The Shape, the Scent, the Feel of Things, showing at the Berkeley Art Museum until July 20th, is Joan Jonas' second retrospective at the university's art museum; in 1982, the museum (then the University Art Museum) organized Jonas' first video and performance retrospective as well as published the first monograph of the artist's work. In this second retrospective of her work, Jonas considers the Hopi snake dance, which she first experienced in the 1960s during a trip to Arizona in relation to an essay by the German art historian Aby Warbur (1866-1929), who also observed Hopi tradition during a trip to Arizona. The resulting exhibition is stunning and multifaceted, but sometimes cryptic.

Jonas began her career in New York City as a sculptor but by 1968 she began mixing performance with props and mediated images, situated in various natural and/or industrial environments. Jonas first visited Arizona and the American Southwest in the 1960s and was greatly moved by the snake dance and other Hopi rituals she saw during her trip. Aby Warbur, a 19th century German art historian, visited the American Southwest in his lifetime and was equally influenced by what he saw when he was there; thirty years after he returned to Europe, Warbar gave a lecture on the Native American serpent ritual, which he in fact had never seen, but described the ritual with great knowledge and concern for the culture. Jonas felt a parallel between herself and Warbur, finding Warbur's essay particularly salient and incorporating the text as well as the ideology into her work; specifically, in The Shape, the Scent, the Feel of Things, Jonas uses his lecture as the text for the work. Since being initially produced by the Renaissance Society in 2004, Jonas continued to develop this work, adding live performances, video footage of which is on view in the gallery, and music composed by jazz musician Jason Moran. In its present state, The Shape, the Scent, the Feel of Things draws on various sources to extrapolate the power of universal narratives. Jonas' work is very compelling but is also complex as it considers Hopi traditions, the changing environments of the American Southwest, the human body, as well as a 19th century art historian's view; Jonas' work thus requires an in depth understanding.

The installation of The Shape, the Scent, the Feel of Things at first feels overwhelming; when entering the exhibition, multiple video projections of performance, image, and sound compete for the viewer's attention. Jonas' work is complicated and not initially accessible. Unfortunately, only a short introductory statement was included in the exhibition, which only briefly explains Jonas' work. In this manner, the visitor who does not have a background in Jonas' work, will likely, and unfortunately, be left confused by the exhibition. When visiting this show, I would advise to do a little research beforehand.

Jonas' work is complex and compelling. The Berkeley Art Museum has a history of collecting Jonas work but, until 2006, had much of her earlier work but little of her later films; in 2006, the museum acquired The Shape, the Sound, the Feel of Things, which, as Lucinda Barnes says in her accompanying essay, helps the museum represent "the fuller range and scope of Jonas' work."

For more information about Joan Jonas: The Shape, the Scent, the Feel of Things visit the Berkeley Art Museum web site.