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. The 12 positions on the circle are taken by sculptures of North American animals enacting typical behaviors. Geological core samples, and an ephemeral call-and-response between music and choreography, mark and inflect the two off-centered positions with spiritual meaning. Linklater says: “We share the same place as the animals. The relationality of the animals will be spoken about by all of us.” A summoning of sorts, collaborators are invited to draw ideas out of the configuration. Live performances of the score, co-scripted by eagles with eyes closed and 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.

Duane Linklater: 12 + 2 is curated by Matilde Guidelli-Guidi, curator and co–department head, with Liv Cuniberti, curatorial assistant.

All exhibitions at Dia are made possible by the Economou Exhibition Fund.

Duane Linklater: 12 + 2 is made possible by generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Duane Linklater (Omaskêko Ininiwak from Moose Cree First Nation) was born in 1976. He lives and works in North Bay, Treaty 9 territory, Ontario.

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