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About
Ghost Dance for America, 1890 is a haunting, immersive video installation by filmmaker and projection artist Karl Nussbaum. Drawing on two early 19th-century pre-cinema illusions, the zoetrope and the daguerreotype diorama, the work confronts the violent foundations of the United States and the histories that continue to shape its present.
Wovoka, a Northern Paiute spiritual leader, prophesied that the Ghost Dance would reunite the living with the spirits of their ancestors. Emerging in response to the brutality of westward expansion, the dance carried a vision of return: ancestors rising, colonizers gone, and peace, prosperity, and unity restored.
A 25-foot ring of translucent scrim is suspended within the performance hall, forming a ghostly, floating structure. Visitors stand inside as the film moves around them, their shadows caught and cast across the space, folding them into a history that is not yet past.
About Karl Nussbaum
Karl Nussbaum is an award-winning experimental filmmaker and video installation artist based in Brooklyn and the Hudson Valley. His projections have been staged across the U. S., Europe, and Asia, and his films presented at festivals and venues such as the Sundance Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Lincoln Center, and the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum.
Join Karl Nussbaum for a behind-the-art conversation about the making of Ghost Dance for America, 1890 on Sunday, June 28 at 3 PM as part of Upstate Art Weekend. Reservations recommended.
Hudson Hall’s programs are made possible with support from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
This project has been supported by a grant from the Fund for Columbia County of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.
Additional support:
- The Spark of Hudson
- The Dyson Foundation
- Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation
- Bank of Greene County Charitable Foundation
- Children’s Foundation of Columbia County
- Alexander & Marjorie Hover Foundation
This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.