Top 10 Melbourne Culture On this week 19/01/2020
This week will really make you laugh. People who think that elucidating a problem will provoke a lasting change in mass consciousness are hilarious.
10) House | Museum #3 Conversation Series
22nd January
What: The ‘house museum’, even if historically defined, still proves a fundamentally contemporary and elusive subject. Uniting theorists, curators, architects, and historians from around the globe in one-on-one conversations, the House | Museum Conversation Series at the Lyon Housemuseum Galleries aims to clear intellectual space for ranging discussion on the House, the Museum, and the House Museum. By simultaneously traversing these cultural and typological junctions, openings for (re)thinking origins, developments, preoccupations, perversions, failures, futures, and other House Museum things may appear.
Why: And here we thought the higher echelons of the academic community might be reaching a cyclical endpoint when it comes to philosophising about obscure aspects of contemporary art-architecture. We of little faith. How wrong we were. In bullshi**ery we trust.
9) Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst: Inhuman Intelligence
20th January
What: Artists Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst will discuss their recent work with artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, with specific reference to “Spawn”, their “A.I baby”, which listens, learns, speaks and sings on Herndon’s recent album Proto. This talk will consider the implications of what Herndon has called ‘inhuman intelligence’ for not only for the future of music, but cultural production, consumption and circulation generally. The presentation will be followed by a conversation with Sean Dockray, a Melbourne-based artist, writer, and programmer whose work explores the politics of technology, artificial intelligence and the algorithmic web.
Why: An exploration of the intersection of art and AI which will inspire endless fantasies about the apocalyptic future in which everyone’s too busy bargaining their limbs for water to wax lyrical about the algorithmic web behind a soundtrack that sounds like a two year old playing a sampling keyboard.
8) ‘Why Not Now?’ Encore Screening
24th January
What: Alan Watts was one of the first to interpret Eastern wisdom for a Western audience and had a rare gift for simplifying complex philosophical subjects to make them accessible. ‘Why Not Now’ follows Watt’s remarkable life and weaves a fascinating story through the wealth of material and lectures that were left behind after his passing.
Why: The guy responsible for the comically superior attitude of your most gassy hipster acquaintance has a movie about himself.
7) Daniel Tosh: Tosh.0 Live
24th January
What: Tosh.0 is a long-running top rating favourite on the Comedy Channel. Daniel Tosh is not afraid to push the envelope with humour that is anything but politically correct, and he isn’t afraid of self-deprecating punchlines. Any topic is fair game at a Daniel Tosh show.
Why: You will not not understand any of his jokes. They’ll fly straight into your head. They couldn’t fly over the head of an inbred pug.
https://on.com.au/search/events/Daniel-Tosh:-Tosh.0-Live/40b12bc0-949d-11e9-b14f-a713526e5192
6) Human Flow (Screening)
22nd January
What: Over 65 million people around the world have been forced from their homes to escape famine, climate change and war in the greatest human displacement since World War II. Human Flow, an epic film journey led by the internationally renowned artist Ai Weiwei, gives a powerful visual expression to this massive human migration. The documentary elucidates both the staggering scale of the refugee crisis and its profoundly personal human impact. Captured over the course of an eventful year in 23 countries, the film follows a chain of urgent human stories that stretches across the globe.
Why: For a film exploring such delicate subject matter, they could have tried to come up with a title that sounds less like it’s going to explore the repercussions of explosive diarrhoea. Though we will admit that was the initial draw for us.
https://on.com.au/search/events/Human-Flow-(Screening)/6bbf3950-38bd-11ea-96b7-b132cf2a7536
5) Steve Hofstetter (Live)
19th January
What: One of YouTube’s most popular comics with over 100 million views, Steve Hofstetter is also the host of Finding Babe Ruth on FS1. Hofstetter was the host and executive producer of season one of Laughs (FOX) and he has been on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and E! True Hollywood Story, Comics Unleashed, Comedy All-Stars, Quite Frankly, White Boyz in the Hood, Countdown, and more. Now is your chance to find out what the fuss is about during this no-holds-barred stand-up performance, featuring some of his unfiltered observations about life.
Why: We promise you, the connotations of “one of YouTube’s most popular” are almost always negated by the word “comics”. Almost always.
https://on.com.au/search/events/Steve-Hofstetter-(Live)/2d4a2630-38bd-11ea-96b7-b132cf2a7536
4) The Boy I Paid For
20th-25th January
What: Socially awkward Keith (Jake Matricardi) hires beautiful escort Beau (Jonny Kinnear) for an evening of companionship one Christmas Eve. While Keith has no idea what to expect, Beau is treating this like just another job, but he has never had a client quite like Keith before. As the night goes on, both men realise they have to confront their own truths…and need one another to do it in this original play that examines the ramifications of our obsession with youth and beauty.
Why: A contemporary play whose concept is so complex and emotionally affecting that it’ll have you despising yourself for getting bored twenty minutes into its hour-long run. Yes. It’s still contemporary theatre.
https://on.com.au/search/search?parentId=aa9e7660-38b1-11ea-96b7-b132cf2a7536
3) Gareth Reynolds (Live)
22nd January
What: Gareth Reynolds, Arrested Development writer and one-half of the smash-hit podcast The Dollop, is making his solo stand-up debut in Australia this January with his brilliantly clever quips. Originally hailing from the sweet streets of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Gareth moved to Los Angeles and starred in NBC’s The Real Wedding Crashers, which was as creatively stimulating as it was successful. Through that show he began producing and writing his own material, eventually making shows at Comedy Central, the Travel Channel, and MTV. He also has a cat named Jose.
Why: He has a guaranteed audience already. It’s almost as though it doesn’t matter if his stand-up can stand alone.
https://on.com.au/search/events/Gareth-Reynolds-(Live)/850cd800-38bc-11ea-96b7-b132cf2a7536
2) Poirot and More: A Retrospective
25th January
What: Join a conversation with the man, the actor and his many roles in an unmistakably unique event. A retrospective look at David’s career will have you witness some of his most beloved performances in a new and intimate light. For over 25 years he captivated millions worldwide as Agatha Christie’s elegant Belgian detective. Beyond Poirot, this Emmy and Olivier award-winning actor has been celebrated for his portrayal of iconic roles such as Lady Bracknell, Cardinal Benelli and Freud. David has also graced the world’s stages bringing literary greats to life, including Shakespeare, Wilde and Albee. Meet the actor behind the detective and the many faces he’s portrayed on stage and screen over a career spanning five decades. Discover why David Suchet is renowned for not only becoming the role but also taking on the personalities of some of television, film and theatre’s most fascinating characters.
Why: Give profound thanks to the man who best brought to life one of the few brilliant detectives that has not, as of yet, appeared in a shrill 12-year-old’s erotic fan art.
1) Midsumma Festival
19th January-9th February
What: Midsumma Festival is Australia’s premier queer arts and cultural festival, bringing together a diverse mix of LGBTQIA+ artists, performers, communities and audiences. The festival program is made up of diverse art forms and genres, including visual arts, live music, theatre, spoken word, cabaret, film, parties, sport, social events, and public forums. Featuring over 194 events in 2020, with involvement by over 5000 culture-makers in over 100 different venues across Melbourne and wider Victoria to anticipated audiences of over 284,000.
Why: A far superior way to say “F**k ScoMo”.
https://on.com.au/search/search?parentId=6b9d4cc0-37e9-11ea-bd3a-87e544f47372
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