Jazz, space and labor

Abstract

Pianist and composer Jason Moran's multimedia project STAGED debuted at the 2015Venice Biennale and was later expanded for an exhibition at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.Its centerpieces are three sculptures: life-size replicas of stages from venuesnow closed. Live performances occur on the stages within the galleries that host theexhibition, and recorded sound plays when performers are absent. These stages originallyappeared in the Savoy Ballroom, a major social dancing hub, the Three Deuces, asmall club associated with early bebop, and Slugs', a haven for free jazz. Through themixture of musical genres and historical eras created on both sonic and visual levels,Moran transforms the notion of a single thread of jazz history progressing through timefrom folk and popular culture toward high art into a web that elevates everyday formswhile questioning assumptions about the freedom and autonomy of highbrow forms.