Events on Wednesday, August 6

Ask a Scientist: Robots

Special Event

Ask a Scientist

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Axis Cafe

The monthly Ask a Scientist series ingeniously marries beer-swilling with intellectual enlightenment, discussing everything from amnesia to linguistics to number theory.... 

Amanda Palmer

Music

Amanda Palmer

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Great American Music Hall

Amanda Palmer, the piano-playing half of the Dresden Dolls, has crafted a debut solo album that is slower-paced and more meditative... 

Neung Phak

Music: Global

Neung Phak

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Cafe du Nord

One of Sublime Frequencies' most triumphantly world-bending compilations, Cambodian Cassette Archives: Khmer Folk and Pop Music Vol. 1 brought together... 

Ongoing Events

Tim Lee

Art

Tim Lee

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts

Although it's tempting to dismiss Vancouver-based artist Tim Lee's use of comedy-as-conceptual-device as lacking in depth or social concern, to mistake... 

<em>Before I Forget</em> (2007)

Film

Before I Forget

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Sundance Kabuki Cinema

Growing old has long been a stereotypical bugaboo for gay men. Thankfully, there are filmmakers like Jacques Nolot, whose semi-autobiographical Before... 

Timothy Cummings

Art

Timothy Cummings

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Catharine Clark Gallery

Timothy Cummings skipped art school and taught himself to paint, honing his craft by taking cues from the Old Masters and... 

ODC/Dance presents Summer Sampler 2008

Dance

Summer Sampler 2008

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ ODC Dance Commons

Summer in San Francisco rarely gets hot enough to encourage dancing in the streets, but the Oberlin Dance Collective's annual fete... 

Superstition Obstacle Course

Special Event

Superstition Obstacle Course

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Exploratorium

  Opening (appropriately enough) on Friday the 13th, the Exploratorium's newest exhibit encourages visitors to test their own superstitions (or lack... 

<em>Art & Artifice: 75 Years of Design at San Francisco Ballet</em>

Special Event

Art & Artifice

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Museum of Performance & Design

Emerging with a rejuvenated image and collection in March, the Museum of Performance & Design mounts an impressive exhibit chronicling the... 

Victory Gardens 2008+

Festival: Performing Arts

Victory Gardens 2008+

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ City Hall

During World War II, Victory Gardens produced almost 40% of America's food supply. In a nod to history, artist and green... 

Fanee: <em>Holla at the Bay</em>

Art

Fanee

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ The Shooting Gallery

Fanee's Holla at the Bay is a provocative portrayal of female objectification and sexuality that leaves little to the imagination. Two-dozen... 

San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

Festival: Performing Arts

Jewish Film Festival

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Various locations

With movies set in locations around the world, this year's SF Jewish Film Festival could easily double as an international film... 

Maria Antelman and Tamar Halpern

Art

Maria Antelman and Tamar Halpern

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Jack Hanley Gallery

While artist Barbara Kruger makes clear that her declarative captions exist in opposition to the slick images with which they are... 

<em>2nd Skin: Imaginative Designs in Digital & Analog Clothing</em>

Special Event

2nd Skin

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Exploratorium

With a futuristic, tongue-in-cheek vision, the artists featured in the 2nd Skin fashion exhibit challenge the standard notions of practical clothing.... 

<em>The Exiles </em>(1961)

Film

The Exiles

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ The Castro Theatre

Milestone Films recently scored a surprise hit with a restoration of Charles Burnett's 1977 film Killer of Sheep. The company... 

Dale Chihuly

Art

Dale Chihuly

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ de Young Museum

Although the California Academy of Sciences is across the street, it's the de Young that's currently filled with swarms of jellyfish,... 

Bay Area Now 5: <em>Inside/Outside</em>

Art

Bay Area Now 5

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts' much-anticipated triennial presents a comprehensive view of the city's visual and performing art from the... 

Ground Scores: Guided Tours of San Francisco Past and Personal

Special Event

Ground Scores

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Various locations

Dedicated flâneurs will appreciate the YBCA's series of unconventional strolls and bus rides through San Francisco's hidden corners. Performance artist Michael... 

<em> We Remember the Sun </em>

Art

We Remember the Sun

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ San Francisco Art Institute - Walter and McBean Galleries

Judging from countless references to "Summers of Love," enthusiastic rock 'n roll movies, and a psychedelic exhibition at the Whitney, Americans... 

Cool Globes

Special Event

Cool Globes

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Crissy Field

Though it may be hard to tell during some chilly summer nights in SF, the ten hottest years in recorded history... 

<em>Let Us Now Praise San Francisco</em>

Art

Let Us Now Praise San Francisco

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Marx & Zavattero

When James Agee and Walker Evans chronicled the plight of sharecroppers in the Depression-plagued South, their epic prose and images eventually... 

