The Battery Candy Issue 01 by The Battery Candy

WOMENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HEALTH & DIGNITY

Welcome to The Battery Candy

Winston Churchill’s famous quote, ‘We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us,’ has been deeply ingrained from inception into The Battery’s core design principles. Inspired by this quote, I have been reflecting on our evolution in the three-plus years since The Battery came to be: how its members have been shaped by the environment it provides and, in turn, how the environment has adapted to a nascent culture and an emerging understanding of what The Battery can be. The stories that have unfolded within its exuberant walls are varied, richly textured, and colorful. The Battery — a private social club, boutique hotel, a hub for music, arts and literature, and a powerful new force in philanthropy — represents different things to different people, but at its heart is our member community and the powerful human-centered stories we shape and share. For each Battery member, for each of the 193 staff, and for returning hotel guests, The Battery has become a second home or unconventional office. It’s a place to share ideas, to connect, to play, to unwind, to learn, to experiment, to experience, to create, to contribute. I’ve been a member of The Battery since day one, and I recently joined The Battery Team as Brand Director (code name for multimedia storytelling and dreaming up a new magazine). In my new role, Churchill’s quote has taken on a twist: ‘We shape our stories; thereafter they shape us.’ The Battery Candy magazine was conceived to share those stories, to inform members about club news and events, and to inspire connections and random acts of kindness in our community and beyond. We also hope to highlight extraordinary art, culture, and treasures from around both the Bay Area and the world that have inspired our members. Each issue will touch on a Battery Powered theme; will highlight Battery members, staff, local writers, and artists; and will include a mix of short and medium-form sections, recurring and one-off sections, that we hope you will get to know and love. All this content, as Michael and Xochi cheekily advised, has been designed to be consumed entirely in one (significant) trip to the loo and then recycled (or kept lovingly, should you want to collect all issues). We welcome your feedback and story ideas at candy@thebatterysf.com. We hope this magazine will shift and evolve over time, just as The Battery has.

Jules Shell Editor-in-Chief

PHOTOGRAPHY DAYNE WATAI MAKE-UP ARTIST JILL MLYNCZYK ART DIRECTION AND STYLING SHANNON JETT & FARNAZ DADASHI

The Tart Issue of The Battery Candy is proudly sponsored by PIA â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a female-owned, female-run boutique with a curated selection of fashion-forward clothing, jewelry, and bold accessories in the heart of Jackson Square.

Bold is Beautiful. 414 JACKSON STREET SAN FRANCISCO CA 94111 PIATHESTORE.COM

414 JACKSON STREET SAN FRANCISCO CA 94111 PIATHESTORE.COM

Where Art Meets Fashion.

Jules Shell Editor-in-Chief & Publisher

Lydia Laurenson

Erik Olsen Graphic Design

Ben Kither

Managing Editor

Design

Xochi Birch

Michael Birch

Stacy Horne

Adviser

Adviser & Special Events

Marla Aufmuth

Barbie Lucio-Bartoli

Photographer, Battery Features

Writer, ‘Battery Powered Awards’

Marla Aufmuth is the lucky Creative in Residence who can openly take photographs at The Battery and is honored to have done so in this inaugural issue of Candy. As a corporate lifestyle, portrait, and events photographer, she has rubbed elbows (literally) with Jimmy Carter, sat on Jane Fonda’s feet (oops), and photographed all three female ex-Secretaries of State (wow).

Barbie has worked with Amplifier Strategies on the conception and implementation of social impact initiatives over the last six years. Most recently, she led program management and member engagement for Battery Powered.

Laura Braun Writer, ‘Sylvie Simmons,’ ‘Brian Bell,’ and others Laura is a music-obsessed writer in San Francisco, by way of Chicago. She has written for Rolling Stone, She Shreds, SF Sounds, Thrillist, Venus Zine, and Fest300, and can be found digging through the bins at Amoeba.

Jessica Carew Kraft Writer, ‘Manufactory Coffee’ and others Jessica is a Battery member and independent journalist covering culture, health, and education, with bylines in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Forbes.com, San Francisco Magazine, and other publications. She’s been writing about the personalities and programs at The Battery for the past three years.

Yosh Han Writer, ‘Scent and Ceremony’ Yosh is a Battery member and scent artist. Her scent art has been featured in San Francisco at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Asian Art Museum, Kearny Street Projects, and The Bureau of Urban Secrets, and her eponymous perfume collection is sold globally.

Lydia Laurenson Managing Editor and Writer, ‘Immersive Theater,’ ‘Tart Art: Midori,’ and others Lydia is a Battery member and the Managing Editor of The Battery Candy. She’s spent her career in media, technology, and social good. Her writing about culture, art, identity, tech, and business has appeared in The Atlantic, Vice, the Harvard Business Review, and other publications.

George McCalman Illustrator, ‘7 Suits In 7 Days,’ ‘The State Of…’ and ‘The Women’s March’ George is a Battery member, artist, and creative director. He runs a multi-disciplinary analog and digital creative studio (McCalman.Co) based in the Dogpatch. He is ever with his Shinola notebook, capturing whatever is in front of him.

Leah Rose Writer,‘If These Walls Could Talk’ Leah is a resident DJ at The Battery. She also DJs private parties and philanthropic events around the Bay Area and produces podcasts for tech and lifestyle brands.

Dr. Robin Rosenberg Writer, ‘Life Lessons with Superheroes’ Robin is a clinical psychologist who has taught at Lesley University and Harvard University. She has a coaching and psychology practice in San Francisco, Menlo Park, and New York City. Don’t miss her talk and Q&A at The Battery on July 25th about what superheroes can really teach us about ourselves.

Tiffany Schoolfield Writer, ‘Battery Sparks’ and others Tiffany is a passionate creator with a deep interest in the power of authentic, human storytelling. She has contributed to a number of philanthropic publications and is based in the Bay Area.

Kevin Smokler Author of ‘The Battery Book List’ Kevin is the author of three books, including, most recently, Brat Pack America: A Love Letter to 80’s Teen Movies. He serves as a proud Creative in Residence at The Battery.

Table of Contents

The grantees for The Battery Foundation’s recent theme, Women’s Health & Dignity; amazing socially conscious work by Christy Turlington, Marc Benioff, and other Battery members.

Design notes from Ken Fulk, the genius behind the pheasant chandelier and The Secret Passage; staff spotlights; food, beverage, and health; news from The Hotel; Battery Gift Guide from our sponsor PIA.

Upcoming events, both at The Battery and with The Battery’s offsite programs.

Clinical psychologist Dr. Robin Rosenberg on what superheroes teach us about ourselves; plus, some facts about Wonder Woman that may surprise you.

Immersive and participatory art in San Francisco; books from The Library, chosen by members; art at The Battery that exemplifies ‘tart’; movies and music at The Battery, plus member vinyl.

Battery members in the wild.

Battery Powered

Club Notes

Arts & Culture

Around The Battery

Life Lessons from Superheroes

Correspondents at Large

TART FREE ASSOCIATION

How Three Brilliant Humans Interpret the Word ‘Tart’ ‘Tart’ is the theme of our very first issue of The Battery Candy. For one thing, it’s a flavor; we’re all about fabulous food at The Battery, and the building was once a candy factory! (See the last page for more about Euclid Candy Company.) And of course, this issue is also all about our recent Battery Powered focus on women’s health and dignity, so we thought the word ‘tart’ was an interesting theme to explore. As psychologist Dr. Robin Rosenberg writes below, it can be a negative — yet reclaimed as very positive — word for women. We are kicking off Issue #1 with three remarkable women from different disciplines free associating on what the word ‘tart’ means for them. Dr. Robin Rosenberg Psychologist and Superheroine

Liz Prueitt Pastry Chef and Owner of Tartine

Dr. Robin Rosenberg is a clinical psychologist with a coaching and psychology practice in San Francisco, Menlo Park, and New York City. Don’t miss her talk and Q&A at The Battery on July 25th about what superheroes can really teach us about ourselves.

Pastry genius Liz Prueitt runs Tartine, a worldfamous bakery right here in San Francisco, and she just released a book, Tartine All Day: Modern Recipes for the Home Cook. She recently appeared on ‘The State Of… Food’ panel here at The Battery.

Having recently read a British period novel, I associate the word ‘tart’ both with a strumpet (per the novel’s context), but also as describing a strong, sharp flavor (as in ‘that drink is a bit tart’). The different associations point to the importance of context in understanding language. Referring to a woman as a tart (‘she’s a bit of a tart’) may be an insult, but if the person bestowed with the label can wear it with pride, the insult itself loses its ‘tartness.’ And in wearing it with pride, she becomes a bit more like the other definition: strong and sharp. Various groups have undergone this process, drawing strength by claiming as their own a word or phrase that was intended to have pejorative connotations, such a ‘fag’ for gays, ‘dykes’ for lesbians, ‘nigger’ for blacks. More recently, many women claimed with pride the term ‘nasty woman’ after Trump used the term to describe Hillary Clinton. Owning insulting terms by using them to describe oneself deflects the attempt by others to use them in a shaming way, and renders them a source of power. Similarly, being called a ‘bitch’ can be seen as a complaint — an attempted putdown. It is often used when women are tart — strong and sharp. It is up to women whether or not to accept it as a putdown. Which leads me back to the importance of context in understanding how a word is intended, how it is received, and how each of us has the power to transform something potentially hurtful into a symbol of strength and dignity.

In the beginning I used ’Tartine‘ both to name our business and to reflect that it’s a popular food item that we ate a lot while training in France. The word ‘tart’ is embedded in our name. I became known for it as a pastry chef. Sweet and savory, there is endless possibility in the form, equally at breakfast, lunch, teatime, dinner, or dessert. It’s a form that is physically beautiful (there are not enough round things in life!), and I like its literal and figurative aspect as a vessel. It’s very, very feminine. The word ‘tart’ can become pejorative. As wholesome and physically beautiful as the pastry version usually is, it can become frilly and silly-looking when over-accessorized, as in most supermarket pastry cases! This seems similar to our cultural connotation of a sexualized woman who is ‘tarted up.’ But I prefer tart as the shortened version of sweetheart.

TART FREE ASSOCIATION

Ashara Ekundayo, Social Entrepreneur and ‘Artivist’ Here at The Battery, we were recently lucky to have Ekundayo on a panel for Battery Recharge. She is owner at AECreative; Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Impact Hub Oakland; and Director at Omi Gallery. ‘Tart.’ My first recollection of hearing that word to describe women was in some classic black-and-white movies, watching as a child on Saturday afternoon. It’s not a word from my culture — it’s not a word I heard used to describe the Black women and women of color I grew up with in Detroit, MI. So it’s not a term that I feel any cultural connection to. However, as a sociologist and ‘artivist,’ when I think about the metaphor of tart — it was actually one of my favorite candies. I loved Sweet Tarts and I loved that you had a choice in the package, to taste and swallow the sweet one and/or the tart one, and they were pink (sweet) and blue (tart). I chose the blue ones a lot! Remembering these tastes reveals the opportunities we have in being alive in this

amazing world — the juxtaposition of sweetness/joy and sourness/rage in our realities. As a Black cisgender woman, a mother, a lesbian, an organizer, a social entrepreneur, and an artist, there are always lessons you’re learning and simultaneously, by your very intersectional existence, teaching. These are the lessons that girls are socialized with, about how to be pushing away and pulling towards at the same time. The concept of tart is a provocative metaphor for all kinds of things personal, political, creative. The question for me each day is: what is our duty right now? There’s a quote from freedom fighter Assata Shakur that gets used quite frequently in the social justice Movement For Black Lives that says, ‘It is our duty to fight for our freedom, it is our duty to win, we must love and support one another — we have nothing to lose but our chains!’ In this moment of upheaval and protest, there is also joy and pleasure, there’s art and compassion. And they all go hand in hand, as you don’t know one without the other. This is our opportunity to face, head-on, the sweet and the sour.

BATTERY POWERED

A Letter from Battery Foundation Co-Founder Xochi Birch When Michael and I opened The Battery, we envisioned more than just a social club. We wanted to build a community and make a difference. Battery Powered became our way of turning that vision into reality. Together, our members find and fund the people and projects with the greatest chance of making society stronger. Along the way, we build friendships, find inspiration, and gain exposure to world-class thinkers. With just three years and seven themes under our belt, we recently celebrated an incredible milestone, almost $10 million raised, with more than 15% of the club participating. We are so grateful to the founding members who believed in this program from the start â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and to Amplifier Strategies, our philanthropic partner who brought this dream to life. From prison reform to mental health, the arts, and womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health and dignity, our community has already made an impact through the amazing work of 49 awardees. To make sure our reach extends far beyond the club, we created thebatterysf.com/ batterypowered, our online portal where each theme is captured for anyone to use as a resource for their philanthropic giving. There you will find our issue briefs, impact reports, organization profiles, and videos from past events. While we have already accomplished so much, there is still so much more for us to do. We invite each and every member to collectively activate your generosity, and join us on the fun and rewarding journey to reach the next $10 million!

Xochi Birch Co-Founder, Battery Powered 10

BATTERY POWERED

Battery Powered Awards $1.04M to Women’s Health & Dignity By Barbie Lucio-Bartoli

Last March, Battery Powered members selected their awardees in Women’s Health & Dignity and granted a total of $1.04 million to five organizations. From protecting women’s health and reproductive rights to empowering the next generation of female political leaders, these organizations show us how communities thrive when women are strong, fierce, and in control. Battery Powered is proud to name them as awardees. ORGANIZATIONS RECEIVING 100% OF THEIR FUNDING REQUEST

ORGANIZATIONS RECEIVING PARTIAL FUNDING OF THEIR REQUEST

CALLISTO $250K over 2 years

FREEDOM FWD $133K

Project: Healing, Agency, and Justice for Sexual Assault Survivors. Callisto is a scalable technology that supports survivor healing and agency, detects repeat offenders, and provides authorities with the information they need. With this funding, Callisto will make critical upgrades to its online campus sexual assault documentation and reporting system, enabling it to reach 41,360 survivors and be available to 310,000 students by 2018-19. Now on seven campuses, Callisto expects to support 225,000 survivors at 230 colleges by 2022.

Project: A Seat at the Table: Forward Fellowships.

CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS $250K over 2 years

LIVING GOODS $179K

Project: High-Impact Litigation to Protect Reproductive Rights. The Center for Reproductive Rights safeguards reproductive health and rights through strategic, precedent-setting litigation in courts across the U.S. With this funding, CRR will seek to strike down abortion restrictions in eleven or more states, lay groundwork for a defense of Roe v. Wade, implement an amicus strategy for Planned Parenthood’s defunding lawsuit, and challenge a repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s no-copay contraceptive coverage benefit.

Project: Empowered Moms, Healthy Families: Delivering Care in Kenya. This project will recruit, train, equip, and manage 100 Community Health Promoters (CHPs) to deliver community-based health care to 80,000 women and children in Busia County, Kenya. CHPs deliver health education and low-cost products for family planning, pregnancy, ante- and postnatal care, and high-risk childhood illnesses, while gaining entrepreneurial skills and earning a meaningful income for themselves and their families.

IGNITE $225K over 2 years Project: IGNITE Alumni Network: Advance Women’s Political Leadership. IGNITE will build a national alumni network of politically ambitious young women, propelling them into political power. Over two years, 4,000 alumni will join the network, accessing political internships, jobs, and a network of elected women. An estimated 50 IGNITE alums will run for office; 100 will be appointed to government boards and commissions; 300 will run for office on campus; and 700 will intern or work for elected officials, candidates, or policy advocacy organizations.

With this funding, fourteen young women will participate in trauma-informed leadership and advocacy training in San Francisco, a major hub for human trafficking, and engage directly with the SF Mayor’sTask Force on Anti-HumanTrafficking. A Forward Web Portal will allow young people to anonymously share information to support data-driven improvements to the city’s anti-trafficking response services.

Full profiles for all of the finalists this theme, with details about each project and its implementation, can be viewed at bit.ly/batterypoweredwomen. Congratulations to the winners and a sincere thanks to our generous members for your support!

BATTERY POWERED

Introducing Battery Powered Executive Director Colleen Gregerson By Lydia Laurenson Photo Courtesy of Colleen Gregerson

Until recently, the Battery Powered program has been beautifully run by Allison Duncan and the team at Amplifier Strategies, a full-service impact agency that works with visionary leaders on social innovation. Now the program is being brought in-house at The Battery under the leadership of incoming Executive Director Colleen Gregerson, who starts with us this month. We sat down with Colleen to learn about her background and her vision of what Battery Powered can become.

