very fleeting. the other thing, musicians who played the guitar, something with your fingers, they feel as if they are remembering in their fingers. oftentimes, you play a passage and you cannot think your way through it. your fingers have to play the way through it. muscle memory. from a scientific standpoint, if i were to scoop your brain out of your head, your fingers would not remember, but there is a motor cortex that remembers the sequence. there is a whole field that studies the sequence, how one movement is remembered in a succession of a sequence. >> the process of creating, trying to start creating music is not that different for me that it is remembering music. it is revoking some kind of image or movement. -- evoking some kind of image or

movement. >> can i ask, i am a musician, do you have any advice -- often have trouble losing -- moving away from my everyday and getting into music. do you have any recommendations on how to speed up that context switching? >> i am assuming that as a professional musician, he doesn't have to do with complicated problems. >> you would not want me doing that. believe me. >> still, you have the context switch of being creative, non creative. >> that is true. sometimes you need something to wipe the slate clean. it could be taking a walk. these days, disconnecting. i have a studio.

when i go there, is a place to work, i did not need to take my cell phone out there. having a physical location you can go to -- this is where i do this -- even just a quarter of your room. >> from a cognitive neuroscience standpoint, if you dedicate a place, if you are religious about it -- or clock 30 i am going to spend an hour -- 4:30 i'm going to spend an hour here or there. that contextual aspect helps. inform is now wrapping up all of our events by asking our speakers, ourselves included, the following question. alex, what is your 60-second the idea to change the world?

>> i think everybody should listen to music from other cultures. even daniel has said that, you know, we need to have that in printing when we are young to understand balinese monkey chants or something to put it into context. i travel a lot. i just came back from asia. i was given a lot of career in music, a lot of ethnic music -- a lot of korean music. even though you may not have a cultural context, if you give it a little bit of a chance, it is an opportunity to open up your mind a little bit. when you do that, it may on sub -- some subconscious level give you a better understanding of why people are the way they are in different parts of the world and who they are. i think we should all be listening to each other's music and all try to play a little bit of music or sing.

i think it is -- yeah. 60 seconds there? [applause] >> and you, daniel, what is your 60-second idea? >> as an educator and teacher, i think my 60-second idea to change the world is better education. if we could teach the next generation of kids to be critical thinkers, just not accept what they are told but to decide for themselves, to give them the tools to make informed decisions about what is right and what is not, about what has been established and what is just here say, what really has a grounding in fact versus rumor, i think the world would be a much safer, more peaceful, and more prosperous place. [applause] >> let's get a big, final round of applause for this nice,

informed foray into neuroscience and music with myself, daniel levinson, and the great guitarist and composer, alex degrassi. now, this meeting of in forum and the commonwealth club is adjourned. adjourned. [applause] impossible. announcer: when you open a book, you can explore new lands... [bird screeches] meet new friends, and discover new adventures. there are amazing possibilities

when you open your mind to reading. [roar] you can log onto he library of congress website and let the journey begin. >> i'm your host of "culturewire," and today, here at electric works in san francisco. nice to see you today. thanks for inviting us in and showing us your amazing facility today. >> my pleasure. >> how long has electric works been around? >> electric works has been in san francisco since the beginning of 2007. we moved here from brisbane from our old innovation. we do printmaking, gallery shows, and we have a fabulous

retail store where there are lots of fun things to find. >> we will look at all of that as we walk around. it is incredible to me how many different things you do. how is it you identify that san francisco was in need of all these different services? >> it came from stepping out of graduate school in 1972. i wrote a little thing about how this is an idea, how our world should work. it should have printmaking, archiving, a gallery. it should have a retail store. in 1972, i wanted to have art sales, point-of-sale at the grocery store. >> so you go through the manifesto. with the bay area should have. you are making art incredibly accessible in so many different ways, so that is a good segue. let's take a walk around the facilities. here we are in your gallery space. can you tell me about the

current show? >> the current show is jeff chadsey. he is working on mylar velum, a smooth, beautiful drawing surface. i do not know anyone that draws as well as he does. it is perfect, following the contours and making the shape of the body. >> your gallery represents artists from all over, not just the bay area, an artist that work in a lot of different media. how to use some of what you look for in artists you represent? >> it is dependent on people are confident with their materials. that is a really important thing. there is enough stuff in the world already. >> you also have in his current show an artist who makes sculpture out of some really interesting types of materials. let's go over and take a look at that. here we are in a smaller space.

project gallery. >> artists used the parameters of this space to find relationships between the work that is not out in the big gallery. >> i noticed a lot of artists doing really site-specific work. >> this is a pile of balloons, something that is so familiar, like a child's balloon. in this proportion, suddenly, it becomes something out of a dream. >> or a nightmare. >> may be a nightmare. >> this one over here is even harder to figure out what the initial material is. >> this is made out of puffy paint. often, kids use it to decorate their clothes. she has made all these lines of paint. >> for the pieces we are looking at, is there a core of foam or something in the middle of these pieces that she built on top of? >> i'm not telling. >> ah, a secret.

