A re-envisioning of Ghostcatching (1999), After Ghostcatching is built up from a larger sampling of the motions and vocalizations of Bill T. Jones captured for the earlier work. It explores the themes of disembodiment and identity with the new possibilities opened up by 3D projection and a custom 3D renderer created in the OpenEndedGroup’s Field software.
After Ghostcatching (2010) is as much about touching with the hand as it is about seeing with the eye. A disembodied dancer is rendered as a moving hand-drawn sketch – and that sketch moves in a projected 3d space that can seem so close as to let the viewer reach out and touch it.
Though the work’s imagery comes entirely from a computer simulation, it bears an unmistakable human trace – that of dancer Bill T. Jones, abstracted from his physical body via a process of optical motion capture that preserves his movement but not his likeness.
After Ghostcatching was commissioned by SITE Santa Fe for its biennial show The Dissolve, curated by Sarah Lewis and Daniel Belasco. It was exhibited there from June 2010 till the end of the year, and has since been presented at the Sundance Film Festival, the Utah Art Center, and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. In fall 2011, After Ghostcatching exhibited at the Boston Institute for Contemporary Art and the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City. A 5 screen, 2d version is on display inside Barclays Center, Brooklyn, and a set of radically expanded excerpts are shown on the 3,000 square-foot “Oculus” LED marquee in front of the stadium complex.
