This post was submitted by Bryan Garcia

---

Event Details: San Francisco Weekend Preview: YBCA's What's The Big Idea Late Night Party - :

---

Earlier this summer back in June, I was surfing through the usual litany of art gallery openings in San Francisco when I came across the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) Big Idea Late Night Party. I knew YBCA was a centerpiece for the city’s multi-media and performing arts, but the Big Idea Late Night Party was something new. The theme for the evening was “Ritual and Redemption” and promised performances from Pansy Division, Ex-Boyfriends, the Honey Soundsystem DJ collective and DJ Dirty Knees, all of whom occupy their own little space within San Francisco’s counter-cultural gay community. During the Big Idea party, I experienced a hodge-podge of everything tattoos, gay comedians, whacked-out musicians, Nick Cave soundsuits, seemingly retro-60s sexploitation flicks, hipsters (especially the gay ones) and The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence– as well as all the aforementioned artists above. While San Francisco prides itself in going against the grain, it’s still nonetheless a rare sight to see it in a single concentrated event, one that unabashedly turns the tables on the traditional wine-n-cheese art gallery format.

This Saturday, November 14, YBCA will stage the next edition of the Big Idea Late Night Party focusing on the “State of the Queer Nation” and “Bridging the Gap” between the cultural divide that separates, well, all of us. Joël Tan, YBCA’s Director of Community Engagement took a few moments to talk about the Big Idea mission and what to expect from this weekend’s art party.

The New Gay: Could you provide a little background about the Big Idea series? What was the genesis of the Big Idea, and what messages are you hoping to impart to the community?

Joël Tan: More generally, YBCA’s Big Ideas are not just a party– they are a series of ideas that artists are exploring in response to issues and events around them. The curators each season identify these Big Ideas and then use them to help make ties between the programming at YBCA so that audiences can see common themes that they can relate too.

I then develop events, called Big Idea Nights, our signature late night Open House events that provide a venue for us to artistically illumine the themes and ideas that our featured artists are exploring. It is a big honkin’ free to the public gala that features local artists to draw in diverse communities who would dig our contemporary art thang. We want to impart one clear message, “If you like amazing art and compelling ideas, YBCA is for you!”

In spirit, the Big Idea Nights revive the classic art club experience. As a budding Artsy Fartsy Queerdo growing up in L.A. in the Eighties, I hopped around from dinky gallery to warehouse lofts and other alterna-venues to feed my need for something beyond the thumpthumpthump techno & mainstream vapidity of WeHo Gaylandia. In these clubs, I discovered ways of engaging art outside of the Museum’s temple setting. I saw, experienced, and became the art with amazing art fags like the Gran Fury Collective, Ron Athey, Tim Miller, John Fleck, and Vaginal Cream Davis. And along with all the art was amazing DJ magic, live bands with instruments made from children’s toys, early poetry readings by Exene Cervenka and Henry Rollins, a Grace Jones drag impersonator holding court in a giant loft bathroom, a meditation space, a sex club in the form of a labyrinth.

Well, even as a young art student, I didn’t go to museums much. Once I got intimate, melting, merging and cavorting with the art at these art clubs and parties, the formulaic consumer spectatorship temple model of museums and theaters became…well, boring.

And YBCA being such an un-museum, atypical kind of art space, was the perfect place to hatch an egg like Big Idea Nights.

TNG: There is obviously a gay aspect to Big Idea whether it be in the subject matter of the art or the artists themselves. It would have been easy to simply hire a dance DJ and a drag queen emcee in order to throw a big ol’ gay party. But Big Idea seems more ambitious than that. What significance does the gay community play in the overall big Big Idea picture?

JT: Queerness is in YBCA’s DNA. YBCA is and has always been committed to Queer Arts not to mention the Out proud YBCA staff that keeps the Queer verve going! BUT it is important to understand that Big Idea Nights aren’t exclusively Queer– these events are meant to attract and serve diverse but specific audiences throughout the Bay Area. I chose to focus on the alterna-queer community the last two out of three Big Idea Nights because I feel this alterna-queer community is inclined to the art we present but may or may not be aware of who we are.

Also, prior to my work at YBCA, I worked in HIV services for 16 years, co-founded an AIDS Services organization, protested and marched in the late Eighties, and published a grip of essays and fiction on issues of queerness, race, class, etc., so my art fag club persona is balanced with an activist’s heart and a romantic sense of duty. All that to say, that scratching at the surface is not what I am about and moreover, I am part of an organization who is about diving deep and being committed to community, complex thinking, and awareness.

Our last Ginormous Queer focused Big Idea Night was June 6, and a key feature of that event were the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence with their carnivalesque Fellini-inspired Project Nunway was sublime. See for yourself:

The forthcoming November 14 is going to be even QueerER and more political without comprising the fun debauchery factor. We’re starting with a town hall where we are staging four Queer Leaders on a Soapbox Stage to offer their respective visions for the future of the Queer Nation. These speakers include Ryan Clary of Project Inform, Terry Steward, San Francisco Deputy City Attorney and Marriage Equality Advocate, Sister Vicious Power Hungry Bitch, a co-founder of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and cultural activist, Anna Conda of Charlie Horse, Herr-a-Chick, & Queerer Nation. The cool thing about this forum is that the speakers are only asked to speak for five minutes and most of the town hall is the audience discussing the issues in smaller round table settings which shift regularly à la Speed Dating or Musical Chairs. This way, ideas are shared in a meet-and-greet setting. Over cocktails, of course.

Also on the same night, YBCA is presenting the London-based performance DV8 that looks at and examines tolerance, intolerance, religion and homosexuality in the UK. At our November 14 party, from 9 PM to 2 AM, we’re featuring The Amazing Mostly Queer Women and Trans Burlesque Troupe, Diamond Daggers, the otherworldly DJ Black, and Oaklandia’s Punk, Funk, Crunk Terrorists, Hottub, in addition to culinary artistry featuring Top Chef Celebrity, Elizabeth Falkner, and her life/business partner, Sabrina Riddle, the Irreverent Totally Queer Info Fair, and the Sisters!

So, yeah. I say that we merge socially consciousness and activism nicely with the art of pARTies. And what better way to convene the Queer communities around ideas, issues, art, & culture?

TNG: A few weeks ago I had attended a concert where one of the bands had made some SILENCE=DEATH signs to go along with their music. I noticed that in the run-up to the Big Idea party on November 15 that you are encouraging people to update the logo and wear it as an expression of activism. It makes me wonder if there is a renewed urgency to fight for gay civil rights. Would you agree with this, and if yes, how is the Big Idea hoping to play a part in it?

JT: The Silence=Death project came about precisely because of a renewed urgency to fight for Queer Civil Rights. I count on a small think tank made up of community artists, activists and the like to shape the programming and the feel of each Big Idea Night. After our Big June 6 party, which was very Alterna Queer Boy heavy, I wanted to focus on other tribes within the Queer Nation. November 14 is definitely an event designed to appeal to Queer Women and Trans communities. There’s plenty of offerings for the boys as well so no one is left out. So, the initial idea about November 14 was to stage a MEGA wedding reception as a Bay Area wide performance project and social intervention. The point was to motivate our Big Idea Nights to action by featuring artists and thinkers to give wedding speeches and toasts designed to raise awareness of marriage discrimination. Well, I thought it was a cool concept but when I laid it out for my committee, they only thought it was so-so cool. The committee brought up the point that while marriage discrimination is an important issue, it is NOT THE ONLY issue. HIV funding cuts, increased homophobic violence worldwide, Gay assimilation were also raised as pressing issues, and so as a group, we decided to re-engineer the event so that it becomes a platform for diverse issues facing our communities today. And thus, the soapbox social was born.

Today’s issues, the attitudes, the general spirit of the Queer community rings of the leather jacket, out of the bars into the streets, direct action culture of late 80’s early 90’s. And so we broke the time machine and went back twenty years and pulled out Gran Fury’s S=D.

The tribes are restless, quick to respond, ready to organize around THAT critical moment when an event triggers a major response ala protest, marching, rallies, etc. The tensions are building and something big is coming. YBCA will be there when that happens.

TNG: In spite of the ethnic and social diversity that thrives in San Francisco, the gay community can sometimes come across as one dimensional in comparison. Is there a conscious effort in the Big Idea series to break the mold and present some queer perspectives that might not be served by mainstream gay culture?

JT: As the young Queens are saying today, “Totes.”

Let’s put it this way, relative to mainstream museums and art venues, we are weirdos. As in not mainstream, unconventional, irreverent YET we hold our own, keeping it real in our own alterna-cool way. We are committed to exploring the unexplored, championing the new idea, and not to mention the fact that diversity and inclusion are among our values. And it isn’t just rhetoric. WE really are committed to not presenting the obvious.

TNG: Having worked with so many creative local gay artists, are you seeing any common themes that are decidedly San Francisco in nature? And if yes, how do we compare to other cities?

JT: Common themes in Queer SF Art. Beautiful rebellious chaos. Punk drag. Protest culture goes clubbing. Trannytopia. Stoner philosophers. Social as pretty sorority girls. Terrible beauty. D.I.Y. Innovation. Recycled everything. Hedonists. Intentionally and conceptually amateurish. Facebook hookers. Politcal and opionated. Generous. Open. Amazing.

And how do we compare to other cities? There is no comparison. We are our own self made monster.

TNG: How do you go about choosing the artists that perform at the parties?

JT: I poll on Facebook. Ask around. Go to lots and lots of events around town and beyond to explore, discover, learn. I read trash magazines and book reviews on art theory. Gossip and hearsay. All the while keeping balance and our Big Idea in mind.

TNG: Looking beyond the next Big Idea party, what other events can we look forward to?

JT: I’m working on something huge.

And I’m not telling.

But it’s lovely.

So, check in with us. Regularly.

TNG: And lastly, is there anything else about the Big Idea that you would like to tell The New Gay readers?

JT: Well, think about what your Big Idea is in your life is. If you’re in the Bay area, come to our Big Idea Nights as well as our amazing film/video, visual arts, and performance events. Take a dozen of your closest friends. If you’re from out of town, book a ticket.

And if you find me at the next Big Idea Night and you mention this blog, I will buy you a cocktail.

How’s that?

Joël B. Tan is YBCA’s Director of Community Engagement. He is also a writer, visual artist, and playwright who is widely published, exhibited and produced in commercial and academic venues. A recipient of Genre Magazine and LA Gay And Lesbian Center’s Role Model Award, Tan was recently named as one of Out Magazine’s “Out 100” for his work in the arts and AIDS.

Details:

The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts BIG IDEA NIGHT pARTy
Saturday, November 14
Soapbox Social: 7–9 PM
Big Idea Night Party: 9 PM–2 AM
Located in the YBCA Grand Lobby and Galleries, 701 Mission and 3rd Street
FREE; RSVP RECOMMENDED

---

First time here? See what we're all about... Get involved... Send us a tip!...

---