Paula Longendyke Interview May 2019

Interview

Paula Longendyke interviewed by Kristin Poor, May 23, 2019.

Paula Longendyke is a New York-based artist, creative director, and designer. She became Joan Jonas’s studio assistant in the late 1970s and was involved in various productions of the Mirage performance. In this interview, Longendyke recalls Jonas’s creation of the piece as well as the details of its most recent iteration at Tate Modern in 2018.

Transcript

• “Paula Longendyke interviewed by Kristin Poor, May 23, 2019 (Interview Transcript).” Joan Jonas Knowledge Base, Artist Archives Initiative, 2021.

Abstract

The interview opens with Longendyke speaking about how she came to work with Jonas after she finished graduate school at Yale [00:11–00:58]. From here, Longendyke lists different people who were involved in the initial creation of Mirage and discusses Jonas’s creative method [00:59–09:18]. Here, the conversation turns to Jonas’s use of a script or a score for her performance at Anthology Film Archives in 1976 and the limited rehearsals on site [09:19–12:59]. From [13:00–14:07] the two talk about the various venues where Mirage was performed in the 1970s and how Jonas chose performers to accompany her [14:07–15:54]. Afterwards, Longendyke talks about the challenges Jonas and herself faced in reconstructing Mirage for the 2018 Tate Modern performance [16:00–18:10]. This evolves into a conversation about the differences between the performances of the piece at Anthology Film Archives, MoMA, and the Tate in terms of the spatial setting and technological elements made available to them [20:28–22:37]. Longendyke then discusses her time as Jonas’s assistant in the late 1970s and again recently for the Tate show [23:46–25:09]. The interview then turns to Longendyke speaking about the relationship between the works Twilight, Mirage, and Funnel [25:12–26:47]. Afterwards, Longendyke talks about a performance Jonas did with James Nares at 112 Greene Street [26:51–27:28]. Poor also asks Longendyke about the work of off-stage assistants at the Tate [30:31–32:44]. From here, Longendyke shares advice for people who might re-stage Mirage in the future [32:45–36:31]. Poor asks Longendyke if there are any questions that Jonas or other people should answer about Mirage [36:33–38:56]. Longendyke also brings up people that should be interviewed for the Joan Jonas Knowledge Base [38:57–41:26]. As the interview comes to an end, Longendyke and Poor look at photographs together: this leads them to discuss Jonas’s costume for the Tate performance [43:31–44:54]. They further compare the Tate show with the original performance of Mirage at Anthology Film Archives in terms of the scale and the way particular props were used [45:03–47:56]. Lastly, they look at photos of Longendyke performing in Twilight and of Jonas’s loft on Grand Street [49:00–52:01].