Each week, we'll be featuring an especially interesting event in the neighborhood, based on the event submissions we get and what we hear about while we're out on the beat. If you want to be considered for next week, please submit your event here.
While most venues around town spend the weekend helping you get into the holiday spirit, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is getting serious with the launch of two new video installations examining social and environmental issues impacting U.S. and international populations.
The first is the film "The Sprawl" by the Amsterdam-based design and research studio Metahaven. Using current events like the rise of the Islamic State, last summer's Ebola outbreak and the conflict in Ukraine, the film investigates how propaganda has mutated with the use of social media.
The second video installation is "Golden Prospects" by Los Angeles-based artist Kevin Cooley. In August, Cooley traveled to the Animas River in Southwestern Colorado, where he captured footage of a mine leak that spewed three million gallons of orange, lead-contaminated water into the river, polluting the local population's drinking source. What to expect: "Like the mountain landscape that was forever altered by mining, YBCA's unique Terrace Landing space will be physically interrupted by a multi-screen video installation, as the water moves from monitor to monitor, metaphorically downstream and into the water supply for millions of people across the West."
A celebration of both works will begin at 6pm, featuring conversations with Metahaven at 6:30pm and Cooley at 7pm.
While you're there, you may also want to check out the YBCA exhibition "Work In Progress," which depicts the history of SoMa—from the 1906 earthquake and fire to today's development boom—through the work of eight diverse artists.
Beyond visual arts, there's plenty more to see and do in SoMa this weekend. Here are a few worth checking out:
