Joan Jonas The Shape, the Scent, the Feel of Things

With original piano score composed and performed by Jason Moran

Dia:Beacon Riggio Galleries 3 Beekman Street Beacon New York 1 2508 845 440 0100 www.diaart.org

~

Joan

Jon

as's

com

mis

sion

at

Dia

:Bea

con

has

been

mad

e po

ssib

le b

y th

e D

utch

ess

Cou

nty

Art

s

Cou

ncil;

the

Dys

on F

ound

atio

n; J

ean

Ste

in,

JKW

Fou

ndat

ion;

and

the

New

Yor

k S

tate

Cou

ncil

on t

he A

rts.

Sup

port

for

vid

eo p

rodu

ctio

n du

ring

this

pro

ject

was

pro

vide

d, i

n pa

rt,

by t

he R

enai

ssan

ce

Soc

iety

, C

hica

go,

and

the

Mas

sach

uset

ts

Inst

itute

of

Tec

hnol

ogy.

Joan

Jon

as w

ould

lik

e to

tha

nk M

yles

Keh

oe o

f C

ape

Bre

ton,

Nov

a S

cotia

, fo

r fin

ding

and

le

ndin

g pr

ops;

Joo

st E

lffer

s fo

r do

natin

g pr

epar

ed c

anva

ses;

Lyn

ne C

ooke

; S

imon

e F

orti;

Ada

m P

endl

eton

; Jo

an S

imon

; an

d Ju

dy a

nd P

hilli

p T

uwal

etst

iwa.

She

wou

ld a

lso

like

to t

hank

al

l who

wer

e in

volv

ed i

n th

is p

rodu

ctio

n.

Quo

tatio

ns

from

Aby

War

burg

are

tak

en f

rom

:

Aby

War

burg

, Im

ages

fro

m t

he R

egio

n of

the

Pue

blo

Indi

ans

of N

orth

Am

eric

a, t

rans

. M

icha

el

Ste

inbe

rg

(Ith

aca,

N.Y

.: C

orne

ll U

nive

rsity

Pre

ss,

1995

).

Phi

lippe

-Ala

in M

icha

ud,

Aby

W

arbu

rg a

nd t

he I

mag

e in

Mot

ion,

tra

ns.

Sop

hie

Haw

kes

(New

Y

ork:

Zon

e B

ooks

, 20

04).

Woo

dy G

uthr

ie's

"P

astu

res

of P

lent

y" c

opyr

ight

©

1960

by

TR

O-L

udlo

w

Mus

ic,

BM

I.

