consolidating....

taking a break from AIBM and blogging here www.caramimi.blogspot.com

Lower Haight Street Fair 2006, San Francisco

Sundays = Sun-dazed. That's how I felt post-Saturday partying when I attended the Lower Haight Street Fair. Not to be confused with the Haight Street Fair further up the street. This one is still in it's infancy so it's more community bbq, than beer garden porta-potty.

Some nice music, art, crafts, local merchants, stoop watching and exotic pets! There was even a kiddy breakdancing circle that was the cutest thing.

[ART] Mescalito show - MARS-1, Damon Soule, Oliver Vernon

Mescalito - MARS-1, Oliver Vernon & Damon Soule
Oct 14 - Nov 4, 2006

White Walls Gallery
Tenderloin, San Francisco
whitewallssf.com

*more pics on my Flickr Mescalito set

Mars-1: www.mars-1.com





Oliver Vernon: www.oliververnon.com



Damon Soule: www.damonsoule.com






Opening night peeps

Art at the Dump

Art at the Dump with Sirron Norris and Nomi Talisman (opening night)

Artists Sirron Norris and Nomi Talisman showcase their work made of found materials at Sunset Scavenger aka the dump. The show had good energy, and the scope of the artists' work was interesting. I wish I had better pics of Sirron's painted objects, but alas the flash was iffy. It is what it is.




Painting on found wood with recycled paint by Sirron Norris.



Found photo slide piece by Nomi Talisman. I loved many of Nomi's pieces, but this affected me the most that night.



Mars shows Sirron a sneak preview of his upcoming book Convergence.



Leo's good vibe is infectuous.

In The Street 2005, San Francisco

Tenderloin Children's Playground, Oct 8, 2005

The Luggage Store Gallery puts on In The Street, a non-vendor festival celebrating creativity, music and performance in the Tenderloin.

I missed out on Friday night's events, but Saturday had several daytime performances, including the Reconstruction project, a central event to the day's activities, put on by the energetic Miss Velvet Cream. The concept of Reconstructon was to bring an article of clothing, or choose from a pile, find a designer of your choice, and watch them make something new of it on the fly. Refreshed life breathed into a former lifeless garment.

I also caught some freestylin by rap crew, Who’s Rhyme is it Anyway?, an amazing jam session by Tussle, took Lindy Hop dance lessons, and watched older folks stretch out to a closing performance by The Broun Fellinis. All in all, quite a superb day with an interesting mix of creative folks.



Fillmore Rocks Crew - Urban, West Coast b-girl stylin at it's finest.



Polo prepped out navy/green sweater, carved earrings/plugs, burmese textile bag and lavender kicks? Hell ya!



Rockin satin drawstring pants and self-made scarf. He reminded me of a butterfly inside his cocoon ready to emerge transformed.



Mikas attempts to reconstruct Josh



Velvet gives me some booty and spirit, as my slow ass camera captures her mid-pose. Between her expression and the guy in the back's energy, this is a pretty good summary of the day.



Bunny Seren helps Mikas at the Reconstruction table, sporting her handmade floppy hat, and customized kitty-kat makeup.

Stay Alive in 2005

Some of my friends started a tradition of coming up with a funny slogan for the pending new year. I fondly remember "What about me in '83" -- but the best one was a M.A.D.D. campaign dubbed "Stay Alive in '85." Considering the new year has come in with full tsunami power (losing many lives), I think it only fitting to seriously carry on the same slogan for 2005. May everyone find more joy, more love and more peace this year.

Low Gallery opening 11.20.04 - The Mission

Been trying to get around to posting pics of some of the art at the Low Gallery opening. This happened the same night as my Saturday night art crawl (previous post). It was a major people crush that night. The gallery was quite cozy with all the local Fecal Face fans and Mission ruffians alike. A 40 in a paper bag was the accessory du jour.

In the comfort of elbows and knees, I managed to snap a few pics:


This painting is by Chris Duncan, one of my new favorite artists. He has a vibrant, yet quiet, color palette and and I love his use of organic and linear forms.


SF has this movement of photography pushing forth via Hamburger Eyes www.hamburgereyes.com. It's cynical, clever, ironic and sometimes pointless. Very much about life. I think this photograph is a good example of this -- and the saturated, red blood is enticing in a corporate-marketing manner.


Todd Bratrud's "Snake Fart in a Jar." It says it all....


B & B (bananers and breasts) photo by Ray Potes (aka Hamburger Eyes). This makes me hungry....

Low Gallery - Mission District
487 14th St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
www.lowgallery.com

Sat nite art crawl - The Mission

photos by "the undercover brother"





I did the round of art shows in The Mission: Low Gallery opening, Needles & Pens, Pond gallery, Adobe Bookshop and Complex Ion's Hyper Mechanism @ The LAB. It was a tight squeeze with a lot of social elbowing. I'll have to go back on a quiet day and take better pics.

I must have been attracted to shiny, white things as evidenced by the suspended, doll-like sculpture and the mesmerizing white boots of The Disappointment's lead singer, Ann. Both objects were in full force at The Lab, which made me take mental note to check out both, the venue and the band, more often.

When my friend J asked me how the band was, I told him their name was "The Disappointment" so there wasn't much to live up to. Now if they were named "The Fantastics".... they'd better deliver. After hearing them play that night, I must say they are light years away from disappointing. The Disappoinment are, in fact, FANTASTIC! Heavy, lush guitars, a rockin' drummer and a vocal sound w/a Smiths/Cardigans/EBTG bent. Not to make much on comparisons, but they float in that realm. Lucky for me, they play at The Makeout Room tonight so I may fill my ears with more non-disappointing sounds.

The LAB is a sizeable gallery on the corner of 16th St & Capp, in The Mission. It's an interesting corner next to the Bart station, bustling w/blue collar workers, artists, God-fearing soapbox evangelists, hookers, junkies and their dealers. Despite this edgy backdrop, I've always felt comfortable on this street and make sure to have my wits about me. After years of living in tropical island paradise, I'm not adverse to this urban landscape. Besides, it being The Mission, you can count on a slew of trendy restuarants, shops and venues only a block away. The LAB and it's location are no exception -- Ti Couz, the Kilowatt, Otsu Vegan, Urban Forage and some of the best taquerias, only steps away. So I sound a beacon to the SF peeps, please check out Hyper Mechanism at The LAB before it goes away.

Hyper Mechanism
The LAB - Mission District
2948 16th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
www.thelab.org

The Disappointment
www.shelflife.com

Get Lucky @ Merry Karnowsky Gallery, LA

Artist friends, Friends With You, will open their show "Get Lucky" @ the Merry Karnowsky Gallery this Saturday. You must, you must, you must increase your bust...err, I mean attend the show LA peoples. Okay? Go have fun and watch out for calf-biting artists and tricky plush.

Get Lucky
Merry Karnowsky Gallery
170 South La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles, California