BY KAREN BOSSICK

MK Guth will discuss the role of social ritual, performance, food and drink within her artistic practice during a free talk at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 9. at the Sun Valley Center for the Arts in Ketchum.

Guth is a faculty member at Pacific Northwest College of Art and an installation artist from Portland, Ore., whose work revolves around ritual and places of social interaction.

She was asked to do an installation for “At the Table: Kitchen as Home,” the Center’s current BIG IDEA exhibition examining the central role of the kitchen in shaping our memories, our families and our social lives.

She produced two sculptures: “Dinner for Remembering” and “Dinner to Plan a Revolution,” both designed to invite viewers to consider the ways shared meals can be transformative experiences.

She has exhibited nationally and internationally in museums, galleries and festivals, including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Melbourne International Arts Festival.

For one of her installations she asked people to write the things that are dear to them on scraps of cloth. Then she wove them into a sculpture. Based loosely on the tale of Rapunzel, it eventually totaled 500 feet.

Another installation, “When Nothing Else Subsists, Smell and Taste Remain,” used food as a vehicle for triggering memories and emotions.

“At the Table: Kitchen as Home” runs through March 1.