Dia

Art

Fo

un

dat

ion

pre

sen

ts

Joan

Jo

nas

T

he

Sh

ape,

th

e S

cen

t,

the

Fee

l o

f T

hin

gs

A p

erfo

rman

ce

bas

ed o

n t

he

wri

tin

gs

of

Ab

y W

arb

urg

O

cto

ber

14,

15,

21,

22,

28,

an

d 2

9, 2

006

at 2

pm

Dia

:Bea

con

, R

igg

io G

alle

ries

Co

nce

ived

an

d d

irec

ted

by

Joan

Jo

nas

Wit

h o

rig

inal

pia

no

sco

re c

om

po

sed

an

d p

erfo

rmed

b

y Ja

son

Mo

ran

perf

orm

ers

Jose

Lu

is B

lon

det

, R

agan

i H

aas,

Jo

an J

on

as

sing

er

Kat

e F

enn

er

live

soun

d Jo

an J

on

as

prod

ucer

Ji

m B

auer

lein

stag

e m

anag

er

Sek

een

a G

avag

an

soun

d de

sign

er

Pat

rick

Hei

lman

assi

stan

t to

Joa

n Jo

nas

Rag

ani

Haa

s

Vid

eo c

on

ceiv

ed a

nd

pro

du

ced

by

Joan

Jo

nas

cam

era

Joan

Jo

nas

vide

o ed

itors

Jo

an J

on

as,

Dav

id D

emp

ewo

lf,

Pia

Lin

dm

an,

Tri

sh M

aud

, Jo

han

na

To

rko

la

vide

o pe

rfom

ers

Rag

ani

Haa

s, G

eoff

Hen

dri

cks,

Jo

an J

on

as, A

nto

nio

Ro

ger

s,

Su

r R

od

ney

Su

r, Z

ina

Art

ist's

Sta

tem

ent

Thi

s pr

ojec

t-T

he

Sha

pe,

the

Sce

nt,

the

Fee

l of

Thi

ngs-

goes

ba

ck t

o a

jour

ney

I

mad

e fo

rty

year

s ag

o to

the

Sou

thw

est,

whe

re I

had

the

opp

ortu

nity

to

see

sev

eral

Hop

i rit

uals

, in

clud

ing

a pe

rfor

man

ce

of t

he H

opi

Sna

ke D

ance

. A

lthou

gh

I ha

ve

neve

r us

ed i

t in

per

form

ance

, th

is v

ery

spec

ial

expe

rienc

e ha

s in

spire

d m

y w

ork

ever

sinc

e. A

bout

te

n ye

ars

ago,

I c

ame

acro

ss a

ref

eren

ce t

o th

e da

nce

in a

n es

say

by

the

Ger

man

art

his

toria

n A

by W

arbu

rg,

in I

mag

es f

rom

the

Reg

ion

of t

he P

uebl

o

Indi

ans

of N

orth

Am

eric

a (t

rans

late

d an

d w

ith a

n in

terp

retiv

e es

say

by M

icha

el T

.

Ste

inbe

rg,

Cor

nell

Uni

vers

ity P

ress

, 19

95).

In h

is i

nves

tigat

ions

, W

arbu

rg

used

pho

togr

aphs

of

art

wor

ks f

rom

diff

eren

t cu

lture

s,

acro

ss d

iffer

ent

cultu

res,

rec

ombi

ned

and

cros

s-re

fere

nced

, to

pro

duce

a

disp

lay,

for

exam

ple,

of

cert

ain

gest

ures

as

po

'lra

yed

by G

reek

s, R

oman

s, I

ndia

ns,

and

so

on.

He

mad

e m

any

such

dis

play

s on

boa

rds

deal

ing

with

var

ious

the

mes

. H

e si

mila

rly

reco

mbi

ned

the

plac

emen

t of

boo

ks i

n hi

s lib

rary

, di

spla

ys t

hat

evok

ed t

he d

iffer

ent

rela

tions

bet

wee

n th

eir

subj

ects

.

Tho

ugh

his

trip

to

the

Sou

thw

est

(whi

ch p

rofo

undl

y al

tere

d hi

s vi

ew o

f ar

t hi

stor

y)

took

pla

ce a

t th

e en

d of

the

nin

etee

nth

cent

ury,

he

did

not

prod

uce

his

fam

ous

text

abou

t hi

s ex

perie

nce

ther

e un

til th

irty

year

s la

ter,

as

he w

as r

ecov

erin

g fr

om a

men

tal

brea

kdow

n at

a s

anat

oriu

m

in S

witz

erla

nd.

He

wro

te i

t as

a c

ure,

or

proo

f of

one

, to

him

self

as m

uch

as t

o hi

s ph

ysic

ians

. A

lthou

gh

he d

id s

ee c

erta

in d

ance

s an

d rit

u­

als,

War

burg

ne

ver

saw

the

Hop

i S

nake

Dan

ce,

but

I was

str

uck

by h

is d

escr

iptio

ns

of i

t an

d by

the

dep

th

of h

is c

once

rn

with

the

cul

ture

.

I mad

e an

othe

r tr

ip t

o th

e S

outh

wes

t in

Jan

uary

200

4,

with

a p

roje

ct

like

this

spe

cif­

ical

ly i

n m

ind.

I s

taye

d on

the

Hop

i re

serv

atio

n in

Ariz

ona,

and

beg

an a

dia

logu

e w

ith

peop

le

in t

he c

omm

unity

, bu

t I d

id n

ot w

ish

to i

mpo

se o

n, o

r ta

ke a

way

fro

m,

the

Nat

ive

Am

eric

an

peop

le.

