Author Archives: Larissa Archer

SF Ballet’s “Onegin”, Zyzzyva

Often, the thing we love about the work of a great author is the ability to describe a moment, an emotion, some nuance of experience, in such a way that it is immediately recognizable to us, however foreign to our … Continue reading

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Joan Baez at Yoshi’s, Zyzzyva

As diverse as the music performed in concerts is, so are the appearances of the audiences. James Mollison documented a spectrum of what he calls the “tribes” of attendees in his photography project and book The Disciples, a rough census of personae … Continue reading

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This is fun.

Did you know that Russians have been in California longer than San Francisco has been a city? In 1812, the tsarist government (which didn’t have much going on that year) chartered Fort Ross in what is now Sonoma County, to control exploration, trade, … Continue reading

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The Edwardian Ball got Balmy on the Crumpet, Yo. SF Weekly

San Franciscans are serious about partying. We’ve been to a lot of fancy dress events, and a lot of events that weren’t “fancy dress” per se, but which were treated as such, apparently just for kicks. But the Vau de … Continue reading

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I’m going to this tomorrow. Are you?

So you want to “get fit.”  But prolonged periods of training are dangerous; you eventually find yourself sporting a Borat leotard and kissing your own biceps in the mirror. When you’re finally sick of post-workout Jamba Juice and hating the … Continue reading

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Paul Madonna’s Everything is its Own Reward, Art Practical

In 1955, the French theorist, writer, and filmmaker Guy Debord defined the term psychogeography as “the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals.”1 The art that charges … Continue reading

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Francesca Woodman at SFMOMA, Huffington Post

There are things in that paper which nobody knows but me, or ever will. Behind that outside pattern the dim shapes get clearer every day. It is always the same shape, only very numerous. And it is like a woman … Continue reading

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Carte Blanche Gallery and Bookshop

I discovered a lovely gallery/bookshop in the Mission the other day. Carte Blanche features the work of twelve international emerging artists, curated by Parisian transplant Gwen Lafage. Prints are for sale framed or unframed, and there is a small but … Continue reading

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Masters of Venice at the De Young, Art Practical

Masters of Venice: Renaissance Painters of Passion and Power, composed of work on loan from Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum, provides a small but potent display of both the flights of inspiration and technical advancements that made fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Venice an … Continue reading

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some thoughts on OWS art

I’m late to this party, obviously, but I’ve enjoyed viewing the art inspired by Occupy Wall Street, and find a lot of it beautiful, provocative, and inspiring, an ideal combination for what is, forgive the now-derogatory term, propaganda. Some images … Continue reading

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