Park Avenue Armory Announces 2013 Artistic Programming

Park Avenue Armory announced today its 2013 season, a series of commissions, co-commissions and presentations that blur the distinctions between genres and break new ground for artists and audiences alike within the unconventional presentation platforms of the Armory's soaring Wade Thompson Drill Hall and jewel-like historic rooms. Dedicated to giving artists the freedom to push the envelope with their work and to providing exceptional, thought-provoking, and immersive experiences for audiences, Park Avenue Armory catalyzes a new kind of work that extends far beyond what can be achieved in traditional theaters, concert halls, and museum galleries.

The Armory's 2013 season will include WS, a monumental installation by Paul McCarthy; an enveloping sonic experience featuring Karlheinz Stockhausen's electronic masterpiece OKTOPHONIE in a lunar environment created by Rirkrit Tiravanija; The Machine, a play by one of Britain's fastest rising young

1playwrights, Matt Charman, that chronicles Garry Kasparov's 1997 chess game against IBM's Deep Blue super-computer, a contest that set man against machine; a new kind of imaginative experience conceived by Adam Curtis and Robert Del Naja mixing music, film, politics, and moments of illusion, performed by Massive Attack and special guests; and Robert Wilson's powerful new staging of The Life and Death of Marina Abramovi?.

The season will also feature the debut of a recital series staged in the Armory's exquisite Board of Officers period room, allowing audiences a rare and intimate opportunity to hear chamber music the way it was originally meant to be experienced. Scheduled to appear are baritone Christian Gerhaher, violinist Vilde Frang, and pianist Anton Batagov. The Board of Officers Room is currently being restored as a state of the art salon for music and performance and will be completed in September 2013 for the inauguration of the recital series. The architects are Herzog & de Meuron with Platt Byard Dovell and White as the executive architects.

2013 will also see the continuation of the Armory's Under Construction series-intimate evenings of works in progress presented by artists in residence in the Armory's jewel-like period rooms.

Citi is the Armory's 2013 season sponsor.

With its soaring 55,000-square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall and array of dramatic period rooms, the Armory provides a robust and dynamic platform for artists to create and audiences to experience groundbreaking immersive works in all genres that cannot be realized elsewhere in New York City. Recent critically acclaimed presentations include the final performances of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company; Philharmonic 360 with Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic, in which the orchestra surrounded the audience for a concert of spatial music; and Ann Hamilton's participatory installation, the event of a thread, an Armory commission.

"The Armory inspires epic and immersive experiences that can be had nowhere else in the City. In 2013, the drill hall programming will focus on site-specific commissions and interdisciplinary collaborations, encouraging major artists from a range of backgrounds to push beyond their normal practices. The work will blur the line between high art and popular culture, ask tough questions about the world in which we live, and change the way audience members experience art," stated Rebecca Robertson, President and Executive Producer of Park Avenue Armory. "To complement the monumental productions in the drill hall, the Armory will offer a program of more intimate experiences in its splendid period rooms including recitals by major soloists and works in progress by artists in the creative phases of their work."

"This awesome New York landmark inspires artists to create questioning, exquisite and challenging works of art, offering new dialogues between artists and audiences," said Alex Poots, the Armory's Artistic Director. "It is a privilege to work with these artists as they dedicate themselves to creating new and specially conceived works of art for the Armory."

"Park Avenue Armory has built one of the most exciting and innovative cultural institutions in New York City, and we are delighted to continue our premier corporate sponsorship of the extraordinary 2013 season," said Peter Charrington, CEO of Citi Private Bank, North America. "The building itself is a National Treasure, and the artistic programs are bold, imaginative and cutting edge. We look forward to many wonderful and thought-provoking events here."

OKTOPHONIE By Karlheinz Stockhausen Environment designed by Rirkrit Tiravanija New York Premiere Wednesday, March 20 at 8:00 p.m. Friday, March 22 at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, March 23 at 8:00 p.m. Sunday, March 24 at 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 26 at 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 27 at 8:00 p.m.

Part of Stockhausen's magnum opus "Licht" (or "Light"), OKTOPHONIE is a trailblazing electronic music experience where the audience is surrounded by eight groups of loudspeakers, enveloping them in a sonic environment. OKTOPHONIE, which will be performed by one of his original collaborators Kathinka Pasveer, exemplifies Stockhausen's work as a compositional pioneer who grappled with spatial music as he bent the rules and redefined the listening experience.

Staging the work as the composer originally intended-in outer space-Rirkrit Tiravanija has been commissioned by the Armory to create a ritualized lunar experience, a floating seating installation within the Armory's soaring drill hall that heightens the listeners' octophonic experience and transports them to another realm. The audience will Don White robes for the journey, carried along by the all-encompassing score, itself a meditation on the transformation from plunging darkness into blinding light.

This production is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

WS An Installation by Paul McCarthy Co-curated by Alex Poots and Hans-Ulrich Obrist in association with Tom Eccles June 19-August 4, 2013

The Armory's fifth major visual arts presentation will be the influential and provocative artist Paul McCarthy's largest installation in the U.S. to date. Drawing inspiration from Grimm Brothers' fairytales and centuries-old mythologies of the forest, WS will provide an immersive experience that weaves together a vast fantastical forest with towering trees, two off-scale and altered suburban ranch-style houses, and a video installation layering film and sound. The Armory presentation builds upon McCarthy's ongoing exploration of American myths and icons.

This installation is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the NYC Council.

THE MACHINE A play by Matt Charman U.S. Premiere Commissioned by Park Avenue Armory Wednesday, September 4 at 7:00 p.m. (Preview) Thursday, September 5 at 7:00 p.m. (Preview) Friday, September 6 at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, September 7 at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Sunday, September 8 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00pm Tuesday, September 10 at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, September 11 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Thursday, September 12 at 7:00 p.m. Friday, September 13 at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, September 14 at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Sunday, September 15 at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 17 at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, September 18 at 2:00 p.m.

In 1997, Garry Kasparov, the world's greatest chess player, arrived in New York City for the biggest match of his life. His opponent wasn't a fellow Grandmaster but a faceless super-computer, Deep Blue, built by tech-giant IBM. The man versus machine match was IBM's bid to raise its profile and its stock price. An international celebrity and the undisputed master of his art, Kasparov came to America for freedom and glory. What he didn't expect to confront was the lifelong dedication of another man, Deep Blue's wunderkind inventor Doctor Hsu. Both geniuses, they staked their reputations on the tournament. What followed was one of the most compelling stories of our time. The production will use the unique scale and epic beauty of the Armory to explore this clash of breathtaking human genius with matchless computer power.

This production is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

A NEW WORK BY ROBERT DEL NAJA AND ADAM CURTIS Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack and Adam Curtis create a new kind of imaginative experience that mixes music, film, politics and breathtaking moments of illusion together in a hallucinatory ride through the dreams and the hidden realities of our strange, anxious age. In collaboration with Felix Barrett, Es Devlin and UnitedVisualArtists. With performances by Massive Attack. U.S. Premiere Commissioned by Park Avenue Armory, Manchester International Festival, and Ruhrtriennale International Festival of the Arts. In partnership with the BBC Saturday, September 28 at 8:00 p.m. Sunday, September 29 at 8:00 p.m. Monday, September 30 at 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 2 at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, October 3 at 8:00 p.m. Friday, October 4 at 8:00 p.m.

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