For our fourth Takeaway publication, we’ve decided to break the 11″ x 17″ mold (and color scheme) for alternative printing pastures. Colpa Press will take charge of printing our expanded-format publication on their amazing Risograph, allowing us to use colored ink on colored paper to our hearts’ content. Takeaway #4 will feature essays by Stacy Martin ...
We recently met with artists Seth Curcio and Dan Swindel at the site of our next exhibition, CORNERWAYS, in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland and here’s a peek at the space. Seth and Dan will each be making new site-specific works for areas within and adjacent to the staircase at this spacious, light-filled live/work loft ...
We are very excited to be featured on SFMOMA’s blog OPEN SPACE this week with a review by Calder Yates of our third Field Trip to the Sutro Baths back in February. If you want to learn more about past Stairwell’s Field Trips or see more photos of the one mentioned in the review, click ...
The next Stairwell’s exhibition, CORNERWAYS, opens June 1, 2013 in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland, and will feature new site-specific works by artists Seth Curcio and Dan Swindel. We’re super excited to see what they produce over the next month and a half, especially given the strength of their past work. Though he uses photography, ...
For those of you who had your appetite for all things Lands End-related whetted by our last Field Trip (or for those you who missed that fantastic outing), never fear! From the makers of the award winning documentary films “Remembering Playland at the Beach” and “Sutro’s: The Palace at Lands End” comes a brand new ...
What if the next Stairwell’s show was in one these 2 circular concession stand/restroom structures at Aquatic Park? There’s quite a bit of history here–one of the largest WPA projects in the 20s, site of the Maritime Museum since the late 50s, much adored swimming spot (despite the frigid temps of the SF Bay), and ...
Hello, my name is Sarah and I’m a podcast listener. While binging on audio, I realized that by some cosmic alignment two of my very favorite programs featured Stairwell’s-appropriate episodes this week. On the locally-produced 99% Invisible, host Roman Mars and producer Sam Greenspan met with stair-aficionado Charles Fleming (author of our Field Trip #3 ...
We took a trip across the bridge to Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood to check in on the location of our next exhibition (set to open June 1). Lucky for us the lovely resident just moved into this live/work space recently and still has a lot to unpack. It was great to get a glimpse inside some ...
It was a bright sunny day at Lands End — thanks to all the participants, guest leader Mark Taylor, the friends who helped carry a cooler of snacks, and most of all, thanks to Nick Almquist for the fantastic documentation!
[This is the second in a series of posts by Joy Drury Cox. You can read Part I here.] A lot of my work deals with standard forms. I collect paper ephemera like guest checks and job applications. These documents usually display lines and boxes waiting to be filled. I’m interested in how people approach ...
Taking a brief weekend away from the Bay Area, I flew down to Los Angeles for a few excellent reasons: a) the LA Art Book Fair and the wonderful team at Colpa; b) a dear friend‘s installation at Calarts; and c) another dear friend‘s opening at Commonwealth & Council. Commonwealth & Council is run by ...
Sign-ups for our upcoming Field Trip exploring the Sutro Baths and surrounding areas on Sunday, February 10 are now full. The wait list is also full. If you are on the wait list for this event, please stay tuned. We will reach out again early next week (Feb 5 or 6) with more info about ...
Hey there, stair enthusiasts! The next Stairwell’s Field Trip is coming up in a few weeks on Sunday, February 10th, from approximately 11am-2pm in San Francisco. We’re still planning the details with our guest Field Trip leaders so we can’t tell you everything yet, but stay tuned for more information on how to sign up ...
Until I moved to Brooklyn in the summer of 2007, I had never lived above street level. I don’t count the one summer I spent in a garret room in Providence, recovering from a break-up by knocking my head against the rafters. And I don’t count that semester I spent in a Dublin dorm room, emerging ...
The staircase leading to the upstairs room in the back of the Hideout at Dalva, as seen peripherally. Delicious fancy cocktails and some subtle stair action. What’s not to like? [CL]
I spotted this portable ramp on the Embarcadero while touring the new Exploratorium buildings at Piers 15/17 recently. I don’t have much to say about the thing really, but just wanted to note its ‘understated gracefulness’ as a sculptural object (ha!), especially when it’s not being used to attach anything to the pier. There is ...
As part of the artist talk and reading for A WELL STIRS on December 2, Stairwell’s Takeaway #3 contributor Tom Comitta created A Proposal for the Partial Renovation of the Main Stairwell at 8 Samoset using excerpts from found stair permit applications. If you missed the performance, download the PDF of Tom’s piece or find ...
For our third Takeaway issue, we asked three writers to respond to a variety of prompts inspired by the work in A WELL STIRS. Emma Spertus’ stairwell posters gave way to Dana Goldberg’s “La Vie Bohème 1991″ (a rumination on the front-page poster). Christine Peterson’s intervention into the underside of the stairs yielded Susannah Mager’s ...
Due to terribly inclement weather, we’re rescheduling the artist talk tonight. Come this Sunday at 7 pm for the real deal.
“How do I get to 8 Samoset Street?” you may ask. If you’re traveling by hot air balloon, you’re on your own. But we’ve got the more conventional modes of transport covered (and think these directions are better than what Google Maps will tell you): By car From Cesar Chavez, head south on Alabama towards ...
Join us at the artist talk for A WELL STIRS this Thursday 11/29 at 7pm. Artists Aaron Finnis, Christine M. Peterson, & Emma Spertus will be on hand to discuss the work they created for the exhibition and one or more of the following subjects: Arches and columns Baroque/late modernism Brutalist architecture in London and ...
Though the night was rainy and Bernal Hill steep, we had a lovely turnout for the opening reception of A WELL STIRS, the 4th Stairwell’s exhibition. Aaron Finnis, Christine M. Peterson, & Emma Spertus created new site-specific works for the show, and we released Issue #3 of the Stairwell’s Takeway, which includes writing by Tom ...
Gallery hours this Saturday and Sunday by appointment only! Email stairwells.sf@gmail.com to stop by between 12-4 pm and view A WELL STIRS.
We are still busy installing for A WELL STIRS (opens tomorrow, Friday, 11/16!) but here is a sneak peek at part of Christine M. Peterson’s piece for the show. Pictured above are some views of the slide projection she is putting together for her installation in the garage at 8 Samoset. See you at the ...
The 3 artists making work for the next show are busy installing at 8 Samoset this week. Emma Spertus is creating new pieces that expand the areas in and around the stairwell with imagery appropriated from the exhibition site itself. Please join us this Friday, November 16, from 6-9pm for the opening reception of A ...
How does one meet a staircase? My first response is negligently. Staircases incite an immediacy to respond that must tap into some basic human desire to rise or perhaps to conquer. We move forward, lacking knowledge of the history of the thing before us, comforted by its repetition of elements. One, two, three. Each stair ...
It is probably no accident that those lulls in a cross-country road trip, when eager camaraderie and ingenious mix tapes give way to bleary-eyed silence and a car stereo auto-cycling through various colors of radio snow, seem to coincide with the appearance of billboards trumpeting the imminent appearance of some roadside attraction sure to cure ...
In a recent quest for inspiration, I found myself revisiting PBS’s Art21 series. I was pleasantly surprised by the interview with Bruce Nauman, particularly a brief segment regarding his Staircase project for the Oliver Collection in Northern California. The piece is an installation of a staircase built into the hillside of a private property. ...
Christine works with a variety of light-based media, from clamp lights to slide projectors to reflective tape, highlighting the mechanics rather than the subject. This leads to lensless slide projections — soft unfocused conglomerations of color and vague shapes — and emphatic lighting situations, as if a posse of clamp lights are jostling for space. Her ...
Save the date! Our next exhibition, A WELL STIRS, opens Friday, November 16 and will feature new site-specific works by Aaron Finnis, Christine M. Peterson, and Emma Spertus. A WELL STIRS extends the bounds of a stairwell in a domestic setting atop Bernal Hill. Using projected light and architectural illusion, these new site-specific works occupy the ...
Stairwell’s recently visited the studio of Emma Spertus during her fall 2012 residency at the Headlands Center for the Arts. Besides admiring the beautiful space she is currently working out of, we were excited to hear more about her plans to extend the bounds of the stairwell at 8 Samoset St. for our next exhibition ...
If you find yourself in the Dogpatch this weekend, consider stopping by the Noonan Building on Pier 70 for the Stairwell’s Open House! As part of ArtSpan’s 2012 SF Open Studios, we’ll be providing free copies of all our publications to date, light refreshments, and an informal Q&A about your favorite roving, curatorial project. Come find ...
We’ve been waiting what seems like forever to work with Aaron Finnis. After conducting a studio visit with him way back in April, we had the pleasure of seeing his work in the S.H.E.D. Projects “House Show.” Now he’s hard at work on a new piece for the upcoming Stairwell’s exhibition “A WELL STIRS,” opening November ...
The Winchester Mystery House is a mansion located in San Jose, California. Now a famous tourist attraction, the mansion was once home to Sarah Winchester, widow to William Winchester, heir of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Said to have been haunted by the ghosts of those killed by the Winchester rifle, Sarah Winchester began the ...
The second Stairwell’s Field Trip was a smashing success. After meeting (appropriately) on the steps to the Student Union, Spot the Octopus led us around the UC Berkeley campus, performing songs and leading us in a raucous noisemaking session at the base of the Kroeber Hall stairwell. After a picnic lunch outside the Berkeley Art Museum, artist ...
Join us this Sunday, September 23 for Field Trip #2. This walking tour of music, art, and architecture will take place in and around the UC Berkeley campus and investigate how people and sound move through stairway structures. The Field Trip will begin at 11 AM and will last about 3 hours, including a picnic lunch ...
A short time ago, I spent a weekend in Los Angeles, visiting my parents and celebrating a friend’s inclusion in a great group show at the Highland Park gallery Public Fiction. On Sunday, before a long drive back up the 5, I wandered around downtown LA on the lookout for stairs and found myself at ...
The Cleveland Cascade is not a dance move common in the state of Ohio. Rather, it is an outdoor Oakland stairway disguised as a park, or vice versa, that was created to provide a small taste of Italy right in the center of Oakland at the edge of Lake Merritt. It was originally made possible ...
Fort Point (built in 1861) to defend the Union army and California’s gold from outsiders, never saw any military action. There are three great stairwells in the fort which allow for passage between its three levels. Huge granite wedge-shaped slabs are stacked upon each other tongue and groove style and spiraled up. This construction is ...
Mark your calendars for the second Stairwell’s Field Trip, scheduled for Sunday, September 23 from 11am – 2pm. Join us in Berkeley for a few hours of sound, art, and architecture, including an outdoor picnic lunch (weather permitting). Field Trip #2 will be led by special guests and your pals at Stairwell’s. Sign up for our ...
I recently had the chance to see Sharon Van Etten play (second time this year!) at the Rickshaw Stop here in SF and was pleasantly surprised (ok, actually I was exceedingly thrilled) that one of her spooky video backdrops included some stairs. I’m not sure of the source for this piece exactly but I’m glad ...
We here at Stairwell’s aren’t used to such long-running exhibitions, but suddenly the last week of S.H.E.D. Projects’ “House Show” is upon us! If you haven’t stopped by 1506 Peralta in West Oakland yet, the final gallery hours are Wednesday, August 15, 1–5 pm. A closing reception and catalogue release (printed by our good friends ...
The House Show opening was an exciting, crowded, and really fun affair. We have a few pictures of Emily Gable and Calder Yates’ installations, along with the festivities of the night. The show is on view Wednesdays and Saturdays, 1-5 pm, with a closing reception and catalogue release on August 17, 7pm. Be sure to stop ...
Join us tonight, Saturday, August 4, from 7-11pm at 1506 Peralta St. in West Oakland for the opening of House Show. Here are some previews of the installation Stairwell’s artist Emily Gable creating for the show. See you there! [CL]
The second artist in “House Show” is current CCA MFA/MA student Calder Yates. Calder and I met six years ago in the appropriately-named Los Angeles all-ages club The Smell, reconnecting a year or so later in Brooklyn. Back in those days, his was making complicated works on paper — abstracted representations of employees within governmental structures. ...
We are excited that Stairwell’s artist Emily Gable begins installing her piece for House Show this Wednesday. Organized by our friends at S.H.E.D. Projects in West Oakland, the show will include collaborations between 11 curators and over 20 artists. When I first met Emily this spring, she told me about her current work employing hand-sewn ...
Stairwell’s is thrilled to be a part of S.H.E.D. Projects‘ epic “House Show,” a two-week exhibition in a house in West Oakland that opens this Saturday, August 4. The building is the site of 9 concurrent micro-exhibitions organized by 11 artists and curators. Each of these micro-exhibitions features site-specific work, either using materials found within ...
Thanks to everyone who attended our second exhibition A GOOD WAY AWAY last weekend, featuring new site-specific video works and sound pieces by Matt Kennedy, Noah Krell, and Collin McKelvey. Though it was one-night-only in the foggy Outer Sunset, we had a great turnout and are so glad we could share their wonderful work with ...
I have to admit that I’m not really a subscriber of Feng Shui. It seems to employ a threatening kind of reasoning: if you don’t make (at times, drastic) changes to the physical arrangement of your immediate surroundings you’ll be ‘punished’ with a loss of energy or health or wealth or whatnot. Maybe I’m being ...
jumping from matt kennedy on Vimeo. In this video, Matt Kennedy frames himself at the peak of his jumping capabilities, capturing a strenuous personal challenge with characteristic deadpan humor. Matt’s ability to transform a simple activity into one of endurance (both for himself and the viewer) is a feat he promises to repeat for A ...
We did a second site visit with A GOOD WAY AWAY artist Collin McKelvey recently to see how things were coming together for the upcoming show. We won’t give everything away, but will say that we are super excited about what we’ve seen and heard so far, including sights, sounds, and smells inspired by stair structures ...
Featuring new site-specific works by Noah Krell, Matt Kennedy, and Collin McKelvey, don’t miss this one-night-only exhibition at the Carville Annex. A GOOD WAY AWAY New works by Noah Krell, Matt Kennedy, and Collin McKelvey Friday July 13, 6-9 PM Carville Annex 4037 Judah Street San Francisco, CA We picked up the postcards for our upcoming exhibition ...
We recently went on a site visit to the location of Exhibition #2 with some of the artists who will be making work for the show. The interior of the Carville Annex is heavily wood-paneled, giving it a balanced sense of warmth and weight that is reminiscent of a ship’s interior cabins or lower berths. ...
The artists are hard at work on their pieces for the next Stairwell’s exhibition (July 13!). Noah Krell, one of the three, has made previous work involving stairs. While we chose to work with him for his outstanding video art in general, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to highlight this piece, in which he had ...
Stairwell’s is pleased to announce our next exhibition, featuring new works by Matt Kennedy, Noah Krell, and Collin McKelvey. Our good friends the Carville Annex are generously hosting us in their amazing wood-panelled storefront and stairway, located in the Outer Sunset at 4037 Judah Street. The show will be one night only: Friday July 13, 6 – 9 ...
Join us tomorrow evening at 8pm at Queen’s Nails Projects to find out about the trials and tribulations of Stairwell’s so far, the who/what/when/where of Exhibition #2 (set to open in July on Friday the 13th), and ask us all the questions you’ve been wanting to ask. We’ll tell you what we can, though sometimes ...
I pass this spot every morning on my way to work and one day these kids demonstrated that it doesn’t go entirely unused. Apparently the “inclined plane” is a “simple machine” with a “mechanical advantage” (thanks, Internet). Mostly I just like how it’s ambiguous as to whether this would be considered an “on ramp” or ...
Our recent first Field Trip was amazingly fun. We visited 1000 Van Ness, former site of Don Lee’s Cadillac Showroom, today home to an AMC multiplex and twelve beautiful escalators. Inside, Carrie Hott narrated the interesting history of escalators (both word and object) while riding the six flights of escalators to the top floor. Backwards. Quite ...
Bay Area artist Margo Woloweic is working on an exciting new project that features stair-related pieces made out of sewn tissue paper. Woloweic’s “copies” of entranceways and front porches of homes are created by using Google street view to approximate the ratios of stair structures in other cities, rather than through direct on-site observation. The resulting floor ...
Our inaugural Field Trip is quickly approaching and there’s still room for you! On Sunday, April 22, Stairwell’s will guide a group though an exciting indoor stairway structure in San Francisco. We can’t give away the precise location of this site, but it is accessible by public transit and we estimate the adventure will last ...
Is everyone thinking about stairs right now? We’ve tapped into some sort of zeitgeist, that’s for sure. An article in last month’s Travel + Leisure magazine showcased the “World’s Coolest Staircases.” I quote: While staircases are fundamentally a means to get from one point to another, they become cool—and worth seeking out—when the form is ...
Created by UC Berkeley Architecture students on spring break, these Architectural LOLCATS I just read about on the Archinect blog are great on so many levels (pun intended). Here’s a few examples of what happens when they embark on the circular ramps that comprise the interior of the Guggenheim (“The Purrrgenheim”) or some of Escher’s ...
If you couldn’t make it out to the Noonan Building, you missed a great show! Thankfully Carrie Hott, Elizabeth Bernstein, and Carey Lin snapped some great photos of the reception and installation. Enjoy!
On the heels of our first exhibition, we’re hard at work planning our first Field Trip for April 22. Mark your calendars now and we’ll have more information on how you can join in the near future. The Field Trip location will remain secret until partipants arrive at the destination. Don’t try to ask us, ...
Thanks to everyone who came out to our first opening last weekend (photos from the reception coming soon!). In case you didn’t have a chance to stop by and pick up a hard copy of our first takeaway publication, we have formatted a PDF version that you can electronically peruse to your heart’s content. [CL] Issue ...
We are very very excited to present our inaugural exhibition tonight from 6-8pm (and this weekend from 12-5pm). If you’ve never been to Pier 70, there is a really wonderful website that outlines its history, buildings, and current uses. Start here if you want to find out more. How to get to the Noonan Building: ...
Pick up a free copy of our first takeaway publication at the opening reception for DEEP DOWN AND BUILDING UP this Friday, March 23 (copies will also be available during gallery hours March 24-25). Featuring contributions from Aaron Harbour and Jackie Im, an Interview with Stairwell’s, and an Incomplete Guide to Inhabitants and Visitors of ...
We are getting excited about our first exhibition, which opens in just 1 short week–so much to do between now and then! In the meantime, take a look at some of what Carrie Hott is making for the show and start getting excited too. [CL]
I recently stumbled upon an amazing romantic fantasy film from 1946 called Stairway to Heaven (also known by its original title: A Matter of Life and Death) at the Castro Theatre. The plot follows a RAF pilot during World War II who jumps from his plane without a parachute and miraculously survives the fall, waking ...
While working on the first Stairwell’s exhibition, DEEP DOWN AND BUILDING UP, a friend suggested I take a look at another art in stairwell’s project: Ann Hamilton’s The Tower. Built over the course of 3.5 years at the Oliver Ranch in Sonoma, it stands 8 stories high with two separate staircases winding their way (double-helix ...
After checking in with artists Maggie Haas and Carrie Hott last weekend, we had a little pow-wow and named the show. DEEP DOWN AND BUILDING UP refers to the respective directions (quite literally!) that Maggie and Carrie are each taking to address the space of the Noonan stairwell for our first exhibition. Ideas that surfaced ...
We recently did a site visit at the Noonan Building with the 2 artists who have been commissioned to make new work for the first Stairwell’s exhibition in March. Here’s a peek at some planning notes for the installation. [CL]
We’re pleased to announce the inaugural Stairwell’s exhibition will feature new site-specific work by Maggie Haas and Carrie Hott. Opening Friday, March 23 in the Noonan Building, we’ll hold a reception from 6 – 8 pm. Stay tuned for more news and updates as the artists prepare their work.
We recently paid a visit to SF-based artist Maggie Haas at her studio in the Mission. Maggie told us about her residency at ACRE in Wisconsin last summer and about an upcoming show at slow, an alternative exhibition venue in Chicago’s Pilsen district. Other subjects of discussion included felting techniques, yurts, and the best way ...
This weekend included research for future Field Trips in the areas just south of Piers 15/17 on the Embarcadero and the residential stairways leading up to Coit Tower. As part of an outdoor excursion led by staff from The Exploratorium, we traversed the Filbert St. and Greenwich St. stairwells. Aside from actual stair structures, I noticed ...
We visited the studio of Carrie Hott at REAL TIME + SPACE in Oakland last weekend. Carrie’s recent work touches on (but is by no means limited to): whales, oil lamps, blackouts, and imagined visual histories.
Stay tuned for more information on our first exhibition, set to open Friday, March 23 in the Noonan Building of San Francisco’s Pier 70.
Hello! Feel free to contact us at stairwells.sf@gmail.com as we fill our site with useful, pertinent information.