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136 lines
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<title><![CDATA[Rent Hike For Dance Mission Theater Has Artists Worried About Uncertain Future]]></title>
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<description><p>Stepping out of BART at 24th and Mission at most hours of the day, one is likely to hear the pulse of African drums, hip-hop or salsa emanating from the second-floor studios of Dance Brigade's Dance Mission Theater. But that music may not continue forever.</p>
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<p>The performance space and dance school <a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/12/20/dance-mission-theater-rent-increase-worries-artists/" target="_self" id="rssmi_more"> ...read more</a></description>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[KQED Arts]]></dc:creator>
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<pubDate>Sat, 20 Dec 2014 09:00:22 GMT</pubDate>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Stepping out of BART at 24th and Mission at most hours of the day, one is likely to hear the pulse of African drums, hip-hop or salsa emanating from the second-floor studios of Dance Brigade’s Dance Mission Theater. But that music may not continue forever.</p>
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<p>The performance space and dance school <a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/12/20/dance-mission-theater-rent-increase-worries-artists/" target="_self" id="rssmi_more"> …read more</a>
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<p>Source:: <a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/12/20/dance-mission-theater-rent-increase-worries-artists/" target="_self" title="Rent Hike For Dance Mission Theater Has Artists Worried About Uncertain Future">Arts News</a></p>
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<title><![CDATA[Bob Miller: Teasing Science Lessons from Everyday Phenomena]]></title>
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<description>Until February 5, 2015, you can visit the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library and be momentarily transported through space and time to the early days of the Exploratorium via the life and work of Bob Miller, who died in 2007.</description>
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<link>http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2014/12/20/bob-miller-teasing-science-lessons-from-everyday-phenomena/</link>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sarah Hotchkiss]]></dc:creator>
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<pubDate>Sat, 20 Dec 2014 14:00:47 GMT</pubDate>
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<kqed:fullname>A Sample Feed</kqed:fullname>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Until February 5, 2015, you can visit the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library and be momentarily transported through space and time to the early days of the Exploratorium via the life and work of Bob Miller, who died in 2007.</p>
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<p>The transportation isn’t entirely complete, especially when unavoidable elements of the library’s physical space interrupt the installation of vitrines, wall text and objects. But reading first-hand accounts by Miller’s colleagues of his various contributions to both the Exploratorium and scientific discovery, I wished I’d wandered the museum with him at any point in his twenty year tenure. Documentation and ephemera will never be as entertaining as the man himself, but <b>Light Walk: Bob Miller and the Exploratorium</b> presents one man’s creativity, playfulness and lasting impact on an institution, leaving the viewer itching for the simple tools of his trade: sunlight, paper and an irrepressible curiosity.</p>
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<p><b>Light Walk </b>is installed on the library’s fourth floor, rubbing elbows with the art, music and recreation collections. Four large cases present short anecdotes about Miller and related materials from the Exploratorium archives: photographs, magazine clippings, patent documents and museum publications. The bits and pieces coalesce into a picture of Miller — much like his <i>Light Walk</i>, an exploration of sunlight, shadow, refraction and perception builds on basic demonstrations to build a larger understanding of the natural world.</p>
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<p>Before he met Exploratorium director Frank Oppenheimer in 1970, Miller lived a number of lives. Roaming from the White Sands Proving Ground to India and the South Pacific, he worked in the Army, for IBM, as a postal carrier and merchant marine. After this Renaissance man lifestyle, he helped shape the Exploratorium for nearly two decades, in its exhibits and its ethos.</p>
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<p><figure id="attachment_10220518" style="width: 500px;" class="wp-caption alignright"><img class="size-full wp-image-10220518" src="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/sun_painting.jpg" alt="Bob Miller, <i>Sun Painting</i>; Courtesy of the Exploratorium." width="500" height="375" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Bob Miller, <i>Sun Painting</i>; Courtesy of the Exploratorium.</figcaption></figure></p>
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<p>Peter Richards, another longtime Exploratorium colleague whose name might be familiar as co-creator of <a href="http://www.exploratorium.edu/visit/wave-organ" target="_blank"><i>The Wave Organ</i></a>, details the development of one of Miller’s signature exhibits. Richards depicts a fledgling institution where getting an NEA grant for the construction of <i>Sun Painting’s</i> mechanically-mounted mirror is as simple as a letter from Oppenheimer to the federal agency. A prevailing attitude of “we think this might work, let’s find out what happens” makes these early days at the museum seem thrilling.</p>