I dec

ided

in

stea

d to

ret

urn

to W

arbu

rg's

w

ritin

g.

For

ins

tanc

e, I

foun

d m

ysel

f

focu

sed

on D

Ure

r's M

elan

chol

ia,

repr

oduc

ed

in S

tein

berg

's

essa

y in

the

War

burg

volu

me.

To

me,

Mel

anch

olia

evo

kes

mem

orie

s of

his

tory

as

it im

pact

ed t

he

Am

eric

an

land

scap

e.

l 1 '

In a

sen

se,

I am

app

roac

hing

an

old

exp

erie

nce,

as

War

burg

di

d, d

ecad

es

late

r

thro

ugh

new

wor

k, f

or w

hich

the

wor

ds

are

not

yet

com

plet

ely

pres

ent.

Thi

s

wor

k-in

-pro

gres

s al

so b

uild

s on

Lin

es i

n th

e S

and,

whi

ch I

mad

e in

200

2 fo

r

Doc

umen

ta

11 .

Tha

t pi

ece

cros

scut

H

elen

in

Egy

pt,

the

Hel

en o

f T

roy

myt

h as

view

ed a

nd r

evie

wed

by

the

lmag

ist

poet

H.

D.

(Hild

a D

oolit

tle)

with

the

nar

rativ

e

of h

er a

naly

sis

with

Fre

ud (

Trib

ute

to F

reud

) ju

st b

efor

e W

orld

W

ar I

I, an

exp

erie

nce

that

inc

lude

d w

ritin

g se

ssio

ns.

The

re a

re m

any

obvi

ous

para

llels

bet

wee

n th

e H

. D

.

corp

us

and

that

of

War

burg

. T

he t

itle

of t

his

new

wor

k, T

he S

hape

, th

e S

cent

, th

e

Fee

l of

Thi

ngs,

is q

uote

d fr

om H

. D

:s t

ext.

Thi

s pr

ojec

t is

a r

esul

t of

an

ongo

ing

conc

ern

with

the

sub

ject

of

ritu

al a

nd p

erfo

rm­

ance

. O

ne o

f th

e un

derly

ing

them

es o

f m

y w

ork

has

been

my

invo

lvem

ent

with

the

begi

nnin

gs

of e

xpre

ssio

n in

oth

er c

ultu

res

in r

elat

ion

to m

y ow

n. T

here

is

not

alw

ays

a di

rect

re

latio

n be

twee

n th

e im

age

and

the

sour

ce,

but,

of c

ours

e, t

he p

erfo

rman

ce

is t

otal

ly i

nspi

red

by t

hese

sou

rces

, w

hile

it

take

s fo

rm w

ithin

and

is

a re

spon

se t

o a

very

par

ticul

ar s

pace

.

Art

his

toria

n A

by

War

bu

rg,

born

in H

ambu

rg in

186

6, s

tudi

ed a

rcha

eolo

gy a

nd a

rt

hist

ory,

as

wel

l as

med

icin

e, p

sych

olog

y, a

nd th

e hi

stor

y of

r~

ligio

n. A

fter

com

plet

ing

a

doct

oral

the

sis

on S

andr

o B

ottic

elli'

s tw

o pa

intin

gs T

he B

irth

of V

enus

and

Prim

aver

a,

War

burg

wor

ked

in F

lore

nce,

whe

re h

e fu

rthe

r ex

plor

ed R

enai

ssan

ce a

rt.

Dur

ing

War

burg

's t

rave

ls to

Nor

th A

mer

ica

in 1

896,

he

cond

ucte

d re

sear

ch o

n th

e H

opi

Indi

ans.

Upo

n hi

s re

turn

to E

urop

e, h

e fo

unde

d a

libra

ry, t

he K

ultu

rwis

sens

chaf

tlich

e

Bib

lioth

ek W

arbu

rg,

to s

erve

bot

h as

a p

rivat

e co

llect

ion

and

as a

res

ourc

e fo

r

publ

ic e

duca

tion.

