FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS CONTACTS:
Brenda Tucker (415) 703-9548
btucker@cca.edu
Kim Lessard (415) 703-9547
klessard@cca.edu
PUBLIC CONTACT: www.wattis.org
CCA WATTIS INSTITUTE FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS PRESENTS
“How to Build a Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days Later”
November 28, 2006–February 24, 2007
San Francisco, Calif., October 2, 2006—Curated by Will
Bradley, “How to Build a Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days
Later” revolves around contrasting visions of the future put forward in
California in the mid-1970s. The exhibition is on view November 28, 2006–February
24, 2007, in the Logan Galleries on the San Francisco campus of California College
of the Arts. An opening reception will take place on Tuesday, November 28, from
7:30 to 9:00 p.m. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.
“How to Build a Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days Later” takes its name from an 1978 essay with the same title by science fiction author Philip K. Dick, in which he compares the speculative building of worlds by artists and writers to scenarios imagined and constructed by governments, corporations and the mass media:
Inceasingly we are bombarded with pseudo-realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms.… And I have to build them in such a way that they do not fall apart two days later.
In 1974, artist Bonnie Sherk founded the Crossroads Community (The Farm), an experiment in community agriculture and education, which was also a “life-scale environmental and social artwork” underneath the Army Street freeway interchange in San Francisco. Around the same time, NASA researchers, led by Gerard K. O’Neill, were drawing up plans for the U.S. colonization of space. Their proposals were illustrated in 1976 in a series of paintings by artist Rick Guidice.
Works by contemporary artists—shown alongside Sherk’s and Guidice’s original projects—present alternate scenarios, explore the ways in which our physical reality is defined and critique the ideological narratives that attend its construction.
Artists exhibiting include Can Altay, Nate Boyce, Rick Guidice, Shaun O’Dell, Toby Paterson, Eileen Quinlan, Eva Rothschild, Katya Sander, William Scott, Solmaz Shahbazi, Bonnie Sherk and Gitte Villesen.
About the Wattis
Established in 1998, the CCA Wattis Institute serves as a forum for the presentation
and discussion of leading-edge local, national and international contemporary
culture. Through exhibitions, the Capp Street Project residency program, lectures,
symposia, performances and publications in the fields of art, architecture and
design, the Wattis Institute fosters interaction among the students and faculty
of California College of the Arts; art, architecture and design professionals;
and the general public.
About California College of the Arts
Founded in 1907, California College of the Arts is the largest regionally accredited,
independent school of art and design in the western United States. Noted for
the interdisciplinary nature and breadth of its programs, CCA offers studies
in 20 undergraduate and 6 graduate majors in the areas of fine arts, architecture,
design and writing. The college offers bachelor of architecture, bachelor of
arts, bachelor of fine arts, master of architecture, master of arts and master
of fine arts degrees. With campuses in Oakland and San Francisco, CCA currently
enrolls 1,600 full-time students.
CALENDAR EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE
November 28, 2006–February 24, 2007
CCA Wattis Institute Presents
Exhibition: “How to Build a Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two
Days Later”
California College of the Arts, Logan Galleries
1111 Eighth Street, San Francisco
Opening reception: November 28, 7:30–9 p.m.
Hours: Tues. and Thurs., 11 a.m.–7 p.m.; Wed., Fri., Sat., 11 a.m.–6
p.m.;
closed Sun. and Mon.
Cost: Free
Info: (415) 551–9210 or www.wattis.org