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This week: Serious art with serious heart.

Bang on a Can NYC Marathon
Passionate music lovers shouldn’t miss this year’s Bang on a Can Marathon (co-presented by the River to River Festival and Arts World Financial Center). As always, a notable lineup of contemporary avant-garde musicians and composers will perform intense, exciting works by pioneering artists. Highlights will include AlarmWillSound performing the Beatles’ Revolution #9, Karsh Kale and Raj Maddela performing Timeline by Karsh Kale, and a special sunrise performance of the late Karlheinz Stockhausen's Stimmung by Toby Twining Music. A benefit for the organization will be held on May 28.
6pm on Saturday May 31st through 6am on Sunday June 1st
Bang on a Can Marathon
World Financial Center Winter Garden
Cost: FREE! ($20 for the benefit)
http://www.bangonacan.org/events/upcoming

Media That Matters Film Festival
This world premiere will launch a collection of sixteen short film entries covering a variety of topics ranging from hurricane Katrina to gay rights and violence, created by film makers committed to changing the world.
First Screening: Wednesday, May 28, 7-9 PM
IFC Center
323 Sixth Avenue at West 3rd Street
Second Screening: Friday, May 30, 7-9 PM
Tribeca Cinemas
54 Varick Street
Buy Tickets: $10 per ticket

Before It’s Gone: Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want to Believe
This retrospective of the work of internationally celebrated Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang has been called life-changing, but at the very least you won't forget it easily. Inopportune: Stage One, the artist's largest installation to date, features nine cars in various stages of simulated explosion making use of the Guggenheim's central atrium. It joins many other conceptual, sometimes performance-based, always provocative pieces in reflecting global and local cultural meaning with particular impact.
Ends Wednesday May 28
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street
Museum Hours: 10 AM-7:45 PM
Cost: Adults: $18; Students/Seniors: $15; Children under 12: Free
http://guggenheim.org/exhibitions/exhibition_pages/cai.html