EpiscoDisco

Paradise Now presents “Above and Below”

Saturday, February 20th || 7PM to 10PM || Grace Cathedral

February’s EpiscoDisco features a gravity-defying installation of a thousand flowers by Elizabeth Parks Kibbey, real and unreal video projection from David Yun, and a snarky noise-pop performance by Nodzzz, all under one gothically vaulted roof

THE ART

The Persian word pairi-daeza was used to descrribe the beautiful enclosed gardens built to uplift the human spirit. With its connotations of ideal beauty, delight and harmonious conviviality, the word paradise came to be equated with the heavens, a non-earthly place that awaits the human spirit in the afterlife. Artist, writer and naturalist Elizabeth Parks Kibbey reclaims paradise for the earthbound with her installation of a thousand suspended flowers.  A transient garden in the sky, Parks Kibbey’s fantastical creation encourages those below to comingle with the unconditional joys of the here and now.

San Francisco-based artist David Yun manipulates digital video with scratch film technique in ethereal vignettes that capture momentary pleasures of the natural world. Drawing from the aesthetic that experimental filmmakers such as Stan Brakhage and Carolee Schneemann applied to 16mm film, Yun’s video projections instantly stimulate memory, emotion and sensation, dreamily blurring the lines between reality and reproduction.

THE MUSIC

On the 20th, DJ Cimi will be laying down the beats that will leave you sweating between the pews. To follow, San Francisco-based noise-pop trio Nodzzz will have the nave quivering with their West Coast cadence and lo-fi style delivered by a brazen attitude and punky, give-it-to-me-straight lyrics. Nodzzz-men Sean Paul Presley, Anthony Atlas and Brian Girgus cite their influences as British New Wave singles from the 70’s and 80’s as well as the San Francisco Public Library.

PARADISE NOW

Theology, music and art all share the aspiration to transcend the borders that language cannot. Paradise Now is a nondenominational curatorial duo that is exploring this commonality by showcasing artists who engage the awe-inspiring space within Grace Cathedral through multi-media installations and performing arts. Paradise Now is Eve Ekman and Jean Cooney.

EPISCODISCO

Recently voted one of 7×7 Magazine’s 250 Things To Do In San Francisco Before You Die and anointed “unusual fun” by the SF Chronicle, EpiscoDisco is a monthly event where community congregates to enjoy contemporary art installations, live performance, drinks and DJ’ed music at Grace Cathedral. EpiscoDisco is hosted on one Saturday of each month by Reverend Bertie Pearson and curatorial duo Paradise Now.

GRACE CATHEDRAL

“Great buildings are outward expressions of the human spirit…which speak to the human urge to transcend the mundane and commune with the divine”. A San Francisco landmark, Grace Cathedral is also home to a spiritual community that has continuously enjoyed relationships with contemporary artists, most notably Ansel Adams and Keith Haring, and currently forges new connections with Bay Area Artists though the Reverend Bertie Pearson and Paradise Now. These alliances are enabled by the openness at Grace to “embrace innovation and open-minded conversation where inclusion is expected and people of all faiths are welcomed.”