If you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, simply couldn’t afford a ticket home, or can’t stand Black Friday, here are some fun things to do while everyone else is stuffing their faces and emptying their wallets. We always find solace in the arts, so we compiled a list of happenings around town. From a giant kaleidoscope to aliens on keychains, unlike your health-conscious cousin’s catering, there’s something tasty for everyone.
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The Museum of Feelings
230 Vesey Street; Mon-Sat: 11am-9pm, Sun: 11am-7pm (through December 5); Free admission
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This pop-up museum reacts to emotions and turns them into art. By gathering social media and other real-time data, the museum’s exterior changes color based on what mood New York City is in that day, and indoor installations play upon each visitor’s unique emotional data.
Nova by SOFTlab
North Flatiron Public Plaza at Broadway, 5th Avenue, and 23rd Street; On view through the holidays
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An outdoor art installation across from the Flatiron building whose interior is lined with mirrored panels in crystalline formations creates a giant kaleidoscope perfect for sightseeing and Instagramming.
Pilobolus: Shadowland
NYU Skirball Center, 556 LaGuardia Place; November 27-29 (2:00pm), November 27-28 (8:00pm)
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The innovative dance-theater troupe Pilobolus come to New York with a performance that incorporates shadow puppets and moving screens of different shapes and sizes that serve as canvases for narrative projections.
Complexions Contemporary Ballet
Joyce Theater, 175 8th Ave; November 27 (8:00pm), November 28 (2:00pm and 8:00pm), November 29 (2:00pm, 7:30pm)
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The superhuman dancers of Complexions move to Bach and Metallica, explore romance, control, and honor Maya Angelou in a performance with a punch at the Joyce Theater.
Big Apple Circus: The Grand Tour
Damrosch Park, 62nd Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues; Through January 10
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A circus extravaganza set in the 1920s brings awe and wonder to viewers of all ages. Live music, domestic and rescue animals, clowns, acrobats, and jugglers, and aerialists from all over the world test their mettle to impress and entertain.
Pivot
November 20-27; Flux Factory, 39-31 29th St. Long Island City, NY
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This international group exhibition tackles the processes of consuming and subsuming through multimedia, sculpture, and sound. Projects include a sound installation inspired by how sound passes through water, and sculptures that make the inner workings of the lungs visible to the naked eye.
Mindy Rose Schwartz and David Rappeneau at Queer Thoughts
Friday-Sunday 12-6pm (Through December 13); Queer Thoughts Gallery, 373 Broadway, #C9
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Find aliens on keychains to make you think about belonging and wandering, and a serial tableau of drawings that confirm eternal life beneath a “cosmos of shared signs” at Queer Thoughts gallery, a space that aims to promote “a post-identity agenda within artistic practice.” Read more about the dual exhibition here.
What’d we miss anything? Let us know @CreatorsProject on Twitter, @Creators_Project on Insta, or in the comments below…
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11 Artistic Uses for Your Thanksgiving Leftovers