After Ghostcatching

After Ghostcatching evokes a mysterious realm inhabited by a disembodied figure comprised of ephemeral traces of color and light.

The dancer’s movements express a range of emotion, and his vocalizations seem not quite of this world.

After Ghostcatching (2010) is a collaboration between renowned dancer and choreographer Bill T. Jones and digital artists, OpenEnded Group. It reinterprets an earlier collaboration, Ghostcatching (1999), through enhancements and advances in stereoscopic illusion (3-D) and high-resolution technology.

In After Ghostcatching, computer programs transform Jones’ fluid movements into ribbons and tracers of streaming light and color that seem to fill the space. Kaiser says that Jones’ “ghostly figure seems to hover within a hand’s reach of the viewers”; indeed viewers wearing 3-D glasses may seem to feel ribbons of color “brushing against their foreheads.”

Jones’ dance sequence relates to a series of characters: Ancestral Figure, Athlete and Sculptor. Viewers see characters dancing as single figural forms and alternately Jones’ body is sometimes digitally transformed into multiple performers.

The soundtrack of After Ghostcatching is as moving as the visual experience. In a resonating low tone, Jones’ vocalizations, including fragments of folk songs and a ghost story told to him by his grandmother about a hungry child, mirror his movements and the ephemeral quality of his figural form.

OpenEnded Group says, “We are intent on making works of sufficient beauty and depth as to engage viewers on multiple levels. Much of our imagery reflects what one apprehends with the mind’s eye.”

This exhibition is supported by the Campbell-Calvin Fund and Elizabeth C. Bonner Charitable Trust for exhibitions and the Rheta A. Sosland Fund. Additional support has been provided by William and Christena Gautreaux.