Seize the new year with this week’s roundup of art, activities, film, and more:

Dan Weiner. New Year’s Eve, Times Square. 1951. Gelatin silver print, 9 1/4 x 13 3/16″ (23.5 x 33.5 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Sandra Weiner. © 2014 Estate of Dan Weiner, courtesy of Sandra Weiner

As we ring in the new year, we’d like to wish you a very happy and healthy 2015 and thank you for being a part of MoMA.

Pompeii. 2014. Canada/Germany/USA. Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. Image courtesy of Sony Pictures/Photofest

Paul W. S. Anderson’s Pompeii is the very model of the kind of movie usually dismissed from contention during awards season. It’s a genre piece, pure and simple, directed with great skill and efficiency but innocent of any desire to impress Oscar voters with flashy performances or profound moral lessons.

As you get ready for 2015 and think about resolutions for the new year, get a head start on adding more art (and inspiration) to your life with this week’s programs.

Installation view of Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs at The Museum of Modern Art, New York (October 12, 2014-February 10, 2015). Photo: Jonathan Muzikar. © 2014 The Museum of Modern Art. Shown (from left): Black Leaf on Green Background. 1952. Gouache on paper, cut and pasted. The Menil Collection, Houston; Nuit de Noël. 1952. Maquette for stained-glass window. Gouache on paper, cut and pasted, mounted on board. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Time Inc.; Black Leaf on Red Background. 1952. Gouache on paper, cut and pasted. Private collection; Nuit de Noël. 1952. Stained glass. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Time Inc.; All works by Henri Matisse. © 2014 Succession H. Matisse/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

In 1952 Henri Matisse was commissioned to make a stained-glass window for the Time Life Company.
The window, titled Nuit de Noël, was exhibited at Rockefeller Center during the holiday season, and on December 4, 1952, Matisse wrote to MoMA’s founding director Alfred H. Barr:

Create a new holiday tradition and plan a visit to MoMA. (Hint: we’re just three blocks away from the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, and steps from Fifth Avenue’s department store holiday window displays.) Please make a note of special holiday hours beginning this week

Five for Friday, written by a variety of MoMA staff members, is our attempt to spotlight some of the compelling, charming, and downright curious works in the Museum’s rich collection.

A few years ago a series of studies suggested that, despite all evidence to the contrary, coffee might inhibit creativity. Upon learning of this, my initial reaction was something along the lines of, “Why don’t you take your science and cram it, Einstein.”

I’m one of those people that carries a notebook everywhere so I can be sure to record what mostly turns out to be a lot of useless information, for example rock concert set lists—though not religiously, just when I feel like it. Recently I tried using the notes app on my phone, but it’s just not the same.

Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg. The Synthetic Kingdom, a proposal for a new branch of the tree of life to accommodate our “new nature.” From the project The Synthetic Kingdom: A Natural History of the Synthetic Future. 2009. Image courtesy of the designer

What happens when biology—specifically, the core materials and processes that underpin the life cycle of all living beings—birth, existence, disease, and death—becomes synthetically replicable by humans and, consequently, a building block for design?

Books are a staple of the gift-giving season, and for good reason. Whether you’re looking for a elegant tome for a colleague, a playful yet smart book kids will love as much as parents, or a classic edition for an art connoisseur, you’ll find a book to suit every taste from MoMA’s award-winning publications. Here are our picks in some of the most popular categories: