After Dark: Distortion
Thursday, March 4, 2010
6-10pm

Experience altered states at Exploratorium After Dark: Distortion, on Thursday, March 4th, from 6-10pm. Guest film curator Sean Uyehara of the San Francisco Film Society in collaboration with the Exploratorium’s Cinema Arts Program will twist your senses with a psychedelic 3-D animation by local auteur Kerry Laitala and screen “visual music” by the late experimental filmmaker and musicologist Harry Smith (best known for his 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music). Meanwhile, San Francisco’s notorious band Thee Oh Sees overlays 60s-era garage pop sounds with punky jitter and surf psychedelia to create a playfully harmonic-yet-chaotic aural disorientation. Be sure to pick up a pair of 3-D glasses at the door and look for experiments in distortions such as feedback, caricatures, misrepresentations, and more. This event is included in the price of admission to the Exploratorium. Or become an After Dark/Exploratorium member and receive admission to the whole season for $25. To sign up for the Exploratorium’s After Dark email list and receive once-a-month event details, contact afterdark@exploratorium.edu.

Thee Oh Sees bring back the garage pop of the 1960′ by infusing it with punky jitter and surf psychedelia. Long considered one of the best “underground” bands in San Francisco, Thee Oh Sees’ live shows are legendary for their energy, due in part to frontman John Dwyer’s unparalleled ferocity on the guitar. www.myspace.com/ohsees

Sean Uyehara is a programmer at the San Francisco Film Society. He inaugurated KinoTek, a programming thread dedicated to exhibiting cross-platform technologies and emergent media. He is also the establishing programmer of the San Francisco International Animation Festival and lead programmer of film and music, live events, and multimedia performance at the San Francisco International Film Festival and SF360 Film + Club.

The San Francisco Film Society educates, entertains and enriches diverse audiences and communities with programs and events in four core areas: embracing internationalism; educating Bay Area youth; celebrating Bay Area film and media; and exploring new media and digital technology. http://sffs.org

After Dark is a popular, new evening series at the Exploratorium on the first Thursday of every month mixes cocktails, conversation, and adult-oriented programming in science and the arts. Each night showcases a different theme, which might include live performances, films, and new media, or feature cutting-edge technology and unexpected extravaganzas. Not a theater, a cabaret, or a gallery, After Dark involves aspects of all three, with a mood unlike anything else in the city. Programs are playful, unusual, and content-rich, and address the science behind topics of adult interest—from gambling, alcohol, fashion, and sex to extreme sports and gaming. Where else can you find music, a cash bar, and an intellectually stimulating playground for adults—all with free parking?