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<p>Through simple materials and methods, Miller teased science lessons from everyday phenomena. A display of provisional tools used in <em>Light Walk</em> demonstrates the dictum of “it’s not the <em>stuff</em> that’s important, but rather the phenomena that the stuff helps illuminate.”</p>
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<p><figure id="attachment_10220635" style="width: 640px;" class="wp-caption alignright"><img class="size-full wp-image-10220635" src="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/Stuff.jpg" alt="The <i>stuff</i> that helps illuminate; Courtesy of the Exploratorium." width="640" height="421" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The <i>stuff</i> that helps illuminate; Courtesy of the Exploratorium.</figcaption></figure></p>
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<p>Some of Miller’s exhibitions were based on actual scientific and engineering discoveries. With Sally Duensing, he published “The Cheshire Cat Effect” in the journal <i>Perception</i>, findings related to the strange things that happen when our eyes see two different and competing things. Based on Duesing’s retelling (and the photographs accompanying her text) it appears Miller really was fulfilling Oppenheimer’s invitation to “come and play” at the Exploratorium.</p>
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<p>Nowhere is his playful nature more evident than in the short silent video, <i>Bob Miller: A Little Insight</i>, by David Barker. Against the aural backdrop of the fourth floor elevator bank (“ding! ding!”), reference desk questions, and the busy typing of library patrons, Barker captures Miller fooling around at his home in Cedar Lake, the subject sporting a Willie Nelson-style bandana around his white head. Miller conducts magic tricks with his reflection and demonstrates some of his signature <i>Light Walk</i> moves. The camera ranges over prisms, mirrors and refracted light.</p>
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<p>The library’s version of<i> Light Walk</i> is a selection of good stories punctuated by three of Miller’s creations — a prototype of the <i>Sun Painting</i> mirror that looks positively ancient, a meticulously crafted rack of mirrored slats, and a pinhole portrait of Miller himself (US patent #6000803). The whole exhibition is encircled by small wall plaques relaying bits of Miller’s <i>Light Walk</i> lessons in text. The conversational tone and broken structure of the plaques make true comprehension nearly impossible, but necessitate a visit to the present-day Exploratorium for a modern-day <i>Light Walk</i>, an “institution” the museum still provides, which was perhaps the goal of this installation all along.</p>
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<p><b>Light Walk: Bob Miller and the Exploratorium</b> is on view in the Art, Music & Recreation Center of the San Francisco Public Library, Main Branch, through February 5, 2015. For <a href="http://www.exploratorium.edu/visit/calendar/light-walk-bob-miller-and-exploratorium" target="_blank">more information</a> visit exploratorium.edu.
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<title><![CDATA[Light Art Brings Holiday Glow to Darkest Nights]]></title>
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<description>In the dark of winter, San Franciscans with an urge to celebrate the light can visit a new wealth of illuminated art installations. This video tour offers a preview of some of the more dazzling works.</description>
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<link>http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2014/12/21/on-darkest-nights-illuminated-art-brings-holiday-glow/</link>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[KQED Arts]]></dc:creator>
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<pubDate>Sun, 21 Dec 2014 14:00:08 GMT</pubDate>
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<kqed:fullname>A Sample Feed</kqed:fullname>
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<kqed:shortname>sample_feed</kqed:shortname>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Tonight is midwinter, Yule, the solstice – the longest night. During winter’s dark depths, San Franciscans with an urge to seek the light will find a wealth of illuminated art pieces blinking and blazing around town. Some, like <a href="http://www.metaphorm.org/portfolio/carusos-dream/" target="_blank">Caruso’s Dream</a>, are permanent installations. Others, like <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/foldhaus/blumen-lumen-interactive-sculpture-at-burning-man" target="_blank">Blumen Lumen</a> and a selection of illuminated works at the Exploratorium through Jan. 4, will be gone in a flash. Many, such as the <a href="http://flaminglotus.com/art/soma/" target="_blank">Flaming Lotus Girls’ SOMA</a>, on Pier 14, come out of the Burning Man movement. All feel appropriate to this season, when we celebrate the sun’s return with fire.</p>
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<p>If you’re interested in visiting the city’s illuminated installations, the SF Travel Association <a href="http://www.illuminatesf.com/#/content/art-map" target="_blank">has compiled a map</a> and a list of <a href="http://www.illuminatesf.com/#/content/events" target="_blank">tours and other events</a>. (KQED critic Christian Frock rates the 16 works listed on the map as ranging “from meh to spectacular” — <a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2014/12/18/bigger-brighter-better-will-san-francisco-become-a-light-art-destination/" target="_blank">read her commentary</a>. ) A <a href="http://www.discoverystreettours.com/site/?page_id=747" target="_blank">free light art bike tour this Saturday</a> will give cyclists a chance to shine. Meanwhile, enjoy Peter Ruocco’s video exploration of these dazzling works.
