Saturday, October 25, 2003

Brunch with Travis at Baghdad Cafe: Western omelette and diet Coke for Travis, pancakes and coffee for Patrick, breakfast croissant special and orange juice for me. After brunch, we all went to the Asian Art Museum. Just before the museum, we happened upon the start of an anti-war protest marching up Market Street. Somehow none of us had heard about this one. We watched for a bit and it seemed quite large to me. The current exhibit at the Asian Art Museum focuses on contemporary Korean art. It's called Leaning Forward, Looking Back: Eight Contemporary Artists from Korea. My favorite piece in it is an installation that is difficult to describe. Water drips onto 2 different glass plates from a few inches above while cameras mounted above project the result onto the wall about 8 or 10 feet in diameter. Somehow a heated plate is part of the mechanics, so as the water drips you can hear the plop plop and—occasionally, if the heated plate is involved—a corresponding ssssizzle. The water droplets that remain on the glass combine and separate repeatedly—it's very meditative and seducing to experience. After a short time, a flood of water is released and a rubber wiper is drawn across the glass by a motor. If you wait long enough, you get a surprise. (I won't spoil it by saying what it is.) The installation intends for the changing water to reflect the constant change of the Korean landscape—both physical and political. Water is a very appropriate analogy because Korea is surrounded on 3 sides by water. This piece is a magical delight for the eyes, the ears, as well as the brain. Patrick particularly liked that one, too, as well as the mirrored, Rorschach-like photographs of Korean pagodas printed onto handmade paper. In Samsung Hall the museum had tables set up where you could try your hand at Asian calligraphy—fun! We didn't realize until we got home that we missed the Dogs In The Pit outside exhibit. To reach it, you must go through the cafe and walk along the terrace to the back of the museum. It wasn't very clear from the inside exhibit in the North Court how to get to the related outside exhibit. The only place it was marked was on the back of Dogs In The Pit brochure. If we return before January 11, we'll have to check it out. After the museum, we went to the Castro, chatted with Jesse at All American Boy, and got ice cream at Ben and Jerry's: coffee ice cream for me, chocolate brownie mix for Travis, and oatmeal cookie chunk for Patrick. It was a very hot day today. After ice cream we went home and Patrick started dinner while Travis and I goofed off on the computer. Travis brought us a bottle of 2001 Coppola Merlot—thanks, Travis! Dinner: deep-fried crab claw wontons, deep-fried pork wontons, three-animals chow mein (shrimp, crab, chicken), steamed egg cream buns, oolong tea.