Get Lucky: The Culture of Chance

What:  Get Lucky: The Culture of Chance
When: December 17–January 26
Opening Reception: Friday, Jan. 6, 6–9pm
Community Conversation: Wednesday, Jan. 18, 7–9pm
Closing Reception & Panel:  Thursday, Jan. 26, 6–9pm
Where: 934 Brannan St. between 8th & 9th
How much: Free admission to exhibition & all related events
Gallery Hours: Tuesday–Friday, 12–7pm,  Saturday,12–5pm. Closed December 24–31.

SOMArts Cultural Center will present a centennial birthday celebration of art icon John Cage, December 17 through January 26, 2012. Get Lucky: The Culture of Chance, curated by Justin Hoover and Hanna Regev, provides a multimedia and multidimensional look at a vast array of fine art practices investigating the implications of chance operation in the arts and across cultural beliefs, values and practices.

New works and site-specific installations created by more than 30 exhibiting artists hinge upon human interaction, explore varying levels of control in production, and experiment with structured randomness. Get Lucky includes works which conflate Wiccan-based Tarot practice and corporate culture, I-Ching with installation art, and the aesthetics of Zen pottery with Western abstract painting.

Exhibiting artists include:

Chance operations filter into both the activation of the artwork and the curatorial structure of Get Lucky: The Culture of Chance. David Molina and Garrett La Fever create an ongoing audience activated musical installation for the annex of the SOMArts Main Gallery. The experimental instrument, which draws inspiration from the Koto, a Japanese  harp, is accompanied by a mercurial digital projection with video source material by Micky Tachibana. Sculptor Michael Bartalos offers a 3D installation involving boxes the public can arrange to create mutable structures. An evolving wall displays a different selection each week of 25 from a set of 44 EXCOR (Exquisite Corpse) images chosen randomly by a roll of the dice by the curators.

The following related events are open to the public with free admission:

Opening Reception with Performance
Friday, Jan. 6, 6–9pm.
Celebrate the opening of Get Lucky, and enjoy a performance by local artists Bryan and Vita Hewit as their alter-ego, Chuck Inc. Performers and audience participants will create a living tarot deck. Poet Andrew Sullivan will construct and read a community-generated, site-specific, chance-derived poem at the opening reception. He will glean words and phrases from questionnaires, filled out by viewers, designed to capture their responses to the exhibition.

Upgrade SF! The Art & Technology of Chance
Wednesday, Jan. 18, 7–9pm
Bring snacks to share and participate in an open dialog about art led by Scott Kildall and other exhibiting artists.

Closing Reception with Panel Discussion
Thursday, Jan. 26, 6–9pm
The closing reception includes a curatorial walk-through as well as a panel discussion featuring individuals who have been influenced by Cage’s work. Moderated by international curator and critic Jeff Kelley, the panel includes Kathleen Burch, founding member of the Center for the Book, Marks Lam, president of the I-Ching Science and Culture Association, and artists Jim Melchert, David Middlebrook, and Tom Marioni.