Joyride Wednesdays; "Sacred Matter"; Michael Chabon Reads; John Fahey Sings; The Trials of Henry Kissinger Screens; Nick Tosches Reads; Greenies Ralph Nader/Stanley Aronowitz Talk
"Sacred Matter," Karen Dolmanisth and Deborah Masters' seamlessly matched installations, crowd Smack Mellon Studios' open warehouse-y space with a plethora of objects created and found, sacred and profane. Dolmanisth works a vision of personal devotion with a heavy American Indian debt, arranging shells, stones, twigs, feathers and other elemental objects in mandalas and magic circles. Masters builds altars of holy cards, votive candles, gorgeous primitivist crucifixes, rosaries, Santeria and voodoo iconography?as well as personal diaries, images of the Mafia, pornography, John Wayne Gacy, the KKK and 9/11?to evoke her own intimations of good and evil. It's a very busy and yet hushed and reverential environment, and it's up through Sun., Oct. 6. 56 Water St. (betw. Main & Dock Sts.), DUMBO, 718-834-8761.
In these uncertain, troubling times, when all one thought one knew is challenged, and tomorrow's no doubt still darker day is faced by young and old alike with only dread for defense, literature cries out for a hero. But when it seems the few writers concerned with "the traditional novel" (it should show you how serious the situation is when that phrase becomes bandied about) have trouble making page counts that hit triple digits unless they're able to draw amply from the sex lives of account executives, the idea of looking for one in an Upper West Side Barnes & Noble sounds as promising as hiring a virgin in Hollywood. That's if you haven't yet been turned on to Michael Chabon, of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Wonder Boys and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, who reads from his latest, Summerland, Weds., Oct. 2, at 7:30. 2289 B'way (82nd St.), 362-8835.
Few figures in contemporary folk/traditional/American acoustic music were as influential or respected as John Fahey?or as frequently misunderstood and neglected. In his long and idiosyncratic career he touched everything from the folk and acoustic blues revivals of the 60s to film soundtracks and experimental musics, always with intelligence, craft and taste. On Thurs., Oct 3, a few of his proteges and friends?Leo Kottke, Cindy Cashdollar and (representing Fahey's influence among the avant) Elliott Sharp?come together in a tribute concert to the late master at the 92nd St. Y, 8 p.m. 1395 92nd St. (Lexington Ave.), 415-5500; $10.
Henry Kissinger: incomparable master of Cold War realpolitik or monstrous war criminal? No question where filmmaker Eugene Jarecki falls on that one. His documentary, The Trials of Henry Kissinger, based on Christopher Hitchens' scathing denunciation of the swaggering former secretary of state, is baldly polemical, sometimes to the point of smugness. But the core argument, that political leaders and their operatives must be held morally and legally accountable for the havoc they wreak around the globe, is awfully timely. If you're an old-school Nixonian who thinks Henry was a great statesman, you'll despise this film as hysterical, bleeding-heart agit-prop. But then, what would you be doing at Film Forum, where it runs Thurs.-Tues., Oct. 3-8? 209 W. Houston St. (betw. 6th Ave. & Varick St.), 727-8110.
You have to separate the wheat from the chaff when assessing Nick Tosches. On the one hand, he's written a few of the all-time great pop culture biographies, including Hellfire, Dino and Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll. On the other, he's put out some really pretentious drek. And, like a lot of writers who make it their business to analyze and eulogize pop gods, he seems to have developed an image of himself as a pop godling in his own right, which we're told can make him a touchy prick to deal with. (All pop critics want to be pop stars; some just want it more badly than others.) Maybe you'll see evidence of both sides of Tosches when he makes a "rare New York appearance" (rare outside the confines of Da Silvano, anyway) to read from and sign copies of In the Hand of Dante, in which he manages to conflate his own legend with that of Dante Alighieri. Ambitious or pretentious? You be the judge. At Housing Works Used Book Cafe, Fri., Oct. 4, at 7 p.m. 126 Crosby St. (betw. Houston & Prince Sts.), 334-3324.
You may be well over hearing Ralph Nader speak about...anything. We love dark horse alterna-candidates as much as the next person, but at this point we think Ralph's kinda talked himself out. However, outside of certain left-intellectual circles, Stanley Aronowitz is much less a household name. And as the Green Party's gubernatorial candidate, he's not only the darkest of dark horse alternatives, but a giant step up from Grandpa Munster. They appear together, under the rubric of "A People's Agenda for New York," Fri., Oct. 4, at the Ethical Culture Society of New York, 7 p.m. 2 W. 64th St. (Central Park W.), 673-1323; $15, $10 adv./st./low income.