Saturday, March 8, 2003
Errands in the Castro: bought orchid mix and bark. Borrowed books at the Eureka Valley branch of the public library: Art for Dummies for me, Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai for Patrick. Sushi for dinner at Warakabune with Amy, David, and Patrick. Went to Audium (415-771-1616, 1616 Bush St) with Patrick. Audium is self-described by its composer and performer Stan Shaff as "a theatre of sound-sculptured space." It's a large room with lots of speakers in different parts of the room. The performance is done entirely in the dark—visitors are seated in chairs positioned in concentric circles. I found it interesting because it combines art and science in unique ways. However, it was also disappointing because the performance wasn't particularly beautiful to me. Camper English (whose delightully sin-ical writings I am somewhat fonda) wrote a particularly scathing review of Audium. Yes, you can laugh at the lack of modern coffee facilities or the mid-20th-century powdered Borax soap in the restroom, but I would recommend a visit if only because there really isn't anything else quite like it. On the way home a painter saw me carrying the Art for Dummies book and chatted with me on the bus. "I'm no dummy," he said.