Sixty Inches From Center is today’s featured Hashbrown contestant. With the event is a mere five days away, it might be time to purchase some tasting tickets!

What is Sixty Inches? They produce video, audio, photography, editorial essays, and interviews to document artists and arts events that exist outside of the city’s mainstream cultural institutions. By doing so, they capture the innovative work of artists and communities that might otherwise be missed by traditional art historical narratives.

Below is a collaborative interview with Directors Jennifer and Tempestt, and Editors Reuben and Toby.

In what ways does your chili recipe embody your organization?

Our recipe will have a lot of layers, deliver some unexpected and unpredictable moments and stray from the chili tradition–much like we as an organization tend to. Sixty is all about stretching what art history, archival process and arts journalism can be–so in the spirit of shaking things up, our chili will test definitions and expectations. Oh and we can’t forget to mention that just like us, our chili will be full of beans.

Name a celebrity you would most like to share a bowl a chili with and why.

We all agree that it would be great to share a bowl of chili with Janelle Monae. Some other names that came out of the Sixty brain are Jon Stewart and Salman Rushdie.

Looking back at recent artists or exhibitions covered by Sixty’s journalists, which artist would you most want to add to your chili-making team and why.

While On The Real Film was working for Sixty, they produced a series of videos called Break The Bread which gave a peek into the work and collaborations of food artist Nick Jirasek. In the series, you see how he creates dishes inspired by the work and stories of the artists featured in each video. For him it’s not just about the process of cooking and the end result, but it’s about really digging deep into the artist’s story and finding a way to translate that into something thoughtful and tasty.

Do you have any words of warning to your competitors?

Don’t underestimate the power of a vegetarian chili!

What does Spudnik Press love about Sixty Inches From Center?

Sixty Inches From Center approaches Arts Journalism with the broad view. They refute the notion that documentation is a silent record of things of the past. To Sixty Inches, documentation is an active word that involves research, community, and a critical eye. They are working hard (really hard!) to create an honest narrative of Chicago’s diverse cultural environment.