2023 was fruitful in many regards, post COVID. Businesses are surging, health scares have generally subsided, and remote everything has been replaced with real-time fashion shows, real-time launches, grand openings, notable galas, and artsy exhibits. An exciting year that undoubtedly turned ugly and heartbreaking by October, thanks to a resistance fed up with occupation, and an occupier preparing to “mow Gaza’s lawn” yet again, people were forced to seriously reconsider content and social media shares. Is this insensitive? Is this superficial? How can I help these dying children, suffering interminably for bloodthirsty imperialists?
Fractyll Magazine has certainly spent the last months focusing on a free Palestine, but out of respect for the rare fulfilling-to-the-core moments constituting our lives pre-genocide, and for their ability to render empathy, generosity, and self-sacrifice possible and accessible in the direst times, we bring to you the top 3 overlooked NYC parties of 2023:
I.
Vogue Celebrates New York Fashion Week at The Smart Tox Kickoff Event
Sept 7th: Boom Boom Room~
What can I say? Exclusive as an oyster, Smart Tox‘s kickoff event with Vogue to kickoff New York Fashion Week was the most coveted party of the night. Set atop the city’s infamous Standard Highline, it succeeded shows like Bronx and Banco, Helmut Lang, Prabal Gurung, Sprayground and more. Moet bottles popped celebratorily through the wee hours, complementing the thrilling click-clackers of Getty photographers’ camera shutters: The event epitomized a true fractal of aesthetic flavors.
Sublimely elevated panorama cityscapes, hot pink Barbie-fem power vibes erected sumptuous backdrops for the fashion week elite, which included Christina Aguilera in her Gold metallic Steve Maddens and infamous mural dress, Kevin Porter Jr., Blu De Tiger, Lukas Gage, Madeleine White and many more.
No food as expected, (FW surreptitious attempt to keep attendees focused on fashion, physique, fellatio), what is more nutritious after all than trendsetters + outrageous looks, and the dance moves, music and attitude to match?
II.
Balloon Museum, 99 South Street: Grand Opening party
October 26th: Pier 36, 99 South st.~
The grand opening of this sprawling venue, Balloon Museum, whose multifaceted contemporary installations are beyond IG worthy, had me feeling like a big kid in heel at a giant funhouse! Giant colorful inflatable puppet, bubbles that never die, and an Olympic size onyx ball pit equipped with DJ, drinks and disco, fractal light production—I felt like Tom Hanks in Big. Francesco Belcaro with Made in Italy NYC hosted the opening of the museum which boasts a supremely unique format of other worldly art exhibitions, conceptualized and implemented by “a curatorial team” of 18 renowned artists employing ‘air’ “as a distinctive element.”
Entering the journey of large-scale interactive installations, one is first confronted by the huge 44m+ inflatable Lava Lamp by Michael Shaw. A psychedelic serpent composed of alternating floral hues, it intriguingly wraps itself around the edifice, evoking the curvilinear movement and dynamism of the emblematic 70’s lava lamp. Segueing to the AI Dataportal “OUCHHH”, a tunnel of refractive mirrors and LED screens hypnotizes viewers to consider what we don’t see. Meanwhile, calculative “excel spreadsheets and illegible graphs” diffuse into abstract kaleidoscopic imagery. Metamorphosing NYC ‘data art’, or urbane sensory overload, pollution, and chaotic energy molecules, ubiquitous fractals coerce bystanders to reflect, feel, and dream.
Stumbling upon yet another exquisite surreal dreamy Pop Air encounter, is the Ginjos by Rub Kandy. Smashable rubbery large-scale figures, intended to evoke a newly discovered indigenous Tribe, I willingly threw myself at them, only to be launched into a pit of giggle: childlike revelry.
Speaking of ‘pit’, there is nothing so amusing as a new parent with a toddler, confronting an all onyx-clad adult-sized ball pit, so deep that if you lose a stiletto heel—you lose that heel. Equipped with refractive kinetic lights and synesthetic techno DJ, + open bar, it was adult heaven. Hyperstellar: Hyperstudio it’s called. Infinite pools of black balls are mirrored by endless black balloons in the sky and illuminated fractally by abstractions of “exploding water droplets and sir bubbles” devised by Romain Hill. Intense synchronicity among the distinct elements generates a multi-sensory multimedia effect, catapulting viewers into profound revelation. Size and significance are warped and redefine how we view minutia evolve into totality; “carriers of magnified mystery,” we recognize how the seemingly smallest entities encapsulate universes.
III.
Arlo Williamburg Hotel Grand Opening
September 28th: 96 Wythe ave. ~
Rolling into the ‘unexpected’ at the grand opening for Arlo Williamsburg, we followed the music and activity passing through a charming Lobby Bar alongside intricate Elevator Art. Segueing to the Mirror Bar and Grand Ballroom where the real commotion jived, was Crystal Waters, 70’s dance hit icon, rocking’ out “Destination Calabria”, “Gypsy Woman”, “100% Pure Love”. She was seductively adorned and energized by two sex-bomb dancers. Erected in place of the former Williamsburg Hotel, the event embraced a Mirror Bar also drag show earlier in the evening that I regretfully missed.
The VIP after-party took place later in the sprawling Water Tower Bar, equipped with plush sofas and wondrous views. Hovering high in the east river sky, the skyline gem was a sublime detour from dancing up a sweat to Oktave’s electronic music-curated series, Palosanto, in the ballroom below. DJ’s Rome and Oktave’s exquisite beats thundered eloquently into the am, to a brilliantly fractalized light production.
