Week 5, September 2010
This week’s highlighted local treasure is
Point Reyes National Seashore
From their website:
From its thunderous ocean breakers crashing against rocky headlands and expansive sand beaches through its open grasslands to its brushy hillsides and forested ridges, visitors can discover over 1000 species of plants and animals. Home to several cultures over thousands of years, Point Reyes preserves a tapestry of stories and interactions of people. Point Reyes awaits your exploration.
The cultural history of Point Reyes reaches back some 5,000 years to the Coast Miwok Indians who were the first human inhabitants of the Peninsula. Over 120 known village sites exist within the park. According to many experts, Sir Francis Drake landed here in 1579, the first European explorer to do so. In response to the many shipwrecks in the treacherous coastal waters, key lighthouse and lifesaving stations were established by the United States Government in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In the early 1800s, Mexican land grantees established ranchos. They were followed by a wave of American agricultural operations, which continue to this day in the Seashore’s pastoral zone.
So, let’s find some fun ’round the bay…
Nina Haft and Company: Friday in San Francisco. From the East Bay Express: Digging into the earthbound nature of modern dance, OaklandÕs Nina Haft and Company transforms Zaccho Dance Theater (1777 Yosemite Ave., Suite 330, San Francisco) into a maze of installations on seed-swapping, vegetable planting, landscapes, rocks, fungi, and the human/wilderness interface in DEBRIS/FLOWS, the companyÕs tenth-anniversary performance, on Friday through Sunday, Oct. 1-3. The audience wanders through the labyrinth conceived by choreographer Haft and London-based artist Claudia Borgna, discovering vignettes of movement by dancers, along with audio soundscapes, refreshments made with locally grown produce, and organic surprises. A discussion with Haft and Borgna follows the second Saturday show.
Knowledge Hacking: Through October 9th in Berkeley. From the East Bay Express: Science fans who missed the 01SJ Biennial in San Jose in mid-September may want to visit Knowledge Hacking, a related show featuring collaborative projects by teams of artists and scientists too numerous to list here. Organized by UC’s Department of Art Practices and the Berkeley Center for New Media, this show features “Wonderarium,” Yvette Molina and Sarah Filley’s proposal for a large spherical, floating, advanced-tech terrarium for Lake Merritt; Stephen Wilson and Liwei Lin‘s “Energy Harvesting for Public Art,” ideas for capturing otherwise lost human biomechanical energy; and Pinar Yoldas and David J. Paulsen‘s “Limbique,” a MRI coronal-slice scan of the brain’s limbic system transformed into a color-coded acrylic sculpture — fun for the nucleus accumbens pleasure center (yellow) and positive feedback for the complementary goal-evaluating caudate nucleus (purple). Knowledge Hacking runs through October 9 at Worth Ryder Gallery.
Harvest Celebration: Sunday in Berkeley. From the East Bay Express: It’s that time of year again, observed with thanksgiving rituals among cultures and faiths around the world: Summer’s over, and the fruits of the harvest are gathered and honored before winter’s starkness begins. Participants are encouraged to bring fresh produce to decorate the altar for a Harvest Celebration at Northbrae Community Church (941 The Alameda, Berkeley) on Sunday, Oct. 3. After the service, the produce will be donated to the Richmond Rescue Mission. 10:30 a.m., free.
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Pic of the Week:
Just ’cause it felt good