{"data":{"id":"5523","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":5523,"topgoose_id":1935,"tms_id":5523,"display_name":"Joan Jonas","sort_name":"Jonas Joan","display_date":"1936–","begin_date":"1936","end_date":"0","biography":"\u003cp\u003eIn the experimental climate of the late\n1960s and early 1970s, artists used\nthe moving image to extend their sculptural\npractice into a time-based form, using\nfilm, video, and performance. Joan Jonas\nproduced some of the most important\nworks of the period in these mediums,\namong them \u003ca href=\"/collection/works/12812\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eVertical Roll\u003c/em\u003e,\u003c/a\u003e widely considered\na seminal work of single-channel video.\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eVertical Roll\u003c/em\u003e, Jonas videotapes a\ntelevision monitor, which plays a video\nof her performing in front of the camera.\nThe image of the performance is disrupted\nby the black bar of the video monitor’s\nvertical hold scrolling down in a staccato\nmotion, repeatedly detaching the image\nfor a fraction of a second, in a relentless\nrhythm that evokes the act of blinking.\nEach “blink” offers a fleeting glimpse of\nJonas’s body as she performs a series\nof gestures in front of the camera, wearing\na mask, a feathered headdress, a belly\ndancer’s costume, or nothing at all. Legs,\nfabric, mask, face, and arms appear in a\nseries of tantalizing flashes, constructing a\nbody that continuously slips away from\nour visual grasp.\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe rhythm of the images is further\npunctuated by the sound of Jonas banging a\nsilver spoon on a mirror and then clapping\ntwo blocks of wood together repeatedly,\nin a reference to Japanese Kabuki theater.\nAt the end of the video, the artist moves\nher head in front of the persistently blinking\nimage, revealing that the camera is\nrecording not only Jonas, but also the\nmonitor on which her performance appears.\nShe uses the properties of the video\ncamera to present herself and the process\nof recording as a sequence of fragments,\nsuggesting the impossibility of reading\nidentity as something singular and unified.\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":true,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500058309","wikidata_id":"Q453808","created_at":"2017-08-30T16:54:13.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-04-12T07:03:04.743-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/5523/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/5523/exhibitions"}}}}