the whole room. we were looking around, and up there, the chinese team walks in. to us, they were the gods of table tennis. [laughter] i will never forget. then, the tournament went on for two weeks, and almost the last day of the tournament, we received the invitation to go to china. it was an amazing surprise, and it was great excitement. i was really excited to go, of course. and i was full of curiosity. i really did not know what to expect. no american group had been to china in years, and a was an incredible experience. if i had any expectations, it would have far surpassed them. china in 1971 was a very different place from my life in usa in 1971. also, china in 1971 was very different from china now or

china on my next trip, which was 25 years later. we were in china for eight very full days. the highlight of the trip was meeting the premier at the great hall of the people. we also went to the great wall, and they closed the wall just for us that date. other highlights for me were going to the summer palace, to a chinese opera, to a technical university, to an industrial exhibition, to m model commune near shanghai. we ate great chinese food and experienced the most wonderful hospitality. the chinese girls taught me two songs. "the east is red" and "sailing the seas depends on the helmsman." we learned about chinese communism and read mal's "little red book." and of course, we played friendship matches.

we played in three cities -- and fortunately, very fortunately for me, the mantra over and over again was friendship first, competition second. i would like to brag here today that i won three matches out of four in china. and it was only do -- and i'm very well aware it was only due to the philosophy, "friendship first, competition second." [laughter] i am also grateful for the wonderful hospitality that the chinese association and chinese people have extended in my subsequent ping-pong diplomacy visits to china, and i thank the chinese association and the people of china for keeping alive the spirit of ping-pong diplomacy. today, we are celebrating ping- pong diplomacy and the role it played in normalizing relations between u.s. and china. however, pingpong diplomacy does not justify -- just apply to the

u.s. team trip to china in 1971 and the chinese team trip to the u.s.a. in 1972. ping-pong diplomacy also applies to the role of sports in bringing people together in peaceful interactions. in sports, we have a common language that transcends national boundaries and cultural differences. we gain perspective and understanding, and we learn appreciation for each other. through the legacy of ping-pong diplomacy, we carry forward to the new generations a new people's revolution. it is one that carries a world wide message of peace, love, and cooperation. [applause] >> thank you. now, i would like to ask mayor lee to come back to the podium because we have some presentations to make to the delegation. and we are going to be helped, too, with the pronunciation of

the names so we make sure that we get them all correct. [applause]

>> [inaudible] whene'er [applause]

[reading names]

>> before the exhibition, i have one announcement to make, and i know supervisor mar will appreciate this. this summer -- in fact, in the month of september, there will be sunday streets in san francisco's chinatown north beach. through the great work of our program and rose and the chinese chamber, part of the sunday street on september 18 will be a

dedication to a citywide ping- pong tournament that each district of our city will field a team of people to play, and we will pick up in an alleyway in chinatown. there will be 11 ping pong tables, and we will determine the best ping-pong player from the city and county of san francisco. how about that in september? [applause] >> now, we are going to play. before we do, i would like to ask peter to come up from the united states table tennis association. they have a gift for you that will help you maybe this afternoon.

so peter, can you make this quickly? mayor lee? >> on behalf of usa table tennis, we would like to present to the mayor this anniversary paddle. 40 anniversary ping-pong diplomacy, july 1-8, 2011, milwaukee, san francisco, richard nixon library from usa table tennis and suitable for autographing on the back so you can get some signatures while your there. thank you. mayor lee: thank you. >> thank you for hosting. >> now, what we have all been waiting for. i think we are ready to play. mayor lee, are you ready? are you going to play? ok, great.

and this is a veteran of the 1971 exhibit. [applause]

>> we are going to add the doubles. [applause] yes, you, too. this is the future now. the future and the past. >> [inaudible]

[applause]

[cheers and applause] [applause]

[cheers and applause] >> very nice, thank you. that will be the end of the press conference. you are all welcome to join us at the library. [inaudible] 7:00. thank you all very much for coming.

>> 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.