g r a f f i t i

r e a d i n g c o n v e n t i o n s c i t y r e a d e r

i recently participated in julie cloutier's reading conventions, an investigation of the city, through, here, the sidewalk.

invited to inhabit a storefront on busy 16th and valencia and respond as the situation demanded, i opened cabinet drawers, assembled an archive of objects, reorganized books and made a drawing in the shape of the entirety of the windowfront, cleaned. i anticipate more involvement in the future, but in the meanwhile, please read, support and consider reading conventions.

many thanks to julie cloutier; devon, katie, and andrew at the adobe books back room gallery. visit julie at adobe books at 16th between valencia and guerrero, until september 26th.

p e t r a . e n r i q u e z

my grandmother.

SX . c l o s e d

we recently closed our installation with a day long celebration.

with friends, family, and the support of the neighborhood, we enjoyed a month and a half of generous patronage and in return exchanged attentive conversation, historical insight, beer, and a trio of sandwiches on homemade breads: peach jam and almond butter; hummus; and gruyere grilled cheese with onion jam, all made fresh by spirited homecook Erin Klenow.

as time passes, we continue to catalogue our findings, and are currently in the midst of collecting our thoughts on the success of our investigation. please visit the Carville Annex website to view our collection, read our journal, and keep involved with the Sunset District through the Upper Left Ethnography Project's ongoing investigation into portraiture and place.

many thanks again to Alexis, Sarah, and Lana, and the many friends we made along the way, without whom this project would not have been possible.

thanks!

SX .

to advertise our closing this sunday, we got some beautiful grey on grey posters made at levi's workshop: print. endless thanks to hunter, ann marie and taylor for helping us out!

jason munn of the small stakes was busy working on a run of show posters, kids were playing with stamps, girls were printing linoleum cuts, and ideas for menus, neighborhood signs, and other projects were getting worked out, while we stood in the front window with the big machine.

for the full vandercook 32-28 letterpress experience, i urge you to visit the shop in the mission at 17th and valencia — project in hand — and read our brief account on the carville annex blog, july 11th.

SX .

a collaboration between nick sung and erin klenow

 
the sandwich exchange is part of an initiative called the upper left ethnography project, a investigation of san francisco's sunset district; place and portraiture. this quiet neighborhood is home to an interesting history and exciting new ferment — gentrification, young blood, honest care — and the 'upper left' are intent on finding out what it means to people.

what, how + why

our name refers the gallery to the neighborhood's first business — a coffee-saloon called the carville annex. it opened at the turn of the century when there was similar activity in the sunset: 'bohemian' life emerging in a sprawling desert.  it acted just as we hope to: as a community hub.

the sandwich exchange is a site-conditioned situation; its conception was generated by the place and the project generates material from the place. when we opened, four weeks ago, we were all empty shelves; we asked passersby for submissions and now the shelves are full.

using a free exchange of good-will — of food and conversation — our intentions are the same as gordon matta-clark and rirkrit tiravanija's before us: to extend beyond the boundaries of traditional gallery walls and invite the public to reflect on itself and the structure of its surroundings through participation in communal activity.

this is our primary function: to act as a locus for public trajectories; to offer the opportunity of  representation to the breadth of the neighborhood; to meet strangers with whom we share a common place and enable those strangers to meet; to reveal something of the character of the neighborhood by letting the neighborhood reveal itself.

the place draws a portrait of itself.

artifacts

to make this happen, we say hello. one of us sits in the gallery almost every day, people pass by and come in, we have conversations and solicit donations of objects that represent people's relationship to the sunset; we keep a journal. we've thrown a bonfire, hosted a concert, and, in a week, we hope to have a closing party. we'll make a book with free distribution.

so far, we've collected artifacts ranging from the sand on someone's feet to a person's first muni transfer; a photograph of the block from the 60's to an immigrant's english language cassette tapes; deeply sentimental toys to smutty ephemera found on the street.

our archive is a collection of small stories.

to see the artifacts, click here.

to read the journal, click here.

observers

but as much as we represent an image of the neighborhood, we also represent an image of a critique of the neighborhood; we assume the role of conscious ethnographers.

as embedded outsiders, we bring perspective. we observe without particular goals; we take whatever we get. the situation engenders. thus far, the process has been enlightening, difficult, lonely, surprising, and joyful.

our endeavor is to be present and to reveal to the neighborhood what's been revealed to us.

the sandwich exchange is open to july 18th, from 12 to 4 pm

located at 4037 judah street, between 45th and 46th avenues

please visit the carville annex for more information

this project has been made possible through the support of:

alexis, sarah, and lana at the carville annex

the upper left ethnography project

brett macfadden

taylor, hunter and ann marie at levi's workshop: print

residents of the sunset

S X . b o n f i r e

to celebrate our second week of success and to facilitate the sharing of more stories about the sunset district, a weekend bonfire. family and friends, reveling in the sublime, warming by the hob, eating, drinking, and spinning a yarn.

S X . i n s t a l l a t i o n

last minute building, lifting, truck lending, sign painting, vacuuming, and coconut drinking brought a month and a half of planning to an end: this weekend we installed and opened our show, the SANDWICH EXCHANGE, at the carville annex. 

facilitated by the upper left ethnography project, an initiative spearheaded by alexis petty, sarah fontaine and lana porcello, the SANDWICH EXCHANGE aligns their interests in examining place and portraiture, the sunset district and the people who live in it  — but i'll go into the details of the operation later. 

let me take this opportunity to thank alexis, sarah and lana, for their trust and good faith, thoughtfulness, support and generosity; tireless brett macfadden without whom nothing would be built or designed or aesthetically perfect; and, most dear, endlessly patient erin klenow, without whom there would be nothing to exchange, no sandwiches, and no adventure. thanks!

thanks to leigh anna for the photos!