By the 1970s Jonas began to play with narrative and increasingly turned to video effects and animation to articulate her performances in new mediums. For her first video works, the artist drew from the conventions of early cinema, while also exploring what was particular to the new medium of video. For I Want to Live in the Country (And Other Romances) she edits herself in as the protagonist, narrator, and audience, appearing in the corner to watch the image of a screen within a screen. In the 1980s, Jonas experimented with special effects more than ever before with Double Lunar Dogs—a performance she later shot on film and transformed into moving image.
Gallery label from Joan Jonas: Good Night Good Morning, March 17–July 6, 2024