In 1

921,

War

burg

, su

fferin

g fr

om d

epre

ssio

n an

d sy

mpt

oms

of s

chiz

ophr

enia

, was

hos

pi­

taliz

ed in

Lud

wig

Bin

swan

ger's

neu

rolo

gica

l clin

ic i

n K

reuz

linge

n, S

witz

erla

nd.

He

was

rele

ased

in 1

924,

afte

r de

mon

stra

ting

his

sani

ty b

y gi

ving

an

exte

nded

aca

dem

ic l

ectu

re

and

slid

e pr

esen

tatio

n, "

Imag

es fr

om th

e R

egio

n of

the

Pue

blo

Indi

ans

of N

orth

Am

eric

a;•

to d

octo

rs a

nd fe

llow

pat

ient

s. H

e re

turn

ed to

wor

k at

his

libr

ary

for

the

rem

aini

ng fi

ve

year

s of

his

life

, pro

duci

ng p

relim

inar

y m

ater

ial f

or t

he n

ever

-com

plet

ed M

nem

osyn

e

Atla

s, a

them

atic

sys

tem

for

the

stud

y of

imag

es.

Bio

gra

ph

ies

Jose

Lu

is B

lon

det

is

the

adm

inis

trat

or

of e

duca

tion

prog

ram

s at

Dia

:Bea

con.

H

e

grad

uate

d fr

om t

he C

ente

r fo

r C

urat

oria

l S

tudi

es,

Bar

d C

olle

ge,

in 2

003.

Kat

e F

enn

er h

as b

een

sing

ing

and

tour

ing

sinc

e sh

e w

as a

teen

ager

in

Tor

onto

,

Can

ada,

whe

re s

he f

orm

ed a

sou

l/r&

b ba

nd t

hat

tour

ed t

hrou

gh C

anad

a fo

r te

n

year

s. A

fter

mov

ing

to N

ew Y

ork

City

, F

enne

r m

ade

albu

ms

for

the

next

eig

ht y

ears

with

for

mer

ban

d m

embe

r C

hris

Bro

wn,

inc

ludi

ng

Go

On

and

Song

s. H

er d

ebut

solo

alb

um,

"Hor

ses

and

Bur

ning

Car

s;'

was

rel

ease

d in

200

3.

Her

new

alb

um i

s

due

out

in th

e fa

ll of

200

6.

Rag

ani

Haa

s, f

orm

er s

tude

nt o

f Jo

an J

onas

, is

a v

isua

l ar

tist

and

a pe

rfor

mer

. S

he

also

tea

ches

at

the

Land

esak

adem

ie S

chlo

ss

Rot

enfe

ls i

n K

arls

ruhe

and

is

part

of

the

art-

rese

arch

gro

up "

fors

chun

gsgr

upp

\_f

" in

Sw

itzer

land

. S

ince

199

9 sh

e ha

s

perf

orm

ed i

n th

e w

ork

of J

onas

in G

erm

any,

Hol

land

, P

olan

d, E

ngla

nd,

Can

ada,

and

the

Uni

ted

Sta

tes.

Haa

s liv

es a

nd w

orks

in

Stu

ttgar

t an

d N

ew Y

ork.

Joan

Jo

nas

was

bor

n in

193

6 in

New

Yor

k, w

here

she

cur

rent

ly l

ives

and

wor

ks.

She

rec

eive

d a

B.A

. in

Art

His

tory

fro

m M

ount

Hol

yoke

Col

lege

, in

Mas

sach

uset

ts

in 1

958,

and

stu

died

sc

ulpt

ure

at t

he B

osto

n M

useu

m o

f F

ine

Art

s fr

om 1

958

to

1961

. S

he r

ecei

ved

an M

.F.A

. in

scul

ptur

e fr

om C

olum

bia

Uni

vers

ity,

New

Yor

k, in

1965

. S

ince

200

0, J

onas

has

taug

ht a

t M

assa

chus

etts

In

stitu

te o

f T

echn

olog

y,

Cam

brid

ge.

