Things I Learned in San Francisco When I Wasn't Eating

At SFMOA: that Mark Bradford's early works on and with paper, and Agnes Martin's famous grid paintings are formally quite similar--and equally sublime in terms of their effect on the viewer.

At the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts: that Depeche Mode must have the most obsessively devoted (and culturally diverse) fan base of any synth-pop band from the 1980s; that football fans in Brazil take their sport very seriously; and that there were (and are) at least two audiences for the Arab Spring (live and mediated), neither of which is necessarily very emancipated.

At the DeYoung Museum: that Jean-Paul Gaulthier (who dressed Depeche Mode in several of their videos) designed his first corset and bustier ensemble not for Madonna, but for his childhood teddy bear--and that troubling the boundaries between animal and human is as important to him in terms of his overall aesthetic as overturning conventional notions of masculine and feminine.

At the Berkeley Rep: that high concept and low tech can combine beautifully to tell a story in words, song, and movement on stage; that no one does romantic tragedy better (or blacker) than the Russians; and that Mischa Baryshnikov really does have an extraordinarily charismatic performative presence, turning the simple act of shaving into something to make anyone swoon.

At the War Memorial Opera House: that Marius Petipa's Don Quixote, and not George Balanchine's, is the version that has entered into most contemporary ballet companies' repertoires, including San Francisco's, and that its story and choreography owe much to the traditions of commedia.

In Union Square: that Anna Halprin is still living (at 91), and still leading her massive group planetary dances, this one to close out the latest incarnation of the Bay Area Dance Week (which just happened to coincide with our trip).

In the San Francisco Chronicle: that Judy Davis, in town to receive a special award for her career in movies from the San Francisco Film Festival, held out for the longest time against David Lean's desire for her to wear mascara during the shooting of A Passage to India, only acceding when he told her that Terrence Howard had in Brief Encounter.

P.

Audiences

An intriguing article in the Globe yesterday by Kate Taylor re 21st-century, digitally-oriented audiences and the live performing arts, and what steps some artists/companies are taking to deal with patrons who just can't unplug for two-plus hours.

It will be interesting to see if some of what Taylor had to say can be put into productive dialogue with a show at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco called The Audience as Subject that Richard and I are hoping to get to when we're in that wonderful city next week. Matthew Akers' film documenting Marina Abramović's one-on-one audience encounters at MOMA a few years ago (The Artist is Present) is also screening at SFMOMA while we're there. But I think I'll wait to catch the film when it plays her in Vancouver at DOXA on May 9th (the day after my panel discussion following the Vito screening). However, Richard and I will definitely be in the audience for the Berkeley Rep show In Paris, starring none other than Mikhail Baryshnikov! Not every day you get to cross something like that off your live performance bucket list. And I promise there will be no tweeting or texting from me while MB is on stage.

But first there's my very own audience to survive on Monday night at the Solo Flights event on Granville Island. The monologue's in as good a shape as it's going to be at this point--thanks mostly to Dave and Kerry. If I can get through the evening without throwing up, I'll be happy.

P.