Lady Gaga held her artRave event in Brooklyn on Sunday night, where she flew in the first-ever flying dress called VOLANTIS, shared her new ARTPOP app, unveiled the giant sculpture of her by Jeff Koons from her album cover, performed around four other new, unseen sculptures made by Koons, displayed videos and installations by Marina Abramovic, Robert Wilson, Benjamin Rollins Caldwell, and Inez and Vinoodh, and performed many of the songs on her new album (which was livestreamed on VEVO). The event was obviously a multi-part spectacle that went until 3 a.m., causing people to wonder what it was really all about.
For anyone who's followed Gaga musically or visually, or just seen what she does from afar, it makes sense that she would go big the night before her album release. She used her power and influence to do the unthinkable—get a bunch of New Yorkers in a room dancing around multi-million dollar Jeff Koons sculptures, arresting Inez and Vinoodh images, shocking Robert Wilson video portraits, an unexpected Marina Abramovic method training video, and a Benjamin Rollins Caldwell Binary Installation. DJ White Shadow and Madeon spinned, she performed, and drinks flowed. Between the dress, the red carpet, and the eventual performance, it was a sight to behold, whether or not you could physically be there.
We came up with 10 Things No One Told You About Lady Gaga's artRave to give you a taste of what you didn't see on the VEVO livestream, Instagram, or perhaps our Twitter feed.
1. This is not the last time Lady Gaga will use the flying dress, VOLANTIS.
Made by Gaga's TechHaus, with a group of specialist companies in San Diego, VOLANTIS has a carbon fiber moulded casket designed to mimic a fitted couture dress. It was designed to have six booms in a hex formation with 50 volts of batteries. During the press conference, she said that "it's not the last time" people will see it in use, and that the TechHaus is continually working to make it fly better.
2. Tony Bennett was the first person to walk the red carpet.
He later tweeted about meeting Benjamin R. Cadwell (with a picture of the two of them), the designer of Gaga's intricate "Binary Chair" and "Binary Room" installation at artRave.
3. Marina Abramovic also showed up on the red carpet, but before she took photos with Jeff Koons and Lady Gaga, she posed with Chief Curator at Large of The Museum of Modern Art, Klaus Biesenbach.
4. One of the four previously unseen Jeff Koons sculptures at artRave had engraved Italian text translating to "Ode to Love."
This follows in the theme of his (and Gaga's) obsession with Venus, the goddess of love, and perhaps references his 1988 piece, Amore.
5. Gaga showed video portraits of her crying and hanging naked in rope bondage, which were made by director and artist Robert Wilson.
The screens alternated to show a film of Gaga doing intensive training in the Abramovic Method, as well.
6. More people took photos of (and with) Lady Gaga's butt than anything else.
Once the press left and the fans started pouring in, more people were taking selfies at the back of the sculpture than the front...just saying.
7. During her performance, she dedicated the song "Gypsy" off of ARTPOP to Jeff Koons and thanked him for legitimizing her to her fans.
She also began her performance by singing "Aura" next to the sculpture Jeff Koons made of her for the ARTPOP album cover, instead of on stage.
8. Gaga also displayed dresses designed by TechHaus-Studio XO in an exhibition-like setting that she originally wore at the iTunes festival in London, including this "Anemone" dress that has custom built bubble machines.
The dress in the background is the "Cipher" dress, which, inspired by early 20th German architecture and the Bauhaus movement, has animated black mirrors that can animate any sequence using a state-of-the-art servo motor.
9. She opened corresponding three-day ARTPOP gallery pop ups in New York and Los Angeles the next morning.
The New York location is at 417 W 14th, and the Los Angeles is at 1538 N Cahuenga.
10. The gallery pop up in New York has a previously unseen image of Jeff Koons photographing Gaga nude as a reference for the eventual ARTPOP sculpture.
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