Her

firs

t pe

rfor

man

ce r

etro

spec

tive

was

at

the

Uni

vers

ity A

rt M

useu

m,

Ber

kele

y (1

980)

. S

ince

the

lat

e 19

60s,

he

r w

ork

has

been

exh

ibite

d in

tern

atio

nally

,

incl

udin

g at

the

Mus

eum

of

Mod

ern

Art

, N

ew Y

ork;

the

Whi

tney

Mus

eum

of

Am

eric

an A

rt,

New

Yor

k; th

e In

stitu

te o

f th

e C

onte

mpo

rary

A

rt,

Bos

ton;

The

Kitc

hen,

New

Yor

k; a

nd P

at H

earn

Gal

lery

, N

ew Y

ork.

Jon

as h

as h

ad m

ajor

ret

rosp

ectiv

es

at

the

Que

ens

Mus

eum

of

Art

, N

ew Y

ork

(200

3);

the

Ste

delij

k M

useu

m,

Am

ster

dam

(199

4),

and

Sta

dtsg

aler

ie S

tuttg

art,

Stu

ttgar

t, G

erm

any

(200

0),

and

was

rep

rese

nted

in D

ocum

enta

11

, K

asse

l, G

erm

any

(200

2).

Her

mos

t re

cent

one

-per

son

mus

eum

exhi

bitio

n w

as h

eld

at t

he J

eu d

e P

aum

e in

Par

is.

She

is

curr

ently

wor

king

on

a

show

for

the

spr

ing

of 2

007

at M

AC

BA

, B

arce

lona

.

Bor

n in

197

5 in

Hou

ston

, T

exas

, Jas

on

Mo

ran

beg

an s

tudy

ing

the

pian

o at

age

six

,

a re

luct

ant

stud

ent

until

he

expe

rienc

ed t

he s

ound

s of

jazz

lege

nd T

helo

niou

s M

onk,

an e

arly

rol

e m

odel

in

his

crea

tive

deve

lopm

ent.

Mor

an w

ent

on t

o at

tend

Hou

ston

's

Hig

h S

choo

l fo

r th

e P

erfo

rmin

g an

d V

isua

l Art

s an

d th

e M

anha

ttan

Sch

ool

of M

usic

,

draw

n th

ere

by th

e pr

ospe

ct

of s

tudy

ing

with

pia

nist

Jak

i Bya

rd.

He

sign

ed w

ith

Blu

e N

ote

Rec

ords

in

1998

at

age

23.

Mor

an's

lat

est

albu

m i

s ca

lled

Art

ist

in

Res

iden

ce,

whi

ch i

s hi

s se

vent

h re

leas

e w

ith B

lue

Not

e R

ecor

ds.

Thi

s al

bum

fea

­

ture

s th

ree

com

mis

sion

s fr

om A

mer

ican

art

s in

stitu

tions

: T

he W

alke

r A

rt C

ente

r in

Min

neap

olis

(M

ILE

ST

ON

E),

Ja

zz a

t Li

ncol

n C

ente

r (R

AIN

), a

nd D

ia A

rt F

ound

atio

n

thro

ugh

Joan

Jon

as (

The

Sha

pe,

the

Sce

nt,

the

Fee

l of

Thi

ngs)

. A

rtis

t in

Res

iden

ce

feat

ures

gue

st a

ppea

ranc

es

by a

rtis

ts J

oan

Jona

s an

d A

dria

n P

iper

. M

oran

was

rece

ntly

aw

arde

d th

e 20

05

Pia

nist

of

the

Yea

r and

Sm

all

Ens

embl

e of

the

Yea

r

(The

Ban

dwag

on)

by t

he J

azz

Jour

nalis

t's A

ssoc

iatio

n an

d th

e fir

st-e

ver

2005

Pla

yboy

Mag

azin

e Ja

zz A

rtis

t of

the

Yea

r.