Fri 5/2
Stephen Funk’s glittery, shiny mosaics look almost like Byzantine icons, but they’re actually made out of prismatic sticker paper. The material in Prismania: Prismatic Mosaics screams out “Third-Grade-Girl Sticker Collector!” but that’s one of the reasons Funk likes it so much — that, plus its cheap, throwaway flashiness. The show will feature twenty recent mosaics, some as big as six by eight feet (!), and some very quirky imagery, including saints, hairy apemen, and worms. The components really lend themselves to fantasy-sci-fi themes, and Funk isn’t afraid to go there, but he’s also interested in the idea of false icons and the “struggle for the human soul in a consumerist, media-obsessed society.” Television sets are his favorites: an arm reaches out of a set in “TV Presence,” TVs burn in hell in “TV Souls,” and they frolic in a meadow in “TV-Scape.” Even the dragon in “St. George and the Dragon” has a TV for a head, with antennae that look just as lethal as George’s sword. The show runs through May 31, but the free opening reception is the best time to check it out: Friday, May 2, 7-10 p.m. at Door.7.Gallery (next to the Mama Buzz Cafe), 2316 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. — Lindsey Westbrook
Credits: Stephen Funk Credits: Al Cameron Cybrid
Wed 4/30
Boys and Beasts
Jim Finn and Dean Rank are filmmakers from the Midwest specializing in highly artistic short films that capture the mundane, the bizarre, and the ultranormal. They’ve taken their show — eleven shorts, including Finn’s Super-Max, a tour of maximum-security correctional facilities that references Lewis and Clark — on the road as the Men and Animals Film Tour 2003. The mini-fest lands at 21Grand (449B 23rd St., Oakland) for a cinematic evening that promises to be anything but predictable. 510-44-GRAND. — Eric K. Arnold
Thu 5/1
Robot Wars
It’s east vs. west tonight when the Stork Club (2330 Telegraph, Oakland) hosts CatFive vs. Cybrid. The live battle between the Oakland and San Francisco collectives, respectively, won’t be much to look at, since both outfits skip the stage moves and go straight for the technological pyro-technics. But it’s an even match-up. The quintet of laptop junkies and vinyl fetishists known as CatFive have the numbers and the home-turf advantage, but the West Bay electro-funk duo of Cybrid has the Run-DMC fashion flava, not to mention a recent feature in XLR8R magazine. The show starts at 9-ish p.m., and cover is $5. — Stefanie Kalem
Fri 5/2
Harvesting
The idea behind the 2003 Pleasanton Spring Harvest Gift and Food Festival appears to be for artisans and chefs to show off their wares. But we all know that it’s us — the purchasers, the hungry throngs — who truly stand to gain from three days of arts and crafts and gourmet deliciousness, not to mention a roving puppet stage, a flea circus, juggling clinics, and live music. The fair takes place at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, 4501 Pleasanton Ave. in Pleasanton, and opening at 10 a.m. daily, closing at 7 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday, and 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets cost between $4.50 and $7.50, and coupons can be picked up at participating Longs Drugs and 24-Hour Fitness locations that, when brought to the festival box office, can be used to donate a portion of your ticket price to the American Cancer Society. Call 800-321-1213 or visit www.harvestfestival.com for further information.— Stefanie Kalem
