Night+Day

wednesday
august 23
The Art of Garbage Hey buddy, wanna buy some junk? "Discards" displays (and sells) byproducts from the art and daily life of 100 prominent local and international artists. In theory, the show aims to highlight creativity as commodity; practically, it aims to raise money for Secession, a nonprofit "gallery without walls" that organizes site-specific experimental installations throughout the city. Wise Louise Bourgeoise, perverse Jerome Caja, obsessive Jess, and pathetic 'n' proud Cary S. Leibowitz/Candyass are among this year's roster of participants, who've dug deep into closets and trash cans, donating everything from chips of sculptures and drawings to shopping lists and old clothes. Prices range from $25-300; artsy junkies can indulge their trash fetish at a 5:30-7:30 p.m. reception at Haines Gallery, 49 Geary, S.F. "Discards" continues through Aug. 26. Free; call 641-4967.

International Blue-Light Specials A zillion tribal artifacts from around the globe crammed into one gallery. That's an apt synopsis of the "World Art Exhibit and Sale," a benefit for the nonprofit Inter-Cultural Arts Exchange. Antique masks, statues, ritual artifacts, textiles, silver jewelry, cloth hats, and leather bags from Africa, Indonesia, Bolivia, Mali, Nigeria, Zaire, Sumpa, Nepal, and Japan will be available for blue-light special prices. Cultural consumers can also sample contemporary works by Tony Berlant, Dave Archer, Jack Micheline, Woods Davey, Al Farrow, and more. The bazaar begins with an opening reception 5-7 p.m. at Hultberg Gallery, 544 Hayes, S.F. The exhibition continues through Sept. 23. Free; 381-5861.

thursday
august 24
Alone Together AFRO SOLO: San Francisco's African-American Solo Performance Festival features 10 local artists in three programs. It also features an evening-length dramatic reading Saturday by film/stage/television star Ruby Dee. Solo performance and African storytelling tradition have much in common, but the artists involved in this year's fest are a diverse crew, ranging from dancer/choreographer/actor Robert Henry Johnson to humorist Dee Dee Russell, who will unveil The Adventures of Art Girl: Insane in San Francisco. Other new works include Carl Stokes' In the Wind's Eye, Elizabeth Summers' The Middle Passage, and Nena St. Louis' Do You Want to Buy My Brain?. The emoting starts at 8 p.m. with Summers, Johnson, Russell and Thomas R. Simpson at New Performance Gallery, 3153 17th St, S.F. AFRO SOLO continues through Aug. 27. Tickets are $10-50; call 346-9344.

Lounge Cats and Lizards Take a conformist, conservative era from the past, add a little '90s-style cynical postmodern irony, and you have the lounge music revival at its worst. One could argue that members of today's cocktail nation are preferable when they -- like Pizzicato Five -- add originality and futurism to the retro nostalgia. The acts at "Lounge-a-Palooza" opt for comedy, though: Mr. Lucky, for example, turns a Simple Minds stadium rocker into a polka, a Nirvana tune into a C&W two-stepper, and Journey's awful Bic-flick anthem "Lights" into a bebop number. They'll be joined by S.F. smarm king Bud E. Luv, the Gentlemen of Leisure, the Psychedelic Lounge Cats, and something called Winking Sphincter (along with Jim Campilongo & the Ten Gallon Cats at Above Paradise) at 9 p.m. at the Paradise Lounge, 11th & Folsom, S.F. Tickets are $7; call 861-6906.

Street Scenes Photographer Godfrey Frankel spent three years in the early '40s combing the back alleys of Washington, D.C. A bleaker take on Helen Leavitt's snapshots of urban children at play, his photos from the time show imagination in the face of abject poverty; they also document lives ignored by the area's many lawmakers and politicians. Frankel died last month, but "In the Alleys: Kids in the Shadow of the Capitol" collects images from a book soon to be published by the Smithsonian Institution Press; see them at an opening reception 6-8 p.m. at Vision Gallery, 1155 Mission, S.F. "In the Alleys" continues through Oct. 7. Free; call 621-2107.

friday
august 25
Higher Love Twenty-one-year-old D'Angelo is the real-life version of a stock soul character: the son of a preacher man. The first two songs D'Angelo learned to play on the piano were Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff" and Earth, Wind, and Fire's "Boogie Wonderland." Now he's on the radio, romancing a higher love named Brown Sugar. Whether you call it acid jazz or dope soul, D'Angelo's debut CD has a low-key vibe that never lapses into quiet storm clichŽ. Hear the man cover Smokey Robinson's "Cruisin' " and sing some originals at 9 p.m. at Bimbo's 365 Club, 1025 Columbus, S.F. Groove Theory opens. Tickets are $11-12; call 474-0365.

Gore Gore Girl In the bright red world of splatter cinema, women are usually the ones being splattered, but in low-budget special FX shorts like Acting on a Threat, Landsend, and Life at the Abbey, femme filmmaker Sadie Shaw makes art from other people's (fake) blood and bodies. "The Sadie Shaw Gore Show" features shorts by Shaw and other underground auteurs -- Joaquin Delapuente and Micki Tschur (Stuffed and Prey on Easter), David Roth (Dog-American Dream), and Jen McAucliffe (JSFX and The Story of a Slit Throat) -- who have a penchant for blood-and-guts expression. Audience participation is on the agenda, so be sure to bring a date. The stabbing starts at 8:30 p.m. at Artists' Television Access, 992 Valencia, S.F. Tickets are $5; call 824-3890.