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V i deo : S t a t e o f the A r t

Johanna G i l l

The Rocke f e l l e r Founda t i on

dune 1976



L i b ra r y o f Cong ress Ca t a l og i ng in Pub l i ca t i on Da t a

G i l l , Johanna , 1947 -

V i deo : s t a t e o f the a r t .

(Wo rk i ng pape rs - The Rocke f e l l e r Founda t i on )

1 . V i deo a r t . I . T i t l e . I I . Se r i es : Rocke f e l l e r

Founda t i on . Wo r k i ng pape rs - The Rocke f e l l e r Founda t i on .PN1992 .8 .V5G5 384 . 55 76 -2689

Pub l i shed in June 1976 by The Rocke f e l l e r Founda t i on

P r i n t ed i n the Un i t ed S t a t es o f Ame r i ca



CONTENTS

Page

Pr e f ace

In t roduc t i on 1

H i s to r i ca l No t es 4

Ind i v i dua l s and Sma l l G roups 4

The Cen t e rs 12

Se l ec t ed Peop l e and S i tua t i ons 22

Sou the rn Ca l i fo rn i a : TVTV and

Long Beach 22

The Bay A r ea : San F ranc i sco

Be rke l ey , San t a C l a ra 27

Sea t t l e 36

Da l l as 38

M i nneapo l i s 38

Ha l i f ax 40

To ron to 41

New Yo rk S t a t e 43

New Yo r k C i t y 50



PREFACE

Human be i ngs seem cons t an t l y to be hun t i ng fo r know l edge

abou t the i r wo r l d - the wo r l d w i thou t and w i th i n the body . Ar t

seems to be the exchang i ng o f i n fo rma t i on , some t imes spec i f i ca l l y

r e f e r r i ng to food , she l t e r and p ro t ec t i on o f se l f , f am i l y and c l an ,

some t i mes r e f e r r i ng to i nne r s t a t es o f consc i ousness , emo t i ons ,

a t t i tudes . As the messages a re va r i ed , so a re the fo rms . Newfo rms o f t en impa r t f reshness to messages as o ld as t ime . Th e r e

i s d i ve r s i t y i n human expe r i ence and the r e i s a un i t y th roughou t

i t . The t ens i on be tween the " e p l u r i bus " and the "unum " i s the

sp r i ng tha t p resses the pendu l um on . Ar t g i ves us one way to see

ou rse l ves and ou r wo r l d , ou r un i t y and ou r d i ve r s i t y . In the newho l i sm o f the 1970 ' s , a fus i on has t aken p l ace i n the a r t s tha t

emphas i zes the o rgan i c o r func t i ona l re l a t i on be tween pa r t s and

the who l e . Nowhe re i s th i s mo re appa ren t than i n the wo r k o f the

sma l l bu t g row i ng body o f a r t i s t s wo r k i ng in t e l ev i s i on who ca l l

themse l ves " v i deo a r t i s t s . " Unde r tha t banne r ma rch concep tua l

and app l i ed a r t i s t s whose wo rks comb i ne the f i xed , p l as t i c a r t s

w i th the t i me - span pe r fo rm i ng a r t s in an e l ec t ron i c med i um whose

space de f i es l i m i t a t i on : a t e l ev i s i on sc reen can con t a i n m i l l ions

o f po i n t s o f l i gh t to e t ch the p i c tu r e o f a thumb o r the wo r l d

i t se l f f rom ou t e r space . And i t de f i es g rav i t y as f i lm does in

tha t i t s l aws need no t a f f ec t the images be i ng p r esen t ed . The

a r t i s t s use a new fo rm to t e l l us o f ou r se l ves in new ways . The

Rocke f e l l e r Founda t i on has been fo r tuna t e in be i ng ab l e to he l p

these a r t i s t s de ve l op th i s new a r t fo rm by as s i s t i ng i nd i v i dua l s

and , pe rhaps as i mpo r t an t l y , by mak i ng p l aces whe re a r t i s t s cou l d

wo r k a t the i r i deas .The s t rugg l e fo r wo r l d dom i na t i on has been a common theme

in ou r t ime . One fo rm o f dom i na t i on i s cu l tu ra l , and in tha t i t

embod i es a wo r l d o f ide as and concep t s tha t can be i n f l uen t i a l and

th r ea t en i ng to a s t a tus quo , i t may be the mos t impo r t an t fo rm .



Such dom i na t i on o f wo r l d cu l tu re has f a l l en to the Un i t ed S t a t es

whose mus i c , dances and d ress a re accep t ed by l a rge popu l a t i ons

i n add i t i on to the i r own a round the wo r l d . Jus t as popu l a r aspec t s

o f cu l tu re have sp r ead Ame r i can va l ues and concep t s ab road , so the

a r t s , and espec i a l l ythose fo r

ms

wh i ch a re un i que l y

Ame r i can , in -

f i l t ra t e fo re i gn l ands and m i nds and p roduce a sp read - fo r be t t e r

or wo r se - o f Ame r i can i za t i on . Th i s has begun to happen a l r eady

w i th i n the na r row f i e l d o f v i deo a r t . The a r t i s t s , whose wo rk i s

desc r i bed in th i s Wo r k i ng Pape r , the re fo re , cons t i tu t e a new embassy

on beha l f o f Ame r i can cu l tu r e . I t i s a g rass roo t s e l i te g rownf rom a l l reg ions o f Ame r i ca and i nc l ud i ng expa t r i o t s f rom o the r

coun t r i es . The i r ho l i s t i c message to ou r t ime i s pe r t i nen t , mov i ng ,

and s t ems f rom a de ep conc ern wi th

unde r s t and i ngwha

ti t i s

to behuman , l i v i ng in Ma r sha l l McLuhan ' s g l oba l v i l l age , l ook i ng ahead

to an abyss or a new h i gh p l a t eau o f c i v i l i za t i on .

Th i s r epo r t , V i deo : S t a t e o f the Ar t , i s an accoun t o f someo f the th i ngs tha t a re unde r way in v i deo a r t . Johanna G i l l , whor ecen t l y comp l e t ed he r Ph .D . d i sse r t a t i on i n v i deo a r t a t B rownUn i ve r s i t y , and t eaches 20 th cen tu r y a r t h i s to r y a t the Massachuse t t s

Co l l ege o f Ar t i n Bos ton , v i s i t ed and documen t ed the wo r l d o f v i deo ,

a r t i s t by a r t i s t , c i t y by c i t y , i n the Un i t ed S t a t es and Canada

.

June 1976 Howa rd K l e i n

D i r ec to r fo r A r t s

The Rocke f e l l e r Founda t i on



Th i s r eac t i on aga i ns t b roadcas t t e l ev i s i on i s usua l l y d i s -

ce rn i b l e in much ea r l y v i deo . Some expe r imen t e r s took the i r new

l i gh t came ras ou t i n to the s t ree t s and to the coun t r y s i de , reco rd

i ng peop l e and soc i a l s i tua t i ons b roadcas t TV neve r wou l d have

bo the r ed w i th . Th i s g roup o f peop l e was conce rned w i th exp l o r i ng

as r i ch an a r r ay o f sub j ec t s as poss i b l e . They f e l t b roadcas t TV

had deve l oped b l and p rog r amm i ng i n an e f fo r t to o f f end as f ew

peop l e as poss i b l e , a t t rac t h i gh ra t i ngs , and thus command h i ghe r

p r i ces for adve r t i s i ng t ime . The a l t e rna t i ve t e l ev i s i on peop l e

we re no t suppor t ed by adve r t i s i ng ; the y d i dn ' t ca re abou t ra t ings .

They we r e f ree to focus the i r came ras on any th i ng , even th ings

tha t wou l d i n t e r es t on l y the peop l e l i v i ng in a s ing l e ne i ghbo rhood .

O the r s we re conce rned w i th e l ec t ron i cs r esea r ch and deve l op -

men t . These peop l e cons i de red i t r i d i cu l ous tha t the pe r f ec t t e l e -

v i s i on image was though t to be the smoo th , g l ow i ng p i nk face o f

Wa l t e r C ronk i t e . Some o f these expe r i men t e r s come f rom a s t rong

twen t i e th -cen tu r y g raph i c t rad i t i on o f exp l o ra t i on w i th l i gh t

image r y go i ng back a t l eas t as fa r as the Fu tu r i s t s and the Bauhaus .

Those who had been l ook i ng fo r a med i um o f mov i ng , co l o r ed l i gh t

we re ove r j oyed to f i nd tha t t e l ev i s i on cou ld p roduce abs t rac t

i mages as eas i l y as i t cou l d t r ansm i t a newscas t e r ' s f ace.

Somemembe r s o f th i s g roup bu i l t new e l ec t ron i c c i r cu i t r y to p roduce

d i f f e ren t i mage ry . These peop l e a re among the rea l p i onee r s o f

the med i um ; the y a re f asc i na t ed w i th the ro l e t echno l ogy p l ays in

ou r soc i e t y and a re cons t an t l y sea r ch i ng for new ways to make th i s

ro l e v i sua l l y man i f es t . They f ee l tha t the s t ruc tu re o f e l ec t ron i c

too l s re f l ec t s as we l l as i n fo rms ou r th i nk i ng , and by us i ng too l s

tha t p roduce v i sua l pa t t e rns , they hope to revea l to us ou r soc i a l

and t echno l og i ca l d i rec t i ons .

S t i l l ano the r g roup was r eac t i ng aga i ns t the one -d i rec t i ona l

f l ow o f b roadcas t TV , wh i ch s t reams day a f t e r day in to the homes o f

m i l l i ons o f peop l e w i thou t p rov i d i ng the means fo r them to speak

back equa l l y d i rec t l y . They po i n t ed ou t tha t we have on l y rece i ve rs



The fo l l ow i ng d i scuss i on i s no t a comp rehens i ve h i s to r y o f

the f i r s t yea r s o f i n t e res t i n v i deo as a c rea t i ve med ium , bu t i s

ra the r an a t t emp t to cha r t some o f the ways the ene rgy has f l owed ,

and to ' i n t roduce a f ew o f the mo r e i n t e res t i ng peop l e and s i tua t i ons .

In gene ra l , one m i gh t say tha t a r t -mak i ng has occu r red i n th ree a reas

o f v i deo ac t i v i t y - these a re a rb i t ra r y d i v i s ions , bu t a re use fu l

desc r i p t i ve l y . One i s the a fo remen t i oned r ea l m o f e l ec t ron i cs

resea rch and deve l opmen t . Because o f i t s roo t s in o the r twen t i e th -

cen tu r y g raph i c t rad i t i ons , th i s i s o f t en the wo r k mos t access i b l e

to peop l e f i r s t l ook i ng a t the med i um . Examp l es i nc l ude the f amous

" syn thes i ze r " t apes and spec i a l e f f ec t s g raph i cs o f many k i nds . A

second a rea o f ac t i v i t y has been documen t a r y , an a r ea tha t ds cu r -

ren t l y i n t e res t i ng h i s to r i ans and c r i t i cs o f pho tog raphy and f i lmas we l l . The th i rd a rea i s p robab l y the mos t comp l ex . I t i nc l udes

pe r fo rmances , concep tua l wo rk , and wha t may be ca l l ed i n fo rma t i on -

pe rcep t i on p i eces . Th i s g roup inc ludes ' bo th v i deo t apes and l i ve

v i deo i ns t a l l a t i ons tha t in some way expand the l im i t s o f the v i ewe r ' s

ab i l i t y to pe rce i ve h i mse l f or he r se l f in a t echno l og i ca l l y cha rged

env i ronmen t .

Ind i v i dua l s and Sma l l Groups

A f ew rumb l i ngs in the ea r l y s i x t i es an t i c i pa t ed the gene ra l

e rup t i on o f i n t e res t in the med i um l a t e r in the decade . Nam June Pa i k

i s p robab l y the mos t f amous and ce r t a i n l y one o f the mos t i n t e res t i ng

membe r s o f the movemen t ; h i s wo r k i s a co l l age o f a l l th ree d i v i s i ons

He was bo rn in Ko r ea and was educa t ed in Japan

he s tud i ed ph i l osophy and mus i c . By h i s own es t i -

ove r 100 pe r fo rmances , wh i ch re f l ec t h i s i n t e res t

in avan t -ga rde mus i c (John Cage i s a ma j o r i n f l uence ) and the F l uxus

movemen t . H i s f i r s t exh i b i t i on o f t e l ev i s i on was i n Ge rmany i n 1963 ,

in wh i ch he showed t e l ev i s i on se t s whose o f f - the - a i r images we r e d i s -

o f v i deo ac t i v i t y .

d Ge rmany , whe r e

ma t e , he has g i ven

H ISTOR ICAL NOTES



to r t ed . By 1965 , Pa i k had moved to New Yo rk and was hav i ng exh i b i -

t i ons he r e H i s wo r k t akes many fo rms - v i deo pe r fo rmances and

v i deo i ns t a l l a t i ons as we l l as v i deo t apes - and shows h i s i n t e r es t

i n p roc ess ra the r than p roduc t ; the new o f t en has e l emen t s ca r r i ed

fo rwa rd f ro

mthe o l d .

Pa i k has a lways been on the ou t e r f r i nges o f the movemen t

t echn i ca l l y . In 1965 , he bough t one o f Sony ' s f i r s t po r t ab l e v i deo

t ape reco rde rs and d i sp l ayed t apes the same n i gh t . He was the co

deve l ope r , w i th Shuya Abe , o f one o f the f i r s t v i deo syn thes i ze r s .

Seve r a l peop l e we r e wo rk i ng on syn thes i ze r s in 1968 and 1969 and

each mach i ne re f l ec t s the des i res o f i ts bu i l de r . They have in

common the ab i l i t y to p roduce daz z l i ng co l o r pa t t e rns and fo rms ,

mov i ng and sh i f t i ng th rough t i me .

The Pa i k -Abe syn thes i ze r i s thepe r f ec t too l for Pa i k ' s wo r k - i t t akes b l ack -and -wh i t e came ra

images and m i xes and co l o r i zes them , p roduc i ng dense , o f t en l aye red ,

b r i l l i an t l y co l o r ed f ragmen t s .

Pa i k ' s bas i c s t y l e i s one tha t has become f am i l i a r in th i s

cen tu ry , a co l l age o f j ux t aposed p i eces o f i n fo rma t i on w r enched ou t

o f the i r o r i g i na l con t ex t s . H i s t aped wo rk cons t an t l y reshu f f l es

b i t s and p i eces o f ma t e r i a l f rom a l l ove r the wo r l d - a Ko r ean d rum -

me r

i nac t i on , Japanese Peps i comme rc i a l s , go -go dance r s , t apes o f

h i s own pe r fo rmances w i th ce l l i s t Cha r l o t t e Moo rman . He has spoken

o f how we l i ve in an age o f i n fo rma t i on ove rk i l l ; h i s f as t -paced ,

d i s j unc t , pe rcus s i ve t apes he i gh t en and i n t ens i f y th i s ba r r age o f

image and sound . The e f f ec t i s j o l t i ng . Pa i k makes the v i ewe r s top

and th i nk , and he does th i s no t on l y in h i s pe r fo rmances and t apes :

h i s p roduc t i on o f en i gma t i c , deadpan apho r i sms i s second on l y to

Andy Wa rho l ' s i n the wo r l d o f a r t . " I wou l d ra the r be co r rup t ed

than repea t the sub l ime , " he sa i d

wi th

achuck l e du r i ng a t e l ev i sed

i n t e r v i ew w i th Russe l l Conno r and Ca l v i n Tompk i ns .

E r i c S i ege l was ano the r fo re runne r . He began bu i l d i ng TV se t s

in h i gh schoo l and has con t i nued bu i l d i ng v i deo equ i pmen t eve r s ince .

He was a l so the bu i l de r o f an ea r l y v i deo syn thes i ze r , and ano the r



too l , h i s co l o r i ze r , has been used by ha l f the a r t i s t s i n the coun -

t r y who wan t co l o r in the i r t apes . S i ege l ' s own wo rk ranges f roman ea r l y spe c i a l - e f f ec t s t ape o f E i ns t e i n to mo re recen t pe r sona l

documen t a r y t apes .

A th i rd ea r l y expe r imen t e r , and one who hasr ema i ned s t ead -

f as t l y i ndependen t o f any g roup a f f i l i a t i on , i s Les Lev ine . In

1968 , a f t e r he had been wo r k i ng w i th v i deo t ape for some t ime , he

p r esen t ed the f i r s t pub l i c show i ng o f h i s wo r k . As the aud i ence

wa t ched h i s p r e r eco rded v i deo t apes on such sub j ec t s as the de -

s t ruc t i on o f a r t and the nude mode l , they cou l d a l so wa t ch the i r

own r eac t i ons on a c l osed -c i rcu i t mon i to r : Lev i ne had a came ra in

the room . Th i s i s t yp i ca l o f h i s wo rk - Lev i ne i s no t i n t e res t ed

i n t rad i t i ona l aes the t i cs , bu t w i th t e l ev i s i on env i r

onment s ,

wi th

the movemen t o f i n fo rma t i on w i th i n phys i ca l and t empo ra l l i m i t s .He was quo t ed in a New Yo rk T i mes rev i ew as say i ng tha t he hoped

to he l p peop l e fo rm new i mages o f themse l ves by show i ng them the i r

reac t i ons to wha t they see . "They ' l l change as the y no t e the i r

responses to va r i ous s i tua t i ons p r esen t ed on the tapes . . . . I f you

see you r se l f l ook i ng se l f -consc i ous , for examp l e , you ' l l be fo rced

to th i nk why . "A l so i n 1968 , Lev i ne p roduced h i s f i r s t " t e l ev i s i on scu l p tu re , "

I r i s . Once aga in , Lev i ne had the v i ewe r con f ron t i ng h imse l f v i a

t e l ev i s i on . In th i s case , a l l the ha rdwa re for the c l osed -c i rcu i t

syst em was con t a i ned in one e i gh t - foo t - t a l l s-cu l p ture -conso l e .

