We know, the beginning of the work week sucks. But if you take a quick look at the calendar, you'll see we're off to a pretty good week of art events, sports games, dance parties, and more. Here are our must-see events from now to the weekend...
Tuesday, November 6: Lunch Time Theater: ...and the chihuahua @ Herberger Theater Center The presidential candidates will tell you that it's tough out there for women. Between holding down a job (to pay for her child), needing to take time off (to cater to her child), and leaving work early (to make dinner for her child), there seems little time available for a woman (a code word for mother) to have for herself.
Well, astoundingly, some women will never procreate. Instead, they choose an alternative path that could lead to a more introspective sort of life. And, sometimes, that leads to the brink of insanity. Or, if you're lucky, self-actualization. In ...and the Chihuahua, an unlikely meeting in unsavory circumstances finds a high-powered Jewish business woman and a free spirited ex-Rockette on a journey to find themselves, but mostly to find their way back home with the help of a laptop and a stray Chihuahua. Tickets are $6. -- Christina Caldwell
Wednesday, November 7: "West of Center: Art and The Counterculture Experiment in America, 1965-1977" @ Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art The art of the West often gets pegged as a celebration of cowboys and cow skulls, but Colorado curators Elissa Aurther and Adam Lerner are on a mission to bring to light another major movement and aesthetic founded this side of the Mississippi.
The countercultural movement thrived during the 1960s and '70s through the work of artists who strayed from stereogypes. In video, drawing, photography, installation, and ephemera, these artists created what is now widely known as psychedelic art (though Aurther and Lerner would argue the work spans a much wider range), which continues to influence contemporary art and culture. Price: $7 for adults, $5 for students, free for members and those 15 and under, and free on Thursdays. -- Claire Lawton
Wednesday, November 7: LayLow @ Barsmith Mark "Ellery" Leach has set a rather ambitious goal for his newest DJ weekly LayLow. He wants it to destroy people's perceptions of typical club nights, starting with what's coming out of the mixers.
While the night celebrates bass music, he says, don't expect to hear the usual crush of that overplayed Knife Party track (read: "Internet Friends") or Borgore remixes broadcast over the sound system up on the rooftop at Bar Smith, 130 East Washington, every Wednesday. Nope. Leach and his LayLow collaborators Anthony "HartBreaks" Hart and Issa will eschew the "same old sounds" and instead dole out next-level shizzle like future bass or more ambient dubplates, while visual artists from different mediums work their magic during the Hump Night event. All three are infamous early adopters of new genres and sounds (Case in point: Issa was one of the first to lay down dubstep in Phoenix) and promise to take their patrons' ears on a weekly trip into parts unknown.
"Lay Low [is] an adventure," Leach says, "set in an atmosphere where culture and style live on the forefront of music and art." Word. Price: Admission is free before 10:30 p.m -- Benjamin Leatherman
Thursday, November 8: "Changing Landscapes: A Closer Look at Baby Canyon Pueblo" @ Deer Valley Rock Art Center Reading the bevy of freak-out tweets about cranes dangling, power outages, and blown-off building facades during hashtag Sandy brought us to a simple conclusion: Let's get the eff out of cities and go all Christopher McCandless (minus that whole dying in a bus in Alaska thing). Since our mom would never allow such a thing (to this day, we fear dying our hair for her wrath), the next best option is heading to Deer Valley Rock Art Center for a dose of remoteness and to scope out "Changing Landscapes: A Closer Look at Baby Canyon Pueblo."
In the exhibit, panoramic photos reveal the canyon, located in the Agua Fria National Monument, and research explains the ways that its prehistoric dwellers adapted to the desert landscape and fed themselves year-round. Admission is $7. -- Becky Bartkowski
Friday, November 9: A Bitch in Time @ Space 55 In the scope of human history, women's rights are a fairly new thing. Seeing women as equals? Well, that's even newer. History favors men. But that's okay, because history is in the past. Now it's time for women to mold how they'll be seen in the future. It's less, "Anything you can do I can do better." And it's more along the lines of, "Anything you can do I can do as well, so give me a chance."
Politicians have been mimicking the same sentiment all election season, so go to a show that proves it. Now is the time for a lady renaissance of sorts, and Space 55 invites the Valley's female artists to host a night of their own. A Bitch in Time brings together female artists, performers, musicians, and actors, including Molly McCloy, occasional New Times contributor Deborah Sussman, Sally Jo Bannow, Michelle Burchfield, Harmony DeLeon, Michelle Kable, and Elizabeth Athetis for a night of thought provoking art in a simple space that lets it shine. Tickets are $10 -- Christina Caldwell
Check out more things to do today (and everyday) in our Calendar section ...
