Silicon Valley Photography in SPUR & ZERO1 Exhibit

When someone says "Silicon Valley", what images, concepts, or names come to mind? 

Many people immediately start to rattle off the tech giants; Google, Yahoo, Apple... well you know, all of them. Technology! Cell phones! Semiconductors! 

But to some of us - it means your favorite taqueria, downtown festivals, movies in the park, or some of the many people that make up the South Bay. 

In partnership with Hipstamatic and ZERO1, SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research) put together an exhibit of Bay Area photographer's interpretation of the theme:

 A Peek Behind Silicon Valley's Digital Veil

I want to share my excitement, that -- I was part of the exhibit! I saw the call for submissions on Facebook awhile back and thought I'd go for it. So I put together some of my favorite photos I've taken here in the San Jose area. In the shots below, you might spy the Silicon Valley Roller Girls, the Alviso Marina, a scene from SubZero, and the Valet building next to the San Jose Stage Company. I really wanted to represent as much as I could of the San Jose area.

Posing with my photos. First time on exhibit!

My work is nothing compared to the other photographers featured at the event. It was an honor to be included with them. 

The exhibition photographers (and the theme of their work) are:

• Michele Guieu - a "geek tour" of Silicon Valley, from the Hewlett Packard garage to the Google Campus to the Apple Store
• Daniel Garcia - "Behind Everything is a Person", the talented people of San Jose that are changing the culture of Silicon Valley in less traditional ways
• Thomas Rogers - glimpses and snippets of Menlo Park, a focus on things that people wouldn't normally see in passing
• Barbara Boissevain - My Backyard to highlight environmental issues, with aerial shots of ponds along the bay's edge and mining in the South Bay
• Michelle Oblena - "Valley of Stomach's Delight", shots of the diversity of restaurant owners in the Santa Clara Valley
• Alex Chan - shots of Japantown performers, local painters and Color Me Rad in San Jose
• Halie Kampman - video footage of the subtle connections between the areas of San Jose, Los Gatos, Sunnyvale and Palo Alto

Here are some photos from the opening night:

Daniel Garcia of CONTENT Magazine

The exhibit is currently running up in San Francisco at the SPUR Gallery until October 20th. There has been some talk that a photo from each of the photographers will be featured in the windows of the retail establishments under the SPUR San Jose office (on Santa Clara Street) but I haven't gotten confirmation just yet. (I also haven't been downtown in the last week to check it out first hand.)

So you have a couple of weeks to jump on BART and head up to the SPUR gallery and check out the exhibition! 

A Peek Behind Silicon Valley's Digital Veil

September 19 - October 19

SPUR Urban Center Gallery
654 Mission Street,
San Francisco, CA 94105-4015

Downtown "Staycation"

I had a little Downtown "Staycation" over the weekend and thought it might be neat to share.

Friday

The Zero1 Street Festival started at 6pm and as always it featured all sorts of off the wall exhibits throughout SoFA like a silent rave and an interactive pipe-music-thingy. My wife and I were pretty impressed with the LED webbing they hung past William Street and I hope they keep it up year-round. The Zero1 Garage was definitely a highlight and will be open all the way up until December. Great addition to SoFA and worth checking out.

We had a snack at one of the food trucks, enjoyed some beers at the Gordon Biersch Beer Garden, then hit up Tanq with friends for dinner and drinks.

Then we did a second round at the festival and made it to the new Parque de los Pobladores, which turned out really well! It seems much, much larger and even hosted one of the music stages and a bright pink carpeted iLounge.

Some requests for the next biennial: participation from more galleries (Anno Domini, Higher Fire, SLG, etc.) and more food trucks.

After midnight, we all headed to Singlebarrel for some cocktails and stayed there until closing. After that we said goodbye to our friends and leisurely walked to the Four Points for the night, no need to deal with a car when you're staycationing Downtown.