S t and i ng in f ron t o f th i s conso l e , the v i ewe r f aced s i x mon i to r s

and th ree concea l ed v i deo came ras . The came ras sho t the space in

f ron t o f the conso l e , and p r esen t ed v i ews o f the env i ronmen t in

c lose -up , m i dd l e d i s t ance , and w i de ang l e . Each o f these came ras

had i t s own mon i to r and the th ree o the rs p rov i ded d i s to r t ed i magestha t m i gh t o r m i gh t no t be r ecogn i zab l e . Thus , a v i ewe r s t and i ng

in f ron t o f the conso l e cou l d see th ree d i f f e ren t v i ews o f h im-

se l f j ux t aposed w i th o the r r andom v i deo i n fo rma t i on .



In th i s ea r l y wo rk , Lev i ne opened an exam i na t i on o f t e l e -

v i s ion as an i n fo rma t i on system o f g rea t f l ex i b i l i t y and com -

p l ex i t y . Th i s aspec t o f the med i um has been fu r the r exp l o red w i th

i nc reas i ng sub t l e t y and soph i s t i ca t i on by seve ra l a r t i s t s in the

yea r s s i nce Lev i ne made I r i s .

By 1968 , i nexpens i ve po r t ab l e equ i pmen t was becom i ng w i de l y

ava i l ab l e . Du r i ng the nex t yea r o r so , va r i ous peop l e bough t

came ras and v i deo t ape reco rde rs (po r t apaks )

them a l one o r i n sma l l g roups . A g roup o f g radua t i ng co l l ege

sen i o rs in San t a C l a ra , Ca l i fo rn i a , was t yp i ca l : one o f them had

i nves t ed in a po r t apak , and he and h i s f r i ends used i t so cons t an t l y

tha t i t f i na l l y wo r e ou t . Mos t o f tha t g roup have con t i nued the i r

i n t e res t i n v ideo , and two w i l l be d i scussed l a t e r - Geo rge Bo l l i ng ,

who i s the v i deo cu ra to r a t the de Sa i sse t A r t Ga l l e r y in San t a

C l a ra and i n t roduced a who l e gene ra t i on o f San F ranc i sco a r t i s t s

to the med i um , and Sk i p Sweeney , who co - founded V i deo F ree Ame r i ca ,

a San F r anc i sco g roup tha t , among o the r th i ngs , sponso red some o f

the ea r l i es t v i deo thea t e r .

In New Yo rk , Commed i a t i on appea red . I t was the f i r s t o f a

l ong se r i es o f v i deo groups to eme rge . Dav i d Co r t , F r ank G i l l e t t e ,

Ken Ma r sh , and How i e Gu t s t ad t we re membe r s , and l i ke many peop l e

i n i t i a l l y a t t rac t ed to the med i um , they we re p r i ma r i l y i n t e res t ed

in v i deo as a too l fo r soc i a l change . A l i t t l e o f Dav i d Co r t ' s

h i s to r y may he l p to i l l um i na t e the mo t i ves o f many peop l e wo rk i ng

in v i deo .

Co r t had o r i g i na l l y been i nvo l ved i n the thea t e r , bu t the

l a t e 1960 ' s found h i m wo r k i ng a t the Brook l yn Ch i l d ren ' s Museum ,

i nvo l ved in an t i pove r t y ou t reach p rog rams .

I go t s t a r t ed i n documen t a r y wo rk in po l i t i ca lth ings , a t t emp t i ng to b r i ng toge the r d i ve rgen tpeop l es . . . . I was ove rwhe l med by the l i gh tnesso f the v i deo came ra , the i n t i macy o f i t , theway you cou l d t a l k f rom beh i nd the came ra topeop l e and they cou l d t a l k to you l ook i ng a t

d expe r i men t ed w i th



the came r a . The came ra was l i ke a funne lth rough wh i ch you cou l d wo rk . You cou l d movein , and be i n t i ma t e and c lose .

Cor t was i mp r essed w i th the f l ex i b i l i t y o f the med i um , and d i s -

sa t i s f i ed w i th how i t was used in b roadcas t :

He goes on to say :

I l ook a t TV and i t ' s so pas s i ve . " Feed mei n fo rma t i on , t e l l me wha t to f ee l , t e l l mewha t to be l i eve , and I ' l l s i t the re and t ake

i t in . " Wa l t e r C ronk i t e te l l s you wha t to

be l i eve .

. . . I 'd ra the r have l o t s o f d i f f e ren t i nd i v i d -ua l s i nvo l ved , so you wou l d ha ve a lo t o f d i f -f e ren t v i ewpo in t s , i deas , i ns t ead o f one .

Wa l t e r C ronk i t e t r i es to t e l l you tha t he has

no v i ewpo i n t , tha t he ' s ob j ec t i ve ; "Tha t ' s the

way i t i s . " The who l e s to ry i s he l d toge the rby h i s pe r sona l i t y ; i t cen t e r s a round h i m . I

found tha t to be un i n t e r es t i ng .

Co r t was fu r the r d i senchan t ed w i th TV because o f an uncom fo r t ab l e

expe r i ence he and h i s w i f e had had on a day t i me TV show . They

had f e l t ove rwhe lmed , hum i l i a t ed , and man i pu l a t ed , and the ex-

pe r i ence i n f l uenced Co r t ' s own wo rk :

I t has become a bas i c es the t i c . I t ' s l i ke a ru l e .

Wheneve r I wo r k in v ideo , eve r ybody I wo rk

wi thhas to ha ve a f eed , has to see wha t ' s go i ng on .

No th i ng can be h i dden . One o f the th i ngs I ob j ec tto mos t abou t j ou rna l i sm i s tha t peop l e come i n

and they t ake you r p i c tu re , and you don ' t knowwha t they ' r e t ak i ng . They may p l ay i t back to

you a f t e rwa rds , bu t tha t ' s no t the same as see i ngi t wh i l e i t ' s the re .

You know , I th i nk a lo t o f peop l e a re i n v i deobecause they ha ve no cho i ce -

i t ' s so ove rwhe l

m-i ng l y a round you . I t ' s a lmos t l i ke a respons i -

b i l i t y tha t you have to t ake , tha t you have towo rk w i th i t because i t ' s a l l -pe r vas i ve . We a recon f ron t ed w i th th i s a l i en , co l d equ i pmen t and

we a re to make some th i ng human , to i nvo l ve the



human be i ng in i t in some way , to make h i m ac t i ve ,

to make h i m pa r t i c i pa t e . A t one and the same t imeyou wan t to con t ro l i t and you wan t to des t roy i t ,

you wan t to r emove i t and ge t back to the roman t i c ,bu t you can ' t . So you a re f aced w i th i t and you

have to do some th i ng w i th i t tha t w i l l be fun , tha t

w i l l be j oyous , tha t w i l l be human ra the r than an t i -human , tha t w i l l be pos i t i ve .

I t i s exc i t i ng to hea r conve r sa t i ons abou t the f i rs t f ewmon ths o f expe r i men t a t i on . In New Yo r k C i t y , peop l e ca r r y i ng

po r t apaks bumped i n to each o the r on the s t ree t or a t pa r t i es

d go t to know each o the r ; the f amous conce r t a t Woods tock in

1969 was ye t ano the r mee t i ng p l ace . Many v i deo g roups fo rmedqu i t e rap i d l y , and o f t en j us t as r ap i d l y some o f them d i sso l ved ,

bu t the cas t o f cha r ac t e rs rema i ned rema rkab l y cons t an t . Mos t

o f them , as was the case w i th the g roup in San F ranc i sco , a re

s t i l l a t the hea r t o f the med i um today : I ra Schne i de r , F r ank

G i l l e t t e , Dav i d Co r t , Be r y l Koro t , Ken Ma r sh , John Re i l l y ,

Rud i S t e rn , Pa r r y Te aseda l e , M i chae l Shambe rg , to men t i on on l y a

f ew o f them .

The a r t i s t B ruc e Nauman , in 1967 , used v i deo as pa r t o f a

ga l l e r y i ns t a l l a t i on ; in 1968 , he s t a r t ed to r eco rd h i s pe r fo r -

mances on v i deo t ape . And so , by the end o f the f i r s t yea r o f

ac t i v i t y in the med i um , seve ra l d i f f e r en t uses had a l ready been

es t ab l i shed : syn thes i ze r s we re be i ng cons t ruc t ed to p roduce newe l ec t ron i c image ry , documen t a r y t apes we re be i ng made , and the

med i um was beg i nn i ng to be exp l o r ed by concep tua l a r t i s t s to

r eco rd pe r fo rmances and ge s tu res .

