What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1296127
8 WHAT'S UP! OCTOBER 11-17, 2020 Connective Creations Timeless and timely works tie past to present JOCELYN MURPHY NWA Democrat-Gazette W ith each step the Momentary takes as it continues to settle into its role as a community pillar, new and deepened connections to the past — and the site's specific history — seem to emerge. Perhaps none is so direct as the new works on the Momentary's grounds by artists Iván Navarro and Maria Molteni. "This Land Is Your Land" is Navarro's series of water towers that immediately calls to mind the iconic Woody Guthrie song of the same name, as well as contemplation on who is invited to take up space in this artistic, cultural and physical landscape. The three structures encourage the viewer to actively engage with the work by looking up into the barrels where neon lighting displays different words and symbols. Molteni is currently creating a new mural on the north side of the campus that examines a different piece of the Momentary's past — as the former site of an apple orchard. Both artists' works are in conversation with the diverse pieces around the grounds while also presenting a new perspective to bridge history with the present. "At every stop, the piece acquires different meanings, especially outside the U.S. where the water towers are not a familiar object in the landscape," Brooklyn-based, Chilean artist Navarro says of his work traveling the world. "This Land Is Your Land" comes to Bentonville after exhibition at Chicago's Navy Pier and at Madison Square Garden in New York City before that. "There is a common idea that people see in this work, which is how this container can store a message about communal progress," Navarro continues. "When people see the image of an endless ladder going up or the word 'ME' turning into 'WE,' their interpretation is a visual poem about how we live together in society, and how we build this society using industrialized materials. "The context of Bentonville is different in that it belongs to the original U.S. agricultural landscape where the water towers were once seen as beacons of opportunity for itinerant laborers, as they marked the presence of farms and developments along their path." "The apple is perhaps one of the richest symbols in the world," Molteni offers of her own inspiration. "Different people and cultures have all sorts of associations with it. I'm calling in all of those stories and associations, whether it's sweetness, intoxication, feminine power, knowledge, fertility, wildness. "I think it's important to remember that apples, though many Americans have a nostalgic, altruistic association with them, also mask a complexity "The older I grow, the more I'm able to tune into the cycles and say, 'Oh, we've been here before,'" artist Maria Molteni shares of the cyclic nature of the world she has observed. "That can feel discouraging because you'd hope that as a society we could truly progress past some of these ruts. But it also helps you avoid apocalyptic thinking. You can say throughout history, oppressed people have found strength and resilience to pool their power and push back. … nothing is really permanent. But there are constants that sort of transcend the rise and fall of that and can't be taken away if we can keep a wider perspective on the situation — things like art, love, knowledge, sharing and friendship are our lifelines. We have to invest in them." (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Charlie Kaijo) FEATURE FAQ The Momentary WHEN — 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday WHERE — 507 S.E. E St. in Bentonville COST — Free INFO — themomentary.org, 367-7500