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<title><![CDATA[93 ‘Til Infinity: Watch Bay Area Musicians Remix Classic ’90s Hip-Hop]]></title>
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<description>One night back in November, the YBCA took a trip to 1993 to celebrate a groundbreaking year for hip hop.</description>
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<link>http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2014/12/22/93-til-infinity-watch-bay-area-musicians-remix-classic-90s-hip-hop/</link>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[Kevin L. Jones]]></dc:creator>
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<pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2014 14:00:32 GMT</pubDate>
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<kqed:fullname>A Sample Feed</kqed:fullname>
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<kqed:shortname>sample_feed</kqed:shortname>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In early November, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) hosted <strong>Clas/sick Hip-Hop: 1993 Edition,</strong> a night of live music featuring over 20 MCs performing new takes on hop-hop hits from 1993, with live instrumentation arranged by two notable Bay Area composers—<a href="http://ensemblemiknawooj.com/" target="_blank">JooWan Kim</a> and <a href="http://www.ybca.org/artists/kev-choice" target="_blank">Kev Choice</a>. The year’s importance was twofold: not only did YBCA first open its doors in 1993, but hip-hop itself saw serious successes, both artistically and commercially, that led to the form becoming a part of the mainstream.</p>
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<p>Songs that were performed include Snoop Dogg’s “Gin And Juice,” Digable Planets’ “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat),” and many others. Read a statement from the curator of the event, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, <a href="http://goo.gl/TIgUrh" target="_blank">here</a>. (Also, we asked Joseph to pick his Top 5 hip-hop songs from 1993, which you can read <a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2014/11/05/the-top-five-hip-hop-songs-from-1993-with-marc-bamuthi-joseph/" target="_blank">here</a>.)</p>
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<p>Enjoyed that? Watch this performance, by Ensemble Mik Nawooj, of the Wu-Tang Clan’s “C.R.E.A.M.” from that same night.</p>
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<title><![CDATA[Protest Icons: Not Just for Show]]></title>
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<description>Hands up, umbrellas out, hoodies on, fists raised -- the icons of protest have long played a significant role in movements of social change and revolution. Some of the most potent protest icons of 2014 appeared in just the last four months of the year.</description>
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<link>http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2014/12/23/protest-icons-not-just-for-show/</link>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[Michele Carlson]]></dc:creator>
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<pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2014 14:00:41 GMT</pubDate>
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<kqed:fullname>A Sample Feed</kqed:fullname>
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<kqed:shortname>sample_feed</kqed:shortname>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hands up, umbrellas out, hoodies on, fists raised — the icons of protest have long played a significant role in movements of social change and revolution. From flower power to Rosie the Riveter to the rainbow flag, icons have momentous social potency and live on as cultural currency that is exchanged, needed and protected sometimes long past the initial movements of their birth.</p>
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<p>Icons are sought after and are coming to be needed more and more. Perhaps it is easier to understand an image than it is to know the world, let alone how to change it.</p>
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<p>Uploading an icon to a profile picture or posting a response or article bleeds into thousands who are doing the same and suddenly an entire social media feed is parroting the same visual calls. Today, protest icons are disseminated rapidly and with such reach that, while the news is mired in arguing over factual evidence of whether or not Mike Brown’s hands were actually raised or not, the image has already hit the streets. There thousands of protesters begin to raise their hands and take photos with their hoodies pulled tight or make videos of themselves dumping buckets of ice over their heads.</p>
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<p>Images lead to creative actions. For once, the value of these images is separate from the art or entertainment markets, propositioning us to rethink the worlds and systems occupied by them. Some of the most potent protest icons of 2014 appeared in just the last four months of the year.</p>