In 1969 , a r t i s t s who we re no t a l r eady acqua i n t ed found

themse l ves l ook i ng a t each o the r ' s wo r k a t the f i r s t l a rge

ga l l e r y exh i b i t i on , "Te l ev i s i on as a C rea t i ve Med i um , " a d i s

p l ay tha t was o rgan i zed by Howa rd W i se . W i se has been one o f

the s t aunches t suppo r t e r s o f e l ec t ron i c a r t s in gene ra l , and

v i deo i n pa r t i cu l a r . He has subsequen t l y re l i nqu i shed h i s

F i f t y - seven th S t ree t ga l l e r y i n o rde r to suppo r t v i deo fu l l t ime ,



and i s cu r ren t l y one o f the l a rges t d i s t r i bu to r s o f a r t i s t s ' v i deo

t apes . A t h i s F i f th Avenue headquar t e rs , E l ec t ron i c Ar t s In t e rm i x ,

he a l so p rov i des an open - access ed i t i ng f ac i l i t y for a r t i s t s . A t

h i s 1969 show , he ga the r ed toge the r v i deo t apes and sponso red i ns t a l -

l a t i ons ; the a r t i s t s go t to know each o the r , and seve r a l new v i deo

g roups fo rmed as a resu l t . A l so in 1969 , WGBH -TV b roadcas t the f i r s t

v i deo " samp l e r , " a ha l f -hou r p rog ram show i ng the wo r k o f s i x a r t i s t s .

V i deo ac t i v i t y , by 1970 , seemed to have a l l ma rks o f a fu l l -

f l edged a r t movemen t : the re was a l a rge museum show , a movemen t

magaz i ne appea red , a r t c r i t i cs go t i nvo l ved , and o f f i c i a l fund i ng

agenc i es we re i n t e res t ed . F i r s t the re was the exh i b i t i on a t the

Rose Ar t Museum a t B rande i s Un i ve r s i t y , o rgan i zed by Russe l l Conno r .

Conno r , l i ke Howa rd W i se , has con t i nued to be deep l y i nvo l ved in

v i deo and has i ndeed p robab l y done mo re than anyone e l se to b r i ng

v i deo a r t to a w i de aud i ence . Th i s pas t yea r , for examp l e , he

hos t ed a se r i es o f twen t y - two p rog rams o f va r i ous a r t i s t s ' wo r k ,

b roadcas t ove r New Yo rk C i t y ' s Channe l 13 . Many o f the Eas t Coas t

v i deo a r t i s t s and g roups we re rep resen t ed a t h i s Rose Ar t MuseumShow , "V i s i on and Te l ev i s i on . "

Second , du r i ng the summe r o f 1970 , the f i r s t i ssue o f the

v i deo movemen t ' s magaz i ne appea red . I t was ca l l ed Rad i ca l So f twa r e ,

and was pub l i shed by Ra i ndance Co rpo ra t i on . The ea r l y i ssues o f

the magaz i ne conveyed the heady exc i t emen t o f the t imes ; they we r e

packed fu l l o f d raw ings , how - to a r t i c l es , names and add resses .

Ano the r avan t -ga rde j ou rna l , Ava l anche , a l so s t a r t ed pub l i ca t i on

in 1970 ; one o f i t s ed i to rs i s W i l l oughby Sha rp , a v i deo -pe r fo r -

mance a r t i s t , and much o f each i ssue has to do w i th v i deo .

Th i rd , two c r i t i cs w r i t i ng abou t v i deo soon became i nvo l ved

i n mak i ng i t . M i chae l Shambe rg was a r epo r t e r fo r T ime ; he becameone o f the found i ng membe r s o f Ra i ndance Co rpo ra t i on , a g roup tha t ,

th rough Rad i ca l So f twa re and o the r ac t i v i t i es , se r ved as i n fo rma t i on

cen t ra l in the v i deo commun i t y . A wh i l e l a t e r , Shambe rg co - founded

TVTV , a v i deo documen t a r y g roup . Doug l as Dav i s was and i s the a r t

10



c r i t i c fo r Newsweek ; he has become an ex t r eme l y p ro l i f i c v i deo

a r t i s t as we l l .

F i na l l y , in 1970 , the New Yo r k S t a t e Counc i l for the Ar t s

became ve r y i nvo l ved in suppo r t i ng v i deo . The counc i l has funded

a w i de va r i e t y o f p ro j ec t s , cen t e rs , and i nd i v i dua l s . The f i r s t

yea r s o f the v i deo movemen t had w i tnessed , fo r the mos t pa r t ,

openness and sha r i ng among i t s membe r s . Whe the r the y we re t i nke r i ng

w i th syn thes i ze r s o r ou t i n the s t ree t s w i th po r t apaks or bu i l d i ng

comp l i ca t ed ga l l e r y i ns t a l l a t i ons , they a l l cons i de red themse l ves

to be pa r t o f the same movemen t . By 1970 -1971 , howeve r , d i v i s i ons

began to occu r . The two ma j o r g roups to eme rge we r e " a r t v i deo "

d " soc i a l ac t i on v i deo . " And w i th i n the a r t g roup the re we r e

fu r the r subd i v i s i ons i n to " syn thes i ze r v i deo , " " concep tua l v i deo , "

and so on . Sp l i t s p robab l y occu r red mos t o f t en ove r p rob l ems in

fund i ng , a cons i s t en t l y d i f f i cu l t t ask for mos t v i deo peop l e . They

do no t f i t i n to the t rad i t i ona l a r t ma r ke t i ng syst em a t a l l and so

have had to do much o f the i r wo rk on g r an t s f rom the NEA , s ta t e

counc i l s , and the Rocke f e l l e r Founda t i on . They a l so have had

d i f f i cu l t i es i n ge t t i ng the i r wo r k to aud i ences . Broadcas t t e l e -

v i s i on has , w i th a f ew no t ab l e excep t i ons , been un i n t e r es t ed .

Museums and ga l l e r i es have begun a s t ream o f exh i b i t i ons bu t these

have t aken awh i l e to ca t ch on . Exh ib i t i ons o f th i s so r t mus t be

a r r anged ve r y ca re fu l l y , as wa t ch i ng t apes o f any l eng th i n a con -

ven t i ona l ga l l e r y i s no t com fo r t ab l e .

I t i s wo r th no t i ng tha t i n 1970 -1971 many concep tua l a r t i s t s

we r e a t t r ac t ed to the med i um . I t mus t have seemed l i ke manna f romheaven to a g roup sea rch i ng fo r a new , i nexpens i ve means o f exp ress

ing comp l i ca t ed ideas , pe rcep t i ons , and ac t i ons in t ime . Mos t con -

cep tua l a r t i s t s we r e a f f i l i a t ed w i th ga l l e r i es i n one way or ano the r ,

hav i ng shed ea r l i e r med i a , espec i a l l y scu l p tu re , wh i ch ga l l e r i es

cou l d mo r e o r l ess adequa t e l y exh i b i t . A t any ra t e , the y had a

way o f t r y i ng to abso rb i n to the who l e ga l l e r y syst em a med i umtha t was no t a lways com fo r t ab l e w i th i n i t , and o f app l y i ng to the



med i um a comp l i ca t ed syst em o f aes the t i cs de r i ved f rom the c r i t i ca l

d i l emmas o f pa i n t i ng and scu l p tu re du r i ng the 1960 ' s . Poss i b l y th i s

fu r the r deepened some o f the p r ev i ous l y men t i oned d i v i s ions .

Even tua l l y , a l though fund i ng p rob l ems we r e fa r f rom so l ved ,

the d i f f e ren t groups se t t l ed down and

made sub t l e sh i f t s to acco

m-

moda t e each o the r . I t has been my expe r i ence tha t good a r t has

come f rom eve r y g roup ; no one has a co rne r on ph i l osoph i c or

aes the t i c qua l i t y . The mos t i n t e res t i ng syn thes i ze r a r t i s t s have

g rown f rom ea r l y co l o r and pa t t e rn expe r imen t s (wh i ch ea rned themthe t i t l e o f " v i deo wa l l pape r a r t i s t s " ) to mak i ng r i ch s t a t emen t s .

The mos t i n t e res t i ng concep tua l a r t i s t s have g rown f rom app l y i ng

p reconce i ved i de as to the med i um (wh i ch ea rned them the t i t l e o f

"bo r i ng academi c i ans " )

to wo r k i ng

wi th i n the

med i u

m, l ea rn i ng f ro

mi t , i n t eg ra t i ng i t i n to the f ab r i c o f the i r p i eces .

A l so , some o f the ga l l e r i es have wo r ked ve r y ha rd to d i s -

t r i bu t e t apes in ways so tha t peop l e can see them . The amb i t i ous

Cas t e l l i -Sonnabend Ar t Tapes P rog r am i s espe c i a l l y good . Unde r

the d i rec t i on o f Joyce Ne reaux , a r t i s t s a re asked to subm i t t apes

o f any t ype or l eng th ; the on l y spec i f i ca t i on (o the r than they

mee t the gene ra l t as t es o f the ga l l e ry ) i s tha t the y be i n a

s t anda rd forma t .

