Dia is pleased to present 12 + 2, an exhibition of new work by Duane Linklater addressing the theme of weathering. The exhibition takes the essential architecture of the teepee—12 poles in a circle plus two off-center—as its unit structure to encompass the galleries of Dia Chelsea in a set of relations. Sculptures of the North American buffalo rendered in the act of wallowing are distributed along the circle. Geological core samples, and reoccurring music and dance performances, mark and inflect the two off-centered positions with spiritual meaning. Linklater says: “The buffalo’s wallowing has shaped, marked, and, in turn, regenerated the land from time immemorial. 12 + 2 is the cosmology within which they act.” The live performances, jointly scored by Linklater’s musical project eagles with eyes closed and choreographer Tanya Lukin Linklater, will be accompanied by a series of dialogues convened by poet Layli Long Soldier and a survey of Linklater’s moving-image work. Culminating five years of collaboration, 12 + 2 marks Linklater’s first large-scale commission in the United States.
