Joan Jonas: “To perform is not to act” Choreography? Ceremony? Improvisation? One of Joan Jonas’s early performances

A Long Island beach covered in snow was the setting chosen by Joan Jonas to record a series of figures fighting against the wind with enigmatic movements. This is one of Jonas’s early performances, filmed in natural or industrial environments and incorporating the use of mirrors. In Wind, masked couples walk back to back, others take their coats on and off, while another couple with little mirrors sewn on their clothes appear and reappear throughout the performance. Filmed with long shots, in black and white, without sound and with a language close to Minimalism, Jonas allows the wind to dictate the movements of the performers, in a mixture of choreography, ceremony and improvisation.