The Cen t e r s

Con t empo ra r y to th i s ac t i v i t y ca r r i ed on by ind i v i dua l s wasa sudden g row th o f i n t e res t in expe r i men t a l t e l ev i s i on a t th ree

ma j o r b roadcas t cen t e rs : KQED in San F ranc i sco , WGBH ' i n Bos ton ,

and WNET in New Yo r k . KQED and WGBH we re f i r s t o f f the ma r k ; i n

1967 they bo th rece i ved gran t s f rom the Rocke f e l l e r Founda t i on to

es t ab l i sh expe r i men t a l wo rkshops in t e l ev i s i on .

B r i ce Howa rd was the d i rec to r o f the f i r s t San F ranc i sco

wo rkshop . Du r i ng the f i r s t yea r , he asked f i ve a r t i s t s f rom the

Bay a rea to come to the s t a t i on , and he gave them access to the

too l s o f t e l ev i s i on . They i nc l uded a poe t , a f i lm-make r , a

12



nove l i s t , a pa i n t e r - scu l p to r , and a compose r , R i cha rd Fe l c i ano , whos t ayed w i th the wo r kshop i n fo l l ow i ng yea r s . The TV d i rec to r fo r

the p ro j ec t was Bob Zagone , a young man who had been i n t e res t ed in

i nnova t i ve p rog ramm i ng a t KQED fo r some t ime . The expe r i men t e r s

found i t i nc reas i ng l y d i f f i cu l t to wo r k w i th i n the s t ruc tu re o f a

b roadcas t s t a t i on , us i ng b i t s o f s tud i o t ime l e f t ove r f rom the

news p roduc t i ons . Howa rd g radua l l y moved the p rog r am ou t o f the

KQED bu i l d i ng and se t a sepa ra t e , genu i ne wo rkshop . The f i r s t - yea r

a r t i s t s , who we r e es t ab l i shed in the i r own d i sc i p l i nes , we r e re -

p l aced du r ing the ensu i ng yea r s by peop l e who concen t r a t ed on t e l e -

v i s i on i t se l f ( a l though they came f rom d i ve r se backg rounds ) . The

bas i c g roup came to i nc l ude W i l l a rd Rosenqu i s t , a p ro f esso r o f

des i gn a t Be rke l ey ; B i l l Gw i n , a young pa i n t e r ; S t ephen Beck , an

e l ec t ron i cs des i gne r ; Don Ha l l oc k , a man w i th pas t expe r i ence bo th

in b roadcas t TV and pa i n t i ng ; B i l l Roa r t y , a g raph i cs des i gne r whohad a l so wo r ked in t e l ev i s i on p r ev i ous l y ; and a t va r i ous t i mes twocompose r s , f i r s t R i cha rd Fe l c i ano and l a t e r Wa rne r Jepson .

3n 1969 , the wo rkshop became the Na t i ona l Cen t e r for Expe r i -

men t s in Te l ev i s i on (NCET ) , s t i l l unde r the d i rec t i on o f B r i ce

Howa rd . Howa rd was an ex t r ao rd i na r y man who p rov i ded an a tmosphe re

whe r e expe r i men t a t i on cou l d go on f ree f rom p ressu res o f a b road -

cas t s i tua t i on . The wo r kshop g r adua l l y acqu i red and bu i l t equ i p -

men t , and the membe r s had t ime to l ea rn the med i um in a c r a f t sman -

l i ke f ash i on .

Du r i ng the l a t e 1960 ' s and ea r l y 1970 ' s , the Co rpo ra t i on fo r

Pub l i c B roadcas t i ng sponso red an i n t e rnsh i p p rog ram , in wh i ch TV

pe r sonne l f rom a round the coun t r y cou l d come to the cen t e r to

s tudy . The cen t e r ' s cu r ren t d i rec to r , Pau l Kau fman , desc r i bed

wha t happened :

. . .wha t wen t on was the fo rma t i on o f a wo r kshopenv i ronmen t i n to wh i ch come dozens and dozens o fs tunned p roduce r s and d i rec to rs f rom a l l ove r thepub l i c b roadcas t s t a t i ons . . . as a resu l t , a l o t o f

1 3



peop l e i n the syst em we re exposed , and a l o t o f

peop l e i n a sense wen t mad p ro f ess i ona l l y , because

B r i ce ' s pe r sona l i t y and the gene r a l amb i ance i n

the Cen t e r so s t rong l y con t r as t ed w i th the somewha t

up t i gh t and cons t r i c t i ve re l a t i onsh i ps a t the s t a -

t i ons .

One o f the peop l e who "wen t mad p ro f ess i ona l l y " was B i l l

Roa r t y , who came as an i n t e rn in 1969 and then came back to s t ay

i n 1971 . H i s memo r i es p rov i de ins i gh t in to the a tmosphe re a t the

cen t e r and i n to Howa rd ' s t each i ng :

Wha t happened i n tha t s i x weeks was f asc i na t i ng ,

because eve ry th i ng they we re say i ng abou t t e l e -

v i s i on connec t ed exac t l y w i th eve r y th ing I had

been to l d as a pa i n t i ng s tuden t . They we r e

app roach i ng i t essen t i a l l y the same way . . . i t wasma t e r i a l , i t was su r f ace . . . . The connec t i on wasobv ious and immed i a t e to me ; the th i ng I waswo r k i ng in , t e l ev i s i on , was a med i um , and I had

neve r though t o f i t tha t way be fo r e .

. . .The i dea tha t Br i ce spoke abou t so beau t i fu l l y

was tha t i f you d i d d i vo r ce b roadcas t f rom the

mak i ng o f t e l ev i s i on , you can cu t away an eno rmous

amoun t o f ve r y conven t i ona l i zed and supe r f l uous

r i tua l . . . the mak i ng o f p rog rams for b roadcas t i n

the o l d sense was a t the ve r y l eas t man i pu l a t i ve ,

and no t in any way connec t ed to wha t I though t o f

as the c rea t i ve p roc ess . I t goes r i gh t down the

l i ne . . . you can exam i ne the vocabu l a r y peop l e

deve l oped , " con t ro l room , " " came ra sho t s , " e tc .

B roadcas t was e l i m i na t ed f rom ou r d i scuss i on bu t

rea l l y i t was i nc l uded a l l the t ime , as a poo r

r e l a t i ve .

Roa r t y goes on to desc r i be a t yp i ca l day a t the cen t e r ,

wh i ch a t tha t t ime was in one huge room :

Wa rne r and ' I wou l d be wo r k i ng on a comp l ex sound

compos i t ion and i mmed i a t e l y to ou r l e f twou l d be

S t ephen , des i gn i ng a c i rcu i t and then on the o the r

s i de o f tha t wou l d be B i l l Gw in , l ook i ng a t a t ape ,

and ove r the re wou l d be W i l l a rd , wo r k i ng on l igh t

fo rms . You cou l dn ' t he l p bu t be comp l e t e l y exc i t ed

by the though t s and pe rcep t i ons o f a l l the peop l e

a round you app roach i ng th ings each i n h i s own way .



F rom 1971 on , the Rocke f e l l e r Founda t i on gave suppo r t to a

new p rog ram o f the cen t e r ' s . Pau l Kau fman reca l l s :

The t ime had come to t r y to see i f you cou l d do

some th i ng abou t chang i ng the mo r i bund cha rac t e r -i s t i cs o f t each i ng abou t t e l ev i s i on in the Un i -

ve r s i t i es . . . . We began a p ro j ec t tha t l as t ed for

th ree yea r s , wh i ch i n i t i a l l y had peop l e f rom theCen t e r go i ng ou t and v i s i t ing a l o t o f campuses ,

b r i ng i ng t apes a l ong , go i ng to a r t depa r tmen t s ,

essen t i a l l y say i ng to Un i ve r s i t y peop l e , "Look

he re , he re ' s some th i ng new and some th i ng i n t e r -

es t i ng , and you can do i t . I t ' s i mpo r t an t to do

i t because we a re go i ng to ha ve to t ra i n a who l e

new gene ra t i on o f image - sens i t i ve peop l e , and the

schoo l s a ren ' t do i ng i t . " We l l , ou t o f th i s g roupo f i n i t i a l v i s i t s , abou t 5 or 6 p l aces k i nd o f

su r f aced as poss i b l e wo rkshop s i t es , and even tua l l y

these became mo re or l ess m i n i -Cen t e r s in themse l ves .

The cen t e r en t e red a h i gh l y p roduc t i ve pe r i od i n the sp r i ng

o f 1972 . Don Ha l l oc k , B i l l Gw i n , W i l l a rd Rosenqu i s t , and B i l l

Roa r t y a l l p roduced some o f the i r mos t beau t i fu l t apes . (Some o f

these t apes w i l l be d i scussed i n the th i rd sec t i on o f th i s repo r t . )

In the f a l l , Wa rne r Jepson and S t ephen Beck emba rked on a conce r t

tou r a round the coun t r y , g i v i ng pe r fo rmances w i th the i r aud i o and

v i deo syn thes i ze r s , respec t i ve l y .

