Before The Carpenters, Burt Bacharach asked, “Do you know the way to San Jose?” If you live in San Francisco, here’s a hint: It is part of the Bay Area. Think of it as the south shore. If you don’t know the way, you’ve got options—there is Caltrain or if you want to drive, you can go via 280 and enjoy the lush scenery. Whatever the route, figure it out sometime—anytime—this week. ZeroOne “A Global Festival of Art on the Edge” and ISEA 2006 (International Symposium for Electronic Arts) are on through Sunday, August 13, 2006.

More than 200 international artists have descended on Silicon Valley and have brought artworks that breathe technology and drop jaws. Some more than others, perhaps; but by sheer numbers alone you are bound to find your own version of plug-it-in-art-love. More exciting than this technological bacchanalia is some of the titillating and sharp programming curated by local talent. You could walk in just about any direction in downtown San Jose this week and find stuff to dive into, but for what it is worth, here are my top five downtown destinations:

• “Jennifer Steinkamp” and “Edge Conditions” at San Jose Museum of Art. Steinkamp’s glittering masses of flowers dazzle. “Edge Conditions”, curated by techno wunderkind and ZeroOne/ISEA director Steve Dietz, presents more than a dozen cutting edge digital artists.

• Steve Lambert’s hilarious “Simmer Down Sprinter” focuses on ‘competitive relaxation’ at Anno Domini.

• “Frontera Electronica” at MACLA, a group exhibition of local artists that explores the dynamics between ideas of the frontier and the border through digital media.

• San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles presents three solo exhibitions that examine relationships between textile art and technology.

• Anchoring First Street with their brand new expansive location, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art’s “Next New” presents emerging new media artists selected by a bevy of established artists in the same genre, among them this year’s SECA awardee Kota Ezawa.

This week the peripheral is the center, just as Beuys would have liked it. San Jose has risen to the occasion and met the Bay Area’s need for a substantial art fair to converse with the international contemporary art discourse, on the subjects it knows best. While it lasts, the South Bay art scene is making the most of it.

Visit http://www.01sj.org for more information.