In May I was accepted be a Social Media Builder for 2010 01SJ. However this long summer of preparing for the biennial still could not anticipate the excitement I have seen during the first day. People have been running around organizing and installing work; the sight is electrifying.

The day consisted of events like engaging in artist talks, interacting with games, and watching film. Floating World, a work by Robin Lasser and Marguerite Perret, held artist talks along side the installation under the I-87 underpass. The artists and their colleagues spoke about the use of space in when create a site-specific work. Floating World was inspired by the current state of San Jose’s Guadalupe River. The work is a tribute to the natural actions and reactions the environment and its inhabitants have on one another. In addition to the talk, the artists’ friend and colleague, Laurie Amat, performed a voice demonstration under the overpass, which created echoes that interacted with the Floating World above. The next artist talk for Floating World is Saturday, September 28, 3-4 pm located at San Fernando St and 87 overpass.

Another highlight of the first day was meeting Ken Eklund and Annette Mees, the artists of the game Zorop. This is a game focusing on interactivity and finding connection between people. The Zoropathians are to encourage strangers to find things in common causing each other to find similarities and create ultimately start to find World Peace. The explanation of the rules continued intriguing discussions like the use of gaming as a source of interactivity. This concept seemed to go against all negative association with gaming that I had associated it with previously. Where in many cases the games require little personal human interactivity, Zorop attempts to break those rules by focusing on the concept of acceptance and goes beyond the technical computer components. Zorop and the artist can be contacted at Out of the Garage, South Hall. This cannot be said for the Zoropathians, who are currently interacting throughout San Jose.

The finishing point to an amazing first day was seeing Todd Chandler’s Flood Tide: Remixed at the Empire Drive-In. People started to file in early, which made finding seating challenging despite the fact that the seats were salvaged cars. Todd Chandler and Jeff Stark created the theater installation. My friends and I ended up sitting on top a small sedan during the film with a makeshift 1950’s concession stand behind us. Adding to the thrill was an opening performance by Dark Dark Dark, who played music from their Bright Bright Bright EP and a song from their new album Wild Go, which releases this October. I had a chance to see them perform in Chico in early August, which made the experience at Empire Drive-In even more exciting. The 50-minute film was dynamic and unlike any I have seen before. After performing their music, Dark Dark Dark also performed a live soundtrack for the film. The film too had a strong plot and amazing cinematography. The film surrounds the story of a group a people who take several large, sculptural boats to open water; the film is best described as a “surreal voyage”. The audience affirmed their love of the film with applause, jumping off of cars, and dancing. It was truly a movie experience unlike any I have seen before, which makes me wonder why not? If you have not seen Flood Tide, check out the encore performance on Sunday, September 19 at 3:30 pm. This is definitely one to see.

Day One has ended let Day Two commence!