Th i s bu r s t o f ac t i v i t y con t i nued i n to the summe r o f 1973 ,

when Don Ha l l ock p r esen t ed h i s "V i deo l a " a t the San F ranc i sco

A r t Museum . S i nc e tha t t ime , the d i rec t i on o f the cen t e r has

been chang i ng . The re has been a sh i f t f rom a r t to an i n t e res t i n

deve l op i ng s t ruc tu ra l app roaches to the med i um . Pau l Kau fman , the

d i rec to r , used the t e rm " v i sua l th i nk i ng " to desc r i be h i s i n t e res t

i n f i nd i ng a way o f us i ng a l l the i r expe r imen t a t i on o f the p r e -

ced i ng yea r s to he l p f i gu re ou t ways to ge t soc i a l , po l i t i ca l , or

ph i l osoph i ca l i de as ac ross on t e l ev i s i on w i thou t r eso r t i ng to the

t r ad i t i ona l l ec tu re fo rm .A t any ra t e , the cen t e r as a p l ace for aes the t i c exp l o ra -

t i on i s d i sso l v i ng , and i t l eaves an emp t y space in the v i deo

1 5



wo r l d . B i l l Gw i n s tumb l ed on to the o l d cen t e r in 1969 as a young

pa i n t e r , and he re speaks abou t i t as a p l ace to l ea rn :

I t was l ucky fo r me because I l ea rned how to use

th i ngs in a ve r y s l ow and unp ressu red way . WhenI was f i rs t the re , they had one b l ack and wh i t e

came ra and one t ape mach i ne , and tha t was a l l .

They added mo re equ i pmen t s low l y , so I s t a r t ed

o f f w i th the mos t bas i c k i nd o f s i tua t i on , and

ove r a pe r i od o f th ree yea r s l ea rned how to use

a l l o f tha t equ i pmen t . I t was n i ce ; the r e ' s no

p l ace l i ke i t anymo re , wh i ch i s a p rob l em .

The wo r kshop a t WGBH -TV i n Bos ton a l so was i n i t i a l l y funded

by the Rocke f e l l e r Founda t i on , bu t i t took a ve r y d i f f e ren t d i rec -

t i on f rom the Na t i ona l Cen t e r i n San F r anc i sco . No sepa ra t e wo r k

shop was se t up du r i ng the ea r l y yea r s ; i ns t ead , a r t i s t s - in -

res i dence emba r ked on spe c i a l p ro j ec t s , and p roduce r s on the WGBHs t a f f d id i nnova t i ve p ro j ec t s o f the i r own as we l l . Thus , the

expe r i men t a t i on was ca r r i ed on w i th i n the s t ruc tu re o f the s t a t i on ,

in i t s s tud i os , us i ng i t s equ i pmen t . Two p roduce rs a t the s t a t i on

have been espec i a l l y ac t i ve . F r ed Ba r zyck began a f t e r -hou r s ex -

pe r i men t i ng w i th j azz p rog ramm i ng in 1964 . By 1969 , he had p ro -

duced The Med i um I s the Med i um , the f i r s t b roadcas t -TV p rog ram

magaz i ne o f v i deo a r t i s t s ' wo rk , and he has con t i nued to bewonde r -

fu l l y suppo r t i ve o f expe r i men t a l wo r k in the s t a t ion . Even a

pa r t i a l l i s t o f h i s p rog r ams revea l s a w i de range o f i n t e res t s ; he

p roduced an ea r l y , f r ee - fo rm week l y se r i es ca l l ed Wha t ' s Happen i ng ,

Mr . S i l ve r? i n 1968 , used the f i r s t po r t ab l e co l o r v i deo equ i pmen t

to do Jean Shephe rd ' s Ame r i ca in 1971 , t r i ed a nove l adap t a t i on o f

Ku r t Vonnegu t ' s wo r k for t e l ev i s i on , Be tween T ime and T i mbuk tu in

1971 -1972 , and p roduced a second , l a rge r documen t o f the v i deo

movemen t for b roadcas t , V i deo : The New Wave , in 1973. A

no the r

p roduce r , R i ck Hause r , has concen t ra t ed on expe r i men t a l d rama

and dance fo r t e l ev i s i on . He was an ea r l y Rocke f e l l e r a r t i s t - in -

r es i dence w i th i n the s t a t i on , and he co l l abo ra t ed w i th p l ayw r igh t

Ma ry Fe l dhaus -Webe r on two p rog r ams . Bo th we re composed o f two

16



t apes , b roadcas t ove r two channe l s s imu l t aneous l y , and v i ewed by

the home aud i ence on two sepa ra t e TV rece i ve r s . The f i r s t , C i t v /

Mo t i on /Space /Game , i n 1968 , was a qu i ck -paced exp l o ra t i on o f va r i -

ous u rban spaces by dance r Gus So l omons , Jr . , w i th a sound sco re

composed by John Mo r r i s , who e l ec t ron i ca l l y man i pu l a t ed c i t y sounds .

The second , Roya l F l esh , in 1969 , was an Oed i pa l d rama tha t i mp l i -

ca t ed the v i ewe r as the ch i l d o f the my th . Hause r con t inues to

wo rk i n a h i gh l y imag i na t i ve and s t ruc tu ra l l y i n t e res t i ng way w i th

dance and drama , push i ng the med i um i n new d i rec t i ons .

The Rocke f e l l e r Founda t i on a r t i s t - in - res i dence p rog ram a l so

b rough t Nam June Pa i k and f i l m-make r S t an Vande rbeek to b road -

cas t t e l ev i s i on . Nam June began h i s yea r a t WGBH in 1968 -1969 ,

do i ng a sho r t segmen t for The Med i um I s the Med i um . He and Shuya

Abe bu i l t the i r f i r s t v i deo syn thes i ze r the re and f i r s t d i sp l ayed

i t s image r y in a fou r -hou r - l ong b l ockbus t e r p rog r am ca l l ed V i deo

Commune , b roadcas t du r i ng the summe r o f 1970 . The sound t rack wasa l l o f the Bea t l es ' reco rded mus i c ; peop l e we re i nv i t ed o f f the

s t ree t s to he l p con t r i bu t e ma t e r i a l (o f ten the i r f aces) for the

syn thes i ze r to p roc ess . V i ewe r s a t home wa t ched fou r hou r s o f

dense , l aye red , s l ow l y sh i f t ing , b r i l l i an t l y co l o red images , some

o f wh i ch we re recogn i zab l e and some no t . S t an Vande rbeek a l so

pu t toge the r a ve ry l a rge show , ca l l ed V i o l ence Sona t a , wh i ch

was b roadcas t in 1970 . Vande rbeek had assemb l ed many b i t s o f

ma t e r i a l f rom wh i ch to choose , sw i t ch i ng f rom one to ano the r in

rea l t ime as the show was b roadcas t . The re we r e f i l m c l i ps o f

v i o l en t sub j ec t ma t t e r , a s tud i o aud i ence tha t i nc l uded m i l i tan t

po l i t i ca l g roups , ka ra t e expe r t s l ung i ng a t ' each o the r in the a i s l e ,

and so on . The resu l t was t yp i ca l o f Vande rbeek ' s wo rk a t the t ime :

a sho tgun b l as t o f i n fo rma t i on .

In 1972 , ano the r p rog r am was i n i t i a t ed a t WGBH : the Mus i c -

Image Wo rkshop , es t ab l i shed by Ron Hays . (WGBH had been b roadcas t i ng

mus i c p rog rams for seve ra l yea r s , and i n 1971 had b roadcas t V i deo

Va r i a t i ons , a g roup o f expe r i men t a l v i sua l p i eces se t to , mus i c p l ayed

17



by the Bos ton Symphony O rches t ra . ) The re l a t i onsh i p be tween sound

and image has p resen t ed one o f the tho rn i es t p rob l ems to a r t i s t s

wo r k i ng w i th images i n t ime . Many d i f f e ren t so l u t i ons have been

p roposed , f rom us i ng c l ass i ca l mus i c for sound t racks , to compos i ng

mus i c espec i a l l y fo r each p i ece , to hook i ng up v i deo and aud i oequ i pmen t so the sound and image a re c rea t ed toge the r , to us i ng no

sound a t a l l . Ron Hays add ressed h i mse l f spec i f i ca l l y to th i s p rob -

l em , mee t i ng w i th eve r yone who had g i ven the ma t t e r se r i ous though t .

He se t t l ed on us i ng the Pa i k -Abe syn thes i ze r as h i s v i deo too l . I t

had no d i rec t hookup to mus i c -gene ra t i ng equ i pmen t ; i t was ope ra t ed

manua l l y . Hays spen t mon ths l ea rn i ng how to ope ra t e the syn thes i ze r

and g radua l l y deve l oped a " vocabu l a r y " for i t , tha t i s , se t s o f

images and

pat t

erns o f

move

men t he cou l d d ra

wupon a t

wi l l .