BATTERY POWERED

‘Battery Powered is democratizing philanthropy.’ What’s your background like? Where are you coming from? A I’ve been working at Population Services International (PSI), a large nonprofit global health organization, for almost ten years. Over the last year and a half, I’ve been the Managing Director of Maverick Collective, an initiative within PSI that brings together individual philanthropists, their funding, and their expertise to address social issues girls and women face in the developing world and do really innovative projects to address them.

human-centered design experts and doing it on their own — but she helped integrate that mentality into the entire PSI organization. Now we are integrating elements of that into all our projects. She had a huge impact with her skills. There are some parallels to Battery Powered there, and the type of impact that I believe philanthropists in Battery Powered can have.

Q A

Great name. What makes it innovative? As a global health organization, PSI gets a lot of funding from large institutional donors, like the World Bank and various governments. And that’s great. But we were frustrated by our inability to innovate on some of the most serious issues women and girls are facing, and those large institutions just aren’t set up to support the flexibility we needed in trying new models. On top of that, we were also speaking to philanthropists who were increasingly frustrated that when they came to the table as philanthropists, their lifetimes of skills and talents weren’t being considered — only their financial resources. They were looking for a more meaningful way to engage. So we married those two concepts and created Maverick Collective as a hub for innovation where philanthropists can support causes not just financially, but with their expertise as well.

Can you give an example of a philanthropist you’ve worked with in the past at Maverick? A Pam Scott is one of the Maverick Collective members — we call them members, not donors, to indicate that they’re a member of the team. She’s an expert in human-centered design. She had a company that she ran for many years where she brought humancentered design to major brands like Nike. So she told us she wanted to use human-centered design on the issue of teenage pregnancy, and we did a project with her in Tanzania. Pam didn’t just train and work with our team on the ground — who are now all excellent

What’s your assessment of Battery Powered right now? A Well, I haven’t started yet! But my assessment of the current program is that it’s phenomenal, an extremely innovative model that I’ve been impressed with for a while. Number one, there’s the collective action — bringing together many people and many resources towards a common theme. I love how Battery Powered shows that you don’t have to be an individual philanthropist charting your own course. You can bring together resources, expertise, and finances towards an issue you’re passionate about. These are big issues we’re trying to solve, and if we can collaborate that will get us so much further. Also, Battery Powered is democratizing philanthropy. There’s an old-school notion of what a philanthropist is and what it means to be one — building buildings and so on. I want to knock people’s socks off with what philanthropy can be. I was in Uganda a month ago with a very young philanthropist who’s pregnant with her first child, and I was sitting with the Director General of the Ministry of Health, and I introduced her. The guy almost fell off his chair. He said this wasn’t his picture of philanthropy at all, and I said: great! The whole field of philanthropy is shifting in this way, and Battery Powered is part of a new wave that’s giving people a venue to engage in philanthropy earlier in life. I love that. I think there is a real opportunity to build on the strong foundation that Battery Powered has already built, by engaging members even more deeply in the issues and by connecting members more closely with the impact the awards are having.

BATTERY POWERED

Women’s rights are human rights. By Barbie Lucio-Bartoli

It seems this should be obvious (and indisputable), like gravity. Women and girls make up about half of the world’s population, and therefore half of humankind’s potential. When women and girls are valued and empowered, when their dignity is respected, when they can make their own decisions about their health and determine their own futures, when they can participate and contribute in all facets of life — everyone benefits. Sadly, for too many, the importance of women’s rights is anything but obvious. Because women’s health and dignity are indivisible to the health and dignity of communities and nations throughout the world, we are committed to finding and supporting ideas and approaches that are vital to unleashing the enormous potential of women by changing the economic, social, and cultural barriers that hold them back.

MATERNAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

ECONOMIC ACCESS AND ADVANCEMENT

SAFETY AND SELFDETERMINATION

Dependable, accessible health care and reproductive freedom are central to a woman’s ability to determine the course of her own life.

When a woman is able to get an education and put her unique talents and skills to work in the world for herself and others, everyone benefits.

When these basic rights are recognized, respected, and advanced for women, societies become stronger.

Read the full Issue Brief and check out videos and profiles from our finalists at bit.ly/batterypoweredwomen.

HOW TO BECOME A BATTERY POWERED MEMBER All members of The Battery are invited to join Battery Powered. Three tiers of membership allow you to choose your level of action and benefits: High Voltage ($100K+), Battery Couple ($20K+), and Battery Powered ($4K+). Members commit up front for the year, and fund organizations three times a year. Upcoming themes include: Spring 2017 Education to Workforce Pathways Fall 2017 Gun Safety Winter 2018 Childhood Nutrition Battery Powered is a program of The Battery Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3). Join at thebatterysf.com/giving/join or contact powered@thebatterysf.com

OTHER WAYS TO SUPPORT THE EFFORT 01 Attend a Battery Powered Expert Night or Organization Night 02 Learn more! Have coffee and chat with a current Battery Powered Member, or with Nicole, Battery Powered Membership Director. To learn more, be in touch at: nicole@thebatterysf.com

BATTERY POWERED

In Numbers

SAFETY AND SELFDETERMINATION

ECONOMIC ACCESS A ND ADVANCEMENT

MATERNAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

The Tart Issue of The Battery Candy is proudly sponsored by PIA â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a female-owned and -run fashion boutique with a curated selection of couture clothing, jewelry and bold accessories in the heart of Jackson Square.

830 60% 14.6% 2,000,000

The number of women who die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth every day.

The percentage of undergrad degrees in America held by women...

...and the percentage of Executive Officer positions they fill.

The number of children who are exploited every year in the global commercial sex trade.

Statistics sourced: American Progress, World Health Organization, and Equality Now.

BATTERY POWERED

Q&A: Christy Turlington Burns By Barbie Lucio-Bartoli

In 2010, American supermodel Christy Turlington founded Every Mother Counts,

a nonprofit whose mission is to make pregnancy and childbirth safe for every mother. For our Women’s Health & Dignity theme, she was gracious enough to speak at Battery Powered Expert Night, highlighting her incredible work on global maternal mortality. So we caught up with her for a quick interview after the panel. Q

Can you describe the moment you decided to become an advocate for maternal health and how that moment shaped the work you do? I became a global maternal health advocate the day that I became a mother. When I gave birth to my daughter in 2003, I experienced a postpartum hemorrhage, a leading cause of maternal death around the world. Before then, I was not aware that hundreds of thousands of girls and women died every year bringing life into the world. I learned that most of these deaths were preventable — and once I knew that, I had to understand why more wasn’t being done to save women’s lives. I was determined to understand why we were allowing these preventable deaths to continue at such a steady rate, and find a way to put an end to them. I wanted every mother to have the same opportunity to not only survive, but also thrive in their roles as mothers. That led me to where I am today, leading an organization that has impacted more than 540,000 lives since 2012. Every Mother Counts works in the U.S. and around the world — two very different realities for women and girls. What do you consider to be the commonalities and differences for women facing maternal and reproductive health barriers around the world and in the U.S.? The leading causes of death are the same in any country: hemorrhage, infection, and hypertension, to name a few. Still, as many as 98% of these deaths are preventable with improved access to timely and appropriate care throughout pregnancy and postpartum. So Every Mother Counts works to address the three main barriers to maternal health around the world: lack of transportation, supplies, and education. We are dedicated to linking mothers and maternal healthcare providers here in the United States, Haiti, Guatemala, Bangladesh, India, Tanzania, and Uganda. 99% of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries, with 50% occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa and one-third in Asia. In many parts of the world, the risk of maternal mortality is highest for adolescent girls under fifteen years old, and pregnancy is a leading cause of death. Women in developing countries have, on average, many more pregnancies

than women in developed countries, and their lifetime risk of death due to pregnancy is higher due to lack of access to contraception and family planning. There is a widespread misconception that in the United States there is a safety net in healthcare, but many people fall through the cracks, including pregnant women. The United States is currently ranked 60th in the world for safe motherhood and is one of just thirteen countries with a rising maternal mortality rate. One in five women of reproductive age is uninsured in this country. We also have political, racial, and systemic barriers that leave women of color and low-income women to lower-quality care — or no prenatal care at all. Despite the high cost of healthcare for those who do have access, the quality of that care is inconsistent, and women are paying the price. Q

Q A

Can you tell us a story of personal transformation that you’ve seen, and what’s needed to make powerful change like this scale? I have met countless women who have experienced some level of birth-related trauma — the loss of a child in utero or soon after, a childbirth-related disability that continues to cause physical pain, or infertility. Many providers that Every Mother Counts supports have dedicated their lives to ensuring that women do not go through preventable pain and loss. There is nothing more empowering for them than having the skills and training to recognize complications before they arise, to treat them, or to link high-risk cases to the appropriate care in a timely and compassionate manner. We need more of these providers in every country if we are going to continue to make a lasting impact and continue to bring down the numbers of preventable deaths. What would need to happen for your organization to go out of business? If every woman were able to enter motherhood healthy and supported, then Every Mother Counts would no longer be necessary. Name one thing you hope all expectant mothers will have access to. I wish that every expectant mother had access to a compassionate and skilled healthcare provider throughout her pregnancy and postpartum.

BATTERY POWERED

‘The United States is currently ranked 60th in the world for safe motherhood.’

Photo Courtesy of Every Mother Counts

BATTERY POWERED

Battery Sparks Part of what makes Battery Powered so special is that it’s completely member driven and member led. So: who is Battery Powered? In each issue of Battery Candy, we will highlight two Battery Powered members and share what inspires them. We sat down with Anne Devereux-Mills and Wayee Chu to find out how they stay engaged in the issues they care about and whose online presence and social media feeds inspire them the most. By Tiffany Schoolfield ANNE DEVEREUX-MILLS

WAYEE CHU

Women’s issues are economic issues, political issues, climate issues, healthcare issues, and safety issues — so says Battery Powered member Anne Devereux-Mills. She has a rich philanthropic background that includes mentoring females from post-genocide countries with SHE-CAN, an organization that connects talented young leaders with American professional mentors. She helped launch the iHUG Foundation, which accelerates access to education in Uganda, one of the poorest countries in the world. Devereux-Mills is also the founder of Parlay House, a monthly gathering of more than 900 women in the Bay Area that serves as a catalyst for networking, inspiration, and empowerment. ‘Women’s issues are issues of empowerment and inclusion, of actions small and large. I care that women make between 52–77 cents to a man’s dollar. I care that a group of white men are making policy decisions regarding our reproductive rights. I care that our president thinks it’s okay to talk about women as objects to be grabbed, and I care that only 4% of S&P 500 companies have women on their boards. ‘I also care about finding solutions for the current deficiency of mental health services. Underlying many problems that plague our community and our country — homelessness, drug addiction, over-incarceration, — are undiagnosed and untreated mental health challenges for which we have no scalable solution. ‘I try not to focus much of my time on social media, and instead look for ways to be involved with small personal actions that create a cascade of good. Having founded Parlay House in order to create a community of connected women who pull each other forward, I spend a lot of time watching the ripple effects that come from actions of empathy, listening, inclusion, generosity, and nurturing that create a cascade of good. I call that cascade the ‘Parlay Effect.’ ‘I also try to be really self-aware, aligning my natural strengths and abilities with my passions. I think that the intersection of strength and passion leads to dynamic change and meaningful results. When you find that intersection, even small actions have impact.’

With so many nonprofits and impact-focused organizations here in the Bay Area, how do you choose a cause to focus on? For Battery Powered member Wayee Chu, education is the primary lever of change for many social issues — from fighting racial injustice and relieving poverty to increasing social and economic mobility and making a positive impact on the environment. She is committed to making sure everyone has equal access to educational opportunities. Education, she says, is the ‘civil rights issue of our time.’ ‘At Battery Powered, I supported and nominated several organizations in the Innovations in Early Childhood Education. I work at a venture fund, Reach Capital, that focuses on investing in early-stage education technology startups. Our firm is on a mission to seed the most inspirational, uplifting, and engaging educational tools that help educators and families realize children’s full potential. Given my investing perspective, I follow many successful enterprise and consumer technology entrepreneurs on social media. More importantly, from a social impact perspective, I follow educators who are users of the tools we invest in, as well as academics that are doing great work in the field of education. ‘Educators play such an important role in the lives of students. Understanding their perspectives and needs is critical in finding the most relevant and useful tools to support their work. Aside from sourcing and supporting great startups and entrepreneurs, one other important component in ensuring that our investments make an impact on students is making sure we are out in the field visiting schools and educators. ‘I try my best to visit the schools in the cities and districts we serve and talk to as many public school educators, students, and parents as possible, in order to better understand the needs and challenges they face each day in the context of their own classrooms and homes.’

WHO SHE FOLLOWS brenebrown.com / @corybooker / FB: bethatgirl

WHO SHE FOLLOWS @sirkenrobinson / @tanehisicoates / @howardlfullerx

BATTERY POWERED

The Women’s March on Washington How it happened, and what’s next By Lydia Laurenson Illustration by George McCalman

Left: Mrinalini Chakraborty, Right: Breanne Butler. Both women helped organize the Women’s March on Washington on January 21st, immediately following the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

In early 2017, Battery member Shareen Punian brought two co-founders of the the Women’s March on Washington to speak at The Battery. Mrinalini Chakraborty and Breanne Butler were both gracious enough to come and share their stories and experiences. on January 21st. Their logistics were a work of art. During the panel at The Battery, Chakraborty said: ‘Could we have chosen a different weekend? Yes, but we wanted to be there for this man’s first day in office. We wanted to send the message that okay, you’re president now, but we’re here — all the people you’ve mocked and said horrible things about. We’re here right in your backyard and we’re watching.’ With a laugh, she added: ‘I still don’t know how we pulled off (all the logistics), but I can tell you that if you ever need to find parking spaces in D.C., I can help you.’ What’s next for the Women’s March? Everyone should do some self-reflection, said Butler. ‘I’ve had moments of really wondering whether I was going to get out okay. Just seeing how crazy the whole system is — for example, when wrongful arrests and police brutality is happening. For me I had to ask the question — and all of you do too, to be honest — how far are you willing to go? How far are you willing to fight to stand up for your Muslim brothers and sisters? To stand up for the Black community?‘ Chakraborty added: ‘It goes back to realizing that — while we want to focus on local issues — some problems transcend state lines. When the time comes, maybe we will need to take some trains and go to red districts to register voters, even as there are other actions that might need us to be local constituents.’ Speaking of being a local constituent: have you used The Battery phone booths? If so, you might have noticed a weekly call-to-action sheet in a phone booth. If you have anything you’d like to add, drop Joanna Nastos a line at: joanna@thebatterysf.com

Chakraborty recounted a history of activism that started as a teenager in India. ‘I came to this country eight years ago to attend college on an academic scholarship… And it frustrated me this past year that in such an important election, my voice in the electoral booth didn’t count, but at the same time every decision I knew this administration would shove down our throats would deeply impact me…. I watched in dismay as President Trump singled out the most vulnerable in our communities and demonized them. And I thought that, at some point, this has got to stop.’ For her part, Butler was once a chef who made cookies for Facebook, and was eventually invited to make cookies for a Hillary Clinton event. She explained that attending the event turned on a light for her: ‘I realized as I listened to the speeches that I was so focused on my business, so focused on doing, that I was missing what was happening in the world. That was when I started to do more — advocating for Hillary and making phone calls and so on.’ She was devastated on election night, but quickly seized the opportunity to help organize against the new president, using her well-honed Facebook skills to incite the movement across social media. Butler also emphasized the intersectionality of the Women’s March, and how she and her initial co-organizer ‘quickly realized that as two white women we were missing the point, and that the Women’s March was becoming the epitome of white feminism, and we needed to center voices of color. It was a learning process.’ These two women, and many others, organized thousands of people to march on Washington —

BATTERY POWERED

New Initiative Spotlight By Battery Staff

Shareen Punian, who brought the Women’s March organizers to The Battery, is also a formidable organizer in her own right. She and her husband Deepak Puri co-founded DemocracyLabs (DemLabs), a new initiative to bring together politicos, technologists, and storytellers. Punian’s background is as a finance and portfolio management executive and philanthropist; she is also a board member of Beats, Rhymes, and Life, a small nonprofit that promotes youth healing and self-expression through the power of hip-hop. Her husband Deepak Puri is a tech executive, philanthropist, and board member of the Tides Foundation, which works with innovative partners to accelerate change toward a world of shared prosperity and social justice. After she organized the Women’s March panel with Chakraborty and Butler, we sat down with Punian to ask her about her inspiration behind creating DemLabs and bringing the Women’s March organizers to The Battery.

Why did you feel compelled to bring two of the co-founders of the the Women’s March on Washington to The Battery? A For many of us, participating in one of the Women’s Marches was a balm to the raw feelings from the last presidential election. For some of us, it was transformational. It was also a historical event — the biggest political protest in American history. It was put together in a short time by a group of women using social media and other digital organizing tools. This seems so relevant to our times and to our fellow members.

