Critical 5 art events this week in NYC: under the boardwalk, August 15 - 17

Summer is on the wane, but there are last licks to be had. Get out your pails and shovels.

Artist Sandcastle Competition in Rockaway

Creative Time is hosting the first annual artist sand castle competition at Rockaway Beach on Friday. Its an open call, but the digging, piling, scraping and molding will include the likes of Ricci Albenda, William Lamson, Mary Mattingly, Ryan McNamara, Kenya (Robinson) and Dustin Yellin. They promise snacks and refreshments, and a follow-on beer and burger bash at Rippers on the boardwalk, with tunes by DJ iDEATH. 

OCCULTER at White Box

If you hate the beach, you can get your witch on at the group exhibition at White Box by the Symbolist art and design collective OCCULTER, whose practice centers around art, pagan ingestibles and literary archives: they elevate print fetishism to new heights with bootleg rubber-bound titles by authors like Thoreau, Sontag, Frater Albertus and Philip Dick. The exhibition will include large format digital constructions, mixed-media paintings and site-specific installations. 

Vintage SoHo at Churner and Churner

Churner and Churner treats us to a glimpse of SoHo c. 1978, long before Chanel signed off on it. The screening features two films by Jaime Davidovich, then host of The Live! Show on one of Manhattan's earliest public access channels. The first is a parody of a museum panel discussion with real panelists Gregory Battcock, Monmouth County Museum Director Judith van Baron and the New Museum's Marcia Tucker. The other is a 1982 Davidovich interview with SoHo's "Best Artist," in front of his West Broadway eyesore, the I Am the Best Artist mural. After the screening we can stop by Oh Ho So for drinks.

Curtis Santiago at Fuse

If you are drawn to the sort of cultural anti-matter typified by the Bosson character head, check out Curtis "Talwst" Santiago's reread of their unique brand of kitsch racism at Fuse Gallery on Wednesday. Talwst takes swipes at the mainstream colonialization of hip-hop culture by recladding these ceramic collectibles with jeweled grilles and signature shades.

Jean-Michel Othoniel at The Brooklyn Museum

Fans of Grimm will appreciate the fairy-tale inflection of Jean-Michel Othoniel's intoxicating glass sculptures. In advance of the show, his The Secret Happy End has been parked in the museum's lobby like a caravan encampment on the edge of the wood. The exhibition includes enough heraldic banners, Murano glass, and magnified necklaces to thrill even the most jaded tween. If you believe in embellishment, clap your hands. Then go to Brooklyn.