Hays

sa i d :

A t th i s po i n t i t was obv i ous tha t the Pa i k -Abe ' spo t en t i a l v i sua l con f i gu ra t i ons we r e so i nc red i b l yvas t i n numbe r tha t some so r t o f d i sc i p l i ne wasdemanded ; some o rde r and t ime s t ruc tu re had to bei mposed i f the resu l t s we re to be en j oyed as any -th i ng beyond end l ess chang i ng i mages . The s t ruc tu reo f ex i s t i ng mus i c wou l d g i ve me a s t ruc tu re w i th i nwh i ch I cou l d p roduce and con t ro l and then choosethe mov i ng images .

Thus , Hays se t t l ed on compos i ng images w i th the Pa i k -Abe syn thes i ze r

to go w i th ex i s t i ng p i eces o f mus i c , a l though he has wo r ked w i th newmus i c as we l l . He b roadcas t sho r t wo rks o f v i deo se t to spe c i f i c

p i eces o f mus i c by va r i ous compose rs (Ba th , Ba r tok , S t rav i nsky ,

Dvo rak , Rave l , to name a few) . Hays ' s f i r s t ma j o r wo rk w i l l be b road -

cas t th i s yea r as pa r t o f the No r ton Lec tu res de l i ve red by Leona rd

Be rns t e i n a t Ha r va rd Un i ve r s i t y . The p i ece i s se t to the "Love -Dea th

P re l ude " f rom Wagne r ' s T r i s t an and I so l de ; the i mage r yi s

a

comp l ex

sequence o f v i deo syn thes i s , compu t e r an i ma t i on , s l i t - scan an ima t i on ,

and o the r spec i a l v i sua l e f f ec t s .

S i nce Feb rua r y o f 1974 , expe r i men t a l wo r k a t WGBH has sh i f t ed

l a rge l y to the New Te l ev i s i on Wo rkshop , wh i ch i nhab i t s a forme r



mov i e thea t e r i n Wa t e r town , Massachuse t t s . Managed by Do ro thy

Ch i esa , the wo r kshop houses a fu l l one -ha l f - i nch - t ape s tud i o . The

wo r kshop has p rov i ded the f i r s t r e l a t i ve l y open access to t e l ev i s i on

equ i pmen t for l oca l Bos ton a r t i s t s , and has a l so i nv i t ed a r t i s t s l i ke

Pe t e r Campus and W i l l i am Wegman , who a re a l ready we l l - es t ab l i shed in

the med i um , to make new t apes us i ng the wo rkshop f ac i l i t y . The wo rk -

shop a l so has a m i x o f l oca l and na t i ona l t a l en t in i t s spec i a l dance

p ro j ec t , headed by Nancy Mason . The dance p ro j ec t con t i nues WGBH ' s

i n t e res t i n comb i n i ng dance and t e l ev i s i on , bo th by i nv i t i ng cho re -

og raphe r s and danc ers to come to the wo rkshop to expe r i men t w i th the

equ i pmen t , and by se t t i ng up a p rog r am to reco rd ex i s t i ng dance o f

a l l k i nds for a rch i va l pu rposes .

The th i rd ma j o r cen t e r i s the Te l ev i s i on Labo ra to r y a t WHETin New Yo rk C i t y , d i r ec t ed by Dav i d Lox ton . I t was es t ab l i shed i n

1972 w i th suppo r t f rom the Rocke f e l l e r Founda t i on and the New Yo rk

S t a t e Counc i l fo r the A r t s , w i th spec i a l p ro j ec t s suppo r t f rom the

Na t i ona l Endowmen t fo r the A r t s . I f the Na t i ona l Cen t e r i n San

F ranc i sco was an i n t rospec t i ve cen t e r for pu re , b roadcas t -p ressu re -

f ree resea rch i n to the med i um , and WGBH ' s wo rkshops (un t i l recen t l y )

ex i s t ed w i th i n the f ab r i c o f the b roadcas t s i tua t i on and nea r l y

a l ways pu t the i r wo r k on the a i r in one fo rm o r ano the r , the TV Lab

a t WNET has found a p l ace be tween these two po l es . Du r i ng i t s f i r s t

yea r s , i t pu rchased one o f WNET ' s o l d b l ack - and -wh i t e s tud i os , S tud i o

46 , and g radua l l y added equ i pmen t un t i l i t i s now one o f the mos t

e l abo ra t e co l o r v i deo s tud i os in the coun t r y . Du r i ng tha t yea r ,

the TV Lab a l so se t up a m i xed k i nd o f access to the s tud io . Some -

t imes i t was used by peop l e a l ready f am i l i a r w i th the med i um ; they

pa r t i c i pa t ed in an a r t i s t - i n - res i dence p rog r am (s im i l a r to the one

a t WGBH ) in wh i ch spec i a l p ro j ec t s we re deve l oped and some we r e

a i red . Some t imes the s tud i o was made ava i l ab l e for an a r t i s t -access

p rog r am ra the r l i ke the one KQED had i t s f i r s t yea r , i n wh i ch peop l e

f rom many d i sc i p l i nes ( scu l p tu re , poe t r y , g raph i c des i gn ) , some o f

them new to v i deo , some o f them no t , come to t ry ou t the equ i pmen t .



G radua l l y , the TV Lab has devo t ed mo re and mo re o f i t s t ime

to an ex t ended a r t i s t - in - res i dence p rog r am . John God f rey , the TV

Lab ' s eng i ne e r , po in t s ou t tha t i t was ve r y d i f f i cu l t , due to l i m i t a

t i ons o f t ime , to t each peop l e new to the med i um how to use the

soph i s t i ca t ed equ i pmen t we l l enough to do any th i ng new o r d i f f e ren t ,

A t the end o f the two or th ree weeks a l l o t t ed to them , mos t peop l e

we r e s t i l l j us t beg i nn i ng to l ea rn the mos t bas i c i mage -mak i ng

pa t t e rns . S i nce the TV Lab i s the mos t e l abo ra t e i ns t a l l a t i on o f

i t s k ind , i t has seemed mo re wo r thwh i l e to inv i t e f ewe r peop l e , who

a l r eady know the bas i cs o f the med ium , to p roc ess t apes they a l r eady

have or to execu t e p l anned wo rks , and to i nv i t e a f ew peop l e new to

the med i um to come for l ong s t ays . A t the same t i me , WHET i s expand -

i ng i t s "b roadcas t access " : Channe l 13 b roadcas t s much mo re a l t e rna -

t i ve t e l ev i s i on than j us t the t apes made a t i t s own TV Lab . In f ac t ,

WNET has been the mos t cons i s t en t ove r - the -a i r ou t l e t fo r unusua l or

expe r i men t a l t e l ev i s i on o f many k i nds , f rom spe c i a l - e f f ec t s ex t r av -

agances , to n i gh t l y s i gn -o f f p i eces abou t New Yo rk C i t y by Nam June

Pa i k , to new k i nds o f documen t a r y , o r non f i c t i on , t e l ev i s i on .

Du r i ng i t s f i r s t phase , wh i ch ended in the sp r i ng o f 1974 , a

f ew wo rks we r e made a t the TV Lab tha t a re among the c l ass i cs o f

the v i deo movemen t.

InMa rch , 1973 , Ed Emshw i l l e r ' s Scape

Ma t es

was b roadcas t . Emshw i l l e r i s a f i l m -make r known fo r -h i s t echn i ca l

expe r t i se and w i l l i ngness to exp l o re new v i sua l e f f ec t s . H i s wo rk

t yp i ca l l y i nc l udes the human f i gu re , and i ndeed seems l i ke a spe c i a l

k i nd o f dance . Scape Ma t es was one o f the f i r s t a t t emp t s to ma r sha l

spe c i a l e f f ec t s i n v i deo and compu t e r an i ma t i on and to cons t ruc t a

rounded s t a t emen t ; up to th i s t ime , much exp l o ra t i on o f spec i a l

e f f ec t s had been go i ng on and many " ske t ches " had been made , bu t

the re had been l i t t l e a t t emp t to ga the r the

mtoge the r and c rea t e

a f i n i shed wo rk . In Scape Ma t es , f i gu res j ou rne y s l ow l y th rough

daz z l i ng e l ec t ron i c l andscapes ; the use o f the human f igu re i n t e r -

woven w i th abs t r ac t e l ec t ron i c i mage r y can be an a t t emp t to human i ze

1 20



the t echno l ogy , bu t i t a l so c rea t es powe r fu l l y su r rea l images o f

peop l e t r apped in Esche r - l i ke mazes . Emshw i l l e r has con t i nued to

m i x the human f i gu re and e l ec t ron i c image ry in two mo r e p i eces

done a t the TV Lab , P i l obo l us and Joan and Cross i ngs and Mee t i ngs .

Two o the r ma j o r p rog rams done du r i ng the f i r s t phase a t the TV

Lab we re Nam June Pa i k ' s G l oba l G roove , an i n t e rna t i ona l cu l tu ra l

co l l age , and B i l l Gw i n ' s Swee t Ve r t i ca l i t y , a poem abou t New Yo rk

C i t y to be d i scussed l a t e r .