What is Democracy Labs (DemLabs) and why did you and Deepak feel compelled to start it? What does it do? How can other Battery Members get involved? A This election was a wake-up call. Democracy is not a spectator sport, nor is it something to take for granted. As Californians, we feel largely left out of the national conversation. So much innovation and creativity comes from the West Coast, and is largely ignored in politics due to its risk-averse culture. Deepak and I feel that this is a moment in time when we have to look at our democracy in a fresh way. DemLabs is bringing together politicos, technologists, and storytellers to help progressives regain their competitive advantage and start winning elections again, up and down the ballot. There are a lot of highly skilled people motivated to solve political problems right now and we are matching them to impactful projects. One example is a group of television and film directors, producers, and creatives that have formed together as ‘The People’ to create viral political content that looks at issues in a fresh and current way. As the Trump administration stepped up

deportations, immigrants’ rights groups needed to inform immigrants as to their rights when confronted by an ICE agent — so The People worked with the groups to create easy-to-distribute video content. Another example is Organizing for America (OFA). After the election, OFA was overwhelmed with volunteers who needed training to become grassroots activists. None of their training was available online. But Silicon Valley is the home of online training platforms. So a skilled documentary filmmaker, who works as a project manager at one of the online platforms, took OFA’s content, filmed it using other grassroots volunteers, and put it onto the platform so that OFA could scale up their training to meet their demand. Since then, others working at online training platforms have banded together and started taking on projects for other political organizations. This showcases DemLabs’ approach of, firstly, identifying the key gaps in progressive movement (in this case, how to train new volunteers); secondly, designing a solution with the right technology (online video training); and thirdly, assembling the expertise and volunteers to complete the project. We look for projects with a high return on investment — where a few hours of volunteer time can make a huge difference. Here, a few hours of volunteer time gave us a resource that makes hundreds of volunteers more effective in phone banking. When the politicos see what the techies and storytellers can do, and when the techies and storytellers understand what’s needed in politics, magic happens. Battery members are exactly the type of people who can bring innovation, talent, resources, and vision to solving problems and taking on impactful projects. DemLabs could use anyone willing to get involved. Check out the DemLabs website at thedemlabs.org

BATTERY POWERED

Marc Benioff’s Smart, Transparent Work on Gender Equality The ‘Women’s Surge’ Initiative at Salesforce

Battery member Marc Benioff has been doing remarkable work at Salesforce on gender equality, dating back to 2013. The ‘Women’s Surge’ program started with promotions: they asked managers across the company to create lists of candidates to receive leadership training. First, the company-wide lists of candidates for leadership training were reviewed. Then every list that didn’t have enough women’s names was rechecked and amended. This led to widespread promotions for women across the company. The early program was successful, but there was still room for improvement: two women promoted through the program went to Benioff and addressed the fact that there was a pay gap. He was skeptical at first, but after Salesforce commissioned a review, they discovered a gap and began working to fix it. Most recently, Salesforce did an Equal Pay Assessment Update, which cost the company $3 million last year. On their blog in April, Salesforce reported that this assessment led to eleven percent of employees receiving pay adjustments. Congratulations to Salesforce on this landmark work — their commitment is more than clear.

BATTERY EVENTS

Club Notes Fringe Benefits

Highlighted Events at The Battery

Fringe Benefits are The Battery’s offsite partnerships and programs. For more information and to RSVP, please visit thebatterysf.com/events/bonus

June 23 Electric Sheep: Pride Edition

June 25 Battery VIP Table at Stern Grove Festival with Kool + The Gang Every year since 1938, the Stern Grove Festival Association presents Stern Grove Festival, an admission-free performing arts series, in Sigmund Stern Grove, a beautiful outdoor amphitheater located at 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard. The year 2017 marks the festival’s 80th season. Battery members are invited to Opening Day’s Big Picnic Party and a performance by Grammy Award-winning group Kool & The Gang, which has sold over 70 million albums worldwide and influenced the music of three generations. Thanks to songs like ‘Celebration,‘ ‘Cherish,’ ‘Jungle Boogie,’ ‘Summer Madness,’ and ‘Open Sesame,’ they’ve earned two Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, twenty-five Top Ten R&B hits, nine Top Ten Pop hits, and thirty-one gold and platinum albums.

July 31 Skip the application to WORLDZ 2017 WORLDZ was created to unite leaders from global

brands, tech companies, and startups, along with top artists and influencers. Executives attend from Coca-Cola, Samsung, 20th Century Fox, Red Bull, Apple, VICE, Facebook, YouTube, Warby Parker, L’Oreal, and more. This invite-only ‘Harvard for Culture’ is a place where superstars and rising stars can build transformational partnerships while learning the secrets and strategies of world-shaping projects. The Battery community is one of the few chosen as part of the WORLDZ year-round community and to gain entrance into WORLDZ 2017 on July 31st & August 1st in Los Angeles.

August 11 VIP Box at Outside Lands Festival San Francisco’s Outside Lands festival has been playing indie rock, alternative rock, hip-hop, and electronica since 2008. Join us for a top-of-the-line VIP experience for Battery members, right at the festival site. The VIP Box Suite located at the Main Stage offers premium seating and views of the Main Stage. Guests will be treated to a day of exclusive amenities.

* All events and dates subject to change. For the most up-to-date calendar and to RSVP, go to thebatterysf.com/events.

This is The Battery’s Electric Sheep, but on rainbow steroids. Join The Battery and FourTwoNine Magazine to kick off San Francisco Pride Weekend 2017 with a night of dancing and revelry!

July 13 Bedlam Bedlam is The Battery’s annual interactive multimedia party: a carefully crafted night of art, media, and culture, drawn from the Bay Area and beyond. Bedlam takes place throughout our entire club, with performances and installations intricately interwoven among both traditional staged areas and in numerous site-specific spots. This is an evening of creativity, artistic excellence, top-notch entertainment, and sensory overload that celebrates The Battery community’s vital, dynamic, and ever-curious spirit.

July 18 Sundance Film Festival Award-Winning Shorts Over the course of more than 30 years, the Sundance Film Festival has been widely considered the premier showcase for short films and the launchpad for many now-prominent independent filmmakers. Showcasing a wide variety of story and style, the 2017 Sundance Short Film Tour is a 90-minute theatrical program of select short films from this year’s Festival.

July 25 Life Lessons From Superheroes Superheroes can provide a roadmap for handling the vicissitudes of life. From superheroes we can learn to use our talents and abilities, overcome adversity, use our alter egos to our advantage, and make our ‘costumes’ count. Superheroes also teach us that feeling different from other people, which can sometimes feel like a curse, can in fact be a gift. (For more about this event, check out the article ‘Life Lessons From Superheroes’ in this very issue!)

August 10 Outside Lands Warm-Up Join us at The Battery for a very special Outside Lands kickoff party, with a live show by The Stone Foxes and DJ set by Viceroy.

BATTERY EVENTS

Club Notes August 14 Battery Cocktail Club: Drinking Traditions from Around the World

September 15 Nerd Nite

Join our resident spirit expert Haley Samas-Berry for an engaging talk looking at favorite drinks and traditions worldwide. Includes sample drinks, of course!

August 25 Red Hots Burlesque: Summer Edition Red Hots Burlesque, San Francisco’s longest-running weekly burlesque and cabaret, comes direct to The Battery. They have a mission of variety! Expect drag, comedy, striptease, sideshow, and circus from folks of every gender, size, race, performance style, and country. They have a pool of over 500 performers from all over the world! You will never see the same show twice.

Nerd Nite is a lecture-in-a-bar series found in cities around the world. Scientists, historians, game designers, and other nerderati drink lots of beer and give talks about their expertise. Come cheer, laugh, and learn — be there and be square!

September 21 Preview Night for San Francisco Antique Fair The San Francisco Fall Art & Antiques Show, now in its 36th year, is the oldest and most prestigious show of its genre on the West Coast. Presenting 60 of the finest international art and antiques dealers showing a breadth of works from across the globe and through the centuries, it’s a must-see destination for collectors and enthusiasts of art, antiques, and design.

Not to be Missed June — September

June 18 Father’s Day Dinner Celebrate Dad with dinner and live music by Bistro Moustache

June 23 Electric Sheep, Pride Edition Our annual Pride celebration featuring DJ Cazwell and a live performance by Boyfriend

July 04 Independence Day

July 13 Bedlam

The whole family is welcome for an afternoon celebration with live music, games, and BBQ before the city

Our third annual evening of this notto-be-missed, multisensory celebration of immersive cultural experiences

fireworks begin August 10 Outside Lands Warm-Up

August 12 Electric Sheep, Outside Lands Edition

Kick off the festival weekend with The Stone Foxes and Viceroy

Featuring Zane Lowe, Kaytranada, Bomba Estereo and Sofi Tukker

September 15-17 Camp Battery

September 27-29 Oktoberfest

Adult summer camp in the redwoods!

Three nights of German beer, food, and live music in The Garden

BATTERY EVENTS

Private Events at The Battery Don’t Challenge David Knudsen to a Breakfast Sandwich-Making Contest

Private Event Spaces

By Lydia Laurenson

If you’d like to rent any of The Battery’s private event spaces, you can reach David Knudsen at david@thebatterysf. com. Here’s a list of available spaces at The Battery:

A surprisingly high number of Battery team members went to school for engineering or computer science before they got into hospitality. David Knudsen, who leads the Private Events team at The Battery, went to school for computer science — because he was trying to branch out from hospitality. Having been raised in a hospitality-focused family, David wanted to try something new, but he ultimately decided to apply his brilliance to hospitality after all, much to The Battery’s good fortune! Some of David’s indelible childhood memories come from his grandparents and great-grandparents, who lived in the Bronx in New York City. His great-grandmother managed to cultivate a garden — in the Bronx! — while his grandfather owned and operated a deli in the neighborhood, the Metropolitan Delicatessen. He fondly remembers being left with his grandfather as a child and entrusted with deli chores, which David remembers as an experience of freedom: he felt like he’d made it into the labor force. And then, of course, there was the simple experience of service, which struck a lasting chord. David says that he learned a quote from Gandhi in college, ‘The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others,’ which has stuck with him through a life spent working in hospitality. Before joining The Battery in 2014, David managed the food and beverage department at The Clift Hotel for over two years, overseeing the Redwood Room lounge and Velvet Room restaurant. His hobbies include curating the perfect breakfast, and he says that he’d challenge anyone who dares to a breakfast sandwich-making contest.

The Penthouse Accommodates 50 Seated, 120 Standing The Penthouse boasts spectacular views and versatility for events ranging from formal seated dinners to cocktail receptions and barbecues on the terrace. It encompasses 6,200 square feet, with prominent floor-toceiling windows and steel beams. The suite features a 19-foot service bar, Viking grill, infinity hot tub, and reflection pool.

The Parlor Accommodates 96 Seated, 120 Standing The Parlor may be used for seated dinners, standing receptions, theater-style presentations, and meetings. The room features alabaster chandeliers and sconces, antelope carpeting, and Dior grey walls. Other features include a built-in Tannoy sound system and drop-down projection screen.

The Wine Cellar Accommodates 22 Seated, 35 Standing An intimate space, The Wine Cellar may be utilized for dinners, tastings, and meetings. The Cellar features walls crafted from reclaimed wine barrels, a cork ceiling, a custom chandelier, subtle lighting, and a selection of 3,000 bottles from around the world — hand-selected by our Director of Wine.

The Study Accommodates 12 Seated The Study features an 80” plasma TV for presentations, jumbo magnetic white board, wi-fi, audio-visual capabilities, and a grand vintage chandelier. Simply put, The Study is the most elegant boardroom in the city.

BATTERY EVENTS

Return to Camp Battery Everything from Yoga to Archery to Juggling Unplugged, connective weekends away are a wonderful thing. Inspired by a variety of events — from Digital Detox’s Camp Grounded, where attendees put away their phones for the weekend, to exploratory gatherings and journeys where community is created by immersive experience — we know that many Battery members understand that the better things in life are often found off the grid. That’s why we created Camp Battery and we’re excited to host it for a second year. By Laura Braun Photos by Marla Aufmuth

Last fall, Battery members escaped the comfortable confines of the club for a weekend of rustic fun at historic Camp Navarro. Located less than three hours north of San Francisco, the one-time Boy Scout home base was transformed into an exclusive grown-ups only getaway that we dubbed Camp Battery. This year, we’re bringing the fun back not once, but twice — and this time the whole family is invited. From Friday, June 16 through Sunday, June 18, Camp Navarro will be the home to our very first Battery Family Camp, a reimagining of last year’s retreat that will cater to all ages. Lush greenery provides one seriously gorgeous backdrop for a weekend packed with camp classics like archery and s’mores, as well as yoga and meditation. Supervised programming for the little ones means that the kids stay busy while the adults partake in their own classes like songwriting and shibori dyeing. While our ‘choose your own adventure’-inspired scheduling allows for campers to make their own magic for the weekend, we’ll be adding a bit of our own

throughout, as well. After all, no redwood fairy circle like the one at Camp Navarro would be complete without, well, fairies. Real-life pixie Emily Butterfly will add a bit of whimsy to the children’s programming with her fantastical puppet show, while fairies sprinkle their dust throughout the campsite all weekend. Whether you’re a stargazer or a sunbather, surprises await. Once again, campers and glampers alike can rest easy with a variety of accommodations: bring your own tent or RV, or choose from the readily available cabins, Adirondacks, luxury pop-up tents, and even tee-pees (all equipped with memory foam mattresses) that come pre-setup for easy living. San Francisco’s own Metal & Match Catering will be on hand for three delectable meals a day, plus snacks, beverages, and an Instagramworthy BBQ pit for dinner. The organic meal company caters to all palates and dietary restrictions, so glutenfree families and parents of picky eaters need not worry — there will be a little something for everyone.

Ready to rough it, but prefer a more grown-up adventure? Adults-only Camp Battery returns September 15 – 17. Registration for both camps is open now!

BATTERY ARTS & CULTURE

Immersive and Participatory Art In the Bay Area

Text and Photos by Lydia Laurenson

‘We make the world real through actions that open the heart’ The Bay Area’s participatory ethos is reflected in different facets of our culture — from the counterculture, to the tech industry, to the DIY aesthetic of the maker scene — and our immersive art is no exception. While New York is still the undisputed capital of the theater world, the Bay Area excels at immersive and participatory art, which can be theatrical or even gamelike. One famous example of immersive theater is Sleep No More, which was originally created in London in 2003 and began its current run in New York City in 2011. But although most cities now have an immersive art scene, the Bay Area has created outstanding and unique examples that defy previous artistic genre classifications, from Burning Man to many others.

Pyramid scheme cards that players can use to take in-game actions in The Racket, a party by Quixote Games where players wheel, deal, and maneuver in order to ‘win’ a 1920s noir murder mystery.

An actress in the production of Ondine by We Players, staged at the Sutro Baths as one of their site-integrated immersive productions.

A sticker used by agents of the Elsewhere Public Works Agency as part of The Jejune Institute, an immersive reality project by Nonchalance.

THE GENRE OF IMMERSIVE AND PARTICIPATORY ART In recent years, this genre has exploded in popularity. Depending on who you ask, the genre includes immersive theater, alternate reality gaming, interactive sculpture, live-action role-playing, puzzle hunts, street games, and room escape games. We’re talking about a class of bounded experiences that allow audiences to choose how they will interact with the art. The audience doesn’t always know the consequences of their choices, and the opportunity for discovery can make the experience emotional — even meaningful. Some people include virtual and augmented reality, too. It seems clear that lessons on how to create an immersive environment, learned from the lower-tech forms of participatory art, will be useful as virtual and augmented reality evolve into world-class art forms.

BATTERY ARTS & CULTURE

IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES YOU CAN VISIT RIGHT NOW The Speakeasy

The Speakeasy might be called ‘classic immersive theater:’ it’s a theatrical show, set in the 1920s, featuring 35 characters ranging from chorus girls to casino dealers. While attending, you can physically explore the set and follow any of the characters. You’ll witness their heartbreaks and moments of triumph, while standing in their dressing rooms or playing at their game tables. Here, the audience participation comes in the form of choosing where to go in the set, and which characters to follow.

The Headlands Gamble

The Headlands Gamble is a fully planned, all-inclusive weekend trip that immerses two people in the firstperson experience of solving a mystery around Marin. The two players begin their journey by meeting an actress playing the role of a desperate woman who needs help, and the plot thickens from there. The audience participation consists of the two players solving the mystery!

We Players

We Players is a small theater company that creates siteintegrated theatrical productions, which the audience follows as the actors move around the setting. One past example was a production of Macbeth at Fort Point, so that the martial story was told in a martial setting. Another was a production of Ondine, a 1938 French play about a water spirit reminiscent of the Little Mermaid, at the Sutro Baths, highlighting both the beauty of the Presidio and the lovely presentation of water in the Baths. Their summer production will be called Midsummer of Love — a reimagining of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream in Golden Gate Park.

