Clint Wilson and I went to San Francisco to attend the “Bad Dads II Exhibit”, which is the Wes Anderson themed art show put on by Spoke Art.
Spoke Art had a double opening on Saturday and Sunday of Halloween weekend at their location on Sutter Street. Wes Anderson related costumes were encouraged (and rewarded with a free poster), but not mandatory. The gallery was floor to ceiling artwork with a constant flow of people coming in and out wearing various costumes-Wes Anderson themed and otherwise. There were adorable Fantastic Mr. Foxes, poorly and well done Margots aplenty, a couple dressed as characters from Darjeeling Limited, and even a guy dressed as the yellow submarine from The Life Aquatic.
As you can see from the pictures, a large portion of the artwork was two-dimensional, about three others and myself were the only ones doing three-dimensional work. My favorite three-dimensional piece is the wearable pair of Team Zissou shoes from the Life Aquatic. Those are some sweet kicks. Some of the featured artists in the show: Tim Doyle, Kevin Tong, Rhys Cooper, Audrey Pongracz, Isaac Bidwell, Sandi Calistro, Dave MacDowell, Rich Pellegrino, and Joshua Budich, who designed the flyer for the show.
While we were in San Francisco Clint and I got to go to Japantown (which was basically a giant Sanrio store), Little China, the De Young Museum, the Asian Art Museum (soo many Buddhas!), and the Golden Gate Bridge. We wanted to check out Muir Woods A.K.A. Ewok Village, but we ran out of time. We had dinner a with the curators Ken and Sarah, and artists Gene Guynn and Ashleigh Tucker. One evening we ate at an underground sushi place that kept playing hits by M.J. and another we went to a great bar/restaurant called Jasper’s, which is well known for its awesome service, french fries, and a burger that made me want to weep it was soo good.
The hostel we stayed at was in the heart of Little Saigon, between Japantown and Little China. It was very nice, they had an computer room equipped with Skypeing capabilities, a theater, a kitchen with free breakfast, a room to lock up bikes, and they organized evening group activities…there may have also been a bowling alley there for all I know. It was quite clean and well organized, the Greenbriar of hostels, if you will, minus all the brocade and clashing furniture and curtains.
The only downside was, we stayed at a hostel during Halloween weekend, I got zero sleep. Every night the tenants of the hostel were drunkenly yelling/singing?/chanting monosyllabically- alcohol apparently is the Rosetta Stone people. Every night was like a new rendition of “We Are the World” and no one knew the words or the same language. So that might explain my somewhat exasperated appearance in the group photo. Zero-three hours of sleep a night and walking up and downhill eight hours a day…I was a tired creature at the end, still had a blast though.
Between work and two marionettes to finish for the show, I didn’t have enough time to finish my costume, nor was there room in my suitcase to bring one. It was my first Halloween with no costume! I felt soo adult, and most of you are thinking, “Well Hell’s bells Tessa just buy a pair of fox ears or pop on a red beanie”, but I couldn’t bring myself to have a slapped together costume.
Overall my experience in San Francisco was great! We saw fantastic artwork and made new friends. Before I left Austin everyone told me that I wouldn’t want to come back, but I had to, the rent was too high.
Click below to check out the photography of Shaun Roberts: http://www.shaunroberts.net/project/artist-portraits/
