Engineer's Daughter

matokie mix 10.28.19

mix

the week that was

Things worth sharing:

1. I'm slowly working my way through the treasure trove of Shirley Clarke material currently available on the Criterion Channel and savoring every moment of it. See also Richard Brody's recent article about her in the New Yorker.
2. It's closed now but the Lynda Benglis show at Pace down in Palo Alto was a fantastic introduction for me to her sculptures, kind of Eva Hesse meets Frank Stella.
3. Yet more Terry Fox! Swing by the Wattis to hear the purring cats piece they played at Grace Cathedral a few weeks back, and to see more work interpreting the Chartres labyrinth.
4. Fall Open House at Headlands on Sunday was inspiring as heck this last Sunday with a ton of great art to experience and unbelievably gorgeous weather besides. Next up: a reception on November 3 for current project space artists Kelly Akashi and Anna Fitch & Banker White, with Sunday Supper after!
5. I took a virtual journey to South America thanks to my film viewing this week: Paraguay in Marcelo Martinessi's subtle and beautiful 2019 drama The Heiresses, and Argentina in a rewatch of Lucrecia Martel's 2001 debut masterpiece La Ciénaga.
6. And if you're a fan of Flora in Oakland like I am, get over there for one last caramel pudding before they close on November 9 to transition into a new restaurant that focuses on steaks and chops (barf).

matokie mix 10.21.19

mix

the week that was

Things worth sharing:

1. Peter Brannen's fascinating book The Ends of the World gave me new appreciation for the work of modern geologists, what we're still learning about Earth's previous mass extinctions, and what said extinctions can teach us about the harm we're currently inflicting on our home planet. Come for the science, stay for the hilarious footnotes.
2. The current exhibition of portraits at the SFAC Gallery The Continuous Thread: Celebrating our Interwoven Histories, Identities and Contributions is incredibly moving, and it's just one component of the citywide American Indian Initiative. Check out the full schedule of events here.
3. Matt Borruso's show You Live at my fave local gallery Et al. just got extended to October 26, highly recommend carving out some time to experience the succession of images he has woven together for this video installation. I had to hightail it when the snake section started, but you are probably not as phobic as I am.
4. I felt lucky to catch HUSH-HUSH at the Berkeley Art Museum Saturday evening in a performance piece called Crummy Sheets in which a trio of artists used a real bed as a platform to explore sleep, dreams, and the concept of home. From their website: "HUSH-HUSH provides a space to blur genres, take risks, and be strange."
5. More Terry Fox! The Lab has videos, sound pieces, one of his pendulums, and a slideshow documenting his performances. Go check it out.
6. Movies worth revisiting: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's 2006 heartbreaker The Lives of Others, and Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's 2007 adaptation of Satrapi's gorgeous graphic novel Persepolis.
7. And my local biz rec for the week: Voodoo Love is an authentic slice of New Orleans on a sunny corner in SOMA. They take excellent care of the vegetarians and vegans too.

matokie mix 10.14.19

mix

the week that was

Things worth sharing:

1. I took a lovely mini road trip to Pescadero last week: Stayed at the Pescadero Creek Inn, had a picnic lunch at Arcangeli Grocery, poked around the Pigeon Point Light Station, dined at Duarte's, coffeed up at Downtown Local, visited the goats at Harley Farms. The perfect fall getaway.
2. The book I took along with me was a slim volume of Vasko Popa's potent poems, translated from the Serbo-Croatian by Charles Simic. It's hard to beat sitting in the sun by the sea and reading poetry rich with folkloric and surrealist imagery.
3. Terry Fox: Resonance is a major retrospective of the artist's work, curated by Dena Beard and Constance Lewallen, taking place right now across multiple venues around the Bay Area. It all kicked off last Friday at Grace Cathedral with Fox's 1977 piece The Labyrinth Scored for the Purrs of 11 Different Cats, and visitors were indeed invited to walk the labyrinth while the kitties rumbled away. I found a spot on the outskirts and just sank into the sound.
4. I also recommend the group show currently at the Mills College Art Museum, In Plain Sight, curated by Daniel Nevers and featuring work by Weston Teruya, Dario Robleto, castaneda/reiman, and Kathryn Andrews. The artists in the show encourage you to question your own perceptions and look more closely, mainly through objects constructed from a whole variety of materials.
5. I was chilled to the bone watching Alison Klayman's 2019 documentary The Brink, in which she closely follows (and interacts with) Steve Bannon in the time after he leaves the White House. That man is clearly evil embodied, as he stokes hate amongst Americans and meets with far-right leaders in Europe, but you also see the innate charm that makes him so dangerous.
6. Meanwhile thanks to the Criterion Channel I spent a wild week with the films of Lina Wertmüller, the first woman nominated for a Best Director Oscar. Honestly they contain way too much coercive sex/outright rape for me, but are still well worth a look if only to watch stellar actors (and regulars in her films) Mariangela Melato and Giancarlo Giannini do their thing. I'm not the first person to notice that the excellent fights in her films are actually better than the sex.
7. Photographer Jonathan Calm was at CCA Wednesday evening to give the Larry Sultan Photography Award lecture (he's also currently a resident at Headlands), and I'm fascinated by his ongoing project in which he is documenting the current state of sites listed in the Green Book. It's an epic undertaking, and as a black man traveling through the America of today he's finding all sorts of resonances with the past.
8. And a quick plug for two great new local businesses: Darling Electric Salon, where my stylist (and good friend) Lindsay will expertly minister to your coif, and Mela Bistro, where you should order the vegetarian platter.