The Racket

The Racket is a one-night film-noir-style game, described by its creators as ‘part parlor game, part cocktail party, part rat race.’ Players receive roles ranging from an assassin, to a weapons dealer, to a thief, to the police — and players also receive play money for use in the game. The goal is to lie, cheat, and murder your way into being the wealthiest partygoer at the end of the night, with every other member of the audience wheeling and dealing alongside you.

Escape Rooms

Escape Rooms are a type of game that was originally created in Japan by a company called Real Escape Game, but they’ve reached their apotheosis in San Francisco. To play an escape room, you’re actually locked in a mysterious room, which you and your team try to escape within an hour by solving puzzles. The Houdini Room and the Roosevelt Room — widely considered the very best escape rooms by escape room aficionados — are located within the Presidio’s lovely

Palace of Fine Arts, with puzzles that are beautiful (on both a mechanical and artistic level!) while also being hard to solve. (Some people think these rooms are hard for beginners, so if you are new to it, try a basic Escape from the Mysterious Room.)

Journey to the End of Night

Journey to the End of Night was originally created in San Francisco in 2006, and has now been organized by volunteers in cities around the world. The game takes place across the entire city and starts in one relatively central spot, like Civic Center or the Embarcadero. Your goal, as a player, is to evade enemies as you wind your way through miles of city streets, hoping to eventually make it to the final checkpoint. But if you ever get tagged by an enemy, you’re out, even if you’re just ten feet from the final stop. I can attest that every Journey has made me hyper-aware of the city around me, causing me to see it in a new way — as a warren of escape routes, a heart-thumping roller coaster ride of near misses. During every Journey, you pass through many checkpoints and defeat artsy challenges at each one. Each checkpoint is its own experience or game, made by community members within the greater Journey framework.

Burning Man

Burning Man. You might have heard of it! In this context, there are two things I consider particularly interesting about Burning Man. Firstly, it creates an environment for lots of people to create art within its aesthetic. Immersive experiences always involve the audience, but not all of them empower the audience to create in the way that Burning Man does. As the Burning Man Principles put it, ‘We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We make the world real through actions that open the heart.’ Secondly, it’s unbelievably immersive. Its immersive environment and aesthetic can be so compelling — and so different from many people’s ‘real-life experience’ — that the ‘unreal’ experience is likely to change people’s ‘real lives.’ If you’ve been to Burning Man, then you’ve probably heard this advice: ‘Don’t make any permanent decisions until you’ve been back home for more than a week.’

The Latitude Society

The Latitude Society — well, you can’t visit The Latitude Society anymore, because it’s closed and gone. But it made a splash in the city’s immersive art scene by creating a fake secret society, which was genuinely kept secret by its members. Some members called it one of the most valuable and connective experiences they’d ever had; others criticized The Latitude Society as encouraging paranoia, intimidation, and the abuse of fabricated power, as people took the ‘secret society’ part very seriously. (In early 2016, I wrote a postmortem of The Latitude Society for Vice.com. You can find the article here: bit.ly/latitudesociety.)

BATTERY ARTS & CULTURE

The Receiving Room of The Latitude Society. Photo Courtesy Lydia Laurenson.

The Latitude Society was created by Nonchalance, the company that also built The Jejune Institute, an ‘art cult’ that was profiled in the documentary The Institute and which blurred the lines between reality and fiction. And this leads me into…

The Obfuscia Hotel, and others.

In the spirit of creativity and boundary pushing, The Battery events team recently brought in Foma Labs, an independent experience design studio formed by two people who previously worked on The Latitude Society. The Obfuscia Hotel was framed as a transdimensional hotel built by dimension-hopping mystics, which enabled creatives from around the Bay Area to set up their own mystical stations, like a séance and a magic show. (See next page for more about the Obfuscia Hotel.) The Battery has also featured other immersive events, such as the recent Curious Histories of The 49 Boxes, a collaborative live-story puzzle game that showcased the history of The Battery building as a former candy factory.

THE PARTICULAR AESTHETIC OF BAY AREA IMMERSIVE ART Burning Man, Journey to the End of Night, The Latitude Society, The Obfuscia Hotel — all of these are highly participatory, and not just for the audience. Each event’s aesthetic and connecting framework provides a ‘frame story,’ enabling smaller stories to be told within it as local creators contribute smaller experiences to the larger one. This is a very different type of project from developing an event with one narrative or voice, like a play, whose aesthetic is controlled and integrated with one vision from top to bottom. From a tech industry perspective, one might analogize it to the difference between media platform software (like Google or Facebook) and content-driven media (like a book or a movie). It’s notable that the Bay Area has produced such outstanding participatory ‘frame story’ examples of the genre, in comparison to cities like New York, whose productions tend to focus on a more old-school controlled artistic vision and enable less audience and community participation. I love that The Battery is committed to convening the creative energy of the Bay Area, and I’ve loved the efforts to feature local immersive theater and participatory art. Our home has a unique, beautiful, and characteristic take on this form, and I hope that together we’ll keep making the world real through actions that open the heart.

BATTERY ARTS & CULTURE

The Obfuscia Hotel Moves into The Battery A Recent Immersive Art Experiment By Laura Braun

On April 1, Battery members were transported across time and dimension when The Obfuscia Hotel manifested itself at 717 Battery Street. Conceptualized by Foma Labs, the minds behind San Francisco’s storied Latitude Society, The Obfuscia Hotel was an immersive one-night-only theater experience that took over the entire club. The adventure, designed exclusively for The Battery, told the tale of a mysterious hotel suspended in the 1940s after mystical arts practitioners attended a gala-turned-metaphysical experiment. Attendees were encouraged to dress the part in timeless formal wear or their best vintage looks to help create the atmosphere of an eternal party. Within The Hotel, there were multiple stops, and for many the first stop was The Library. Here, guests were seated for a physics-defying magic show where dollar bills hatched from eggs and ropes were seemingly indestructible. The Musto Bar was populated by a more ghostly energy. Players typed on odd contraptions as static changed patterns on a screen in front of them, while a band provided a trippy soundscape in another corner. Anyone lucky enough to wander into Musto’s secret ‘green room’ had a chance to visit another realm themselves. In perhaps one of the most eerie photo booths ever concocted, guests drew cards to see if they would appear as a spirit or mortal before rolling dice to see just what kind of relationship the living and their undead counterpart would portray. In a nod to Victorian-era ‘spirit photography,’ the photo booth churned out images of guests and their phantasmic friends floating behind them. Famished guests who made it to one tucked-away room full of dolmas, fruit, and other delights were delighted by another sweet surprise — an ‘edible orchestra.’ As guests picked each item of food off of a platter, a different melody chimed, creating a vibrant arrangement of sound. Meanwhile, groups of five gathered to summon the spirits at private séances in The Penthouse. While some spoke with the past, others saw their future with tea-leaf readings and fortune tellings on the balcony. While many found magic throughout The Obfuscia Hotel, we understand that long lines and overcrowding made for a less enchanting night for others. According to Stacy Horne, Director of Member Events for The Battery, ‘This experimental night was a bit more challenging than expected, but we hope to utilize what we learned from our shortcomings along with member feedback to create more crowd-pleasing strange fun in the future. We will continue to produce events in the spirit of experimentation and risk-taking.’ Who knows? If the stars align just right, perhaps The Obfuscia Hotel will be ready for check in again one day.

BATTERY INTERVIEW

The Masterful Deception of

J.T. LeRoy Laura Albert By Laura Braun Photo by Albert Sanchez

Laura Albert has lived a lot of life — and not just her own. The vivacious author is perhaps best known for her stint under pen name J.T. LeRoy. J.T. LeRoy was supposedly a literary prodigy who survived unthinkable abuse as an H.I.V.-positive child prostitute, having been introduced to the business by a drug-addicted mother. Albert’s first published piece of writing under the J.T. LeRoy pseudonym was about seducing ‘his’ mom’s boyfriend while dressed as ‘his’ mom. But in actuality, although J.T. LeRoy captivated a cult following and celebrity superfans with emotional and harrowing novels like Sarah andThe Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, he did not exist. Controversy surrounded the 2006 unveiling of LeRoy’s true identity as Laura Albert, who was then a 40-year-old writer in San Francisco. The scandal inspired three documentaries, including 2016’s lauded Author: The J.T. LeRoy Story, directed by Jeff Feuerzeig. How did Albert pull off this stunning deception? In her early twenties, she learned the business of publicity by fearlessly promoting a band she formed with her boyfriend Geoff Knoop, Daddy Don’t Go.

She also worked as a phone sex operator. Eventually, she used skills from both of those paths to develop the J.T. LeRoy persona, cold-calling established authors and convincing them to help this traumatized yet talented boy establish a literary career. Controversy aside, the immensely talented Albert’s writing has been published countless times, and come to life on acclaimed HBO series Deadwood, as well as in Gus Van Sant’s Elephant. She’s a model, an activist, a teacher, and, frankly, just a wonderfully fascinating woman. Check out our Q&A with Albert on the facing page.

BATTERY INTERVIEW

If you had any other occupation, what would it be? President of the United States. What living or dead person do you most admire? Oscar Wilde, and James Baldwin, and Virginia Woolf. Describe your perfect Sunday morning. A great Saturday night! Describe your perfect Friday night. Watching reruns of Deadwood. What do you hope to come back as in your next life? If I do this one right, maybe I wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to come back... What is your most treasured possession? My raccoon penis bone autographed by J.T. LeRoy (I saw him sign it myself!)* What is your indulgence of choice? Dark organic 85% chocolate.

*Check out LeRoyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sarah for more raccoon penis bone references.

BATTERY BOOK LIST

‘A Library Implies an Act of Faith’ Exploring The Battery Book List By Kevin Smokler

It was Victor Hugo who declared, in fury, that ‘a library implies an act of faith.’ I say ‘in fury’ because the metaphorical library he spoke of in his 1871 poem ‘Whose Fault is It?’ had been destroyed by the willing blindness and flailing torches of bigots. Hugo follows the honor of ‘act of faith’ with a house of books also being: 1) a temple of prophets, 2) equal to the warmth of the sun, and 3) resembling snow on the fire of evil. Unlike the ordered marching lines of the rest of the poem, Hugo practically spits out this list. That’s how angry and sad the absence of a library makes him. The Battery Library contains 900 titles and is growing. Each volume, recommended by a member upon joining, contains three stories — 1) its own narrative, 2) the tale of it in the life of the sponsoring member, and 3) the reason for its new home at The Battery and benefit to the community here. Our purpose at this column, The Battery Book List, will be to tell those stories. Each issue, I’ll speak to three members of their contributions to The Library — their choice being an act of faith, faith in the book’s inherent value, and belief that the book will find the right member at the right time. These three-sided stories multiply each time a member finds another’s book, each time they are told.

MARCUS AURELIUS’

Meditations

Chosen by Ryan Biggs Member Ryan Biggs, an Equity Research Analyst at Franklin Templeton Investments, is responsible for perhaps the oldest book in The Battery’s library — not by date of printing but moment of birth. The book is Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome from 161-180 A.D. Biggs first read Meditations in 2013. He became interested in Stoicism, a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished throughout the Roman and Greek world until the third century A.D., after reading a great deal of classical philosophy. ‘It constantly amazes me how a Hellenistic philosophy born 3,000 years before Christ is so profound, even today,’ Biggs wrote me. ‘The central ethic — that intellectual pondering is the most virtuous activity undertaken by man — has always rung very true.’ ‘I think Stoicism generally has had a profound impact on my life both professionally and personally,’ Biggs added. ‘Largely because it’s become second nature to analyze my own judgments about things and consider decisions that I, or someone else, makes from a different perspective from my own.’

The Battery was still under construction when Biggs toured the building with Battery Co-Founder Michael Birch. The concept of a library built by members spoke to Biggs, and immediately brought to mind the resonance of a book that had been such a building block of his own modes of thought. ‘I think Stoicism gets a little bit of a bad rap because people think it tells you to be emotionless. The reality is that it teaches you to examine what you’re feeling and understand the core of why you’re feeling it. Then you can make a judgment about whether you want to feel it or not. It essentially gives you control. How is that a bad thing?’ Biggs saves Saturday mornings at La Boulangerie as dedicated reading time in his areas of interest — history, philosophy, finance, and theology. Lately, political and military history has crept in, ‘perhaps a sign of the times.’ ‘If you are distressed by something outside yourself, it is not the thing that troubles you but what you think about it, and this it is within your power to obliterate at once,’ wrote Marcus Aurelius in Meditations. Perhaps we might say that it can be obliterated by reading broadly in order to think or see differently. In the manner of Victor Hugo’s resilience and our library, let it refract the thing that troubles you into many different ways of seeing. Let it be snow on a fire of small-mindedness.

BATTERY BOOK LIST

EDWARD ST. AUBYN’S

The Patrick Melrose Novels Chosen by Deb Ayerst

Battery member Deb Ayerst is Owner of Ayerst Artists’ Agency, which represents photographers, motion artists, and directors, and she wrote to me in praise of her choice The Patrick Melrose Novels: Never Mind, Bad News, Some Hope, Mother’s Milk and At Last. These five of the eight works of fiction by contemporary English novelist Edward St. Aubyn were written from the early nineties to the mid aughts. Mother’s Milk, the fourth in the series, was nominated for the Booker Prize — the U.K’.s highest literary honor — and later made into a movie. The collected volume of all five novels, published in 2012, now resides in The Battery’s Library. ‘Any author or book that brings you into their world so well that you want to be in the room with them — no, you are in the room with them — is, to me, a mesmerizing feat,’ Ayerst wrote to me. Aubyn’s five Melrose books are a ‘fictionalized version of his real life. His upper-class life of dark realities is written in the most engaging contemporary and humorous manner… That humor that makes you belly laugh, while the knife of acid wit is twisted!’ A self-professed Anglophile, Ayerst was unfamiliar with Aubyn’s work when a New York friend who ran a book club with exacting literary standards pressed it into her hands. As an agent of talent, Ayerst likes to begin at the beginning of an author’s body of work and read forward to see where and how their gift developed and grew — perfect for an acclaimed series like Patrick Melrose. To her previous comments, Ayerst adds: ‘An author such as St. Aubyn, or Martin Amis, or Jim Thompson, or Charles Bukowski become your friends through their novels, short stories, and poetry. You are changed in that you have them in your life; you get to know them through reading their books as if you are talking with them, having an amazing conversation over more than a few glasses of wine or gin. It becomes a real experience — as real as if they are truly there.’ Ayerst has been a reader since an early childhood in Southern California, where she maintained an appetite for biographies of artists and creators. She now focuses on fiction, authors ‘who are almost Beat in nature, offthe-grid thinkers, and those who live on the edge.

I have read every Sherlock Holmes story and almost all of Shakespeare, and I love mysteries, crime, and all the rest of the stuff that keeps you up at night.’ Currently atop her bedside table is Donna Tartt’s novel The Goldfinch, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2014. ‘The book nomination into The Library as a part of the membership was and is, to me, the representation of all that I have enjoyed and participated in the culture at The Battery... a club that values writing, art, music, different points of view, that brings the outside in so we all can learn and gain. And so it was incumbent on me to nominate The Patrick Melrose Novels as a member in this same spirit — a book I just knew most members would not have read. Something for them to discover and to hopefully, like myself, to open up their world and to allow them to fall in love with the author as I have.’

KENT NERBURN’S

Neither Wolf Nor Dog Chosen by Tom Patterson

‘I am a surfer and have been enamored with the indigenous cultures of the South Pacific,’ Tom Patterson, CEO and Founder of early stage financial technology venture Motivate, wrote me of his nominated book Neither Wolf Nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder, by Kent Nerburn. ‘I was given this book by a Hawaiian friend who shared the similarities between what they have gone through and our American Indians.’ Patterson hadn’t heard of the book or its author before that encounter. Patterson felt that the 1996 story of a road trip with the narrator and an elder known only as ‘Dan’ asked important questions about identity, the legacy of community, and the trust contained in telling stories and sharing wisdom. ‘Many of us in The Battery are children of the world,’ which ideally, he said, imparts a ‘vigilance to appreciate and understand other cultures and the lessons they offer us.’ In that spirit, in the ‘beautiful melting pot of ideas’ that makes up The Battery, this book ‘needed to be an ingredient in that pot.’ ‘I believe we are mostly contained in our borders… that we should be working on our minds constantly.’ To give himself room for that work, Patterson likes to ‘read at night. When it is quiet.’

‘Many of us in The Battery are children of the world, [which ideally imparts] vigilance to appreciate and understand other cultures and the lessons they offer us.’ 33

BATTERY BOOK LIST

Christophe Tassan, Director of Wine at The Battery, has an artist’s soul. His passion for wine shines, and when we learned that one of his older brothers is a librarian who specializes in ancient books, we instantly wanted to know what sort of wine books he might have. (For more about Christophe, look for his name in the Food & Beverage section towards the end of this current issue.)

