OPEN SPACE

………………………………. "Only dull and powerless artists defend their art by reference to sincerity" —Kazimir Malevich……………………………………..

Dear reader, this is Tammy.

Last night, as part of the ongoing exhibition The Art of Participation, SFMOMA hosted the first in the series of the Tom Marioni salons: The Act of Drinking Beer with Friends Is the Highest Form of Art. Bringing this simple act into a museum setting required the building of a bar (which I am petitioning to keep well-stocked beyond the show) in the Koret Center, ordering twelve cases of Pacifico beer from the local Bevmo, the completion of many pink and green logistics forms, the administration of drink tickets, and the acquiring of a bartender for each night. Last night’s barkeep was Curator of Media Arts, Rudolf Frieling. It was a special occasion, as it is the only time I’ve ever ordered a beer from my boss.

The place filled up quickly with friends and we all drank (with gusto). We were doing it! We were creating art and I could feel it: tiny carbonated bubbles and a general loosening of the seams. The game of quarters was not attempted, but the idea was bandied about. Tom Marioni walked to the podium and gave his address. He was loaded–with jokes. And read with a slight impish nature. A poet appeared on the scene. He had a sign that read “Poems for Sale.” I handed him a dollar. He asked, “What would you like a poem about?” I thought and said “A dark window.” He licked his lips, took a glug from the bottle and began typing on his little typewriter. He finished and handed me a slip of paper with my poem on it. It read:

mac
book
night
dot com
aka wall

Well worth every cent!

The next salon will be Thursday, November 20th at 5pm. Anne Colvin is bartending, Bill Morrison is the guest reader. I hope you can make it.

Photo: Jessica Whiteside

Jessica’s Flickr report on the second Kahlo opening.

I attended the Frida Kahlo opening last night and took Andrew McKinley as my chaperone. Andrew, if you don’t know, is the charismatic owner of Adobe Books. He’s also a notorious flirt. Since I was horribly underdressed, my chaperone offered up a vintage, silk shirt that he found in the bottom of a box of books that had probably been molding in his car since 1988. It smelled ok, so I put it on, draping it over my usual patchwork clown look. We made a bee line to the bar. Lucky for us Mendillo was ordering just as we arrived and ordered up some whiskies. We headed toward the food: ceviche in tiny plastic cups, far too small for the giant tri-colored corn chips that were meant for dipping. I broke the chips into smaller pieces while balancing my drink on my elbow. The waiter brought out gazpacho. And I started for it, but then stopped. There was something in the news lately, about tomatoes. Was it a good or bad mention…I couldn’t recall the hard story. Something about cancer I think. They cure cancer! Cause cancer? High in vitamins? Salmonella? E-coli? Lock jaw? I stepped away from the gazpacho. Photographers snapped pictures of the guy from coat check-dressed in Frida drag. He looked quite good, but I thought my natural ‘stache and eye brows made me a more subtle dead ringer. Whatever! I spotted Dominic, empty handed. He explained his aversion to free drinks and his preference for paying. I assumed it was a form of masochism having something to do with his recent fascination with Fassbinder and Berlin Aleksanderplotz. I suggested he work through it by tipping the barkeep extravagantly. Suzanne said, for next time, we make a video, where we pose the question: “Have you been upstairs yet to see the show?” I took some really blurry pictures. Thankfully, Jessica Whiteside was there and took some really good ones.

Mary Biggs, SFMOMA school docent, and Ellen Arenson, SFMOMA Docent Council President

This Monday past was the Docent Spring Thing—every year the Education department holds a party in the museum to celebrate and thank the two hundred-plus docents who work so hard year round. The party is a chance for the staff to come out and say hello to and thank the touring footsoldiers of the museum.

The docents are a highly committed, all-volunteer team, and their training program is extensive and ongoing. The newly graduated docent class spent over 200 hours completing their course of study, and even seasoned twenty-year veterans are required to attend regular courses, trainings, and museum events to keep on top of their skills.

The amount of work the docents do is fairly staggering and not always visible in its entire scope to either staff or public: They provide at least four free daily tours every day of the year that the museum is open, plus special-exhibition tours and artist-specific highlight tours on top of that: the public tours alone served nearly twenty THOUSAND visitors in 2007. They also do extensive work with school children from around the Bay Area: more than eight thousand students from grades three to eight, and many hundreds of high school and college students, come to the museum each year as part of docent-led touring programs. For other students who aren’t able to come to the museum, the docents also do outreach programs, talking to and doing in-school projects with another thousand-plus children each year.

My first job at SFMOMA was scheduling the docents, and I know just how hard they work, how much they love and care about art, about SFMOMA, and about what they do. This is just a small word of thanks to the SFMOMA docents. More party pictures are here.