Abstract Gambling on the Ice Palace Lawn
No, it’s not the title of a new novel by Gary Shteyngart. It’s a very special event taking place tomorrow and Friday (from 11am to 7pm) in the midst of the New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) Art Fair in Miami. Inside that tent on the lawn of the Ice Palace, you’ll find artist, performer, and croupier Michael Portnoy leading groups of four players through “ritualistic” dice games around a table topped with ultramarine felt. The game, played for money, is TALUS. Yahtzee this is not. Portnoy describes the rules of TALUS as “vertiginous” and “existing on the border of comprehensibility.” All we can tell you is that the game involves chance, faux-chance, muscle, riddle, character, micro-choreography, composition, and terror. Oh, and did we mention the engraved sheep anklebones? Deal us in! Curated by Liutaurus Psibilskis and presented by Future Audience, this event is part of the INTERCLUB performance and screening series.
And if you’re a sucker for abstract gambling and micro-choreography, you won’t want to miss (Title Bound in Customs), the film Portnoy created with Marianne Vitale. It premieres Saturday night at Miami Beach Cinematheque, and the creators describe it thusly: “Starring Chethwith Murosian, Jable Thrane, D-list playbunnies with live bologna sandwiches and Taiko drum accompaniment.” Probably best appreciated with a vertiginous beverage–or three.
