA says “positions this area of western Queens as an emerging center of art and culture.”
Here's a sampling of what's in store for the weekend:
Every hour from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, the American Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria will offer tours of its permanent exhibit, “Behind the Screen.” The exhibit features artifacts from classic movie sets, a chance for visitors to make their own animated short and to add their own voices to a famous movie scene (the most popular is being the voice of Dorothy saying, “Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.”) Visitors also can see a short film in a kinetoscope, the moving picture machine invented by Thomas Edison in 1892, and they can make a “flip-book” of themselves, using the underlying “retention of image” principle of moving pictures.
As part of “Behind the Scenes,” the luncheonette set from “Seinfeld” is currently on loan to the AMMI. Visitors can see the actual booth where Jerry, George, and Elaine had their protracted conversations about fungus cream or the Soup Nazi.
The tour is normally offered at the AMMI at 2 p.m. daily. Also during the Arts Frenzy weekend, the AMMI's retrospective on director Brian De Palma continues.
The Celtic Art Gallery on Jackson Avenue in Long Island City celebrates Irish art, music, and culture. The Holocenter in Court Square urges visitors to “put one foot into the 22nd century” as they explore three-dimensional holographic arts.
The new Long Island City Arts Project, offering “edgy theater,” presents matinee and evening performances on Friday and Saturday, and two “brunch” performances on Sunday. Some 50 writers, directors, and actors present the shows in the lobby of 29-09 Queens Plaza North at the bridge.
Other participants in Art Frenzy include Kaufman Astoria Studios, Thalia Spanish Theatre, Women's Studio Center, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, the Greek Cultural Center, PS 1 Contemporary Art Center, Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum, Socrates Sculpture Park, 10 galleries, 20 restaurants, and many more.
For more information on Art Frenzy, call 647-3377, or visit www.artfrenzy.net.
Reach Qguide Editor David Glenn by e-mail at glenn@timesledger.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 139.