Saturday

Woke up late, grabbed lunch at Mosaic which has reinvented itself as an Asian Fusion restaurant. The menu is definitely better than what it was before, still could use a little work. We then went for a really long walk Downtown.

Swung by the San Jose Museum of Art, check out all of the new exhibits including one specifically for Zero1. Then we went to Ross for a bit to look for some clothes (you can buy clothes Downtown!).

I was hoping to go to Original Gravity Public House since they were having their belated Grand Opening party, but there were so many people there we didn't end up getting anything.

We then walked down Paseo de San Antonio to find that San Jose's newest wine bar--"Wyne"--is coming along and looks like it is just a month or so away from opening. At this point it is Saturday mid afternoon and La Lune Sucre and Philz are both completely packed. This is turning into a pretty active district.

Next stop is Cafe Bonne Terre, which used to be Whipps. They have all the same menu items with the addition of crepes, both savory and sweet. My wife and I shared some gelato and a nutella/banana crepe.

Then we took another long walk. There are plenty of people on the streets including a surprising amount of families. Two or three years ago, you wouldn't really see this Downtown. I think the new high rise condos/apartments are really helping to change the dynamic.

Later that day, a few friends from SF were in town. I decided to gamble and take them to a restaurant I haven't been to yet, but was on my high-priority to check out list: Back A Yard. Wow, just wow. The food blew us away. The Jamaican jerk combo had some of the most flavorful chicken I've ever had, the beans/rice were amazing, the plantains were delicious, and the corn festival which is some sort of corn fritter thing was completely addicting. The 4.5 Yelp rating is definitely justified on this one.

After that we headed over to the San Pedro Square Market, and I gave them a thorough tour. Last time I took them here only Vino Vino and Pizza Boca Luppo were open. What a difference a year makes. Lots of people, live music in 3 different areas, tons of great food (which we could smell but were too stuffed to try)... it showed really well and they were impressed. "San Jose has come a long way" and "I may come here more often now" were some of their comments. We hung out for a while and then ended with some Treatbot. That's pretty much a wrap for the night.

Conclusion

When people ask "what's there to do Downtown?" the answer is a whole lot. Even just walking around on a sunny day and going to a bunch of random places was good times. I hope in the future more people that don't live Downtown will be willing to think of it as a destination and make a day (or two) out of going there.

zero1 2012

An art & technology fusion isn’t complete without a giant luchador head.  It was pretty awesome seeing it while we went to get fried chicken & beer.

There’s dancing in the streets.  Without music.  Well, music we can’t hear as they wore headphones.

There are some cool robotic installations on the street from plotting earthquakes (not the crazy kind that want to wipe out humanity, Bazinga!) to these little guys on the street that were rocking themselves.

 
A tiny fun house like maze, made out of reflective space fabric, minus the killer klowns from space .

Some of the coolest stuff was in the zero1 garage where we saw a stupendously mesmerizing piece where the motors vibrated strings with loops that bounced back & forth.  The loops moved in such a manner that it seemed to pass through each other.

Finally, we hung out at the last stage listening to electronica music & where they had a giant pink gym like cushiony thingy for people to sit on or to lie down on, as the shag carpeting was quite nice.

Anyways, exhibits will continue to run for a while so drop by their site & check out the schedule.  Maybe we'll see you there.

[e]MERGE ZER01 Street Festival Today!!!

The largest ZER01 event is going on tonight in SoFA! You can look forward to nonstop entertainment, art, and San Jose culture from 6pm to midnight. If there was ever a day to grab all your friends and show them what Downtown could be like, this is it. All of the information is below and hope to see all of you there!




Join us in re-imagining San Jose’s SoFA District to look and feel how people imagine Silicon Valley to be. (e)MERGE is the ZERO1 Biennial street festival featuring outdoor projects by over 100 emerging artists whose innovative and experimental works engage with a range of exciting new technologies.

