Shifting Cornerstone and Galleries

After spending a few hours in the morning in the studio, i met a friend to check out "Shifting Cornerstone" a performance installation happening on the corner of 3rd Street and Mission through Sunday August 24th. One of my favorite dance instructors, Amara Tabor-Smith was performing. That particular corner occupied by the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts was the focus of the change that has occurred at that site from it's early form as marshland to coal yards to market place to parking lot to art center. I wasn't sure what to expect, thinking that since Amara is such a wonderful dancer, it was going to be more of a traditional dance piece. But, it wasn't and as advertised, it was a performance installation, conceived and directed by Joanna Haigood. The performers moved amongst us like ghosts from another time and what i really liked about it was that every once in a while, the performer would make eye contact with me, thus bringing me in close to his space, feeling like i moved into a different time with him. I love seeing performances up close and even better when i feel a connection. It was interesting to see people walking through the performance because they became part of the performance.
Afterwards, we headed to the usual galleries on Geary but this was the first time in a long time where i was not inspired by any of the work. Still, it is good to go out there to see what's being done. Because of the Olympics, a few galleries were showcasing Chinese artists. And because looking at art is exhausting work, we needed to refresh ourselves at Samovar Tea Lounge. Ahhhh!