Rare Vintage The Master Winemaker’s Book By Kevin Smokler Photos by Marla Aufmuth Q A

Q A

How did this book come into your life? When my older brother, the librarian, finds remarkable ancient ‘pieces,’ I try to acquire them. Usually these old printings are coming from families that sell their ancestors’ belongings, and then it comes to the ‘librarian’s market.’ Collecting a book like this is like collecting some of the old wines that are occasionally offered to me as a wine specialist. (I recently found a 1959 Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon!) Reading in a book is like traveling in time. This book is older than 1800 — the author mentions an update from the 1765 edition. It says specifically ‘An VIII,’ which means ‘eighth year’ after the French revolution. It’s very interesting to read what they were expressing at that time in history about wine. What are its premises? What does it set out to do? This antique book is about the alchemy of taste. I imagine them in a room with smoke and things boiling everywhere — alchemists trying to understand how wine works. It’s fascinating seeing what they were trying to do. For example, there was concern about medicinal usage of wine — keeping the medical benefit of a plant while making it into wine. So the book chronicles elaborate recipes that catch and keep flavors (mostly from fruit, herbs, and plants) with an approach to some medicinal effects on the organism and overall health.

It also presents the framework for how humans perceive aromas, from their initial introduction at the tastebuds to their analysis by the brain. There is a philosophical interpretation as well, as it relates to appreciation and capacity to qualify and ‘judge’ aromatic elements. A modern person might ask a question like: ’How do you listen to your body?’ It’s funny to see the ways winemakers were thinking about that question. It was so long ago, and yet from reading this book, I have learned that some current recipes of distillation were originated back then. Where do you keep this rare and vintage book to prevent it from getting damaged? A I am very cautious not to open this book when there is a lot of humidity in the air! I keep it in a sealed plastic bag when I don’t have time to read it. Presently, it is in great condition, even the cover, with a few mold spots on certain pages. Some other pages are of a yellow oxidized style of paper. You feel some fragility when turning the pages, and the ink print gets powdery on some pages.

Q A

What are your favorite modern books as a sommelier? I recommended two books for The Battery Library: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, by Patrick Suskind, and The Physiology of Taste, by Brillat-Savarin.

BATTERY BOOK LIST

‘This antique book is about the alchemy of taste. I imagine them in a room with smoke and things boiling everywhere — alchemists trying to understand how wine works.’

‘Freedom is one of the most valuable currencies.’ — ANA TERESA FERNÁNDEZ

BATTERY ART

The following pieces are selections from The Batteryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s art collection, a growing group of works that live in the club. These pieces are by three outstanding female artists whose work is at once autobiographical and concerned with selfactualization through direct engagement with politics, gender, and the natural world. In addition to their conceptual rigor, each piece is undeniably visually captivating â&#x20AC;&#x201D; using painterly fluency, mastery of experimental materials, and profound sensitivity with the camera. Matt Bernstein, Director of Art at The Battery

BATTERY ART

ANA TERESA FERNÁNDEZ ‘Freedom is one of the most valuable currencies anyone can possess. It is often taken for granted until the walls start creeping in and our limbs feel the limitations of our reach. As a woman growing up between two worlds and two cultures, I felt the weight of machismo imposed on who I could become, what I could accomplish, and how much intellectual prowess I could access in Mexico. In Untitled, I am wearing a tango dress and stilettos while mopping the beach at the Tijuana/San Diego Border. It is an action of insistence. I am trying to wash away the injustices of how immigrants are treated, why they are met with a wall when they are in pursuit of their dreams, and how women are often the ones left behind to clean up psychological messes. Unlike most women in the media, I do not care if I am being watched. I own my thoughts, my movements. This performance is to push my own limits; wash away the walls that are imposed to stop us from trying to understand each other and who we can become, and empower us to access the freest parts of ourselves.’

Ana Teresa Fernández, born in 1980 in Tampico, Mexico, lives and works in San Francisco. Her work explores the politics of intersectionality through time-based actions and social gestures, translated into masterful oil paintings, installations, and videos. Within her work, performance becomes a tool for investigation as strong feminist undercurrents flow together with post-colonial rhetoric. Through her work, the artist illuminates the psychological and physical barriers that define gender, race, and class in Western society and the global south.

Fernández has exhibited extensively nationally and internationally. Selected exhibitions include the Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO; the Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV; Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ; the Tijuana Biennial, Tijuana, Mexico; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA; The Oakland Art Museum, Oakland, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA; and Centro Nacional de las Artes, Mexico City, Mexico, among others. Her work will be included in the Getty’s upcoming Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA.

ANA T E R E S A FE R N Á N DE Z

Untitled (Performance Documentation at San Diego/Tijuana Border), 2013 60” x 72” Oil on canvas Courtesy of the Artist and Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco

BATTERY ART

LESLIE SHOWS ‘Face B2 is from a series of works based on images of pyrite, or fool’s gold. The titles refer to letters that each image may subjectively resemble. A large-scale piece from this series will be permanently installed in San Francisco’s new Central Subway system.’

L E S L IE S H OWS

FACE B2, 2012 60” x 48” Ink, acrylic, mirrored Plexiglass, mylar, schist, metal filings, and engraving on aluminum Courtesy of the Artist and Haines Gallery

A modern-day alchemist, Leslie Shows uses bold experimentation with materials and forms to challenge and expand notions of contemporary painting. Shows grew up in Juneau, Alaska, where ‘glaciers, calcified mining ruins, and rainy, rebar-strewn lots were my playgrounds,’ she recalls. An avid reader, researcher, and thinker, Shows plans her works for a long time before realizing them; each is the result of what she calls a sort of ‘brain frenzy.’ Once she has her compositions in mind, she prepares many of her materials before combining them in strange and surprising ways. She ‘grows’ her own salt and rust; brushes acrylic paint onto Plexiglas and then peels it off in skins; and culls images from magazines and the web. The results are synthetic, symbolically potent assemblages that hold both micro- and macro-lenses onto ancient lands ravaged by short-term occupants.

Shows has exhibited at museums and galleries around the world. Selected exhibitions include the Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA; the Oakland Museum of California; and the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA. She has been the recipient of an Artadia Award (2009), SFMOMA SECA Award (2006), and the Tournesol Award (2006) from the Headlands Center for the Arts. Recent solo exhibitions include Surfacing at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, AZ (2014) and the Clive Painting Exhibition at Walter and McBean Gallery at the San Francisco Art Institute (2015).

BATTERY ART

PETRA COLLINS This piece by Petra Collins comes out of a series called 24 Hour Psycho that consists of largescale images of young women in states of sadness and emotional distress; their moments of vulnerability become acts of empowerment. In this series we see Collins’ art practice continue to make space for the young female experience by embracing the historically marginalized subject matter of the complex reality of girlhood. These deeply personal and private images address complex issues about a generation coming of age in a moment of unprecedented access to social media. Collins, a cultural presence in her own right (artist, curator, filmmaker, actress, model, and often cited as an icon for young women that she reaches through her 523k followers on Instagram), turns her camera on friends and acquaintances, amplifying their emotions and giving them permission to be vulnerable and real. 24 Hour Psycho addresses the age-old discussion of women as emotional and, therefore, inferior or suspect — something to be managed. By owning the flippantly dismissive term ‘psycho,’ Collins appropriates the concept of female hysteria and celebrates it with powerful, intense, and beautiful imagery of young women who have agency, even in their distressed state. Tender yet violent, they assert the value of feeling for feeling’s sake. By today’s media standard, an ‘imperfect’ or ‘shameful’ image of a young woman becomes an impactful statement, calling upon the viewer to re-contextualize preconceived notions of beauty, power, youth, feminism, and equality.

P E T R A C OL L IN S

Untitled #5 (24 Hour Psycho), 2016 65” x 43” Digital C–print Edition 1/2 Courtesy of the Artist and Ever Gold [Projects]

Petra Collins (24) is an artist and curator living in NYC. Shooting since the age of fifteen, her images are fueled by self-discovery and contemporary femininity, which explore the complex intersection of life as a young woman online and off. Collins’s images offer an unflinching honesty, exploring the privacies and publicities of growing up as a woman at a moment when female bodies are ubiquitously hyper-mediated by Photoshop and social media. Solo exhibitions include Pacifier, Contact Photography Festival, Toronto; and 24 Hour Psycho, Ever Gold [Projects], San Francisco. Collins has curated

a handful of shows: Gynolandscape and Pussy Pat, New York City, NY; Strange Magic, Los Angeles, CA; Literally Bye, Art Basel, Miami, FL; and Comforter, SFAQ[Project] Space, San Francisco, CA. Her work has been published in I.D., Dazed & Confused, NY Mag, Purple, Interview, Vice, and more. She recently released a short film series called Making Space about teen dancers, and has a curated book called Babe published by Random House out now. She is represented by Ever Gold [Projects] in San Francisco, and has her second solo exhibition forthcoming with the gallery in September 2017.

BATTERY ART

TART ART MIDORI’S ART OF BONDAGE, BODY AND SOUL BY LYDIA LAURENSON

Midori is a Creative in Residence at The Battery, widely known for her art of thoughtful provocation and emotional rawness. From a genre perspective, she is a multidisciplinary artist fascinated with giving shape and texture to emotion, memory, desire, beauty, repulsion, collective memory, and subconscious revisions of experience; many of her pieces are reminiscent of work by Marina Abramović. For her art, Midori has been described as an ‘elegant provocateur’ — or perhaps she earned that title because she’s also an internationally famous sexuality educator, known as a subject matter expert on BDSM. (BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying that involve bondage, discipline, dominance, and submission.) She travels the world teaching and coaching in subjects such as erotic rope bondage, aural sex (using the voice), Japanese sexual culture, and sexual empowerment. Plus, she runs a recurring weekend intensive called ForteFemme, teaching women’s dominance in cities across the world. Clearly, Midori is a great person to speak to the ‘Tart’ theme of our current issue: a theme that both promotes women’s empowerment and confronts women’s sexuality. So I sat down with her one sunny day in the garden at The Battery, to discuss how her artwork and her teaching are two sides of the same coin.

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

BATTERY ART

CAN A BDSM CLASS HELP WOMEN INHABIT THEIR POWER? Midori teaches a lot of sexuality-related classes, but one of her favorites is the ForteFemme weekend intensive in women’s dominance, intended ‘to help women tap into authentic power from the bedroom to the boardroom.’ She’s careful to say that this isn’t just about BDSM or kink. In fact, her definitions of BDSM and kink are quite loose. ‘ForteFemme is framed from a BDSM aspect, but I define kink lightly,’ says Midori. ‘I define kink as childhood joyous play with adult privilege and cool toys, a.k.a. cops and robbers with shagging. And when I’m teaching, we explore the real psychological drives behind kinky sex, and we explore co-creative negotiation techniques emphasizing emotional satisfaction. For women to speak our want, set real boundaries, and co-create — if that isn’t business negotiation I don’t know what is. Sexuality is a charged aspect, but when we get practice and confidence in that, we can take it out of the bedroom.’ There’s a lot to be said at this juncture about collaboration and self-expression, and Midori doesn’t hesitate to go there. ‘My artwork and my teaching in classes like ForteFemme are two sides of the same coin,’ she says, ‘and the teaching side is about giving people tools for their own creative expressions. I want to point out that there’s a door and then give them the strength to walk through it. On the surface it’s about sexuality, but I approach it as a limited sandbox. The courses are, at one level, about sexuality, but that’s a sandbox for confidence-building. After all, the new economy is collaboration.’ And now that we’re talking about ‘collaboration,’ where would we be without other important (and genuinely useful) modern business buzzwords (which are useful as well as being buzzwords)? For example: ‘storytelling.’ ‘There’s this whole emphasis on story in business now,’ Midori says. ‘But what’s sex and sensuality if not a story, narrative made flesh? Think of this as a haiku approach.’

PAIN AND LAYERS AS A RECURRING ARTISTIC THEME Back to the art. ‘In my art, I’m addressing universal conditions of heartache, grief and conflict, framed in compassionate humor,’ Midori explains. ‘I have a piece called ‘The Dining Room’ that I’ve done a few times, where I have hundreds of dishes and I line people up and they go break them. Then I take all these shards and I try to re-glue them, and then they are composed in a deep, thick shag carpet of shattered pieces. You can’t walk on the carpet, but there’s a mirror next to the table so you see yourself in the scene. I’m trying to get at the deep shattered pain at the heart of every family dynamic.’ Another of Midori’s pieces shows a naked female blow-up doll’s body lying under hundreds of red threads, with very sharp things (like knives) almost touching her body from the threads’ ends. One thing

I like about the piece is how uncompromising it is; it’s so visceral, and there’s so much emotion right on the surface, in such a blatant and unapologetic way. But in many of her pieces, Midori doesn’t use dolls. She puts herself into it. She just performed one piece at the Seattle Erotic Art Festival, for example, that was a conscious challenge to the audience. At the beginning of that piece, she walks into the room with a Captain America shirt wearing Mickey Mouse ears, then dons a kimono, then paints herself in various ways — including in yellow face. (Note that Midori is Japanese-American.) After that, she self-ties in the style of Japanese bondage, and she walks out into the audience. Her assistants bring out buckets of white paint, and she invites the audience to paint her. Then her stagehands wrap her in an Oriental rug, and she’s taken away. ‘Audience members may choose to not paint or paint,’ Midori continues, ‘but they must make an active choice. They don’t get to just sit back and watch. Whatever they choose is the art they participated in. And there are people who are like: I cannot consent to paint you white, so they don’t paint me. Then there are people who are like: I understand the purpose of the work and I want to honor its intentions, so I’ll paint you. There are people who participate even though it hurts and grieves them — people who step up with the paintbrush understanding what it’s like to be negated on a daily basis. And then! Then there are people who are like, Hey, this looks fun! And they paint me, and they only understand what they’ve done when the Oriental carpet comes out.’ Midori raises her eyebrows. ‘Awkward!’ Midori is always energetic, and her energy does not flag as she talks, but she speaks clearly about this art being exhausting and hard. ‘This is not artwork that says: everything’s fine,’ she says. ‘Because it’s not fine. It’s a painful truth wrapped in humor and compassion. I don’t want to assault people, but I do want a contemplation of the emotional truth — that it’s hard being human and it’s hard to be a woman. ‘I think women relate to that. We get all these messages: we should be leaning in, we should be mothers, we should be this, we should be that. And then, in this piece, I’m willingly standing there and letting myself get painted. Am I a victim or did I instigate it? It’s a hard piece for me.’

CONSUMPTION AS CREATIVITY One of the artistic metaphors Midori most loves to play with is consumption, and she draws a clear line from there to the female experience. ‘In one of my other art pieces,’ says Midori, ‘I play this character called the Yamamba, and she is nearly a thousand years old. Every culture has the woman who lives on the edge of the primordial and the civilized. Maybe she’s crazy, maybe magical, maybe she’s a witch. She’s a crone, she’s the wisdom. That’s the Yamamba. I’ve been embodying her since 1998. It takes me four hours to get into the character, to get myself familiar with this crazy old broad.’

BATTERY ART

‘LOVESEAT,’ FROM THE PLASTICS SERIES

‘It has been so freeing to engage in my old, my cranky, my ugly, my grotesque,’ she goes on. ‘In dealing with the entropy of my flesh — I am so much kinder to myself. I actively engage in stuff that’s not pretty, actively bringing forth the grotesquerie. And I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of the artist consumed. In the process of me being consumed, something else is expressed. Is it not women’s emotional labor that we allow to be consumed, and thereby create? What’s pregnancy? We are consumed and thereby create another. What is the creative process if not us allowing ourselves to be consumed and absorbed and dismembered for something else to be formed?’ A lot of Midori’s work is shaped by Japanese literature and folklore, and so she winds up our interview by telling me a Japanese legend. ‘It’s the legend of the crane that’s rescued. One day a beautiful woman shows up to the man who rescued the crane. You’ve probably heard a folkloric story like this before. She tells him: ‘I’ll weave cloth for you, but you can’t look.’ But of course, one day he peeks in, and what he sees is a crane plucking her own feathers to make the finest tapestry. Of course she has to leave, because the covenant’s broken, but the image I always take away is the image of her creating the tapestry.’

‘LOVELY,’ FROM THE PLASTICS SERIES

I ask whether the crane-woman is romantically involved with the man while she’s in his home, and Midori says: ‘There are different versions of the story, and they each contain different people who rescue the crane.There’s one where she appears to an elderly couple. But in the version I knew, she appears to a lonely woodsman and becomes his wife.’

To learn more about Midori, visit her website at PlanetMidori.com. She’s also on Twitter @PlanetMidori, and for more on her upcoming projects, you can find her as PlanetMidori on Patreon.