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<p><figure id="attachment_10238460" style="width: 640px;" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/handsup2.jpg"><img src="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/handsup2.jpg" alt="WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 25: Chanting, 'Hands up, don't shoot!' more than one thousand demonstrators gather on the steps of the National Portrait Gallery the day after the Ferguson grand jury decision to not indict officer Darren Wilson in the Michael Brown case November 25, 2014 in Washington, DC.; Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images" width="640" height="427" class="size-full wp-image-10238460" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 25: Chanting, ‘Hands up, don’t shoot!’ more than one thousand demonstrators gather on the steps of the National Portrait Gallery the day after the Ferguson grand jury decision to not indict officer Darren Wilson in the Michael Brown case November 25, 2014 in Washington, DC.; Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</figcaption></figure></p>
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<h3>Hands Up, Don’t Shoot</h3>
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<p>Thousands are still protesting across the country in the aftermath of the non-indictments of the police officers involved in the deaths of <a href="http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2014/12/04/150898/new_york_braces_for_more_demonstrations_over_eric_garner?source=npr&category=u.s." target="_blank">Mike Brown and Eric Garner (along with many others)</a>. Images of hands raised above one’s head in a “hands up, don’t shoot” position have flooded the media from footage of protesters across the nation to members of Congress on the House floor. On December 1, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/04/us/rams-threats-ferguson/" target="_blank">five St. Louis Rams’ players </a>held their hands up during pregame introductions in a peaceful and poignant use of their public platform to millions of viewers. Their stadium is located only 11 miles from the battlegrounds of Ferguson.</p>
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<p>Hands up, don’t shoot is bigger than Mike Brown’s case, and is reminiscent of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who bravely raised black-gloved fists during the playing of the “Star Spangled Banner” at their 1968 Olympic medal ceremony. Like Smith and Carlos, whose raised fists aligned with Black Power but also appealed for greater human rights, the “hands up, don’t shoot” icon has come to confront a history of perceived systemic and disproportionate police brutality, while calling for transparency within the criminal justice system and the confrontation of institutional racism. The action is a reminder that all is not yet equal and serves as a desperate proposition that we are all a part of this system, no matter how far you are from Ferguson, or Staten Island, or Sanford, or Fruitvale Station.</p>
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<p><figure id="attachment_10189956" style="width: 600px;" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/internet-slowdown.png"><img src="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/internet-slowdown.png" alt="The 'spinning wheel of death' uploaded to over 40,000 websites in protest over the changes to 'net neutrality'" width="600" height="599" class="size-full wp-image-10189956" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The ‘spinning wheel of death’ uploaded to over 40,000 websites in protest over the changes to ‘net neutrality’</figcaption></figure></p>
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<h3>The ‘Spinning Wheel of Death’</h3>
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<p>The Internet is the most critical tool in activism and protest. Its utility comes in its speed, lack of regulation and ubiquity, but the current war to privatize the Internet could pose a threat not just to the pending revolution, but to one’s daily online activity as well.</p>
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<p>On September 10, 2014, dubbed <a href="https://www.battleforthenet.com/sept10th/" target="_blank">Internet Slow Down Day</a>, you may have noticed that many of your usual sites were loading… and loading… and loading…</p>
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<p>The ‘spinning wheel of death’ is part of an online campaign in support of what is most commonly known as net neutrality, or the call for an open and free Internet. This year, the FCC began considering new regulations that would, among other things, create “Internet fast lanes” where broadband service companies, like Comcast and AT&T would be able to collect fees from content companies, such as Netflix or Amazon, for special priority to their networks.</p>
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<p>In response, 40,000 websites, including Netflix, Tumblr, Vimeo, Kickstarter and Etsy all participated by installing mock loading icons on their home pages — both a poignant protest and an ominous forewarning. Response was so great that the comments section of the FCC was shut down. The Internet still offers great opportunity that does not exist anywhere else — this is part of its value and it’s up to its users to keep it that way. After all, if the privatization of the Internet allows speed to be manipulated by the highest bidder and corporate interest, how can one be sure they’ll even find the revolution?</p>
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<p><figure id="attachment_10189957" style="width: 500px;" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/2fd449c2a267b30d32522638629146f6bea5d5b3.jpg"><img src="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/2fd449c2a267b30d32522638629146f6bea5d5b3.jpg" alt="Columbia University senior Emma Sulkowicz carries her mattress on campus as part of her senior thesis, a performance art piece called “Carry That Weight.” " width="500" height="333" class="size-full wp-image-10189957" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Columbia University senior Emma Sulkowicz carries her mattress on campus as part of her senior thesis, a performance art piece called “Carry That Weight.”</figcaption></figure></p>
