The last time I saw the Vis-à-Vis Society (literary performance artists Sierra Nelson and Rachel Kessler), they were handing out keys at the seedy Bridge Motel. The soon-to-be-demolished structure off Highway 99 in Fremont was transformed into a giant art installation, each room governed by the vision of different artists and groups. Nelson and Kessler distributed surveys with their keys, asking people to choose what they felt was the “Bridge Motel Feeling”—from options including “A Last Resort in a Series of Bad Decisions,” “A Red Room Filled with Salt,” and “Ominous Lurking in the Bushes,” which were all top picks. Gathering statistical and emotional data from an audience is at the core of their performances, and at SAM’s new Poetry Night Series, the theme is a multimedia investigation titled “Go (Stop Sign): Verse & Reversals.” Who knows what they have in store? Poet Catherine Wing and current Poet Populist Cody Walker will also read. Luckily this time, admission is free and no key will be necessary.

Thu., Dec. 13, 8 p.m., 2007