(e)MERGE Street Festival:
Friday September 14, 2012 from 6pm-Midnight
and Saturday September 15th from 11am-6pm
SoFA district in downtown San Jose
(on South First Street between San Carlos & Reed Streets)
Free Open to the public

FRIDAY SEPT 14th 
12:00pm – Nick Lally's 1st bike tour of Silicon Valley leaves from Menlo Park Caltrain Station

6:45pm – Nick Lally's celebratory bicycle tour arrives in SoFA

6:50pm - Mike Lai's Sonic Kung Fu 2 begins on the street

7:00pm – Three Bodies Performance #1, 500 block, at MACLA Theater

7:15pm - UC Berkeley's Ashley Ferro-Murray & Erin Johnson perform Tulle/Tool in front of the San Jose Stage Company

7:50pm - Mike Lai's Sonic Kung Fu 2 performance begins on the Music Stage at Gore Park

 8:00pm – Amy Alexander & Annina Rust's Discotrope: The Secret Nightlife of Solar Cells Set #1, junction of S. 1st Street & San Salvador

8:00pm – Three Bodies performance #2, 500 block at MACLA Theater

8:30pm – Micha Cardenas, Karen Anzoategui, Bianca Molina & Allison Wyper perform Local Autonomy Networks/Autonets, 400 block throughout S. 1st Street

9:00pm – Three Bodies performance #3, 500 block at MACLA Theater

9:15pm – Eve Warnock, Colin McDonald & Tina Matthews perform Denizen, from 300 S. 1st Street

9:30pm – Amy Alexander & Annina Rust SolarDisco 2nd set, intersection of S. 1st St. & San Carlos St.

10:00pm – Three Bodies performance #4, 500 block at MACLA Theater

10:15pm – UC Berkeley's Ashley Ferro-Murray and Erin Johnson performance #2, S. 1st Street in front of San Jose Stage Company

11:00pm – UCSD Disco 3nd set, junction of S. 1st Street & San Salvador

LIVE MUSIC SCHEDULE:
6:45pm April Chase http://www.facebook.com/aprilchasemusic

8:00pm French Cassettes http://frenchcassettes.bandcamp.com/

9:00pm The Blank Tapes http://www.theblanktapes.com/

10:00pm Seventeen Evergreen http://www.seventeenevergreen.com/

SATURDAY SEPT 15th
11:00am – 2nd bike tour of Silicon Valley with artist Nick Lally at his installation space at (e)MERGE

2:30pm – Slow Mail Mail Call at (e)MERGE Performance (Horses arrive at 2pm)

Learn More about the (e)MERGE Artists!

Also open late! Come see Biennial art exhibitions at the ZERO1 Garage (439 S. 1st Street) plus the Tech Museum,  ICA, MACLA, San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, WORKS/San Jose and more!

ZER01 is Here!

Tonight officially kicks off ZER01 and you won't want to miss it! To see the full list of events, check out the events calendar over here. The largest event by far is going to be the street festival in SoFA tomorrow. It's going to be like a South First Friday injected with a steroid cannon and will no doubt be one of the best Downtown events of 2012!

New Interactive Art at The Tech!

The Tech is about to get a new interactive exhibit courtesy of Zero1 and they are doing a special opening with the artists. To learn more, just keep reading or click here.

---

Be part of our opening of the new art installation Resolution
A newly commissioned work by Zigelbaum + Coelho
Part of the Zero1 2012 Biennial Program

Wednesday, September 12, 2012
General Reception, beverages and hors d'oeuvres: 7:00 - 7:30 p.m.
No host bar
Artists' Talk: 7:30 - 8:30 p.m.
$10.00 / $5.00 for members.
Buy tickets now.

Join contemporary art duo Zigelbaum + Coelho for the opening of Resolution, their newly commissioned work at The Tech Museum. The artists will introduce this new highly interactive and social piece with a talk describing the state of the art in materials and practices in tangible media. Learn how emerging forms of "computational materials" will allow visitors to explore, play, and create dynamic light compositions from the piece's 200 magnetic, physical pixels.

