Our picks of this week's events
Hillcrest merges CityFest with its Book Fair and the rest of the best things happening this week
MUSIC
The kids
Magdalena Pawlisz from Poland, Asli Benian from Turkey and about a dozen other students from all over the world will join the kids of the San Diego Youth Symphony for the fourth annual International Youth Symphony performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 8, at the California Center for the Arts (340 N. Escondido Blvd.) and at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9, at the Crill Auditorium at Point Loma Nazarene University (3900 Lomaland Drive). The students have been practicing and preparing for the night in an intensive two-week summer program led by Jeff Edmons, the Youth Symphony artistic director who whips the kids seven times with his violin bow if they mess up even a half note. Kidding, of course. $8 students, $20 adults. 619-233-3232 or www.sdys.org.
BOOKS
Nice lines
When you think about architectural photography—if you’re the sort to think about architectural photography—the images that might pop into your brain are “Case Study House No. 22” and “Kaufmann House” by Julius Shulman (if you’re not the sort, they’re both memorable images of super-cool mid-century homes). The man pretty much corners the market on documenting the growth patterns and modernist building trends of downtown Los Angeles and its surrounding neighborhoods. From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 7, Shulman will be at Design Within Reach studio, 393 Seventh Ave., Downtown, for a signing of his new three-volume box set, Modernism Rediscovered. The event is free, but the public must RSVP to jhancock@dwr.com.
FILM
A quickie
The 48 Hour Film Project is blazing through San Diego this weekend, inviting local filmmakers to throw together a film in just 48 hours—from pre- to post-production. Registration is $155, but the benefit of actually completing a film is pretty much priceless. The event kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday Aug. 8, and concludes at 6 p.m. the next day. Those who finish will be part of the 48 Hour Film Screenings from 1 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, at UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley, 7510 Hazard Center Drive. www.48hourfilm.com/sandiego.
BALBOA PARK
Inspiration from art
Similar to the Art Alive event at the San Diego Museum of Art, where florists make arrangements inspired by artwork in the museum’s exhibitions, making SDMA as olfactorily pleasing as it is aesthetically pleasing, the Timken Museum of Art has teamed up with Fashion Careers College for The Art of Fashion: Tableaux de Mode, a one-night-only event happening from at 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9, that features original student designs inspired by clothing worn in eight of the museum’s historic paintings. The student creations will be placed alongside the art, so you can sip cocktails, sample hors d’oeuvres and compare and contrast the young designers’ visions with those of the old masters. Your $50 ticket will help support programming at the Timken. 619-239-5548 or Timken.singer@sbcglobal.net.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Getting better
Hillcrest’s CityFest Arts and Crafts Fair just got a whole lot better. The annual community event will continue to feature the usual vendor booths, food and live entertainment, but this year, CityFest organizers have teamed up with the Hillcrest Book and Literacy Fair, so plenty of affordable used books and author appearances will be part of the deal, too. The “Bookseller’s Alley” will be nice and coffeehouse-style quiet, but outside, closer to the two CityFest stages, the sounds of Theo and Zydeco Patrol, Sue Palmer, D.A. and the Hitmen, F.U.Z.Z and others will provide the soundtrack for the street dance that’s sure to transpire. CityFest and the Book Fair will take place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 10, along Fifth Avenue in Hillcrest, from Upas Street to University Avenue. www.hillcrestbia.org. Free.
Exotic and erotic: If you’ve seen Spike Jonze’s Adaptation, a film about an exotic-plant collector on a quest to find a particular kind of orchid, you know how worthy orchids are of our respect. The flowers are beautiful, delicate and, in their rarer forms, able to reproduce only because moths with foot-long pollinators exist (as is the case with the Angraecum Sesquipedale, a rare orchid mentioned in the movie). Spoiler alert: The collector never does find the orchid he’s after in Jonze’s version of events, but maybe you’ll find what you’re after this Saturday, Aug. 9, at the Palomar Orchid Society’s annual Orchid Auction at the Women’s Club of Carlsbad, 3320 Monroe St. More than 200 orchids from around the world will be on view and for sale. Preview starts at 11 a.m., auction at noon. www.palomarorchid.org or 760-840-8659.
ART
The mystic
Art critics are famous for using terms that most outsiders just barely understand. “Mystical expressionism,” for example, has been used to describe the works of Pakistan-born artist Jamali over and over again, but what does it really mean? We’re not quite sure, to be honest, but a quick browse through his collection shows bright, bold works that are more about Jamali’s diverse inner emotional landscape than they are about the repetitive faces and figures he paints. Jamali opens an exhibition of new works at Madison Gallery, 1020 Prospect St., Suite 130, in La Jolla, from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 7. www.madisongalleries.com or 858-459-0836.
Blanket statements: For the last year, Visions Art Quilt Gallery has been showing San Diegans that quilting is art. From 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9, Visions continues its quest, convincingly, with Figuratively Speaking, a show featuring 16 contemporary fiber artists who use the human face to tell a story, make a political statement or comment on the human condition. Visions is located at NTC Promenade at Liberty Station, 2825 Dewey Road in Point Loma. www.quiltvisions.org or 619-546-4872.
Published: 08/05/2008
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