Moreintelligentlife.com is the website of Intelligent Life magazine. Articles about Arts, Lifestyle, Travels, and Ideas

THIS WEEK: A SELECTIVE GUIDE

Fairs, frugal art and a funny memoirist | June 9th 2008

"Girl With Fruits" by Alexander Sokht, Le Siants Galerie

Special to MORE INTELLIGENT LIFE

Our guide to what's on around the world, compiled by Jessica Gallucci and Ariel Ramchandani

ZARAGOZA TAKES THE PLUNGE

World fairs are epic events--festivals of architecture and entertainment that also highlight matters of global importance. They date back to 1851 and are responsible for landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and Crystal Palace. This year the baton is handed to Spain. Expo Zaragoza is a 93-day spectacular on the theme of water and sustainable development. The projected 6m visitors will arrive via a bridge designed by Zaha Hadid, at a site offering innovative design, endless activities, and entertainment from 3,400 acts. The street performers regaling the crowds will have a big name: Cirque du Soleil. With white-water rafting, sailing, an aquarium, and Bob Dylan turning up to play "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall"--Expo's unlikely theme song--visitors are not going to be at a loose end. But it's not just one big theme park. Expo is also a forum for understanding and debate, so join scientists, artists and politicians and have your say. ~ Lucy Farmer (Intelligent Life, Summer 2008)

Expo Zaragoza, through September 14th, Zaragoza

ART FOR THOUSANDAIRES

At Art Basel last week, the Russian multibillionaire Roman Abramovich spent $14m on one willowy Alberto Giacometti sculpture. Blum & Poe gallery offloaded Takashi Murakami's eight-tonne 'Oval Buddha' for $8m. But many American collectors and gallerists stayed home (and of the small, intrepid crowd at vernissage, the Wall Street Journal caught several swallowing anti-anxiety pills). Given the cost of air travel and the sad state of the dollar, Americans might do well to consider New York's Affordable Art Fair. There, over 70 galleries from around the world present works priced from $100 to $10,000. Expect to find some hidden treasures among the art-to-match-your-sofa offerings, including Tim Hall's vast seascapes at Durlacher Fine Art, and Alexander Sokht's striking 'Girl With Fruits' (pictured) at Le Siants Galerie. Die-hard spendthrifts can print vouchers redeemable for $5 off admission. ~ J.G.

AFFORDABLE ART FAIR, June 12th-15th, New York

THE AIR UP THERE

According to Hilary Benn, Britain's environment secretary, forests and trees hold 80% of the remaining land-based wildlife. Now, at the Festival of Trees at Kew Gardens in London, visitors have a chance to see some of that flora and fauna in a new way. The festival features two complimenting viewpoints of arboreal life: the Rhizotron, which takes visitors through a crack in the earth, allowing for a close look at root systems and life below the soil (rhiza is Greek for root) and the Xstrata Treetop Walkway. Designed by Marks Barfield Architects, the makers of the London Eye, the steel structure is 18 metres high, 200 metres long and offers un-paralleled views of the park and of London. The walkway had to be built in a way that protected the trees, some of which are more than 200 years old. It also has roots of its own: the support runs as deep as the structure is high. Alex Metcalf's "Tree Listening Installation" lets visitors experience noises as wonderful and slight as the popping sound created by water as it moves up through tree trunks. ~ A.R.

FESTIVAL OF TREES, through September 28th, Kew Gardens, London

SOMETHING ELSE TO DANCE ABOUT IN DC

Dance-lovers in America's capital city will be tempted to make a marathon of it: the Kennedy Centre is to host nine of the country's top ballet companies over six days of performances, with a nightly programme of three works from different companies. The choreography is contemporary--and accessible even to children and uninitiated adults. Highlights include Houston Ballet's bold, dynamic 'Velocity' (on June 10th and 11th); 'Nine Sinatra Songs', choreographed by Twyla Tharp and performed by the Washington Ballet (on June 12th and 14th); and 'Brake The Eyes', a new work by Boston Ballet's choreographer-in-residence, Jorma Elo (on June 13th and 15th). ~ J.G.

BALLET ACROSS AMERICA, June 10th-15th, Kennedy Centre, Washington, DC

EXAGGERATING FOR THE SAKE OF THE STORY

It's a tricky business, memoir writing. Hubristic, dull, self-indulgent and often exaggerated (if not full of lies), they tend to be about settling scores and yarn-spinning. But David Sedaris has been writing funny, successful and touching essays for years, embellishing as he sees fit. "I've said a thousand times I exaggerate. Why is it news when somebody else says it?" He says, in response to claims that he has lied. (He includes a note in his latest book that describes his stories as "realish".) Truthful or not he has established a wide fan-base: "Naked", "Me Talk Pretty One Day" and "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim" have 7m copies in print. His latest, "When You are Engulfed in Flames", abandons previous material (such as his childhood in North Carolina) in favour of his relationship with Hugh, his boyfriend, and their life in France. Over the next few weeks he will be reading his "realish" tales on a 30-city tour through America--perfect for all those fans who claim the only thing funnier than reading a David Sedaris essay is listening to one. ~ A.R.

"WHEN YOU ARE ENGULFED IN FLAMES", June 3rd, Little, Brown and Company, USA