Artists' Talk:
Zigelbaum + Coelho
"Computational Materials"
A new class of objects has emerged — viscerally interactive and embedded with computational tools. As computers permeate whole new ecologies of connected physical objects, the language of interaction now finds itself entirely intertwined with tangible things.

In this presentation, polymath art duo Zigelbaum + Coelho will describe their approach to the physicality of computation. Discover how new modes of interaction are enabling the human body to become an integral part of the computation and communication process. Learn how materials with embedded computing are permeating human interaction — at micro and macro levels — and how this is reshaping the art, design, and technology trichotomy.

From the Artists:
In this world one can program computers to display patterns of light by using a series of tools to modify the electrical flow across doped silicon and one can program copper to display a green patina by applying acetic acid and a healthy dose of waiting around. Both of these programmatic behaviors have components that could be considered digital or analog. The polarized light seeping through the liquid crystal gateways enabling our ubiquitous display surfaces is as analog as any glimmer of sun off a car hood and the chemical mechanism of verdigris, some discrete changes of electron configuration across orbitals during oxidization, is as digital as the pits and valleys encoding music on the active surface of the 1986 compact disc pressing of Kraftwerk’s Computerwelt.

We look forward to discussing our practice and the debut of our new permanent piece for The Tech Museum and Zero1: Resolution.

For more event information please email info@thetech.org or call (408) 294-8324.

The Tech Silicon Valley Innovation Gallery
The Tech Museum
201 South Market Street
San Jose, CA 95113

Slow Mail

More information on the Zero1 events is trickling out and this one seems particularly interesting. The project is called Slow Mail and it's a mix of the western pre-railroad era and the early days of the internet. It's essentially a relay of horses and riders that are going to deliver physical letters between Menlo Park and Los Angeles, with the key stop being in Downtown San Jose. They are doing a pilot ride on September 12th between Menlo Park and San Jose, and letters will be distributed as part of the "Mail Call" Zero1 event.

Anyone can send a letter for the pilot ride through the sslow.net, and pick up the letters at the San Jose Mail Call Event. Letters can be submitted online through tomorrow and in-person at the send off event at the Stanford Red Bard, 9am on Sep 12th.

San Jose Taiko shares ‘playdate’ process for Rhythm Spirit 2012 Concerts

San José, CA --- June 18, 2012 --- San Jose Taiko draws inspiration from the digitally-driven Silicon Valley for its “Rhythm Spirit 2012” production September 21 and 22. The company will be at an exciting new venue this year: the School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza. SJT will also partner with the Zero1 Festival to explore the art form of taiko through the medium of digital expression. The production can already be enjoyed by audiences, as SJT shares the process of merging the traditional with the technological. 

“We hosted a number of ‘playdates’ with specialists in various technological and scientific fields with the intent of bringing the audience along on this journey.  The playdates are meant to be freeform idea jam sessions, where we explore possibilities without fear of failure or worrying about whether it would fit into a typical San Jose Taiko production,” explains Artistic Director Franco Imperial.

“We’ve tried to use true play as a way to create and explore.  From the ideas generated at these sessions, we will choose a few that resonate with us and will continue to develop them.  CreaTV and 1stACT will help us document these sessions, which will be shared with our audiences through social media and during our September concerts.  By the time any audience member steps into the theater in September, they will have an idea of what it took to create a particular piece.  We feel the entire audience experience will be enhanced because of this.”

To date, playdate topics have included the sonification of seismic data and use of the Xbox360 Kinect Sensor.  Idea partners range from PhDs from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) in Madison, Wisconsin to the software hacking community in San Francisco.

Executive Director Wisa Uemura adds, “Zero1 has been an amazing thought-partner in the early stages of this concept.  This year, we’ll be presenting our concert program differently than we have in the past – we will be speaking to the process and actually allowing audience members to come onstage to experience the technology.  Our hope is to provide a more interactive and engaging experience.”

