About the Other Night: The Alan Gala

The Howard Gilman Opera House transforms for The Alan Gala. Photo: Beowulf Sheehan

Brooklyn, New York—it’s a helluva town!

On Tuesday, April 4th, we celebrated the incomparable legacy of our very own "no-holds-barred, take-it-to-the-limit Chairman” Emeritus, Alan H. Fishman. After nearly 30 years of service on BAM’s Board of Trustees (14 of which he spent as chairman), the Brooklyn-bred Fishman stepped down at the end of 2016–leaving us no choice but to fête him in style.

Alan & Judith Fishman arrive. Photo: Elena Olivo

BAMfans Closing Night Party for Green Porno

BAMfans with The Bosco photo booth. (Photo: Elena Olivo)

Saturday night, as Isabella Rossellini was detailing the myriad ways the animal kingdom “makes love” in her one-woman show Green Porno, the Special Events team was busy preparing the after-party for the show’s closing night. In addition to celebrating the show’s successful run, the party celebrated BAM members in their 20s and 30s at the annual BAMfans party!

More on the night after the jump. And be sure to check out all of The Bosco photos!

NYC Porno

Puppies!

This week, Isabella Rossellini continues her one-woman monologue, Green Porno, about the fascinating and sometimes surprising mating rituals of animals, insects, and sea creatures. Inspired by her enthusiasm and our own love of animals, we at the BAM blog decided to look into the sexual antics of some of our local New York City fauna—critters we encounter (and in some cases, dread) on a regular basis.

Our NYC Porno is more Prospect Park than 1980s Times Square, and 100% safe for work, though you may never look at an adorable little French Bulldog in the same way.

If I were a pigeon...

• If I were a male, I’d bring my mate one stick, laying it in front of her, and she'd accept the stick. We'd repeat this, and build our nest.
• In courtship, I would strut around a prospective mate, and if a female approved, she’d put her beak inside mine.
• I would have no external sex organs, which makes it difficult to tell whether I’m male or female. During sex, I would ejaculate very quickly.

In Context: Green Porno

Green Porno runs at the BAM Fisher through January 25. Context is everything, so get even closer to Isabella Rossellini's kinky beasts and bugs in this curated selection of articles, audio, and video related to the show. For those of you who've already seen it, help us keep the conversation going by telling us what you thought below.

Contact Sheets from the BAM Hamm Archives

Isabella Rossellini, circa 1978

There is something beautiful about holding a contact sheet.

As a practice, the printing of contact or proof sheets began in the 1930s, and they were used as a way for professional photographers to quickly edit a large number of shots, and for amateur and student photographers to study their own work. Many of the photographers working with digital cameras these days (which is to say, most photographers) will instead use Photoshop or Lightroom to make digital contact sheets. But the processes of editing and study have changed in step with technology, and contact sheets as we know them have become a thing of the past.