Past Exhibitions | The Box | Exhibitions

Jonas N.T. Becker

Holographic Mountain (2018)

Info & Tickets

Image of a barren mountain with road cuts and a partially flattened top. A holographic projection of a snowy mountain peak is superimposed over it.

May 13, 2024–Aug 31, 2024

The Box

Free for all audiences

ACCESSIBILITY
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Parodying corporate America, Jonas N.T. Becker transforms The Box into a company showroom, advertising an absurd solution to mountaintop removal mining’s environmental devastation.

A complement to their exhibition in the galleries, Becker’s installation of Holographic Mountain mimics the settings used by corporate developers to highlight new initiatives. In this case, the proposed plan uses an innovative technology to address some of mining’s negative effects in Helvetia, West Virginia. The space, which is outfitted with generic, upscale office furniture, features a loop of Holographic Mountain. The video advertises the use of holograms to restore the once glorious Appalachian landscape by projecting images of the Swiss Alps onto sites that have been decimated by the practice of blasting the tops of mountains to access coal. The concept, which offers breathtaking views, is illusory and only a superficial cover for the scars that lie beneath. (2:45 mins., HD video)

IMAGE CAPTION
Jonas N.T. Becker, Holographic Mountain (film still), 2018. Single-channel HD video with sound, 2:45 mins. Courtesy of the artist.

About the Artist

Jonas N.T. Becker has exhibited internationally, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; FotoFocus Biennial at the Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati; the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago; Craft Contemporary in Los Angeles; and Lancaster Museum of Art and History in Lancaster, California. Awards include the Magnum Foundation Counter Histories Fellowship (2022–23); Lucas Artist Residency Fellowship at Montalvo Art Center, Saratoga, California, (2016–19); Saas-Fee Summer Institute of Art, Switzerland (2015); and Six Points Fellowship (2011–13). Becker is a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a 2023–24 Global Arts and Humanities Discovery Theme External Fellow at Ohio State. They live and work between West Virginia and Chicago.

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Tag(s)

Jonas N.T. Becker’s video Holographic Mountain is curated by Jennifer Lange, director of the Film/Video Studio program at the Wexner Center for the Arts.

FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
National Endowment for the Arts
Ohio Humanities

ADDITIONAL SUPPORTED PROVIDED BY
Rohauer Collection Foundation

EXHIBITIONS 2023–24 SEASON MADE POSSIBLE BY
Bill and Sheila Lambert
Carol and David Aronowitz
Crane Family Foundation

FREE GALLERIES MADE POSSIBLE BY
American Electric Power Foundation
Mary and C. Robert Kidder
Bill and Sheila Lambert

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR FREE GALLERIES PROVIDED BY
Adam Flatto
CoverMyMeds
PNC Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Ohio Department of Development 
Greater Columbus Arts Council 
The Wexner Family
 Institute of Museum and Library Services 
Ohio Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts
CampusParc 
Ohio State’s Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme 
The Columbus Foundation
Axium Packaging
 Nationwide Foundation 
Vorys, Sater, Seymour, and Pease

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
 Mike and Paige Crane 
 Nancy Kramer
Ohio State Energy Partners
Ohio History Fund/Ohio History Connection
Larry and Donna James 
David Crane and Elizabeth Dang 
Bruce and Joy Soll 
Melissa Gilliam and William Grobman
Rebecca Perry Damsen and Ben Towle 
Jones Day
Alex and Renée Shumate