March 2005 Archives

Congratulations to Apex, Neonski, Nome Edonna, Scatha G. Allison, Ezra Li Eismont, Sirron Norris, & Andrew Schoultz for their invitation into Yuerba Buena's Bay Area Now 2005 as the Gestalt Collective. For a full list of participating artists and show dates, click here.

SignalFlow is a four day annual event featuring masters degree students of the Mills College music department. In the past SignalFlow has featured compositions for ensembles large and small, electronic works, interactive concerts via the internet, installations of all descriptions, dance and theater pieces, video screenings, meditations, songs, and much else besides. The one thing these events have had in common is a thirst for sonic adventure and a willingness to take risks.

Various daily performances Weds 3/30 thru Sun 4/3, 2005
Mills College Music Bldg., 5000 McArthur Blvd., Oakland

The new album from Autechre Untitled was released on April 18th in the U.S. They'll be on tour promoting the project. You can catch them passing through the Bay Area on Saturday, May 20 at San Francisco's Mezzanine. See you there!

Discography:
Autechre on Amazon

Banksy installed four new works in the city of New York on March 13, 2005. The diy exhibits appeared in such notable institutions as the Metropolitan Museum, MOMA, the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Natural History. The British artist entered the establishments during regular hours disguised as a bearded man in a trenchcoat and installed the works himself.

neo and San Jose State University graphic design presents:

an evening with Sam Smidt
Wednesday, March 16th, 7pm
San Jose State University
Art Building, Room 133
$3 students, $5 general

We have the blessed fortune to call Sam a mentor as well as a friend. He is one of the few people that encouraged us to blur the lines between art and design, and to work with clients that we enjoy for the relationships and the mutual creativity, not just the billable hours. With his deep resonating voice and his passion for the purebreds, he's a fascinating character we know you'll enjoy.

Urbis Artium Gallery presents A World of Influence which will feature paintings, murals, and installations from the Workhorse Collective.

Featuring: Adam 5100 / Empte Eyes / Ephameron / Erick Rodriguez / Evol CTink / Lesley Reppeteaux / Logan Hicks / KGBE Rotgut / Man One / Nick Walker / Pisa 73 / CTink / Sean Starwars / Surge MDR.

Opening Reception - March 17th, 6:30-10:00pm
Exhibition on view thru April 30th, 2005

V. Vale's latest newsletter mentions a Survival Research Lab event happening down in L.A. at an undisclosed place, time and location until the day of the event (only referred to as "a weekend in April.") A little digging on the SRL site led me to their calendar, there is a reference to an L.A. trip the first of April....April Fools? All info will be posted on their site only, the day of the happening. "Producing the most dangerous shows on earth"....gotta love that!

The AIDS Coalition Silicon Valley is a non-profit grassroots volunteer organization that is dedicated to increasing awareness, involvement and support of HIV/AIDS through our community. The fatal disease is increasing among young people, women and communities of color.

The Unmask the Mysteries Mardi Gras Gala will support the ACSV in their work with numerous local organizaitons in the fight against this disease.

When: Saturday, May 7, 2005, 7:00pm
Where: Children's Discovery Museum
Attire: Formal attire and elaborate masks are welcome
Tickets: Individual gala tickets are $100 /group tickets available.

I was introduced to Jeff Buckley's music by our friend Lisa Dewey two years ago. She was performing at a Phantom reception and did her incredible version of "Last Goodbye." Since then, Grace has been a staple in our daily music rotation. Last night we watched the documentary Amazing Grace by Nyla Adams and Laurie Trombley at Cinequest. It was a revealing look at Jeff as a person as well as the profound impact he has had and the loss of having such rare talent die so young. It's screening again this Saturday (3/12) at SJSU University Theater.

A Happening by CCRMA and friends...

Developed at Black Mountain College by (Merce) Cunningham and lifelong creative partner John Cage, the "happening" was an experimental coming-together of music and dance in unlikely settings. Come to a present-day happening, as presented by Stanford students and faculty from the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) who have been researching and creating music using methods developed by Cage. The musicians will be joined by dancers from Cunningham's company to carry the tradition of the happening late into the night!

Musical and video works composed and improvised by CCRMA faculty, students and friends will be accompanied by the dancers of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company across three separate spaces of the Cantor Arts Center.

This Wednesday, March 9, Lawrence Lessig speaks at the Commonwealth Club on the subject of Killing Creativity: How Today's Intellectual Property Laws Are Strangling Creativity In Music, the Arts and at Home. It's been arranged through some great local support (thank you!) for both artists and students to attend for free! (General admission is $15)

Prof. Lessig is also the founder of Creative Commons. CC is "a nonprofit foundation developed to address the current Gestapo state affecting copyright law and intellectual property rights in today's tech-savvy world. In the simplest terms, CC offers a midway point between 'all rights reserved' and 'no rights reserved.' An artist, teacher, author, painter or DJ can register their works with Creative Commons, allowing permission for others to sample, remix and otherwise build upon." ...see Killing Creativity by Todd Inoue in this week's Metroactive calendar.

"O, gentelmen, the time of life is short!...
An if we live, we live to tread on kings."
~ Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1

I came across this quote this morning while reading Guy Dubord's Society of the Spectacle. It reminded me of a conversation my partner, Cherri, and I were having the other day about the Chapman brothers' Insult to Injury (2003) series where they took Francisco de Goya's Disasters of War etchings and "reworked and improved" them. The brothers set aside money earned from selling each previously "rectified" series of 83 etchings and put it towards buying the next. They are currently on the third series.

Just as the Gates installation in NY's Central Park came down, another work of artistic splendor prepared itself for the world to descend upon it. The Nomadic Museum, as seen above at its temporary home through June of 2005 on Pier 54 along the Hudson River in NY, brings photographer Gregory Colbert's vision to the U.S. This travelling exhibit combines the beauty of prefab architecture, diy culture and the growing necessity to re-engage our public spaces in ways that inspire our daily lives.

On Wednesday (3/2), the best big-wave riders on the planet will return to face waves that have crested over 60 feet, frigid waters, dangerous currents, jagged rocks and the ever-present threat of the Great White Shark in the Mavericks Surf Contest. Located a half mile off the coast of Pillar Point in Half Moon Bay (CA) they expect a crowd of 15.000 so get there early!

This presentation couldn't be timelier, currently in front of the U.S. Supreme Court is the high-profile case of MGM vs. Grokster. This case pits the entertainment industry against two Internet file-sharing companies, with the future of technological innovation potentially in the balance.

KILLING CREATIVITY: How Today's Intellectual Property Laws are strangling Creativity in Music, the Arts and at Home. A lecture and book signing with Stanford Law Professor Lawrence Lessig (founder of Creative Commons.)

Wednesday, March 9, 6:30-8:00 pm
The Tech Museum, 6 pm registration.

General Admission is $15 (OLLI Members: $10). To purchase your ticket contact the Commonwealth Club or call (800) 847-7730.