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M+, Hong Kong, © Joan Jonas/EAI/ARS
On View
Mediatheque
Joan Jonas 瓊．喬納斯
Songdelay 緩歌
1973
On vacant land along the New York waterfront, with a backdrop of industrial buildings and the sound of ships’ horns, Joan Jonas gathered a group of friends to carry out a series of choreographed actions. The performers use a variety of props along with their bodies and voices to emphasise the disconnect between sight and sound over long distances. A repeated sequence shows several performers clapping wooden blocks together; the camera’s high zoom flattens the distances between them, but the different delays of sound reveal a greater depth of space than is visually apparent. Other actions focus on the geometry of the human body and collective movement. In one sequence, the artist stands inside a large hoop to cartwheel through the seemingly empty industrial landscape; in another, pairs of performers move along prescribed paths, connected by long poles that maintain a constant distance between them.
In the dynamic art scene of 1960s New York, Jonas was an important pioneer in the development of video art. She explored the formal qualities of video, often staging performance artworks with the city as a framing environment. She regularly cast fellow artists as performers, or else collaborated with them to film the works. Sculpture and drawing have also been critical to her artistic oeuvre, forming part of a continuum with her time-based performances and video art.
In the dynamic art scene of 1960s New York, Jonas was an important pioneer in the development of video art. She explored the formal qualities of video, often staging performance artworks with the city as a framing environment. She regularly cast fellow artists as performers, or else collaborated with them to film the works. Sculpture and drawing have also been critical to her artistic oeuvre, forming part of a continuum with her time-based performances and video art.
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