DANA CLAXTON IN THE VANCOUVER SUN



Kevin Griffin interviewed Dana Claxton on the occasion of her performance at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Read the interview on the Vancouver Sun.

An excerpt: "Claxton’s Fringed mixes and melds clothing, performance, and video projections in a way that embodies concepts related to Lakota spirituality and social and political issues. In Plains culture, the fringes of clothing are seen to be somewhat alive and able to move to the body, wind and the sound of drumming, Claxton said.

 “I wanted to extend the idea of what are Plains aesthetics within the larger conversation of indigenous aesthetics and the materiality of antler, bone, hides,” she said by email.

 All the cultural belongings in the exhibition are made from material found in the natural world – some of which possess supernatural properties – and she wanted to reference that in her performance.

 “It’s a privileged and generous acknowledgement of my art and Lakota culture,” she said. Claxton’s sister Kim Soo Goodtrack is in New York with her. She designed the Fringed apparel Claxton will be wearing in the performance.

“It’s a special time for all the cultural belongings that are in the show,” Claxton said. “It’s an acknowledgement of the great design sensibilities of Plains nations, that our cultures have flourished in all kinds of ways, and that the United States has ancient cultural histories that should be cherished and respected."

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