MK Guth (American, born 1963), Dinner to Plan a Revolution, 2016, one felt flag, one artist book, three selected books (Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni, Selected Poems of Andrei Voznesensky, and The Anatomy of Revolution by Crane Brinton), one poplar shelf, collection of Sara and Michelle Vance Waddell, through the courtesy of the Cristin Tierney Gallery, New York. Photo: Etienne Frossard
Dinner to Plan a Revolution is designed to bring a group of people together in discussion around a table to speak to what they each believe needs changing. A lively contentious conversation is the goal of the dinner—not a consensus. Topics that are social, political, and environmental or something more personal are encouraged. The menu is Potato Leek soup, salad, cheese, fruit, bread, vodka, water. The dinner is started with a toast and followed by the guest reading aloud Assata Shakur’s lyrics to Revolution is Love.
MK Guth (American, born 1963), Dinner for Remembering, 2016, One artist book, three selected books (Mythology and Meatballs by Daniel Spoerri, I Remember by Joe Brainard, and I Remember by Georges Perec), one poplar shelf, courtesy of the artist and the Cristin Tierney Gallery, New York. Photo: Dan Kvitka
Dinner for Remembering is designed to prompt recollection—reminiscence—remembering, and an attempt to recall the past—good, bad, beautiful, traumatic, or mundane. This dinner is for an unspecified number of guests, where the guests participate in bringing food and drink. The person or persons who instigate the dinner decide on those who are invited and choose a theme or subject matter to focus the event and the meal. The dinner is a potluck and guests are asked to bring food to share that connects to the theme. At the dinner everyone shares their memory on which they based their potluck selection.
MK Guth (American, born 1963), Dinner for a Funeral, 2012, wood-handled knife, one artist book, two books (New and Collected Poems by Czeslaw Milosz and Selected Poems by Alain Bosquet), one walnut shelf, collection of Victoria Frey, through the courtesy of the Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, Oregon. Photo: Etienne Frossard
Dinner for a Funeral is for ten people, including the host. This dinner is a celebration of the end of a thing, such as an event, idea, preoccupation, location … and the beginning of something else. The theme of this dinner resides in the liminal space between these two states; the threshold between one place and another. Since this dinner is a form of celebration, the topic of celebration should be decided upon by the host before invitations are sent to guests. Possible reasons for this dinner: moving to a new location—city, country, house …; leaving a job; the end of a love affair; the end of a belief; the completion of an academic degree or form of education; finishing a good book; the completion of an artwork, book, or musical work; completing a race.
MK Guth (American, born 1963), Dinner for John Cage, 2012, bronze ladle, bronze mushrooms (attached to shelf), one artist book, one book (The guests go in to supper by John Cage), one walnut shelf, collection of Nion McEvoy, through the courtesy of the Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, Oregon. Photo: Dan Kvitka
Dinner for John Cage is for ten people. The composition MUSHROOMS et Variationes by John Cage is to be performed by the guests and host on the occasion of this dinner. Based on Cage’s fascination with mushrooms, the recipes for this dinner all involve mushrooms.
MK Guth (American, born 1963), What Needs to be Said, 2017, Five artist books, one birch table, two birch stools, courtesy of the artist and the Cristin Tierney Gallery, New York. Photo: Dan Kvitka
What Needs to Be Said in an interactive installation that invites visitors to share their thoughts and beliefs about such diverse topics as art, ecology, identity, love, and politics. Visitors are invited to write their answers in five bound books created by the artist, but when they are finished, they are asked to close the books and restack them to resemble an ordinary stack of texts. What Needs to Be Said thus acts as a container for our collective thoughts and desires for a world beyond what we know, what we have, and what we desire.