Joan Jonas

Joan Jonas

• pioneer of video art, and video art installation
• emerged as one of the most influential female artists of the 1960s
• trained as a sculptor, known for her video performances and installations

Influences

• stories and story-telling traditions
• ritualistic performances within Crete and Hopi tribe
  
• Noh, Kabuki theatre
• dance and theatre of 1960s
• fellow artists of the 1960s
  

Media

• the body, the performer
  
• mirrors
  
• costumes, masks, performers (dancers)
• video recording as a process

Subject

• human interactions
• fictional narratives
• reflections

Content

• self as a representative of universal human inclinations
• balance of self-loathing and self-love
  
• layers of perception and fragmented space
• the connection between the artist and the audience
• voyeurism, masquerade, and the mixture of reflections
• physical and symbolic space, distance

Mirror Check (1970)

• 10 minute self-examination using handheld mirror
• vicarious perception, audience barrier
  
• obsession with self; being and knowing
  
• affirmation, scrutiny
  
• infinite reality
• universal human tendencies
  

Organic Honey's Visual Telepathy (1972)

• live video installation
• costumes, masks, alter-ego
  
• feminine archetype; sexualized
• methods of reflection and involvement