Riff Raff

Doubleplusgood How much damage can a pair of scissors, a few X-Acto blades, and one endless imagination do to American culture? If you're Winston Smith, plenty. He's spent the better part of 20 years transforming vintage ad images into absurdist montages to the delight of twisted minds everywhere -- and to the chagrin of the Traditional Values Coalition. Most recognize Smith for a slew of punk album covers, including Dead Kennedys' In God We Trust, D.O.A.'s The Money Tree, and more recently Green Day's Insomniac. Typical collages feature images of a baby sucking on a jet, smiling '50s dads picking cash off trees, convertible Packards chasing Roman charioteers, and Jesus hanging on a cross of money. Recently Smith held the first of a two-part retrospective celebrating 20 years of work at the 111 Minna Street Gallery. Part 2, featuring works from his latest book, Artcrime, is up through Dec. 27 at the Lawrence Hultberg Gallery at 544 Hayes. It's free. (Robert Arriaga)

Call for Papers (and Other Stuff) The Fillmore District, the one-time "Harlem of the West" and hotbed of San Francisco jazz (soon to be so again, if various planners and developers have anything to say about it), will be the subject of KQED's upcoming fourth documentary on S.F. neighborhoods, The Fillmore. The station asks that anybody who has movies, photos, or other documents from the district's postwar heyday call 553-2850. The Fillmore will premiere on KQED in August 1999. (Johnny DiPaola)

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