We know: The beginning of the work week sucks. But if you take a quick look at the calendar, you'll see we're off to a pretty good week of art events, sporting events, dance parties, and more. Here are our must-see events from now to the weekend . . .
Monday, April 8: Noche Latina @ Club Cloud N9ne (Formerly The New Club Tunnel) Hanging out at a typical hookah bar can be pretty tiresome. The combination of blaring pop music and the veil of smoke all but guarantees a migraine. That is, unless you're lucky enough to find a place that serves hummus or has a couple of belly dancers on hand as welcome distractions.
The Nile Hookah Lounge breaks out of that stereotypical mold with Noche Latina, a weekly dance party with DJs and live bands bumping tunes from genres such as reggaeton, cumbia, and merengue inspiring more movement than a typical evening on a couch that reeks of banana tobacco. Price: Cover is $2 for ladies and $10 for guys -- Melissa Fossum
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Tuesday, April 9: "MASHup: New Video Art" @ Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art The only thing better than a few of your favorite things is a few of your favorite things in a mash-up. The term has its roots in music, video, and visual art and has been around since the Dadas introduced the art of combining unrelated images and texts (usually by different artists) in the same piece. Today, mash-ups weave together pop culture. We hear mash-ups of popular songs by DJs and the cast of Glee, see mash-ups across the internet of words and images cut and pasted together to form memes and in videos all over YouTube.
This season Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art hosts "MASHup: New Video Art," an exhibition including work by artists Cory Arcangel, Natalie Bookchin, Christian Marclay, and Michael Robinson, who all pay tribute to the artform and its presence in mass media.
But it's not all so simple. Mashup media has raised large legal questions in mass media, involving intellectual property, creative license, and copyright. You can see the "MASHup" exhibition at SMoCA through Sunday, May 19, and join assistant curator Claire Carter in a roundtable discussion with Phoenix-based DJ Alex Votichenko (a.k.a. Djentrification), video artist Natalie Bookchin, and copyright lawyer Michael Cordier Wednesday, March 20, at 7 p.m. in the museum's lounge. -- Claire Lawton
Wednesday, April 10: "Cu²⁹: Mining for You" @ ASU Art Museum When Phoenix-based artist Matthew Moore and London-based artist Clare Patey announced they were collaborating on a project, we were all ears. Moore has made a name for himself in Phoenix with art projects that address the urbanization of farmland in the city's outskirts and the sustainability of urban life. Patey is an internationally renowned artist who shuts down a bridge every year in London and organizes a sustainable feast. Together, the artists combined forces and examined an endangered element on the periodic table: copper.
Copper plays an integral role in our daily lives -- it's used in our plumbing, electronics, fancy kitchenware, and envied cocktail mugs now kept under lock-and-key at local bars -- and has played a huge part in Arizona's history.
Patey and Moore's "Cu29: Mining for You" explores the idea of human ownership of the natural resource, mining practices, and our dependence on copper. -- Claire Lawton
Thursday, April 11: Mick Foley: Tales from Wrestling Past @ Stand Up Live Retired professional wrestler Mick Foley is one paradoxical fellow.
During his lengthy career, the grappler formerly known as Mankind and Cactus Jack (who claims to have spilled blood on four different continents) participated in some of the most brutal and intense matches wrestling fans have witnessed -- oftentimes involving barbed wire and the occasional flaming table. And yet, Foley's crimson-soaked past is belied by his gentle, softhearted nature, as depicted via his interactions with his children in the documentary Beyond the Mat.
And while the general public may perceive pro wrestlers as musclebound dunces, the three-time World Wrestling Entertainment champ's exploits outside the ring prove Foley's anything but. (Interesting fact: He's also big fan of Tori Amos.)
A true 'rasslin renaissance man and gifted storyteller, he's become a best-selling author and has been touring comedy clubs around the world and performing his Mick Foley: Tales From Wrestling Past spoken word, where he spins hilarious yarns spanning his career in his goofy, good-natured style. -- Benjamin Leatherman
Friday, April 12: National Theatre Live: People @ Phoenix Art Museum Our city's one of just a handful to host National Theatre Live, a film series of current hot tickets from the London stage institution. Next up is People, a new play from Alan Bennett (The Madness of King George). How English is this ish? Dorothy, an aging noblewoman (because that's still a thing), faces challenges maintaining her stately home (trust us, you don't have one).
She considers letting the National Trust (the what, now?) take it over as a kind of highbrow tourist attraction, but though Dorothy is acquainted with the limey concept, it sounds weird even to her. So she lets some people pay her to make porn in the house instead. And other stuff happens. Price: $15-$18 -- Julie Peterson
Check out more things to do today (and everyday) in our Calendar section ...
