Oakland Art Murmuring etc
the night before the monthly oakland art murmur I and another ethsix* editor happened up on a performance, a perforation of space, human wall graffiti in the form of dance-
in the narrow alley way just west of mission on 24th three women flew and sun through the air above the head of rightfully wowed crowds
sky dance, on twenty-fourth near mission
this group is called sky dance and though yes that is what it is dancing beyond gravity it still does not seem to capture the absolute awe that this inspires- it is one of those wonderfully jarring moments of city life, where culture and art interrupt your everyday and remind you why you pay the high rents to ride on crowded trains and wait in line with busy grumpy people to get coffee and on- a little bit of the sublime in the everyday- they will be performing all month but I would recommend not looking at the schedule and just frequenting the corner so you may be as taken aback as I was that evening with the random surprise of it all- yay dance mission
Oakland hosts a first friday event monthly to showcase the gallery scene that has sprouted out like a spore circle around the funky easy arty mama buzz café. this event is EARLY- like before 9pm and for us city folk it can be a challenge to get our work weary selves over east on a Friday but boy is it worth it! Especially this week because above and beyond a couple very impressive pieces of art, many beer swillin hipsters in good cheer and the live hip hop and girl scout booth there was the PARTY BUS, party bus party bus party bus yeah! I had not seen this converted sam trans unit since cinco de mayo when there were a number of bands that played inside off 17th street and Bryant- the true magic of the party bus is the backboard affixed to the back- I have a deep affinity for backboards in awkward places, as some of you may have experienced the 924 gilman street back board that was quickly in use following the last band on any given night. Wedged high in the rafters and flanked by a sad army of deflated worn couches this backboard was not regulation by any means but among my fondest memories of that good old punk club and like the party bus hoop it was impossible to not hit innocent by standers/get them in the game- and had somewhat the same ecstatic effect of the sky dancers on my sublime view of the city-
But back to the murmur- there was a solid group show at mama buzz(see link for details)- one artist had a really compelling peice- the composition and texture drew me in at length- here it is:
gallery ego park took the cake for the evening with a charged and varied exhibition including minature files that needed to be looked at with a magnifying glass, an epic and disturbing wall portrait of a wailing woman over a man in a body bag- definitely worth dropping by
question of the decade for the art murmur: how to get your event to be more integrated to the community? open for comments
