Saturday, February 02, 2008

Right on Target

I'd as good as forgotten that the Brooklyn Museum is just a few minutes' walk away, but was happily set right this afternoon. Someone I recognized from church stopped me on my way to the (lean) farmer's market and asked if I was going to the Museum tonight. Turns out everyone goes to the Museum for the First Saturdays, when all the galleries are open until 11pm and all manner of performances take place - all free, courtesy of Target. (I knew that Target was responsible for free Fridays at MoMA. Good on them for remembering Brooklyn!)

It's a wonderful sight, the museum full of people of all kinds - not just urban hipsters and tourists, as at MoMA - and today they offered a free performance by a fantastic modern dance group called Keigwin + Company, two free films, salsa lessons, karaoke, and much else. Very civilized! I remember when Target first arrived in NYC in 2005 with a spectacular if controversial issue of The New Yorker in which they had bought all the advertising, commissioning artists associated with the magazine to design scenes of New York incorporating the Target logo (that's one above). They've proved to have a very good sense of aim!

(Keigwin + Company has put the series of songs they danced tonight on youtube here and here. Each segment starts with a rather slow simple piece, then gets exciting.)