30th Aug 2003
Sausalito Art Festival
Oh boy. This being Labor Day Weekend, there are traditions that must be upheld …
Women on the East Coast wear white pants for the last time this year.
Barbeques throughout the land creak and groan under the weight of extra mesquite, as huge hordes gather round for mass ingestion of grilled goods. Yellowjackets throughout the land carry out well-honed picnic attack formations.
Frisbees spin. Lawns slipped and slided. Emergency rooms treat those who have simultaneously inhaled too much whipped cream and sunburned the bejeezus out of their year-round pastiness. Ok, I made that one up.
And it’s time for the Sausalito Art Festival!
I used to live in Sausalito, really close to the grounds. Festival weekend is always a party … one that you get to early in the day. Don’t dilly-dally in the City until 1, and then suddenly get the bright idea that you’ll mosey on over. Take the Ferry. Seriously. Sausalito can’t handle 1000’s of cars very well.
The SAF is the largest one in the country, and for good reason. There’s a lot of depth to it (and did I mention beer, wine, great food, and bands?) We discovered Jennifer O’Meara there (we have a six pane, which are all shots from a Nikon D1). George Summner is always there, making the journey from his studio a block away.
Oh, and there’s little bits of controversy:
Somewhere in the Festival, you’ll see photographers that have little postit notes proclaiming “no computers”, as if it were some sort of badge of honor. You’ll also see photos that are obviously manipulated (to good effect). I think photos that are improved by digital means are A-OK, because all that really matters is the response to the final work of art. (and if I didn’t say this, my Adobe Photoshop Certified Wife would come charging into my study and inflict great bodily harm) The debate rages on, but the Cranky Chemical Crowd will have to give way at some point. Painters came to accept photography, and the Toners & Fixers are going to have to accept the Digitizers.
The Festival will always be like that. At some point 10 years down the road, we’ll have some debate about the validity of virtual 3d environmental pieces (such as a walk-through of something inspired by Dali or Escher). I’m all for it, just so long as we don’t have some stupid Damien Hirst Cow Head rotting away in the Sun!
