What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1070576
Don't miss the fun– make plans to join us! Chef Shaun O ' Neale Chef Dale Davis Join Dave Woods, Advertorial and Features Manager for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and come cheer on your favorite chef at the Arkansas Beef Council CELEBRITY CHEF COOKOFF! Watch Master Chef Champion Shaun O'Neale compete against Executive Chef Dale Davis from Indigo Sky Casino as they prepare their specialty Beef Tenderloin Recipe for our panel of judges: Donette Spann/Arkansas Beef Council; Emily Amadon/ Snack Lab; and Dave Woods/NWA Democrat-Gazette. The chef with the highest score will be awarded the Grand Prize! See you there! WHEN: Sunday, January 13th at 2 p.m. WHERE: Women's Lifestyle Expo at the Encore Event Center, Springdale. AR. JANUARY 13-19, 2019 WHAT'S UP! 7 Five Minutes, Five Questions Artist Robert Pruitt 5X5 JOCELYN MURPHY NWA Democrat-Gazette C rystal Bridges Museum of American Art kicks off a special space-themed weekend on Jan. 18 with the next event in its Drinks and Discussion series. Speakers from the Amazeum, the Arkansas Balloon Group, the Arkansas Natural Sky Association and more will discuss art, space exploration and astronomy. The guest of honor and "Men of Steel, Women of Wonder" participating artist, Robert Pruitt, joins the roundtable to discuss the work of art he created to be launched into space the following day at the Space Project Celebration. Pruitt took a few minutes to answer these questions for What's Up! ahead of his visit. Q. What can you tell me about the piece you created to be launched into space? A. Small assemblage work is the centerpiece of this project. I slightly altered a wooden Dogon figure, adding a covering of aluminum foil, an antennae and a makeshift suitcase containing an undisclosed package to be delivered to space. The Dogon are a people and culture from Mali who have a long relationship with stargazing. The symbols associated with this practice are a recurring presence in my work. Q. How did its being launched into space impact the message you wanted the piece to convey? A. Launching this charged cultural object into space is the message. Both the mission into the unknown and the return to this atmosphere communicate the possibility of creating new futures. Q. What do you envision as the future of the piece after the launch? A. A weather balloon will carry the sculpture into near space, but it will return to Earth. Its journey upwards and its return will act as a catalyst for the conceptual meanings of the work. We are launching a type of African-American spiritual technology to carry out a survey mission. I am not at liberty to disclose what we will do with the object on its return. Q. Your work is also part of the "Men of Steel, Women of Wonder" exhibition soon to debut at Crystal Bridges. Tell me about adding your perspective to an exhibit examining that comic book world. How does the black experience and narrative influence that conversation explored in the exhibition? A. The mythology of most comic narratives are full of ideas of otherness. In this way they mirror the experiences of many cultures that struggle to fit into the prevailing narratives of much of our art, media and social landscape. The X-Men are racially antagonized outcasts. Superman is an alien in a foreign world constantly managing a dual identity, and The Silver Surfer endures a deep loneliness and longing for home that he cannot return to. Q. What about the worlds of comic books, science and technology inspires you? A. These "worlds" all function to create and contextualize the nature of our existence. They use creative strategies to reimagine the ways in which we live in the world. Comics (also sci-fi and fantasy) help us to reorient how we can perceive the actual world we live in. Science and technology often help us better understand and readapt the ways we live in the world. I find that they are useful in trying to reimagine our world and conceive of new types of futures. Courtesy photo Houston, Texas-based artist Robert Pruitt explores the black body and identity in his work using references to hip-hop, science and sci-fi, technology, comic books, black political struggles and traditional cultures. He will speak at Crystal Bridges' Drinks and Discussion program ahead of launching an artwork into space for the museum's Space Project Celebration. FAQ Drinks and Discussion: Art, Space Travel, and Beyond with Robert Pruitt WHEN — 7 p.m. Jan. 18 COST — Free Space Project Celebration WHEN — 9-10:30 a.m. Jan. 19; launch will happen at 10 a.m., weather permitting COST — Free WHERE — Both events at Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville INFO — 657-2335, crystalbridges.org, robert-pruitt.com