Mirage Overview Map
Ovals = Performances
Squares = Film projections (Distributed by Electric Arts Intermix, New York)
Trapezoids = Installations
Pentagons = Single-channel videos (Distributed by Electric Arts Intermix, New York)
Lines = Connections
Description
The various works known collectively as Mirage comprise a performance with film projections and pre-recorded video, multiple films and videos, and several installations, all of which are known under variations of the same name.
Made after a trip to India, which was, according to Jonas, an “underlying influence” for the work, the initial performance of Mirage (1976) developed from the experience of creating the performance Twilight (1975) at Anthology Film Archives in New York. Jonas created the performance Mirage (1976) specifically for the space of the screening room at Anthology Film Archives the following year, using the adjustable projection screen as a central component of the performance. The performance is the culmination of this series of works to which Jonas refers collectively as the black-and-white series and which includes Funnel (1974), Tunnel (1974), and the aforementioned Twilight. The Mirage performance includes a number of elements that appear in different sequences, depending on the performance variation. These include metal cones, a small wooden hoop, a mask, a staff, stones, and the chalk with which Jonas made drawings on stage.
During the performance, the videos Good Night Good Morning (1976), Car Tape (1976), and May Windows (1976) are shown on an onstage monitor, and the films Volcano Film (1976) and Mirage (1976) are projected on a screen above the stage. Jonas later revisited the film Mirage (1976), pairing it with the video Mirage II (1976/2000), to be screened as a double projection.
An installation version of Mirage (1976/1994/2005), which evolved through several different iterations between 1994 and 2005, includes a number of the props, films, and videos from the performance. In 2001, Jonas created another installation version, Mirage (1976/2001), which includes projections of the film Mirage (1976) and video Mirage II (1976/2000) as well as a monitor showing the videos Good Night Good Morning (1976) and May Windows (1976).
—AK
Bibliographic References
Jonas, Joan. “Mirage (1976).” In Joan Jonas: Performance Video Installation 1968–2000, edited by Johann Karl Schmidt, 124–33. Stuttgart: Galerie der Stadt Stuttgart; Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2001.
Jonas, Joan. “Mirage [Script].” In In the Shadow a Shadow: The Work of Joan Jonas, edited by Joan Simon and Joan Jonas, 218–27. New York: Gregory R. Miller & Co., 2015.
Simon, Joan. “Mirage,” “Mirage [Installation],” “Mirage I [Film],” and “Mirage II [Video].” In In the Shadow a Shadow: The Work of Joan Jonas, edited by Joan Simon and Joan Jonas, 216–17, 228, 234–35. New York: Gregory R. Miller & Co., 2015.
The Museum of Modern Art. “Joan Jonas Discusses Mirage.” Posted January 13, 2010. Video, 1:52.
For further reading, see Mirage Bibliography.
Data Visualizations
The following are examples of data visualizations based on SPARQL queries to visualize research on Mirage. The Joan Jonas Knowledge Base has designed a linked open data model to capture research on Joan Jonas’s work, using Wikidata to render our dataset accessible to the community.
To learn more about the Linked Open Data, Wikidata and SPARQL Chapter of the JJKB, see Linked Open Data and Introduction to LOD.
All instantiations of Mirage with locations
“Map” data visualization example.
All instantiations of Mirage including materials used
“Graph” data visualization example.
All instantiations of Mirage including parts (i.e. other artworks)
“Bar chart” data visualization example.