(At Home) On Vanishing and Lee Ufan: Talk with Jonah Bokaer

FREE
This program is online only.
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“Choreography is an act that vanishes.” – Jonah Bokaer

Acclaimed choreographer and dancer Jonah Bokaer joins Hirshhorn associate curator Anne Reeve to discuss his wide-ranging career and his relationship with the work of Korean artist Lee Ufan. The program will premiere select excerpts of Open Dimension (On Vanishing), a filmed performance by Bokaer in dialogue with the Museum’s landmark exhibition Lee Ufan: Open Dimension, and mark the exhibition’s closure after one year in situ on the Hirshhorn Plaza.

Lee Ufan: Open Dimension is an ambitious site-specific commission by the celebrated artist, featuring 10 new sculptures from the artist’s signature and continuing Relatum series. The exhibition marks Lee Ufan’s largest single outdoor sculpture project to date in the United States, the first exhibition of his work in the nation’s capital, and the first time in the Hirshhorn’s 46-year history that its outdoor plaza has been devoted to the work of a single artist.

At the Hirshhorn, Jonah Bokaer has staged an encounter with the sculpture and site of Open Dimension, offering a solo adaptation of Bokaer’s 2011 work, On Vanishing. Originally intended to unfold as a live performace on the Hirshhorn Plaza, Jonah Bokaer has instead revisited and reimagined this work for the Hirshhorn on film, overlaying fresh choreography and exploration of movement in dialogue with the Museum’s unique architecture and Lee’s site-specific sculptures. Catalyzed by Lee’s work in specific relation to Gordon Bunshaft’s iconic architecture, Jonah Bokaer’s presentation amplifies the sensations called forth by the singular presentation of Open Dimension. The resulting film will serve as an elegy or echo of Open Dimension’s year-long installation at the Hirshhorn, marking the exhibition’s closure and offering a lasting impression in a unique filmic and performative language.

As both the youngest dancer to be recruited to the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and as the youngest choreographer with Robert Wilson for some of his most iconic recent productions, Bokaer has had an extensive international career creating a wide range of performances. Choreography for his own works often occurs in direct relationship to objects of visual art, media, or design.

This program is presented in partnership with the Jonah Bokaer Arts Foundation and with generous support from Helen Little.

SCHEDULE
1:50 pm EDT | Zoom broadcast opens
2–3 pm EDT | Jonah Bokaer in conversation with Anne Reeve

CART (real-time captioning) will be provided for this program. If you have any questions about accessibility for this program, please email hirshhornexperience@si.edu.

This event is also part of #HirshhornInsideOut, the Museum’s initiative to bring art into your home.

This program will be recorded and made available following the event. You will find it on this page and on our YouTube channel.