>> this silver is aluminum foil, crumbled of aluminum foil. her aesthetic is very much that quiet, japanese spatial thing that i really admire. their attention to the materiality of the things of the world. >> this is a nice juxtaposition you have going on right now. you have a more established artists alongside and emerging artists. is that something important to you as well? >> very important in this space, to have artists who really have not shown much. now let's look at other aspects of electric works operation. let's go to the bookstore. >> ok. >> in all seriousness, here we are in your store. this is the first space you encounter when you come in off the street.

it has evolved since you open here into the most amazingly curious selection of things. >> this was the project for the berkeley art museum. it was -- this is from william wiley's retrospective, when he got up onstage to sing a song, 270 people put on the cat. >> it is not just a bookstore. it is a store. can you talk us through some of your favorites? >> these are made in china, but they are made out of cattails. >> these pieces of here, you have a whale head and various animals and their health over there, and they are jewelry. >> we do fund raisers for nonprofits, so we are doing a project for the magic theater, so there are some pretty funny cartoons. they are probably not for prime time. >> you sort of have a kind of

holistic relationship where you might do merchandise in the store that promotes their work and practice, and also, prince for them. maybe we should go back and look at the print operation now. >> let's go. >> before we go into the print shop, i noticed some incredible items you have talked back here. what are we standing in front of? >> this is william wiley, only one earth. this is a print edition. there are only eight total, and what we wanted to do was expand the idea of printmaking. this is really an art object. there we go. >> besides the punball machine, what do you produce in limited edition?

>> there is the slot machine. if you win the super jackpot, you have saved the world. >> what about work? >> the right design, it was three volumes with lithographs in each volume. the cab of count dracula with 20 lithographs inside and lined with beaver fur. really special. >> let's move on to the print shop. >> ok. the core of what we do is making things. this is an example. this is a print project that will be a fund-raiser for the contemporary music players. we decided to put it in the portfolio so you could either frame at or have it on your bookshelf. >> so nonprofits can come to you, not just visual are nonprofits, but just nonprofits can come to you, and you will produce prints for them to sell, and the profits, they can keep.

>> the return on investment is usually four times to 10 times the amount of investment. this is for the bio reserve in mexico, and this is one of the artists we represent. >> you also make prints for the artists that you represent. over here are some large prints by a phenomenal artist. >> he writes these beautiful things. anyone who has told you paradise is a book of rules is -- has only appeared through the windows. this is from all over coffee. we are contract printers for all kinds of organizations all across the country. >> thank you very much for showing us around today. i really appreciate you taking the time to let me get better acquainted with the operation and also to share with our "culturewire" team.

>> welcome, dancers. bring them in. coming to you live, san francisco city hall, the indians have all arrived. how about a big round of applause for our native american dancers in the house? rocking san francisco.

singing loud, dance hard, all right. all right, one more time, let's give it up for our singers, our dancers, kicking it live here in san francisco city hall, all right. good to be here tonight. seeing all these shining indian faces once again.

could i have all the native americans please remain standing? all native americans, stand up. how about a big round of applause for our native americans here for native american heritage month in november. all you non-indians, just look around. this is what custer saw at the little bighorn, and you know what he said to his men? where did all these indians come from? once again, welcome to the sixth annual nida american heritage month celebration here at city

hall. -- annual native american heritage month cicelebration. i would like to thank our host for this month, native american aids project, the mayor's office, the san francisco native american health center, and kqed public broadcasting. how about a big round of applause for our host? thank you. at this time, when indian people -- when we gather, we throw on our regalia, our outfits. we do not call them costumes. if you are from oklahoma, we call them in being close -- clothes. it is good to see all these dancers and singers as well,

their families. when we gather like this, we start out with prayer, so please stand if you are able. creator, grandfather, we give thanks this day for the many blessings for this beautiful day, this opportunity to honor our own here in san francisco city hall. we give thanks to native and non-native alike, those that are here today. when this ends, we hope that they travel safe, that they continue this relationship, creator. we remember the words spoken here by the leaders of our native american community. creator, blessings upon them.

our seniors, are dancers, everyone in attendance. remember those that have passed that are not able to be here, i am for health -- in poor health. remember our veterans. we know you have told us there is no such thing as a good war. we ask that our veterans come home safely and return to their families, their tribes. we pray these things come late -- these things humbly to you, grandfather. [singing]

creator, we give thanks this day. the best it could possibly be.

if i've left anything out, creator, grandfather, again, i am a humble two-legged on mother earth. we give thanks this day in your name. you may be seated. thank you. going back to our native american project singers, appropriate song. we will have our dancers come on out.

our dancers were led out by mr. larry harris andon -- harrison. thank you, larry. these dancers in front of you, nor than traditional, seven straight, double bustle, and our grass dancers as well. two starts. all right, looking good. good dancing, good singing going

on. san francisco, look out. ♪ [inaudible] dance hard. sing loud. make them dance.

all right, put your hands together one more time for our fancy dancers. all right. also, seven straight. all right. calling into the arena at this time, our women's traditional. come on out. women's traditional, all ages, women's traditional, come on out. no. traditional, southern co op , this is your contest. i'm kidding. the only one judging you is margin right there. make sure you have your numbers displayed. all right. when you are ready. two sides.

the style of dance from our northern plains, our southern plains. kiowa, ajibwe, blackfeet, lakota. this is a side step. ♪

boys and men, stand by. once again, put your hands together for our women's no. traditional southern claw -- northern traditional southern claw. this style of dance, before our dances would start, they would

call upon the grass dancers to come out, stomp that grass down. usually, it was about chest high. in order for our other dancers to dance. when you are ready, make them dance. that is your style, boys. dance hard. dance hard. ♪ this style of dance coming to us from the north.

one of the most competitive styles of dance. all right, one more time, our men's and boys' grass dancers. good dancing. all right. calling into the arena, our jingle dress dancers, make your way into the arena. all ages. michele,