BATTERY ART

KIMONO 2: WHAT WE WEAR

BATTERY MUSIC

We’re fortunate to have a huge diversity of brilliant and talented musicians coming through The Battery and Bay Area. In each issue, we’ll be thrilled to showcase at least one interview with a musician we admire who’s recently performed at the club, learning more about their artistic development and aspirations. It may be hard to believe, but beloved power pop band Weezer have been ‘ooh-ee-oohing’ their way into the hearts of rock-and-rollers for the past 25 years now. Part of that lasting success is thanks to guitarist and vocalist Brian Bell, who has helped pen a number of the band’s infectious hits. For the past decade, Bell has also lent his talent to L.A. rock band The Relationship, whose latest album is called Clara Obscura. Though the side project has gone through a few iterations over the years, they’re back at it again with a solid lineup, a slot at South by Southwest, a new album out this spring — and yes, an appearance at The Battery. We caught up with Bell to chat about new projects and how he keeps his writing fresh after all of these years.

Music Q&A: Brian Bell By Laura Braun Q

The Relationship can be found touring through some rather intimate venues, which is a bit of a contrast from your tours with Weezer. What has this juxtaposition been like for you? Do you have a favorite kind of space to play? Just because a venue is intimate doesn’t make it any less important to put on a great show and bare your soul on the stage. You’ve been in music for the better part of three decades — how do you feel your work has evolved over time, and what musical frontiers do you still want to explore? I’ve grown so much over the decades as a musician. I’ve remained fascinated with the way music works on a theoretical level, and also on a mysterious level. I’ve found that it’s usually the simplest musical ideas that have the most depth and room for variations. One avenue of music-making I would like to explore is film scoring. I’ve started this process already, by studying orchestration and scoring for strings last year at UCLA.

impulses, through which I was able to capture the song’s essence in order to later extrapolate. After such an impulse, I’d take the ideas to the band, allowing them to be malleable. Through trial and error they became what is on the final recordings. I used to say songwriting is a 9-to-5 job, except that I start at 11. Q A

Q Q

Your songwriting is particularly spotlighted with The Relationship. What’s your process like? Do you have a favorite time or place to focus on that kind of work? I did a lot of collaborating on this record with my longtime friend Luther Russell. We just seem to have good chemistry, and ideas flow easily. Every time we have had a writing session, we are left with something to show for it, which isn’t always true for collaborations. There are songs on this record that weren’t a collaboration — they arose from momentary

How do you avoid the inevitable burnout or deal with creative blocks? Creative blocks and burnouts are bound to happen, and maybe even necessary. When they happen I tend to focus on playing other composers’ music and work on my sight-reading skills at the piano. Being able to read music has been crucial for me. There is a vast, unlimited supply of music to read and play through. It’s almost as if these dots, and stems, and tie lines, and rests — which is perhaps the most underused and important device in music — on staff paper — they’re like a book of spells. As long as I remain curious and excited by these discoveries, I know that I’ll come out of any musical lull, and usually be better than before. In your downtime, what’s your preferred format for listening to music? Ironically, listening to music is sometimes difficult to do. There are just so many choices. My go-to is the radio. I sometimes just leave on KUSC 91.5 FM in my house and my car because, not only is it the classical station in Los Angeles, but it also has the fewest commercials. I even had an antenna installed at my house to better pick up the station. My next choice would be vinyl records at my house and CDs in my car. I haven’t jumped aboard the streaming format yet, but I’m sure that day is right around the corner for me.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Creative blocks and burnouts are bound to happen and may even be necessary.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Photo courtesy of Jenna Putnam

BATTERY MUSIC: PERMANENT RECORD

Sylvie Simmons By Laura Braun

Asking renowned music journalist, musician, and Battery member Sylvie Simmons to pick five favorite records out of her collection is kind of like asking Carl Sagan to pick a favorite star out of the sky. She owns thousands of albums on CD and vinyl, and she’s a purist: you won’t find cheap headphones or streaming services in her private music sanctuary. ‘I don’t like listening on a computer,’ says Simmons. ‘To me, a computer is a workplace, and I couldn’t bear for music to be work. Nor do I like earbuds, so I never listen on a phone. Most anywhere else is good, but my favorite spot in my apartment is in an ancient leather armchair between two big speakers. I’ll pour myself a glass of something, sink into the seat, and close my eyes.’ Nevertheless, we asked the international bestselling author of I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen to take a break from working on a book with Blondie’s Debbie Harry, promoting her first collection of poetry, and touring for her album Sylvie so that we could task her with one of the most difficult assignments she could face: to pick five of the most special albums in her collection. Here’s what she told us: ‘When I moved to San Francisco from London twelve years ago on a whim and an adventure that I had no idea would last this long, I brought two suitcases with me. Everything else went into storage. The hardest thing was to choose the 50 CDs I allowed myself to bring, denuded of jewel cases and liner notes so I could slot them into imaginary spaces in my jam-packed case. When I unpacked them in the apartment I was housesitting for musician friends on the road, almost the first thing I did was search through my friends’ collection for more. As a music journalist, more were sent to me soon enough. And San Francisco has so many brilliant used record stores so I soon added to my chosen 50. So you see how asking me to choose five is not a good idea. But I’ll choose five of those 50 — not necessarily my favorite albums, but all significant.’

Leonard Cohen

Joni Mitchell

The Clash

The Songs of Leonard Cohen

Blue

London Calling

This was Leonard’s first album, and I heard it the day I hit puberty. I was in my bedroom, lying in bed and listening on a portable record player, and it lifted me into the air. It was that sense of authority in his voice, like he had something very important to tell me, and that intimacy, like he was imparting a secret to me alone. Decades later, I became his official biographer and wrote I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen.

The supreme confessional singersongwriter album, but so sharp, so smart, so profound and beautiful. I learned these songs by heart back when I played guitar, long before I performed with a ukulele. I could never match the power and fluidity of her soprano, but I imagined I was a Lady of the Canyon like her. I did end up living in Laurel Canyon — but as a rock critic, not a singer. It took me a long, long time to out myself and make an album of my own.

I went on the road with The Clash in 1979 on their U.S. tour — hey, I went on the road in 1978 with Black Sabbath but I didn’t choose their albums, much as I love the first two. But there’s something about London Calling that just stirs me into action. It makes me want to fight the revolution — and we all need to fight a revolution right now. It’s also timeless. And it makes me feel homesick, in a good way.

Photo by Di Holmes

Bob Dylan

Jeff Buckley

Blood on the Tracks

Grace

I was in love, that intense teenage love, with a guy who gave me this record. He said he stole it for me. Now almost everyone gets their music for free, but this was long before people stole records. Albums were vinyl and a vinyl album takes some stealing — you can’t just put it in your pocket like a CD. So I figured it must be true love. But he broke up with me soon after. And actually this is one of the most magnificent breakup albums ever recorded.

That voice. Every bit as powerful and fluid as Joni’s. Jeff sounded like how a cathedral would sound if it could sing and play an electric guitar. Like his father Tim Buckley, Jeff was ridiculously talented and died way too young. For a long while I couldn’t play this album, because it would tear me up too much. But I weaned myself back on it a song at a time, and now it’s one of my regular go-to albums when I’m looking for the transcendental.

Permanent Record examines the impressive vinyl collections of Battery members. (And don’t forget that we also have semiregular Vinyl Mondays, where members share in person!) If you or someone you know has a record collection that deserves publicity, be in touch at candy@thebatterysf.com.

‘When we talk about #blacklivesmatter, this film is an embodiment of that.’ — John Legend

Shelby on her grandmother’s car, Mount Vernon, Georgia, 2008 ‘All these people who run around screaming that the Confederate flag is racist — they’re not stupid, they’re ignorant. Because ignorance is the absence of really knowing what happened. I am not going to hide it from nobody. If I want to show the rebel flag I’m going to, because that’s my heritage.’ — Shelby, AGE

16, 2008

BATTERY FILM

Southern Rites Film and Photographs by Gillian Laub

On May 2nd, we screened Southern Rites at The Battery and hosted a talkback with its creator â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the award-winning, New York-based visual artist Gillian Laub. The documentary film examines Montgomery County, Georgia, one year after the town merged its racially segregated proms, and during a historic election that may lead to its first African-American sheriff. In her directorial debut, Laub documents the repercussions when Norman Neesmith, a white town resident in his sixties, is charged with the murder of Justin Patterson, a 22-year-old unarmed black man. The case divides locals along well-worn racial lines, and the ensuing plea bargain and sentencing uncover complex truths and produce emotional revelations. The film is a portrait of the racial tensions in Montgomery County and the systematic trauma this community endures. Following the event, we wanted to highlight photographs from Laubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trips to Montgomery County that began in 2002, when she first documented the segregated homecoming and prom rituals. Haunted by the town, she kept returning to photograph the racially separate traditions. In 2009, The New York Times Magazine published some of these images, which eventually led to the integration of its proms. Laub always knew the proms were a symptom of a much larger narrative, and she was determined to investigate this through her photography and filmmaking. The photographs featured here span over a decade and are part of a traveling exhibition and a book, published by Damiani, also titled Southern Rites. Through these intimate portraits and first-hand testimony, Laub reveals in vivid color the horror and humanity of these intertwined narratives.

2015 HBO Documentary Films Executive Produced by John Legend Troy Carter and Mike Jackson Title song by John Legend

BATTERY FILM

Prom prince and princess dancing at the integrated prom, Lyons, Georgia, 2011 ‘I guess it seems behind that we just integrated our proms this year. But it’s really common around here. It’s been a tradition. All the schools in the surrounding counties just integrated their proms the past couple years, too. It didn’t seem racist, because we really are a tight community. Quanti has been my close friend since kindergarten. It is great that we can all have this night together now.’

— Kayla, AGE

18, 2011

BATTERY FILM

Amber and Reggie, Mount Vernon, Georgia, 2011 ‘Last year, when we had the first integrated prom, I couldn’t go. I was in the hospital after a flare-up from my sickle cell anemia. I was devastated that I missed out on history being made. Prom is everything around here in this small town, and I am just happy we finally came together.’

— Amber, AGE 16, 2011 . Amber Jones died from complications of sickle cell disease (SCD) in November, 2012. She was eighteen years old.

< LEFT

Sha’von, Justin, and Santa, Mount Vernon, Georgia, 2012 ‘My brother Justin was my best friend. He was my role model. I looked up to him. It’s hard for me to talk about the night he died. My brother was talking to this girl, Danielle, on Facebook that he knew. She and her friend invited us over to her house. She told us to park across the street at the onion field, so her daddy [Norman Neesmith] wouldn’t hear the car. We were just hanging out. Norman woke up and the next thing I know he pulled my brother and me out of the room with a gun pointing at us. He told us to sit on the couch and asked our names. He said he could kill us and nobody would know. I looked at my brother... we were both scared, and thought we had no choice but to run. Norman came chasing after us with the gun. I was trying to unlock the door, and my brother tried to push him down so we could get away. When I finally got the door open, I heard two shots and Justin screamed that he’d been shot. We both ran as fast as we could. Norman kept firing behind us. We didn’t get far before Justin collapsed in the field and he told me he didn’t think he’d make it.’

— Sha’von, Justin Patterson’s brother

BATTERY FILM

Prom king and queen, dancing at the black prom Vidalia, Georgia, 2009 ‘I believe we have a long way to go with racism here. It’s better than when my momma was a kid, but we’re still having separate proms, aren’t we? We’ve grown up together, and now we can’t even spend this last night as a class before we graduate. It really is a big deal to me, because we are the only school left in this county that still has separate proms. I am graduating at the top of my class. I got a scholarship to the private college here, but I think I’d feel strange being one of the only black girls there. So I decided to go into the military instead.’

— Niesha (prom queen), AGE

17, 2009

Public shaming, Vidalia, Georgia, 2013 ‘I was urinating outside of a nightclub and I got caught. At my court date I had a choice: I could either walk with this sign or go to jail. This is what I chose. It’s humiliating, but better than being behind bars. We have to walk up and down the street for eight hours every day this week. People drive by — people we know. It’s embarrassing when they see us with these signs. I think my store manager just drove by, but I didn’t look up.’ — Lourinza (left), MAY 2012

BATTERY FILM

Julie and Bubba, Mount Vernon, Georgia, 2002 ‘I feel bad that Julie can’t tell her parents about us, even though we’ve been together for a couple years. I know she’s not embarrassed; it’s just hard for people of that generation to be okay with mixed couples here. Julie always comes to my place and is welcome on this side of the tracks. She’s just cool, not a color.’

— Bubba, AGE

15, 2002

AROUND THE BATTERY

If These Walls Could Talk Battery Stories, Told by Interior Designer Ken Fulk By Leah Rose, Battery Resident DJ

Ken Fulk, the designer and Creative Director of The Battery, is a master storyteller. Throughout The Battery, his stories take shape in nearly every interior design element in the club. Whether it’s the blue-black ‘Moby Dick’ colored walls of The Library, which Ken chose as a nod to the seafaring history of the Barbary Coast, or the secondfloor water closets that are each decorated as one of the seven deadly sins, everything in The Battery has a story to tell. Speaking from his seaside home in Provincetown, RI, Ken recently took us on a mini design tour of The Battery, sharing his favorite anecdotes along the way. He picked out some of his most memorable pieces on the property, which we’ll be highlighting in this column and in subsequent issues.

The Secret Passage in The Musto Bar Ken Fulk: The Musto Bar itself was originally going to be a more classic, gentleman’s bar with paneled wood — most likely mahogany — and look a bit more Victorian. But it just felt a little bit stuffy to me, so I had this idea. We had been playing with cérusing oak — cérusing is a process where they take lime and they rub it into the grain of the oak, and the white goes into the grain, so it makes the grain clearer — and then we played with the idea of black-stained cérused oak. The black makes for a really graphic quality, and I pictured it as this deco bar that opened in the 1920s, or maybe 1940s — sort of a Hollywood-fabulous looking bar. Something that felt really like nowhere else. It was kind of all in my imagination. I wanted it to be opinionated and striking. I find it to be one of the more handsome rooms in The Battery. I love The Musto Bar. And we had talked about the idea that we wanted a card room at The Battery, and wouldn’t that be fun. And then we said it would perhaps be a secret card room! Well, then we found out that we could all go to jail if people actually played cards — if anyone ever gambled at The Battery. So we got rid of the secret card room as an idea, but we kept the room, and we wanted it to be a total surprise. So we designed the idea of a bookcase where there would be a special book that you would pull, very much in a cinematic way.

I think it was in the book The Maltese Falcon that a character could pull a book and it would open the door to a secret room. It’s an iconic San Francisco setting, and we felt like that was the nod to the city — you would pull it and this door would open and you would come into an entirely different secret experience. So I’m like: if we’re not playing cards, we’re having a party. Because it started out as a card room, originally I wanted to wallpaper the ceiling in hundred-dollar bills, but that got nixed for multiple reasons. One: I don’t think I’m allowed to deface the money, legally. And two: it was too expensive. But I still want to do it somewhere. We also toyed with the idea of doing custom colors, so the room would potentially be the color of money — it would be money-green. I loved that as an idea, and even though the room evolved into another experience which is The Green Room today, we decided to lacquer the room green — not just to paint it, to lacquer it — and it couldn’t be just any green. So we developed a custom color that we call Battery Green. (The color also finds itself in the locker rooms in the gym — those tiles are also custom colored Battery Green.) Battery Green is glamorous, and it’s fun, and it’s shiny, and we put gold lamé furniture on top of it. It took nine coats of the custom Battery Green paint on everything to get it to perfection. And then we wanted it to be this jewel box, so we covered everything in this gold lamé fabric.

Photo by Douglas Friedman

‘When we found out that we could all go to jail if people actually played cards — if anyone ever gambled at The Battery — we got rid of the secret card room that we were thinking about, but we kept the room, and we wanted it to be a total surprise.’ Then we created a tradition around the secret room. The way that room is supposed to operate, you were asked to go in alone, not in a group. The intent is for people to truly engage with one another, so you are asked to go in alone and to introduce yourself to anyone else in the room (which I do anyway in The Battery, constantly, anywhere in the building, because I want to know everybody — we’re all members here). So you would meet the tattoo artist, the DJ, the rocket

scientist, the tech billionaire, the actress, whomever may be there. And so the whole idea of The Battery is really maximized in that room. And of course, there is no drink service, but as a courtesy, if you go to get a drink, you would offer anyone else in the room a drink. This is the tradition in which The Secret Passage was conceived. I don’t know if they still play by those rules, but I like to perpetuate them even if everyone else doesn’t.

