Jerron Herman
b. 1991, Alameda, CA; lives and works in New York, NY
LAX, 2023 - ongoing
Video, 4 min 13 sec, loop
Courtesy of the artist
Rest as the medium. Herman creates images of freedom that center Blackness and disability through dance, writing, and collaboration. Originally a playwright, he transitioned into dance, gaining recognition for his fluid movement. He later returned to writing, blending text and choreography. LAX is a solo performance exploring rest, sleep, and stillness that combines these art forms. Herman composed the text and audio score, which features poetic lines such as: “The siren calls him into a fierce roll across the waters” and “Calm. He discovers his peace across watery plains…Rest is here.” With cerebral palsy affecting his left side, Herman’s work explores restraint and release, imbalance, and grace. LAX has been performed at various settings including the Battery Dance Festival, Cooper Hewitt, and the Guggenheim. In this iteration, a tactile costume by visually impaired artist Sugandha Gupta enhances the experience. The work asks: What if rest is the dance?
Artist Description
Video documentation of a dance performance. Jerron, a Black man, is draped in flowing linens. An audience member gingerly holds the fabric as Jerron moves with it. The scene breaks, and Jerron nods to thank the participant. Panning footage shows that we are in the atrium of the Guggenheim Museum. Jerron dances solo. Strong shifts in energy and pacing. His left spastic arm tucked to his side, his other limbs reaching and rotating. His moments respond to the music and follow the descriptions he voices. Some clips are zoomed out, showing the curves of Jerron's movement in the curved architecture. He is controlled and precise but also allows himself to collapse, wobble, and jerk. He moves between the floor and standing. At the very end, he takes a bow amidst dozens of onlookers.
-- Description by Finnegan Shannon
Basic Description
This video takes place inside of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, featuring a vast central rotunda with a smooth, white spiral ramp that coils upward along the walls. On the ground floor dancer Jerron Herman moves and engages the audience, utilizing the open design of the space, which allows visitors to look across and down through the space as they move along the gently sloping ramp. Herman, a Black man, is wearing loose linens. Herman moves with sharp shifts in energy and pace—his left spastic arm tucked in, while the rest of his body reaches, rotates, and responds to music and his own narration. Wide shots highlight his fluidity against the museum's curved architecture. His movement is both precise and unpredictable, shifting from control to collapse, floor to standing. He ends with a bow before a gathered crowd.