But the idea of transformation has always been something that I romanticize in a work. I’m cautious of it but I also need it to connect my thoughts with the process of making. That’s really important.
Nari Ward
Discover MFA Programs in Art and Writing
Keith Sonnier, still from Color Wipe, 1973, color videotape, 30 minutes with sound. Peformed by Tina Girouard.
Keith Sonnier, Depose, Cat Doucet Series, 1996, mixed media with argon and electric light, 56 x 30 x 18 inches. All images courtesy the artist and Leo Castelli Gallery.
Calligraphy drawn from the age of satellites beaming and technology blaring, Keith Sonnier’s sculptures, urban neon and country trash, fuse the detritus of popular western culture with the suggestiveness of eastern imagery. Best known for his neon sculptures, Sonnier also pioneered early video art and installation which captured the razzmatazz of our new found infatuation for digital dreaming. Vertical roll, black, neon and strobe light; dancers, musicians, computer language, television broadcast and satellite transmission form the visual and aural vernacular of his tapes and films, recently gathered under the title, Channel Mix.
Keith Sonnier, Atchafalalaya, Cat Doucet Series, 1996, neon, argon lighting, steel, 80 x 48 x 9 inches.
Keith Sonnier, Animation II, 1974, ¾ inch color videotape, 25 minutes with sound.
Originally published in
Featuring interviews with Tim Roth, Amy Hempel, Emmylou Harris, Matthew Ritchie, Wallace Shawn, Christian Wolff, Gilles Peress, Kendall Thomas, and George Walker.
But the idea of transformation has always been something that I romanticize in a work. I’m cautious of it but I also need it to connect my thoughts with the process of making. That’s really important.
Nari Ward