Kansas City, MO. Sept. 7, 2011

Sweeping Lines of Light Seem to Reach Toward Viewers

After Ghostcatching, a 13-minute video at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art that opens Sept. 10 until Dec. 31, evokes a dark, mysterious realm inhabited by a dancing, disembodied figure comprised of ephemeral traces of color and light. The dancer’s movements express a broad range of emotion, and his vocalizations are elusive.

After Ghostcatching (2010) is a synthesis of dance, sound and computer technology. It is a collaboration between Bill T. Jones, one of the greatest living dancers, choreographers, founder and artistic director of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and OpenEnded Group, Marc Downie, Shelley Eshkar and Paul Kaiser. It reinterprets Ghostcatching (1999), and is enhanced by advances in stereoscopic illusion (3D) and high-resolution technology.

To create Ghostcatching, OpenEnded Group used motion capture, a technology that tracks sensors attached to Jones’ body as he danced. The digital technology records only the dancer’s movements without retaining the solidity of the figural form. Only movement remains. This data, according to OpenEnded Group, became “the building blocks for the virtual composition” for After Ghostcatching.

It was “edited, rechoreographed, and staged for a digital performance in the 3-D space of the computer.”

Jones’ dance sequence relates to a series of characters and begins with Ancestral Figure who moves in relation to a vertical, rectangular box. He is ancestral, since, according to Kaiser, “he is the progenitor of all the figures that follow.” Others are Athlete, recognized for his robust, aggressive movements and Sculptor, named for Jones’ penchant for sculpting his body into fixed poses.

Leesa Fanning, Associate Curator, Modern & Contemporary Art said, “In After Ghostcatching, computer programs transform Jones’ fluid movements into ribbons and tracers of streaming light and color that seem to fill the space, extending toward gallery visitors wearing 3-D glasses. Jones’ improvisational style is one that originates from a deep well-spring of memory, tapping into the body as a dynamic force of energy. His movements emphasize rhythmic patterns of action and rest, expansion and contraction. Each elegant movement is precise and assured. Jones’ dance is autobiographical, full of feeling, expressing extended moments of joy, bursts of ecstasy, flashes of aggression and quiet repose.”

This exhibition is supported by the Campbell-Calvin Fund and Elizabeth C. Bonner Charitable Trust for exhibitions and the Rheta A. Sosland Fund. 

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art 

The Nelson-Atkins in Kansas City is recognized nationally and internationally as one of America’s finest art museums. The Nelson-Atkins serves the community by providing access and insight into its renowned collection of more than 33,500 art objects and is best known for its Asian art, European and American paintings, photography, modern sculpture, and new American Indian and Egyptian galleries. Housing a major art research library and the Ford Learning Center, the Museum is a key educational resource for the region. The institution-wide transformation of the Nelson-Atkins has included the 165,000-square-foot Bloch Building expansion and renovation of the original 1933 Nelson-Atkins Building.

The Nelson-Atkins is located at 45th and Oak Streets, Kansas City, MO. Hours are Wednesday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; Thursday/Friday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sunday, Noon–5 p.m. Admission to the Museum is free to everyone. For Museum information, phone 816.751.1ART (1278) or visit nelson-atkins.org/.