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Visitors witnessing cancel through a peephole at González’s NARS Foundation International Residency exhibition, NYC, 2018.
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In late November 2018, I witnessed a version of Jonathan
González’s work cancel as part of Riff Talks_07: Tipping
Utopia (a weekend of performances, talks, and workshops
produced at the School for Contemporary Dance and
Thought in Northampton, Massachusetts). The following
day, I took a workshop led by Jonathan where we listened
to the space and each other, practiced breathing as an arc
between two deaths, looked at maps of Western Massachusetts from various authors and periods of history, and went
on solo sound walks through the neighborhood, which we
then transposed back into the studio space in simultaneous
cacophony. In early February 2019, Jonathan returned to
Northampton and the School for Contemporary Dance and
Thought to perform as part of the HUT series (co-curated by
Jake Meginsky and Jennifer Polins). I sat on the floor close to
Jonathan and witnessed as they read text speaking of matrilineal ancestry and relationships from their cell phone. I sat
transfixed, listening to the creak of Jonathan’s brown leather
pants and boots as they oscillated thickly in and out of the
floor, lights rising and fading all the while. My three brief
encounters with Jonathan’s work caused me to lean in and
want to be in dialogue. The following are traces from our
subsequent email conversations.
—Meredith Bove, CQ Associate Editor
—Meredith Bove, CQ Associate Editor