The Olive Way corridor of Capitol Hill always in some weird state of flux. Over the past few months, there was an antiques market exodus, Coffee Messiah just closed, and Sal’s Barbershop (where I never had occasion to get faded, yo.) is in hibernation pending a new location. On the other hand, there are still signs of life: Pretty Parlour opened, Dinette took over the Local Cafe space, and King of the Hill Hillcrest Market appears to be rising from the ashes of last year’s [2004] fire.

Another good note is that the hidden-away Crawl Space Gallery continues to be unconventional with artist-run exhibitions. Tonight marks a re-opening of the gallery after a December facelift hiatus. In addition to the fancy new drywalls, they’ll be celebrating with an opening reception for the latest installation of transforming sculptures from Shawn Landis:

. . . By furnishing the gallery as a home living space, and enshrouding it in nylon fabric, the artist utilizes industrial fans and vacuums to allow and refuse viewers access to the rooms. Viewers are able to lounge in the living spaces during deflation and are gently forced to exit the rooms as inflation begins.

Get “fooled” and “un-fooled” starting on Saturday with an opening party at 6 pm. Expect general merriment, seeing and being seen, et c. until at least 9 pm; the installation itself will stick around until 12 February.

(via the new local/global lifestyle/blog, the Brain Tru$t [#])