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<h3>The Mattress</h3>
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<p>On October 29, 2014, mattresses and pillows became unexpected symbols confronting sexual assault on college campuses. Inspired by the activist/performance art of Columbia University senior Emma Sulkowicz, who has been carrying her dorm mattress with her everywhere she goes, even to class, since September. Sulkowicz claims to have been raped on the first day of her sophomore year by another Columbia student.</p>
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<p>The accused was ultimately found not guilty — Sulkowicz’s appeals were dismissed — and he still attends classes at Columbia. In protest of the way her case was handled and the lack of seriousness afforded to her accusations, Sulkowicz will carry this mattress with her until her accused rapist leaves the school; she was one of three students to accuse him of assault.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.carryingtheweighttogether.com" target="_blank">Carry That Weight</a>, was a day of collective support and action confronting the unforgivable amount of assault that occurs on American college campuses—<a href="https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/221153.pdf" target="_blank">one in five students</a> report some experience of assault or attempted assault, compared to the many presumed not to report anything.</p>
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<p>Mattresses and pillows are often the private specters of sexual assault survivors confront daily, but have now become a public icon for the inequity and inability for post-secondary institutions to protect and provide safe environments for all students to learn. Pointing to the seriousness of safety for students, President Obama recently launched <a href="http://itsonus.org" target="_blank"><em>It’s On Us</em></a>, a national campaign to raise awareness and end sexual assault on college campuses. </p>
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<p>It is on us to acknowledge the gravity of a system that protects or dismisses sexual predators and a public that takes more interest in a young woman’s mattress than in her accusations of rape. Sulkowicz is one of twenty-eight students filing a <a href="http://endrapeoncampus.org/schools-weve-assisted/" target="_blank">Title IX federal claim against Columbia University.</a></p>
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<p><figure id="attachment_10238464" style="width: 640px;" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/umbrella2.jpg"><img src="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/umbrella2.jpg" alt="Protestors shout slogans during a march to the movement's main pro-democracy protest site in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong on December 5, 2014; Photo by Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images " width="640" height="417" class="size-full wp-image-10238464" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Protestors shout slogans during a march to the movement’s main pro-democracy protest site in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong on December 5, 2014; Photo by Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images<br /></figcaption></figure></p>
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<h3>Hong Kong’s ‘Umbrella Revolution’</h3>
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<p>Expecting a system or government to care for its’ citizens shouldn’t be so hard to imagine. But in Hong Kong, over a hundred thousand protesters filled the streets in response to China reneging on the promise to grant it open elections by 2017. After it was announced that the candidates for election would be vetted by China first, students took to the streets. For two months since September, pro-democracy activists occupied the streets of Hong Kong.</p>
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<p>Hong Kong police responded with liberal use of pepper spray and activists found that umbrellas, sometimes turned inside out, were an effective way to shield their bodies from the attacks. The umbrellas came to have a creative utility — they protected activists from the sweltering midday sun, along with shielding them from pepper spray and tear gas. They were sometimes painted bright colors, donned with activist slogans or were joined with other umbrellas to form symbols when seen from above.</p>
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<p>The images are reminiscent of the 1989 student protests in Tiananmen Square with many connections drawn to the iconic image, ‘Tank Man,’ who appears to bravely step in front of a column of tanks, a lone hero performing an isolated act of courage. Yet, he was one hero amongst thousands who happened to be cropped out of the famous photo. In Hong Kong the protesters used their umbrellas to shield their own bodies, but most effectively brought umbrellas together to form a giant collective shield over the mass of protesters. </p>
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<p>Images of the umbrella in Hong Kong fundamentally capture the collective agency needed in movements of change and serve as a reminder that — in numbers — even a flimsy umbrella can become an impenetrable force. </p>
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<p>And when these protests fade, their visual legacies will be remade and exchanged again as reminders that while movements may end the fight for human rights battles on.
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