Interview
Douglas Crimp interviewed by Kristin Poor, April 25, 2019.
Douglas Crimp was an American art historian, critic, and curator in the fields of postmodern theory and art, dance, film, queer, and feminist theory. He was also a committed AIDS activist. In this interview, Crimp describes his first encounters with Jonasâs work and her place within the New York City downtown scene in the 1970s.
Transcript
- “Douglas Crimp interviewed by Kristin Poor, April 25, 2019 (Interview Transcript).” Joan Jonas Knowledge Base, Artist Archives Initiative, 2021.
Abstract
Poor opens the interview by asking Crimp about when he first saw Choreomania, which was the first performance of Jonasâs he ever saw [01:20â11:34]; from [08:41â11:34] Crimp describes the performance in detail. Crimp speaks generally about the downtown scene in New York City in the early 1970s [12:04â19:35]. From here, Crimp talks about Jack Smith, who was an important influence for Jonas, and seeing those performances [20:02â23:36]. The conversation turns to the exhibition Mixed Use, Manhattan that Crimp did with Lynne Cooke [24:06â28:58]. This turns into a discussion about Jonas using de-industrialized spaces [29:01â30:36]. From here, the two talk about Crimpâs memories of artists using their loft spaces as spaces for performance, specifically in relation to Jonas and Choreomania [30:40â36:55]. Crimp also speaks about going to Anthology Film Archives and seeing performances like Twilight [36:59â39:54]. From here, he explains how he ended up photographing Twilight at Anthology and what stands out from the performance [39:56â45:03]. Poor also asks if Crimp remembers attending any events at 112 Greene Street [45:21â47:09]. Crimp then goes into his friendship with Pat Steir, how she influenced him to seek out feminist texts, and attempting to form a menâs consciousness-raising group [47:17â54:25]. After this, Crimp talks about distinguishing Jonasâs work from that of avant-garde theater groups [54:26â58:23]. The conversation turns to Crimpâs first piece that he wrote about performance art, which was a text on Jonas for Studio International [58:25 â01:01:30]. The interview ends with Crimp talking about how Jonasâs work has influenced his ideas [01:01:33â01:05:04] and the promise that Jonasâs work holds for future artists and critics [01:05:31â01:08:30].