Now Exhibitions | The Box | Exhibitions

Jonas N.T. Becker

Holographic Mountain (2018)

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 
We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. If you have questions about accessibility or require an accommodation such as CART captioning or ASL interpretation to participate in this event, please email accessibility@wexarts.org or call (614) 688-3890. Requests made by two weeks in advance will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the Wexner Center for the Arts will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.

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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 chevron-down chevron-up

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.

 Learn more about the artist.

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

Discover More

Two people walk out of a white gallery space displaying white topographical maps and into a dark gallery with framed photographs.
Now Exhibitions

Jonas N.T. Becker: A Hole is not a Void

Now through August 21, 2024
Multiple Dates/Times Available
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Now Film/Video

Jonas N.T. Becker

May 13, 2024–Aug 31, 2024
Friday's Hours 10AM–8PM
The Box

Free for all audiences 

ACCESSIBILITY 
We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. If you have questions about accessibility or require an accommodation such as CART captioning or ASL interpretation to participate in this event, please email accessibility@wexarts.org or call (614) 688-3890. Requests made by two weeks in advance will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the Wexner Center for the Arts will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.

Become a Member