This screening brings together a variety of videos which each include a unique approach to drawing. In Organic Honey’s Visual Telepathy, the artist traces the contours of domestic objects onto a single sheet of paper to create an increasingly layered image. This is one of series of exercises timed by a buzzer in this seminal video performance.
The rare double projection of Mirage and Mirage II begins with the artist drawing and erasing chalk drawings on a blackboard. This ritualistic action sets up the repetitive movement of video frames in the second half of Mirage.
In Double Lunar Dogs, characters perform sketch exercises in their attempt to recover their memory and identity within the video’s post-apocalyptic setting. Finally, in Brooklyn Bridge, Jonas experiments with computer graphic tools to superimpose line drawings onto photographs and video footage of the bridge.
From the very beginning I have invented ways of making drawings in relation to performance, video, the monitor, the camera, and the space.
Joan Jonas
Programme:
Introduction by Joan Jonas
Joan Jonas, Organic Honey’s Visual Telepathy 1972, video, black and white, sound, 18 min
Joan Jonas, Mirage 1976 / Mirage II 1976–2000, 16mm transferred to video and video, double projection, black and white, sound, 31 min
Joan Jonas, Double Lunar Dogs 1984, video, colour, sound, 24 min
Joan Jonas, Brooklyn Bridge 1988, video, colour, sound, 7 min
Joan Jonas Mirage 1976, video still. Courtesy the artist and Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York
Joan Jonas Organic Honey’s Visual Telepathy 1972, video still
Joan Jonas Double Lunar Dogs 1984, video still. Courtesy the artist and Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York
Joan Jonas Mirage II 1976–2000, video still. Courtesy the artist and Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York