There are three performances of Rhythm Spirit 2012: Friday, September 21 at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday, September 22 at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. All shows will be held at the School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza, 1700 Alum Rock Avenue, San Jose, CA 95116.

Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for students and seniors if purchased in advance ($30/$25 at the door).  All seats are reserved, and group rates are available. Ticket information is available by visiting www.taiko.org or by calling 408-293-9344.

# # #

About San Jose Taiko:

San Jose Taiko, with a deep respect of cultural traditions and a commitment to artistic excellence, is dedicated to the advancement of the taiko art form through the development of its world-class Performing Ensemble and the San Jose Taiko Conservatory. Located in the heart of Japantown of San Jose, the company performs throughout the Bay Area, the United States and abroad.

Since 1973, San Jose Taiko (SJT) has integrated this historical Japanese art form with other world rhythms. All compositions performed by SJT are written or arranged by members of the group. Composing, choreographing, designing and producing costumes, and handcrafting of the drums are part of the holistic process in which all members participate. Through this singleness of mind and spirit, harmony is achieved and the music rings with unity and clarity.

Enrich the human spirit. Connect people beyond cultural and demographic boundaries.
San Jose Taiko, 565 North 5th Street, San Jose, CA 95112    408 293 9344      taiko.org

San Jose Underground Food Market Tomorrow!

Chowhound got the scoop on all of the food vendors coming to SoFA tomorrow as part of Zer01's street fair:

Fri 9/17/10 San Jose Underground Market!

We're getting a SJ Underground Market in conjunction with AbsoluteZER0 Street Festival - 2010 01SJ Biennial. I've tried Kitchen Sidecar which makes a good banh mi burger. What else should I try?

Vendor list for this Fridays Underground Market in San Jose below.

Where: S 1st st between San Carlos and Reed St. , San Jose

When: Friday, Sept 17th, from 5pm-midnight

Allison Hobson
Golden Roots Catering
Culture of Change
Fresh Bite Baking
Bakesale Fruit Crisps
Bread Project
Good Foods Catering
Venga Paella
CoCoTutti
Fat Alley Foods
Jeannie’s Jam’s
Sweet Francisco
Luscious Liquids
Kitchen Sidecar
Kitty’s Kreations
Zukra Bakery
Thrive Holistic
JERK. (Matterson’s Authentic Jamaican Cuisine)
SF Delicious Catering
Saucy Dumplings
A Humble Plate
California Cane & Fruit Co.
Dr. Steve’s Magic
Socola Chocolatier
Hella Vegan Eats
Mali Num Num Treats
Angela’s Blackbottom cakes
Empenada de mi pueblo
HEARTBAKER
Good Foods Catering
Raw Daddy Foods ‘ jimmi jam’
Suite Foods
Cocoa Blossom Chocolaterie
Sajen Foods
Jaya
Farm Curious
Rokas Armonas
Nosh This
Tamale Nation
Sweet Lauren
Earth Alchemy Chocolate

01SJ: Play Me I'm Yours

This is probably my favorite 01 exhibit so far. 20 decorated piano's have been placed across San Jose, most of them Downtown. Anyone can walk up to them and just start playing. A couple weeks ago I was walking down Paseo de San Antonio and heard some jazzy piano music accompanied by singing. It really seemed to add so much life downtown, I couldn't wait to find out where the music was coming from. At first, I thought it was a hired professional, but as I got closer I discovered just a normal guy playing his heart out. There wasn't even a crowd he was playing for, he was just playing because it was clearly something he loved to do.

A few other times, I actually did find crowds of people watching and listing to impromptu street artists. There always seemed to be something interesting going on around the pianos. This is one 01 project that I wish would become permanent!  Photos from the Play me I'm Yours website below:

2010 01SJ Biennial Promo

ZER01 is coming very soon and represents the art forms that will differentiate San Jose's art scene from other cosmopolitan cities across the world. We're talking about art that's innovative, dynamic, interactive, eclectic, thought-provoking, and fun. Much more info to come, but let's start with the teaser video below: