wandering eye

By Glen Helfand

Spring bling

AS THE PULSE of the art world, this year's Whitney Biennial (through May 30) has been pegged by critics in print and in conversation as finding artists retreating into private, invented universes. "The prevalent tone is more wistful than hard-edged or satiric," New York Times critic Michael Kimmelman writes. The idea might also suggest the show skirts the political. One of the odder, perhaps ominous sidelights of the event has been the recent tradition of artists creating response Web sites meant to undermine and democratize the high-profile Biennial strikes in the art world. Now, however, the museum has cleared the channels, thwarting affectionate subversives. Web artist Miltos Manetas created a site for the 2002 edition and created a revised version this year (www.whitneybiennial.com), though attempting to reach that URL results in a "forbidden" message. S.F. media activist collective Together We Can Defeat Capitalism's site (www.whitneybiennial.org) is quickly interrupted by a message from the Whitney, where the official story is told.

Perhaps we can take respite in the literal survival of outlaw machine artists. Survival Research Laboratories marks its – brace yourself – 25th year in existence with a one-night retrospective at the Lab Fri/9 (7 p.m.-midnight). The fete, the press release promises, includes "2500 linear feet" of photo documentation and poster art related to every SRL project, SRL's sinister robotic machines, and a live dialogue between Sup. Matt Gonzalez and SRL kingpin Mark Pauline on the topic of performance art and social change, and there's even teasing talk of a possible "surprise event." Bring your safety glasses.

A certain-to-be-calmer event at Gallery Paule Anglim Thurs/8 (6:30-8:30 p.m.) toasts poet, critic, and educator Bill Berkson's just published collection, The Sweet Singer of Modernism and Other Art Writings 1985-2003.

Check out: Iona Rozeal Brown and Stella Lai's "Bling BlAsian Bling" at the Luggage Store Gallery, "Topographies" at the San Francisco Art Institute, "100 Artists See God" at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, Tam Van Tran at Anthony Meier Fine Arts, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres at Fraenkel Gallery.