The MP3 might being killing the record store, and video, I’ve heard, killed the radio star, but No Longer Empty (NLE) is taking back Tower Records, with a multimedia installation that includes all the technology that made the former resident obsolete.

Taking advantage of all of the unoccupied commercial real estate that the recession has left in its wake, NLE has been throwing up art exhibitions in closed storefronts for the past six months. So far, exhibitions have appeared in a number of locations, including the Caledonia and a former bait-and-tackle shop next to the Chelsea Hotel. The next exhibition, “Never Can Say Goodbye,” will open in the old Tower Records location on Broadway and East 4th Street this Friday (7–9pm).

Among its many highlights, this exhibition will feature the work of Kaz Oshiro, Ryan Brennan and Meredyth Sparks; performances by Broken Mirrors with John Miller, The Metropolis Ensemble and Disco Monkeys; and a panel including music industry representatives. Like the previous exhibitions, the works in this show are created to respond to either the theme of the financial crisis or to the history of the space. In this case, expect a trip back to the garish yellow and red signage of the old retail giant, musical performances, video and audio galore, and a whole lot of rock & roll–related art! —Emily Bauman

Click here for a full list of events and to purchase tickets to performances.

As we know from the Danish cartoon controversy of 2005 and The New Yorker’s Obama fist-bump cover, editorial illustrations can cause quite a stir. But as with anything that has the power to provoke, cartoons can also be wielded in the name of peace and reconciliation. Such is the aim of the “Cartoons in Conflict” exhibition, popping up tonight in a vacant storefront in Chelsea (6 W 26th St between Fifth Ave and Broadway. 212-593-6400, ext. 1579; nolongerempty.com).

More than 40 international artists are featured the exhibition, which explores the absurdity of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Among the contributors are Pat Oliphant, who has been called “the most influential cartoonist now working” by The New York Times, and Pulitzer Prize–winning Miami Herald editorialist Jim Morin.

Tonight’s free reception runs from 6 to 8pm. At 7pm, attendees can hear remarks from two members of Parents Circle Families Forum (PCFF), a grassroots organization of Israeli and Palestinian families who have lost loved ones in the region’s conflict. Robi Damelin is an Israeli who lost her son to a Palestinian sniper, and Mazan Faraj is a Palestinian who participated in the uprising but joined PCFF after his father was misidentified and shot by an Israeli soldier.

If you can’t make the  opening, you still have time to see the cartoons up close. The show will remain in the space until December 23, and there will be a special interfaith evening on Monday, December 14.

No Longer Empty, a nonprofit artist collective that temporarily takes over abandoned NYC buildings, is founded on the concept of art in strange places. But when you show up at its current exhibition tonight (51 Bergen St between Court and Smith Sts, Brooklyn; nolongerempty.com), don’t be surprised if there’s more action going on in the elevator than in the rest of the building. Starting at around 3pm, Giuseppe Stampone, who has scribbled verses from Dante’s Divine Comedy over the elevator shaft walls, will film an hour-long video of Julia Kent playing her cello while in the elevator. Though audience members cannot cram inside during filming (for obvious reasons), Kent will give a more traditional performance at 7pm on the main floor.

After that, from 8pm to 8:30pm, visitors are invited to take a ride in the elevator, which has been reimagined by Stampone as the boat used to carry souls across the River Styx. Inside “Charon’s Bark,” visitors will be able to listen to recordings of Kent’s music and read the Dante excerpts on the shaft walls as they rise “from Hell, through Purgatory, to Heaven.” Naomi Hersson-Ringskog, director of development, explains, “The windows at the top, where Heaven is, have been improved and reinstalled. So especially during the day, you can really sense the escalation into Heaven.” If you happen to miss tonight’s piece (though we can’t think of anything more alluring than an elevator ride to heaven on a Saturday night), you can visit “Charon’s Bark” Thursday to Sunday, from noon to 8pm. How long does it take to get to Heaven? You’ll just have to find out for yourselves.