Constance DeJong (born 1944, in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

) is an American artist, writer, and performer. DeJong produces fiction texts and new media-based work for performance and theater, audio, and video installations. She has permanent audio installations in Beacon, NY, London, and Seattle. She is also known as the writer of the

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

's opera ''

Satyagraha Satyāgraha (from ; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone who practises satyagraha is ...

'', as well as her numerous collaborations with

Tony Oursler Tony Oursler (born 1957) is an American multimedia and installation artist married to Jacqueline Humphries. He completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, California, in 1979. His art covers a range of med ...

on projects such as ''Fantastic Prayers''. DeJong has exhibited internationally with projects produced by organizations such as the

Dia Art Foundation Dia Art Foundation is a nonprofit organization that initiates, supports, presents, and preserves art projects. It was established in 1974 by Philippa de Menil, the daughter of Houston arts patron Dominique de Menil and an heiress to the Schlumbe ...

and Minetta Brook. She was a professor of art and time-based media at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

Notable works

DeJong's writing is closely tied to performative practice. Her first book, ''Modern Love'', was published in 1977 by Standard Editions, a short-lived imprint co-founded by DeJong and

Dorothea Tanning Dorothea Margaret Tanning (25 August 1910 – 31 January 2012) was an American painter, printmaker, sculptor, writer, and poet. Her early work was influenced by Surrealism. Biography Dorothea Tanning was born and raised in Galesburg, Illinois. ...

. In 1978, this text was adapted into a 60-minute radio program accompanied by ''Modern Love Waltz'', a piano composition by

. A new facsimile edition was published in 2017 by

Primary Information Primary Information is a Brooklyn-based non-profit organization that publishes artist books, artists’ writings, re-publishes out-of-print art publications and limited art editions. History Formed in 2006, Primary Information was created to fo ...

and

Ugly Duckling Presse Ugly Duckling Presse is an American nonprofit art and publishing collective based in Brooklyn, New York City. It publishes poetry, translations, experimental prose, performance texts, and books by artists. History Through the efforts of the volu ...

. A subsequent work published in 1978, ''The Lucy Amarillo Stories'', is a collection of poetry also read aloud by the artist in a 1977 performance at The Kitchen. Glass wrote a duet for flute and harmonica, titled ''Lucy's Music'', for The Kitchen performances. The music was performed by Richard Landry and Ken Deifik. ''Satyagraha'' was put into a new production at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

in New York in April, 2008. In 2006 she wrote the text for ''SuperVision'', a collaboration with The Builder's Association which premiered at the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill, Minneapolis, Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

and at the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues. BAM was chartered in 18 ...

(BAM) in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In 2017, DeJong worked with

Triple Canopy Triple Canopy, Inc., is an American private security company and private military company (PMC) that provides armed security, mission support, and risk management services to corporate and government clients. The firm was founded in May 2003 by ...

to produce ''NightWriters'', a performance and digital artist's book.

Selected writings

* ''I.T.I.L.O.E.'' Top Stories, 1983. * ''Satyagraha, M.K. Gandhi in South Africa, 1893–1914''. Tanam, 1983 (). * ''The Lucy Amarillo Stories''. Standard, 1978 (). * ''Modern Love''. Standard, 1977 (N7433.4.D44 1977). * ''SpeakChamber''. Bureau, 2013 (limited edition). * ''Modern Love.'' Primary Information/Ugly Duckling, 2017 (). * ''NightWriters.'' Triple Canopy, 2017 (digital publication). * ''Reader'' Primary Information, 2022 (ISBN 9781736534694)https://www.printedmatter.org/catalog/60605/

References

External links

Langlois Foundation biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:DeJong, Constance 1944 births Living people Hunter College faculty 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American writers Writers from Cleveland