Dana Claxton works in film, video, photography, single and multi-channel video installation and performance art. Her practice investigates beauty, the body, the socio-political and the spiritual. Claxton is known for her exploration of Lakota perspectives in relation to contemporary life. Rattle (2003) is a recent acquisition for Remai Modern’s collection, comprised of a four-channel video installation with audio of Peyote songs performed using synthesizers.

For this work, the artist learned to make her own rattles in order to explore their function in Indigenous healing. The echoing of images reflects the continuum of earth and sky, and Claxton explains that in Lakota belief “the above world and the below world mirror each other.” Rattle is both a visual prayer and a symbolic tale. It conveys the dynamic nature of art on the plains, found in the rhythmic sounds and steps of traditional ceremony.

— From the Remai Modern’s website