AROUND THE BATTERY

The Chandelier in The Library Ken Fulk: We had worked with a well-known lighting designer out of London — she’s more of an artist than a lighting designer, sort of a rock star — named Alex Randel, and together we designed the big chain chandeliers that are in the house bar. Also, the chandeliers that hang in the living room were designed with her, and the big spiky chandelier that hangs in The Library. In The Library, we wanted to nod to the seashore without getting kitsch. For example, The Library is painted Moby Dick, which is literally the color of a deep blue whale, almost black. And so we designed this chandelier with Alex that was gonna have taxidermy seagulls all around it. ‘Oddly, they not only cannot be imported,

but seagulls can’t be taxidermied in the U.S. You can’t get a taxidermied seagull.’ It was great, and we loved it — it was fun, because seagulls are sort of iconic. Maybe they’re slightly annoying birds at times, with the squawking and the almost pigeon-like quality of trying to eat the popcorn out of your hand. But the funny part is that oddly, they not only cannot be imported, but seagulls can’t be taxidermied in the U.S. You can’t get a taxidermied seagull. You would think that since there are plenty of seagulls, it certainly wouldn’t be a problem. So this funny oddity happened — we ended up using pheasants.

When we first put it in, it was like a medieval device. Originally, it was giant and it really did look like a Game of Thrones chandelier with these birds coming out of it. It’s a little more discreet at the moment, although it does have pheasants that fly around the chandelier. But I have a feeling that, because there’s a lot in that room, sometimes people don’t really notice it.

Photos Courtesy of The Battery

BATTERY SPOTLIGHT

Portraits of State Food in the Bay Area

By Battery Staff Illustrations by Battery Member and The State Of... Moderator George McCalman

Here at The Battery, ‘The State Of…’ event series has given us wonderful and thorough rundowns on a wide variety of topics. Two recent topics included ‘Art and Resistance’ — a summary of how artists are handling the Trump situation — and ‘Legal Cannabis’ — an in-depth discussion of how the marijuana industry will be affected by its imminent legalization. If you’ve ever attended a ‘State Of…’ event, you know we’re lucky to have Chloe Veltman, the Senior Arts Editor at local radio station KQED, and Battery member George McCalman, designer and illustrator extraordinaire, as ongoing moderators (though occasionally outside moderators come in for specific topics). The series itself was originally conceptualized by McCalman along with Member Events Director Stacy Horne. When asked what gave him the idea, McCalman says: ‘The series was inspired by conversations I overheard on the floor of The Battery. I was listening — eavesdropping, really — to people in the main dining room and The Musto Bar have urgent conversations regarding social and cultural anxieties, and I thought: It would be great to dissect and explore a few of these topics in a more formal setting. I thought of having three to five panelists representing facets of an industry, with varying perspectives. ‘The topics I’ve focused on have been aesthetic practices such as architecture, craft, fashion, and design,’ adds McCalman. ‘This year we tackled a range of topics: photography, nightlife, and fine art culture. My ultimate goal is to educate the audience and myself about a social topic, learn some history, and discover how the tech boom has expanded and evolved our creative lives.’ One of our favorite events in the series from 2017 was ‘The State Of… Food,’ and afterwards we wanted to highlight the event’s fascinating panelists. So without further ado, meet three local food heroes of San Francisco —

FULFILLMENT

Liz Prueitt (Tartine) Pastry genius Liz Prueitt opened local bakery Tartine with her husband Chad Robertson in 2002. She has won the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award, and she just released a book, Tartine All Day: Modern Recipes for the Home Cook. Preuitt has been gluten-intolerant since before it was cool — but fortunately she can eat her husband’s famous artisanal bread.

BATTERY SPOTLIGHT

‘My ultimate goal is educate the audience and myself about a social topic, learn some history, and discover how the tech boom has expanded and evolved our creative lives.’

FOOD JUSTICE

ADVOCATE

Shakirah Simley

Stephen Satterfield

Until recently, Shakirah Simley was Community Programs Manager at Bi-Rite, the lovely grocery store that emphasizes organic and locally produced goods. There she was able to work on both social justice and high-quality food — two great passions — while making wonderful jams that got her on the Zagat 30 Under 30 list. Now she’s moving to focus even more strongly on food justice through her work at Nourish Resist, an activist group of people of color who see food as a strategy for resistance.

Stephen Satterfield has been described as ‘bridging the food movement and the culinary world.’ He’s also been described as a ‘Swiss Army knife of the food and beverage industry,’ having worked in urban farming, agricultural nonprofits, and many restaurant positions, as well as being a trained chef and sommelier. Right now he runs operations at FarmTo Fork SF, a media operation that tells stories about the ecological and cultural interplay of food production.

STAFF SPOTLIGHT

VICTOR VARGAS Victor Vargas, The Battery’s Food and Beverage Manager, has a vast and astonishing collection of suits. We asked him to show us a look for each day of the week — and he taught us how to steal an interview with a fashion icon. By Lydia Laurenson Illustrations by George McCalman

If you’ve strolled through The Battery’s main floor, chances are you’ve seen Victor. You may know him as our friendly Food and Beverage Manager — but you’re more likely to recognize Victor from his selection of head-turning suits. Victor was inspired to work in fashion at age 14, after he saw the Claude Montana Spring 1987 show on CNN. In 2001, he was hired at French Vogue by the writer Richard Buckley — the husband of fashion designer Tom Ford — to work as a fashion stylist. After this auspicious beginning, Victor’s career took him all over the world; he worked with Vogue in France, Italy, and Germany, and he lived in New York and Los Angeles. One day in Beverly Hills, Victor was

assigned to interview Vivienne Westwood, a British fashion designer so iconic that she was made Dame by Queen Elizabeth II (the female equivalent of a knight). Victor jumped at the chance to interview Dame Vivienne — even when he learned that he’d have to conduct the interview guerrilla-style. Dame Vivienne was making a personal appearance at a well-known department store, and she wasn’t supposed to take interviews with publications that weren’t directly affiliated with the department store brand. So the covert interview took place on a valet parking bench while Dame Vivienne was on a ‘cigarette break.’ During the interview (subsequently published in SOMA Magazine), Dame Vivienne made a profound

STAFF SPOTLIGHT

7 DAYS, 7 SUITS

impression on Victor, as a dedicated activist who emphasized the importance of standing up for what you believe in. He has been a Vivienne Westwood fan ever since, almost exclusively collecting and wearing her clothes. Unlike most Westwood collectors who wear her clothes for special occasions, Victor can been seen at The Battery in some exuberant Westwood concoction complete with matching shoes daily. Victor has always loved hotels and the food and beverage world. After 20 years as a fashion stylist, his mother was diagnosed with cancer in 2008 and he had to return to Northern California from Boston, where he was working as Fashion Editor at Improper Bostonian Magazine. He decided to change careers and

began working at Angele Restaurant in Napa Valley, while caring for his mother and making sure she had all possible options for her cancer treatment. Victor’s mother is now cancer-free, and The Battery is lucky to have had Victor as part of the team since December 2016. Victor’s newest outfit is a gray checked blazer shot through with blue stripes and a built-in vest. He says he’ll wear it with blue pants that he has yet to find — but he has gray ones in case of an emergency.

BIRCH FARMS

The Soul of An Artist BATTERY WINE DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHE TASSAN By Lydia Laurenson

Christophe Tassan has the soul of an artist, and it’s obvious the moment you speak to him of wine. He describes himself as ‘an interpreter of wines,’ and says, ‘I want to provide wine in the realm of emotions.’ He’s fascinated by everything as it relates to wine: ‘You’re learning to build an experience,’ he says, ‘so you have to know history, geography, not just winemaking. Wine is a pure product of human beings, so being a sommelier is a psychological job.’

Christophe often analogizes wine to music. For instance, when comparing wines produced by established wineries to smaller independent wines, he says, ‘If you play in an orchestra with a hundred instruments, of course it’s beautiful and overpowering, but there’s also something beautiful about the independent group playing only a few.’ Christophe has earned the Meilleur Ouvrier de France as a sommelier — a unique and prestigious award from well-regarded industry professionals.The contest only happens once every three years, and Christophe is one of three people who earned the title out of 60 who tried in the year that he earned it. As part of earning the title, he was given some time and basic materials, and from these was asked to create a masterpiece, with the honest goal of perfection. One reason the brilliant Christophe has chosen The Battery is for the opportunity to work with the diverse Battery community, which has so many different tastes. And another reason is that American wine production is at a far earlier stage than French,

which provides an opportunity. ‘After a while, as a sommelier, you may want to create your own melody,’ Christophe explains. ‘You’re a musician and you want to write a new song.’ The Battery’s Founders, Michael and Xochi Birch, are developing their own vineyard in Sonoma: Moon Hollow. They brought in Christophe and formed a new band with the winemaker and the vineyard manager. So here he is. And we are lucky to have him, because who knows? He has grand aspirations to create his own vineyard one day. When asked about this, Christophe smiles and says: ‘I read somewhere that if you have more memories than dreams, your life is in trouble.’ We asked Christophe to describe the essence of Moon Hollow Vineyard, and in response, he naturally wrote an ode to the place he tends and loves dearly.

BIRCH FARMS

An Ode to Moon Hollow Vineyard Text and Photo by Christophe Tassan

‘IT IS FROM A BIRD’S EYE PERSPECTIVE THAT THIS PLACE IS MAGICAL! I DREAM TO BE THE EAGLE ALWAYS LOOKING OVER THE VINEYARD, GLIDING WITH THE WINDS COMING UPHILL, SLIDING IN THE AIR.’ South, a few miles downhill, you can see the oldest Californian winery, now restored. It was the first to do fine wine. And far south is the Bay, and the orange vermilion top of Golden Gate Bridge peering from the clouds. North, from just below and over the mountain pass, is Mount Veeder. To the east is South Napa Valley. West is the never-ending expanse of the ocean, just over the edge of the last mountain separating Sonoma from the shore. Facing southwest, the mountain looks strikingly like a lunar landscape. It even became its name — Moon Mountain! Now the location and its vineyards is the American Viticultural Area, aptly named ‘Moon Mountain District of Sonoma.’ The Vineyard was replanted in 2012, a result of all the experience practiced for decades on the hillsides.

Monte Rosso Vineyard is right across the slope, perched nearly 2,000 feet above Bedrock Vineyard on the bright red volcanic soils of Mt. Veeder. The fog can’t even reach that high! All of the best Cabernets have been reunited together, the ones that grew up for decades in the valley. The landscape is dotted with different rootstocks depending on the soil hygrometry. Diversity has been developed with the addition of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre to take advantage of the soil and the climate… to hear another melody coming from the vines. Moon Hollow Vineyard: twenty acres of a new story. The garden where the gardener is bringing his best wonders. The hillsides and the eagle will be singing soon.

BATTERY FARE

L AT TE A N D M AT C H A L AT T E

‘We are taking extreme measures to make sure we are buying the tastiest coffee which promotes the best flavor possible and is sourced responsibly. But we are also pushing the edge of what people’s palates are used to.’ PHOTO BY MARLA AUFMUTH

BATTERY FARE

Made To Order Manufactory Coffee Comes to The Battery Coffee Bar By Jessica Carew Kraft

The Battery Coffee Bar now offers coffee from the Coffee Manufactory, which is the caffeinated space in the new South Mission foodie complex developed by Chad Robertson and Liz Prueitt of Tartine. Sourcing and roasting their own beans, the new coffee venture is run by a talented team including Devin Chapman, a champion barista (yes, he has actually won coffee-serving competitions!) and coffee retail and product expert who formerly hailed from Coava coffee in Portland. We spoke with Devin about what’s on the menu at The Battery Coffee Bar and the benefits of a light roast. DEVIN CHAPMAN: Our coffee throughout the year will rotate, because coffee beans are an annual crop that’s

harvested only once a year. Right now we are serving a filter blend and an espresso blend. We do everything by number, so customers don’t have to remember complicated region names. We get super geeky about where our beans come from and how they are farmed and roasted, but we don’t assume everyone is! The espresso grind is 01, which is made up of beans from Peru, Colombia, and El Salvador. Our filter version of this blend is 02, and we have an 03, which is all of our African focused coffee, and 04, which is Latin American. Surprisingly, one of our best brews is the decaf! As far as flavor, we roast everything differently. The way we roast African is different from South American. It’s different even from farm to farm, or coffee to coffee, depending on the microclimate, soil composition, and all the factors that impact flavor. We are making our roasts lighter. Coffee is the seed of a tropical fruit, so I believe it ought to emulate the qualities of tropical fruit, with a balance of sweetness and acidity. A lot of people are tiptoeing their way into experiencing acid in coffee, but finding that they like it. I think the lighter roast lends transparency to the coffee-making. Think of it like this: there are precursors that exist in the coffee that produce a balanced and pleasant tasting experience, which you don’t want to cover with a dark roast. Our farmers are making deep investments in this product, in terms of how they care for the plants, that make it super high-quality. So we don’t want to put a dark roast on that coffee; we want to taste the sugars and the expression of that farmer’s terroir (the environmental conditions that affect a crop’s unique flavor, especially soil and climate). As soon as you put a heavy roast on it, you lose all that, because you taste carbon and smoke. When you put a light roast on a high-quality coffee, all of its inherent qualities shine through.

BATTERY FARE

In-House Pastries Coffee Bar Now Offering Fresh-Baked In-House Pastries By Jessica Carew Kraft

In mid-March, The Battery’s Coffee Bar pastry case got a makeover. While they

previously offered excellent Jane the Bakery goods, the new selections are made entirely on premise. Under the direction of pastry chef Michael Tabatabai, the croissants just got a little flakier and the menu caters to a wider audience (gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, anyone?). Michael has such a passion for food that, in high school, he took food courses as 100% of his electives for three years straight; he has worked at excellent restaurants in New York, London, and Ireland, including many restaurants with one Michelin star, and he has traveled widely across Europe. His last job before The Battery was at The Village Pub in Woodside, which also has one Michelin star. We talked to Michael about the newest culinary change at The Battery and the inspiration for his delectable creations. MICHAEL TABATABAI: The main reason we never

offered in-house pastries before was that we didn’t have the proper tools for croissants. We didn’t have a sheeter machine — which would mechanically roll out dough to a desired thickness — or a steam injection oven I was familiar with, and the hours and team weren’t formatted to work in the right shifts for croissant production. We still don’t have a sheeter, so we have chosen to take a difficult route, and roll and shape the dough by hand. We just recently figured out how to laminate (layer) the dough by hand. We are dedicated to mastering our lamination by hand, but it’s difficult. There are more variables in croissant dough than in pasta or most other doughs — such as rolling the dough cold, but not so cold that the butter shatters. So we are paying real close attention to the dough to make sure it stays light, and the gluten doesn’t get activated. The oven we are using also comes with a number of mechanical complexities. And in terms of the team shifts, our shifts were previously more dedicated to being on site during restaurant hours of operation and banquet events. Now we have part of the staff doing the early bake starting at 3:30 A.M. So now we have croissants! We’ll also have a wide selection of savory pastries, including a smoked salmon tart. We heard that Battery members don’t want the sweet pastries as much, but we’ll still have traditional favorites like cinnamon coffee cake, pain au chocolat, and a great assortment of cookies. Our plan is to rotate the morning baked

goods out of the case by evening, when we’ll restock with chocolates, cookies, and macaroons for after-dinner treats and gifts. I was inspired by my girlfriend’s new love of golden milk lattes to also create a dairy-free and nut-free ginger turmeric muffin. With fresh ginger juice, turmeric powder, and low-gluten spelt flour, this is a dense, delicious muffin that’s also good for digestion. For the completely gluten-free, we’re offering a blueberry muffin and a chocolate almond cookie. But my favorite is the morning bun, which someone recently called ‘better than Tartine’s’— high praise! It’s rolled with Earl Grey and Meyer lemon sugar — so good! Eventually we might expand out into pretzels and bagels if members ask for it. Every morning we have a baker in the kitchen around 4 A.M., pulling and proofing the doughs — that’s when the yeast is allowed to develop gas and expand. The more air the dough has, the flakier it becomes. By doing this in house, we are giving our members more of a selection, and the pastries will be fresher and less expensive than buying them elsewhere. It’s really the best of both worlds. For me, coming from several Michelin-starred restaurants and the Ritz Hotel, being the pastry chef at The Battery and working with my own team is a dream come true. I get to exercise all of the faculties of a pastry chef: the chocolate, the breads, the desserts, and the pastries.

BATTERY FARE

THE B AT T E RY PA S T R IE S

‘There are more variables in croissant dough than in pasta or most other doughs — such as rolling the dough cold, but not so cold that the butter shatters. So we are paying close attention.’

PHOTO BY MARLA AUFMUTH

BATTERY FARE

As I spoke to Chef Nicolai Lipscomb at the entrance to The Battery, a woman passed us and said to him: ‘What a delicious mussel sauce! I was literally dipping into my neighbor’s,’ on her way out the door. Nicolai and I exchanged a smile, because we’d just been talking about mussels! In fact, he got his start at No. 9 Park with the celebrated Barbara Lynch, and within a year was promoted to opening sous chef of her second restaurant, B&G Oysters.