Creativity Explored presents <em>INsects INsectos</em>

Art

INsects INsectos

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Creativity Explored

From Them! to Mothra, Cold War movie audiences frequently endured attacks from gigantic insects. And while INsects INsectos — the new... 

<em>What You Will</em> feat. Roger Rees

Theatre

What You Will

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ American Conservatory Theater

Roger Rees has a decidedly multifaceted career. Stateside, he's best known for slapstick roles like the snooty-yet-sexy Robin Colcord on Cheers,... 

<em>Eighteen Months: Taking the Pulse of Bay Area Photography</em>

Art: Photography

Eighteen Months: Taking the Pulse of Bay Area Photography

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ City Hall

As this juried show of 22 Bay Area photographers proves, the local scene nurtures a continuous stream of fresh talent working... 

Holly Williams and Justin Gabbard

Art

Holly Williams and Justin Gabbard

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Park Life

Holly Williams' Los Angeles shimmers with the sequined lights of movie marquees and deco hotels, but the burnished glow masks a... 

Angel of Fire:  Kahlo, Mexico, and Film

Film

Angel of Fire

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ SFMOMA

Drawing on Mexico's rich cinematic history, the Angel of Fire film series — an accompainment to SFMoMA's blockbuster Frida Kahlo exhibit... 

Trevor Paglen: <em>The Other Night Sky</em>

Art: Photography

Trevor Paglen

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Berkeley Art Museum

Trevor Paglen photographs what we can't see — and what the government doesn't want us to see. Using a battery of... 

Amy Stein: <em>New American Fables</em>

Art: Photography

New American Fables

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Robert Koch Gallery

Amy Stein's twisted fables are a far cry from anything Aesop ever wrote. Unlike the tales of ancient storybooks, Stein's photographic... 

<em>1000 Journals</em>

Film: Documentary

1000 Journals

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Roxie Theater

About eight years ago, a San Francisco artist named Someguy labeled 1,000 blank notebooks with instructions: add a drawing, story, confession,... 

<em>You're Just No Fun Anymore: The Montage Art of Winston Smith</em>

Art

The Montage Art of Winston Smith

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Glama-Rama Salon

Winston Smith's dense, darkly playful collages are Boschian panoramas of our consumer society. Smith wasn't the first punk to pick up... 

<em>A Complicated Dominion: Nature and New Political Narratives</em>

Art

A Complicated Dominion

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery

When 19th-century wildlife artist John James Audubon cataloged the birds of North America, he painted the creatures in pristine environments. With... 

MOVE>SOUND: Soundwave>Series 3

Festival: Performing Arts

MOVE>SOUND

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Various locations

Every two years, the Soundwave>Series drops two months of interdisciplinary, multimedia arts programming on the eyes and ears of San Francisco.... 

Clare Haggarty and Andrew Tosiello: <em>Little Tree Gallery Social Club</em>

Art

Clare Haggarty and Andrew Tosiello

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Little Tree Gallery

Anyone who caught CCA's last MFA show knows that Andrew Tosiello's work — in particular, his texts that recast the artist-buyer... 

San Francisco International Festival of Short Films

Film: Shorts

SF International Festival of Short Films

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Various locations

Short programs often get the short end of the stick at film festivals, where the feature-length fare tends to attract the... 

Lauren DiCioccio and Aliza Lelah

Art

Lauren DiCioccio and Aliza Lelah

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Jack Fischer Gallery

Lauren DiCioccio and Aliza Lelah stitch up sublime social commentary. DiCioccio stretches muslin over copies of the New York Times and... 

<em>Birth of the Cool: California Art, Design and Culture at Mid-century</em>

Special Event

Birth of the Cool

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Oakland Museum of California

Fashion designer Christian Lacroix put it most directly: "...the history of cool in America is the history of African-American culture." That... 

<em>Hum</em>

Art

Hum

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Project Artaud Theater

The drone moves across a remarkable spread of human activity, from religious chanting and doom metal to the whir of white... 

<em>Women Impressionists: Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, Eva Gonzal</em>&egrave;s<em>, Marie Bracquemond</em>

Art

Women Impressionists

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ The Legion of Honor Museum

Impressionism has more than its fair share of great names: Monet, Degas, Renoir, Manet, and the list goes on. Less often... 

<em>Alan B. Stone and the Senses of Place</em>

Art: Photography

Alan B. Stone and the Senses of Place

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ SF Camerawork

Alan B. Stone's crisp black-and-white photography tells two tales of Montreal. One concerns the changes Stone's hometown underwent during mayor Jean... 

<em>The Wackness</em>

Film

The Wackness

Wednesday 8/ 6 @ Various locations

The Wackness is the sort of movie whose most redeeming qualities are least likely to be advertised in its trailers. About...