Photos By Gail

The coolest thing about living close to the NYC contemporary art scene is that you just never know what kind of unique event will pop up on your agenda. Last evening, literary journal The American Reader and the Robert Miller Gallery hosted a presentation of Robert Coover’s short story The Goldilocks Variations, which was read between musical selections from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations. It was as interesting as you can imagine.

Coover’s reimagined narrative expands on the most potentially menacing aspect of the Goldilocks and The Three Bears legend. While in most versions of the story, Goldilocks escapes to freedom once discovered by The Three Bears, Coover’s narrative focuses keenly on the creative ways in which The Bears delight in physically torturing their delicate prey prior to devouring her – perhaps a bit grim(m), but highly engaging nevertheless! Bach’s gorgeous music (originally intended for the harpsichord) was performed on Yayoi Kusama’s 1971 Painted Player Piano and Piano Bench, painted bright red and emblazoned with hearts and Kusama’s ubiquitous polka-dotted motif. Art!