Chef’s Plate: What’s on the Menu Finding the Soul in Fine Dining Food By Lydia Laurenson Photo by Marla Aufmuth

‘It’s so hard to find soul in fine dining food,’ said Nicolai that day, while reflecting on his long-ago apprenticeship with Barbara Lynch. ‘I sometimes feel that the soul in food is overlooked or forgotten because some chefs focus on ‘buzz techniques’ instead of the soul — soul being the un-physical magic that grandmas put into food. But Barbara Lynch did Italian, and her flavors were always so soulful and delicate. ‘There is soul in food, from ingredients to techniques, to the way we serve food,’ Nicolai went on. ‘The less they align, the less soul remains. It is beyond hard to create. It is like forcing someone to be a friend. We don’t usually hit it on all dishes, but we are mindful of it when cooking and creating. It has always been hard to find, but when you find it, it you know it is special.’ So what’s coming up on the menu? Well, there will always be scallops. ‘I have a secret love affair with scallops and corn, so they always show up on all my menus,’ Nicolai said. ‘And padrón peppers always go on the menu — I like them best the way I fell in love with them, simply with Maldon salt.’ In terms of seasonal things: ‘In June we will start with a chilled cucumber soup. Then gazpacho goes on every summer, starting in July — really, it is when the tomatoes are finally ripe; the tomatoes decide.

I learned the technique in Spain, from José Maria Gonzalez Blanco, a chef from Córdoba. I always tell people they most likely have never had gazpacho. Many places in the U.S. really don’t understand it, but I aspire to do a good job with it. I try to be mindful of the traditional technique when replicating it, so that someone who grew up on it can identify with it.’ Nicolai also noted that Franklin Liao, his Chef de Cuisine at The Battery, is originally from New England and will be working on a summer corn clam chowder with clam hushpuppies. Plus, when melons hit their prime, The Battery will bring them in and serve them with jamon and avocado. Off-site events are also worth a mention, because Nicolai is deeply passionate about them. He just did a gala for Meals On Wheels, and a paella dinner for a charter school in September. And of course, aside from overseeing The Battery’s food, he also does special events at The Battery. Keep an eye out for his thoughtful, seasonal multi-course dinners. In the meantime, if you can’t wait to come into The Battery to taste Nicolai’s food, he’s graciously shared his coveted preserved lemon recipe for all to enjoy!

BATTERY FARE

‘There is soul in food, from ingredients to techniques, to the way we serve food. The less they align, the less soul remains. It is beyond hard to create. It is like forcing someone to be a friend.’ — Chef Nicolai Lipscomb 73

What’s More Tart Than Lemons? By Jessica Carew Kraft

Give every dish just a hint of Moroccan flavor with Nicolai’s preserved lemons. Anything tart gets its flavor from acid, and the less sugar you add, the more tart you can taste. It’s a chief flavor of the winter season, with the harvest of citrus, apples, and rhubarb. But you can extend tart into spring and summer with something like preserved lemons, which were originally Moroccan, but are now used in all kinds of cuisine. Nicolai says preserved lemons are an all-purpose condiment, good for almost any dish that would work well with fresh lemons. It’s also remarkably easy to make them and great for people who have access to fruiting lemon trees, because they can be made toward the end of the season and stored in a cool part of the house. Nicolai also says that the important thing in preserving lemons is to keep them completely covered with salted lemon juice. Don’t worry about the brine — preserved lemons are rinsed at the end to wash away the salt. He recommends Meyer lemons for this recipe, which originate from California and are known for their floral notes.

BATTERY VITTLES

Chef Nicolai Lipscombâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Preserved Lemons 5 Parts Salt / 1 Part Sugar (Feel free to adjust amounts) 01 05 Cut lemons length-wise For the first couple in quarters, but leave of days, shake the them attached at the container a little or turn bottom. it upside down each day, to get the brine to move 02 around and keep any Mix salt and sugar. mold at bay. Pour the salt-sugar mixture inside each 06 lemon. Place the open In two-three weeks, once part up in a tight the lemons look almost container, tightly so cooked, they are ready they will be totally to save. Refrigerate submerged in the salt, them with some oil at which makes a brine. the top of the container (Mold can grow on the after another couple of fruit if it is not under weeks (if you still have the liquid.) some left). Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll keep refrigerated for months. 03 From here, pour extra To use, rinse them off salt-sugar mix to help and use just the peel. cover the lemon. It is You can enjoy them better to have a little with almost anything: extra than not enough. popcorn, almonds, salads, or fish. Nicolai 04 says they are best on Place in a warm part of fava beans with mint the kitchen. and olive oil! 75

VIRTUE

A Glass of Green JA E B ER MA N THE BAT T ERY ’ S D I ET I T I A N

This delicious, bright smoothie is full of nutrients and fiber, which may improve digestive and heart health and can help with weight management. It features kale and the underused sorrel, a tangy and refreshing herb. Avocado adds a creamy texture, while kiwi and lemon supply some tartness and flavor. It’s not full of added sugar like most smoothies, which are often overloaded with super-sweet fruit, honey, or sweetened milk or yogurt. ‘Using a blender rather than a juicer means fiber remains in the drink. It’s a glass full of nutrients and no junk,’ Jae says. You can prep the smoothie in batches, freezing portions in individual containers and taking it out the night before to thaw. It’s perfect for taking with you to work, or a workout. When you’ve had a few too many acids (think: wine and whiskey), some liquid chlorophyll is the perfect way to rebalance your system. There’s no better time than summer for a glass of leafy greens. — Jessica Carew Kraft

D RI N K YOUR V I TA MI N S

2 bunches sorrel, thinly sliced / 1 bunch kale, stemmed and thinly sliced / 2 Armenian cucumbers (or 1 English cucumber, peeled and seeded), chopped / 1 ripe avocado, chopped / 3 kiwis, peeled and chopped ¼ cup fresh lemon juice / ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt / 3 cups cold water Place all the ingredients in a blender. Purée until completely smooth (this can take up to 2 minutes in a home blender). Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to four hours.

From Dandelion & Quince by Michelle McKenzie

VICE

Flora Cocktail A MY C H A P MA N BAT T ERY B A R MA NAG ER

‘I created this recipe inspired by the idea of sipping light, refreshing, and aromatic cocktails outdoors, when the blossoms are full and the air is clean and fragrant,’ says Amy Chapman, The Battery’s Bar Manager. ‘For this seasonal cocktail we will be using edible flowers to make our own blossom water, which will then be used to create a foam garnish. The blossoms used will be wood sorrel, which have a particular citrusy aroma. However, the variety of the flower may change depending on sourcing and availability. The botanical air lends a complementary aroma, leading to the sweet and tart flavors of the Jasmine-Meyer lemon cordial. The choice to split the base spirit is intended to introduce elements of fruit and honeysuckle found in pisco and mingle them with the floral profile of the gin.’ — Lydia Laurenson

T HE F L ORA WOU L D PA I R N I C ELY WI T H C UR ED FI S H , RAW S HE L L F I S H, C I T RUS S A L A D, O R EV EN A T ER R I N E

1 oz Nolet’s dry gin / 1 oz Encanto Pisco / 1 oz Meyer lemon cordial Jasmine-infused air (a foam infused with jasmine) In a cocktail shaker, combine gin, Pisco, and Meyer lemon cordial. Add ice and shake. Strain through a tea strainer into a cocktail glass. Garnish with jasmine-infused air.

Photos by Marla Aufmuth

PIA’S 2 01 7

Gift Guide When Battery member Pia Øien Cohler first moved to San Francisco from Paris, she was unable to continue practicing law while waiting for her visa, so she made a bold move that would change the course of her professional life. She quit her day job and followed her love of fashion to open PIA The Store in 2016. The boutique is a worthy San Francisco destination — Pia’s impeccable design sense and curation touches everything she sells, at a variety of price points. She carefully curates items from her favorite designers like House of Dagmar, Osman, and Prabal Gurung and cares deeply that women who walk into her boutique come out feeling good. Pia believes a woman is at her most beautiful when she’s confident, empowered, and strong — and, of course, well-dressed.

Pia’s Everyday Favorites Apple Airpods™. Bluetooth headphones that actually work! Use them when you’re on the phone and driving, or working out and listening to music. Kindle™. At home, I prefer reading from an actual book — old school, I know! I also read a lot when I travel, and the Kindle is brilliant. It holds as many books as you can read, and it fits in your purse!

Mission Pie. Good pie is worth sharing. All these pies are delicious, but I especially recommend the banana cream pie, for its decadence. missionpie.com Tickets to the San Francisco Symphony. Dress to impress for a night on the town at the San Francisco Symphony. sfsymphony.org

GiveWell. Join the effective altruism movement and think critically about measuring the impact of your dollars. GiveWell carefully vets charity causes, and you can always give in someone’s name! givewell.org

From The Boutique 1 / Linda Farrow Sunglasses. The perfect accessory â&#x20AC;&#x201D; you can always get away with wearing these (whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sunny or not)! Grab yours at PIA.

2 / Tonya Hawkes Bag. Love your summer bag! Fun, playful and goes smoothly from day to night. We have several to choose from at PIA.

4 / Charlotte Chesnais Jewelry. After designing jewelry for Balenciaga alongside Nicolas Ghesquiere, Charlotte went on to create her own handmade jewelry which are like little sculptures for your ears.

5 / Newbark Sandals. Good for SF ups and downs, chic and comfortable! A splurge worth indulging, available at PIA.

PIA is proud to sponsor the Tart Issue of The Battery Candy.

3 / Rockins Scarf. These come packaged in old-old school cassette tape and six-track cases that are the perfect gift for the music lover. A favorite of our clients, throw on with any blazer to spice it up. 6 / Ryan Roche Knit Cardigan. You always need a great knit in San Francisco, even in the summer! This furry cashmere cardigan from Ryan Roche can go day or night and feels heavenly.

LIFE LESSONS

Life Lessons that Superheroes Teach Us: Being Different Can Give You Power By Robin Rosenberg, Ph.D., ABPP

Dr. Robin Rosenberg is a clinical psychologist who has taught at Lesley University and Harvard University. She has a coaching and psychology practice in San Francisco, Menlo Park, and New York City. Don’t miss her talk and Q&A at The Battery on July 25th about what superheroes can really teach us about ourselves.

If you ask a room full of people to raise their hands if they felt ‘different’ growing up, 90% or more are likely to raise a hand. That’s because each person is, in fact, different from other people — at work, at home, in our communities, and online. You may be different physically, psychologically (emotionally, cognitively, and behaviorally), or because of your background or history. Here’s the exciting part: you can derive power from that difference. Focus on Differences Humans tend to notice differences. The salient differences between you and the people in your life will be the ones that lead you to feel different and/or be treated as different. Suppose you graphed all of your attributes to create a profile, and then compared your profile to those of people in your life. Your attributes will give you different strengths and weaknesses, aptitudes and ‘deficits,’ compared to them. The direction of your difference, for purposes of this discussion, doesn’t matter. Even differences based on perceived deficits or weakness can yield hidden strengths. One example is attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Although people with this ‘deficit’ may not be as good at sustaining their focus on tasks they’re not interested in, they are often curious, creative, and can hyper-focus when interested. When channeled into a context that doesn’t depend on sustained focus but rather taps into the hidden strengths of ADHD (as do occupations such as journalism or culinary arts), the sense of being different in a deficient way becomes less salient and noticeable. That’s why the specific contexts of our lives matter so much.

Context, Context, Context When Superman is with ordinary humans, his superness is salient and looms large. But when Superman is with his fellow Justice League members, his superness is not so salient (though his specific powers may be — for instance, it’s still salient that he can fly and others can’t). Superman isn’t treated as ‘different’ by his team, the way he is by humans.

Thus, the context can accentuate or dampen our sense of feeling different on a particular attribute. Here’s a human example: Suppose you are good socially, and you work with people who are also good socially, which makes working with them easier. In that context, you won’t feel ‘different’ from them. But now suppose you change positions and are working with a group of people who are amazing socially; you’ll likely notice this, and will feel different from them on this characteristic. Thus, when thinking about the ways that you are different, remember that those ways will vary based on the context. The noticeable ways that your profile is different from the people you are with determines the way(s) you’ll feel different.

The Superhero Lesson When Feeling ‘Different’ Here’s where superheroes come in. Superheroes, by definition, are different. But their differences aren’t always a clear-cut positive thing. Untempered, the differences of Wonder Woman, Superman, and other superheroes could unintentionally kill people and create great havoc. For instance, X-Men character Jean Grey, a telepath, was initially overwhelmed when she began to pick up other people’s thoughts. Even super-abilities aren’t uniformly a plus! Once superheroes discover that they’re different — that they’re differently abled in some way — they have a relatively tried and true process of drawing strength from that difference. They’re drawing personal strength, not the muscle kind — and that’s a lesson we can all benefit from. It turns a difference into a superpower.

LIFE LESSONS

Here’s what superheroes teach us about how to turn differences into strengths: Step 1 — Recognize and Accept, in Context Superheroes recognize, accept, and come to terms with the ways in which they are different. Determining your difference/superpower requires an honest selfassessment. Feedback from people you trust, who know you in the relevant context, is also helpful. Remember that a difference in one context can be a weakness, whereas that same difference in another context can be a strength. For instance, being shy can be a disadvantage in situations requiring people to leap into the social fray, but it can be advantageous in contexts that benefit from restraint, thoughtful observations, and reflection. In essence, to assess your differences, you can ask yourself: 01 ‘What are the ways I feel different from others in _____ context?’ Consider your notable differences as well as ones that are less apparent, and ones that you may try to hide. (And then ask trusted others whether they think you are different in that context. If they aren’t sure, then it might be worth asking how they could find out. Can you create a situation where they help you figure it out?) 02 ‘Do I enjoy things that are different from other people in _____ context?’ (Note: What you are good at isn’t necessarily related to what you enjoy.) From this point on, I’m going to refer to a difference as a superpower because Step 2 is when the power can start to emerge.

Step 2 — Explore The first thing a superhero does once he or she discovers a new superpower (a.k.a. ‘difference’) is to play with it — to explore what it can do, its limits, its weaknesses, the advantages it can provide. Spider-Man explores how far his webbing can shoot, and how long before it runs out. Explore your superpower: the contexts in which it’s an asset and in which it’s a weakness. Explore its limits, how you feel when you use it. Ask yourself: ‘Are there new contexts in which it might be an asset or that I might enjoy it more?’

Step 3 — Control Once a superhero has explored his or her superpower, they learn to master or control it. Luke Skywalker practices using the Force and his lightsaber to hit the laser remote (yes, I think Skywalker is a superhero); Buffy the Vampire Slayer trains to perfect her slaying skills (yes, she’s a superhero, too). Same for you. Try to master the range of your superpower’s effects — can you control how much of it you express in a given context? Can you use it only a little when that’s to your advantage? Or a lot, when that’s to your advantage?

the power be used? For the good of others, for nefarious purposes (as do many supervillains), or for merely selfish purposes? Spider-Man initially uses his powers for selfish purposes until he sets in motion a chain of events that lead to the murder of his beloved uncle. He then vows to use his powers for the good of others. How do you want to use your superpower?

Step 5 — Teamwork Practically all superheroes have a support team — sidekicks who appreciate the superhero and aid them with the missions. Together they fulfill the larger purpose or mission from Step 4. In addition, some superheroes work together with other superheroes who have a similar purpose to function as a team, such as the Avengers and the Justice League. Although the members of these superhero groups all have superpowers (let’s not debate about whether or not Batman has superpowers here), they have different specific superpowers. This is also true in our world: in teams, families, friend groups, and interest groups, everyone has a superpower (or two), but each person’s power is different. The goal is to bring the different superpowers together to function as a coordinated team. That team then tries to accomplish the goals that are part of the larger purpose, and support each other in the process. Self-knowledge is power. Do as superheroes do: discover and recognize your superpower, explore it, learn to control it, decide your mission and purpose, and put together your team.

— Tart Theme Highlight —

Wonder Woman You may have heard that comic heroine Wonder Woman was a feminist icon. But did you know that her creator lived in an intense hard-partying triad with two women — one of whom became the senior editor of Encyclopedia Britannica, and the other one personal secretary to Margaret Sanger, the feminist icon who started Planned Parenthood? This may help contextualize the bondage-like iconography in Wonder Woman comics, like the Lasso of Truth and Bracelets of Submission! Now you know — and just in time for the new Wonder Woman movie! You’re welcome.

Step 4 — Purpose/Mission Once a superhero has learned to control the superpower, they must decide: to what purpose should

BATTERY HOTEL

Battery Bites By Tiffany Schoolfield