rufus wainwright

RSVIP: Party Paradise at Robert Wilson's Watermill Center

Filed under: Events, Art

With a blonde upsweep, Sharon Stone appeared angelic in a backless white gown with thin black spaghetti straps during the 17th Annual Summer Benefit for Watermill Center on July 24. Stone then busted a few oddly spastic moves. "I think a bug just flew up my dress," she offered at the mike. "What an awkward moment . . . for the bug." Shades of "Basic Instinct."

Watermill Center, an endless rectangular modernist structure, began as a 30,000-square-foot Western Union research facility on a former outpost of the Shinnecock Indian Nation. Robert Wilson, considered a key figure in experimental theater, spearheaded the summer art colony and museum on the East End of New York's Long Island. He is best known for his 1976 piece "Einstein on the Beach," with music by Philip Glass.

In summer, Wilson and the Watermill Center host artists from around the globe who join the kibbutz-like arts community, where artists not only create, but also wash plates and prune trees.

During cocktails, tiki torches lit a path to dancers that decorated a maze of outdoor art installations in the woods. Created by 70 artists from 12 nations, including Kuwait, Russia, and Thailand, the vignettes interpreted the evening's ethereal "Paradiso" theme.

Tags: alec baldwin, jay mcinerney, rsvip, rufus wainwright, sharon stone, watermill center