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Happening locally: Public art, Geocaching, Chinese urbanism, & Dorothea Lange

One of the great things about living in the San Francisco East Bay is the wealth of events and activities offered on a daily basis. Of the long list of events I know of, here are four that piqued my interest.

Image: Zipper Guy covers traffic signal box, Seyed Alavi Signs of the Times

Emeryville Public Art with Berkeley Path Wanderers Association February 4 , 2009 Description: "Discover the wealth of public art in Emeryville, sponsored by city’s Art in Public Places program. This walk will be flat and the pace moderate." *** Check the Path Wanderers website in the future for complete notes and the route.

Geocaching on the Paths with Berkeley Path Wanderers Association February 7 , 2009 Description: "If you haven’t tried your hand at geocaching — essentially treasure hunting with a GPS unit — here’s your chance. We will share GPS units and hunt for caches on and around the paths."

"Opening the Gates: A Critical Appraisal of China’s Urban Development Practices" sponsored by Center for Chinese Studies, Institute of East Asian Studies, Berkeley China Initiative, and others February 6 - 7, 2009 Description:

By almost any measure, for the last quarter century China has undertaken the largest, most rapid, urban development transformation in human history. How has China been able to build the physical equivalent of one United States in less than a generation? What is the process and what are the physical planning and design models which have enabled this extraordinary construction feat? What have been the economic incentives and drivers?

"Daring To Look: Dorothea Lange’s Photographs And Reports From The Field" by Anne Whiston Spirn: March 2, 2009 Description:

Photography for Anne Whiston Spirn is a way to test ideas. Places are primary sources, and photographs and field journals with written and drawn notes are primary data. Her new book, Daring to Look, presents unpublished texts and photographs by the great photographer Dorothea Lange, who employed images and words, together, not merely to record people and landscapes, but also to discover and to explore ideas. “No country has ever closely scrutinized itself visually,” Dorothea Lange said at the end of her life, “I know what we could make of it if people only thought we could dare look at ourselves.”

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