Featuring Joan Jonas, a groundbreaking contemporary multimedia artist who has influenced artists since she emerged in New York City’s SoHo art scene in the 1970s, a diverse cast of 15 trained dancers will traverse Getty’s Tram Arrival Plaza while manipulating mirrors in synchronized choreography.
The 30-minute event will commence with a poetry reading followed by a dynamic performance during which dancers will utilize deliberate, organized movements to blur the boundaries between themselves and the audience. The mirrors encourage introspection by creating flat reflections of the spectators and their surroundings amid the Getty Center’s bright, travertine-covered, architectural outdoor space. For this revival of her iconic early performances, the artist revisited notes from her original Mirror Piece I (1969) to recreate the presentation as Mirror Piece I & II.
In her multifaceted artworks, Jonas investigates perception and nature through radical uses of video, sculpture, installation, drawing, and performance. Her recent retrospective at MoMA, Joan Jonas: Good Night Good Morning, is also accompanied by the rebooted Mirror Piece I & II. Getty’s Saturday, July 13th performance will take place on the artist’s 88th birthday.
As Jonas recalls, “The mirror was a metaphor for me. A device to alter the image and to include the audience as reflection, making them uneasy as they view themselves in public.” Mirror Piece I & II is performed by a cast gathered from across Los Angeles’ dance and experimental performance communities, led by the Joan Jonas Studio and movement director Nefeli Skarmea.
Mirror Piece I & II is presented by Getty Museum’s Ever Present series. Ever Present is an ongoing experimental series that brings contemporary performance into the Getty's architecture and gardens.