The TV Lab a l so i nc l udes in i t s suppo r t v i deo documen t a r y ,

"non f i c t i on " t e l ev i s i on . In Feb rua r y , 1974 , WNET b roadcas t The Lo rd

o f the Un i ve r se , a documen t a r y abou t the gu ru Maha ra j J i , made by

Top Va l ue Te l ev i s i on (TVTV) . I t was a l andma r k in b roadcas t t e l e -

v i s i on because i t was the f i r s t t ime an en t i re documen t a r y was madefo r b roadcas t f rom one -ha l f - i nch -w i de v i deo t ape . The po r t ab l e ,

i nexpens i ve v i deo t ape reco rde rs (po r t apaks ) r eco rd on one -ha l f -

i nch t ape . The advan t ages o f us i ng such equ i pmen t for documen t a r y

a re obv ious : TVTV peop l e cou l d move qu i ck l y and unob t rus i ve l y i n to

s i tua t i ons den i ed to b i g , bu l ky ne two rk equ i pmen t . Howeve r , fo r

yea r s th i s k i nd o f t ape was banned f rom b roadcas t because the

i mage / s i gna l qua l i t y was though t no t good enough . By 1972 , spec i a l

mach i nes , t i me -ba se co r rec to r s , ex i s t ed tha t cou l d regu l a r i ze the

s i gna l o f one -ha l f - i nch t ape enough to conv i nc e TV eng i ne e rs i t wassu i t ab l e for b roadcas t . A who l e new range o f ma t e r i a l was po t en -

t i a l l y ava i l ab l e fo r b roadcas t -TV aud i ences ; the TV Lab comm i s s i oned

a g roup o f p rog rams f rom TVTV fo r 1974 -1975 , and a fou r -pa r t se r i es

on Wash i ng ton (Ge ra l d Fo rd ' s Ame r i ca ) as we l l as a p i ece on Ca j un

Lou i s i ana (The Good T imes A re K i l l i ng Me ) have been b roadcas t to

da t e .

In the sp r i ng and summe r o f 1975 , WHET b roadcas t a se r i es

ca l l ed V i deo and Te l ev i s i on Rev i ew , made a t the TV Lab and hos t ed

by Russe l l Conno r . VTR was a magaz i ne o f shows abou t peop l e whomake a l t e rna t e t e l ev i s i on o f a l l k i nds . The fo rma t va r i ed f rom



show to show ; some t imes the p rog ram cons i s t ed a lmos t en t i re l y o f

i n t e rv i ew , as in Nam June Pa i k : Ed i t ed for Te l ev i s i on , and

some t i mes i t was who l l y devo t ed to one wo rk , as when Pa i k ' s G l oba l

G roove was b roadcas t . Du r i ng the same sp r i ng , Pa i k h i mse l f made a

se r i es o f v i gne t t es abou t New Yo rk C i t y , wh i ch we re b roadcas t each

n i gh t a t s i gn -o f f t ime . They wen t unde r the name Su i t e 212 and

have s i nce been ga the red i n to a s i ng l e , t yp i ca l l y co l l age - l i ke t ape ,

SELECTED PEOPLE AND S ITUAT IONS

Sou the rn Ca l i fo rn i a : TVTV and Long Beach

Top Va l ue Te l ev i s i on (TVTV) i s a v i deo documen t a r y g roup

tha t has headqua r t e r s in a house in Wes t Los Ange l es . I t i s a

cong rega t i on o f peop l e who have backg rounds i n va r i ous aspec t s o f

a l t e rna t i ve t e l ev i s i on and p r i n t med i a ; they came toge the r to fo rmTVTV in 1972 . The i r f i r s t p ro j ec t was to t ape the Democ ra t i c and

Repub l i can na t i ona l conven t i ons o f tha t , yea r . A l l en Rucke r , a

found i ng membe r o f the g roup , exp l a i ns :

Ou r i n t en t i on , and i t ' s s t i l l ou r i n t en t i on , wasto change t e l ev i s i on . The po l i t i cs o f i n fo rma -t i on , the po l i t i cs o f t e l ev i s i on , a re wha t we

a re t r y i ng to a l t e r . When we f i r s t wen t to the

conven t i ons in 1972 , we se t ou t to p rove a po i n t .

The po i n t was tha t we cou l d take th i s d i r t cheapb l ack - and -wh i t e v i deo equ i pmen t tha t cos t $1 ,500for a who l e un i t , and twen t y or th i r t y peop l e whol oved t e l ev i s i on - and demons t ra t e tha t you cou l dt ake th i s l ow - cos t t echno l ogy and peop l e who hadno t been w rung th rough the b roadcas t t e l ev i s i onsyst em and make no t on l y t echn i ca l l y decen t t e l e -v i s i on bu t a l so t e l ev i s i on in wh i ch the i n fo rma -t i on was shock i ng l y d i f f e ren t . The na tu re o f thei n fo rma t i on was d i f f e ren t ; i t was l oose r , mo r e

d i rec t ,mo re in for

ma l ,

mo re pe r sona l , and

i t wasmo re v i sce r a l . You f e l t l i ke you we re the re

a f t e r wa t ch i ng the shows , as opposed to f ee l i ngsomeone had l a i d a rap on you .



TVTV ' s a t t i tude re f l ec t s a recen t reeva l ua t i on o f the t e rm"documen t a r y . " Fo r decades , med i a tha t a re capab l e o f mechan i ca l l yr eco rd i ng and r ep roduc i ng images (pho tog raphy , f i lm , and v i deo )have been accep t ed as neu t r a l w i tnesses o f rea l i t y , as pu re reco rd -

i ng dev i ces tha t t ake no s t and on i ssues bu t me r e l y revea l them . A

compa r i son o f ne two rk news documen t a r i es o f the conven t i ons w i thTVTV ' s documen t a r i es revea l s tha t a l l reco rd i ngs re f l ec t in someway the th i nk i ng o f those who make them . The re i s cu r r en t l y aboom i ng i n t e res t i n documen t a r y f i lm , pho tog raphy , and v i deo bya r t i s t s , c r i t i cs , and h i s to r i ans , a l l peop l e who he re to fo re wou l dno t have cons i de red i t o f aes the t i c i n t e res t . Th i s i s no t to saytha t a l l o f TVTV ' s t echn i ques a re o r i g i na l o r tha t a l l o f the i r v i deo

t apes a re wo rks o f a r t . Howeve r , they a re pa r t o f a movemen t to

app roach soc i a l ma t e r i a l c r i t i ca l l y , as i n fo rma t i on , and they a rewo r k i ng ou t expe r i men t a l modes o f j ou rna l i sm ; so , in tu rn , theyb roaden ou r awa reness o f the med i um i t se l f .

TVTV ' s ed i t i ng s t y l e i s tha t o f sem i ch rono l og i ca l co l l age ,w i th b i t s o f i n fo rma t i on b rush i ng aga ins t each o the r . The v i ewe rdoesn ' t rece i ve i n fo rma t i on i n na r ra t i ve b l ocks ; he i s l ed th rougha p rocess o f mee t i ng peop l e , hea r i ng conve r sa t i ons . A t the end he

has been to l d a s to ry , bu t no t in the conven t i ona l b roadcas t -TV way :

an omn i po t en t na r r a t i ve vo i ce t e l l i ng you wha t you ' r e go i ng to see ,see i ng some th i ng , and then be i ng to l d once aga i n wha t i t i s youha ve j us t seen .

The g roup f ee l s a nos t a l g i a fo r the o l d days o f TV , whenp rog rams we re l i ve and the ac t i on was spon t aneous . A l l en Rucke rsays

A l l o f a sudden wha t happened was tha t in thepo l i t i cs o f comme rc i a l t e l ev i s i on those th i ngsbecame ha rdened i n to pa r t i cu l a r fo rma t s . Ra the rthan S t eve A l l en t a l k i ng to peop l e on the s t ree t ,Johnny Ca rson ha rdened the i dea i n to the t a l kshow . . . . I f you wa t ch Johnny Ca r son now , i t ' s anamaz i ng k i nd o f r i tua l , and the re ' s no th i ng spon -t aneous abou t i t . I f you ' ve wa t ched i t once ,

23



you know eve r y r i f f . Gues t s come ou t to p romo t ethemse l ves , and they a re ac t i ng as i f they a rei n fo rma l , bu t they a re no t i n fo rma l .

TVTV has se t ou t to wo r k in a way tha t wou l d pe rm i t i n fo r -

ma l i t y and spon t ane i t y , reca l l i ng the immed i acy tha t once seemedi nhe ren t in the med i um . A t the same t ime , the y rea l i ze they a re

wo r k i ng in an i nc red i b l y med i a -consc i ous soc i e t y , and tha t they

canno t ge t away w i th be i ng the p rove rb i a l f l y on the wa l l wh i l e

t ap i ng . Rucke r exp l a i ns :

The who l e i de a beh i nd c inema ve r i t e was tha t the

came ra man d id no t ex i s t - peop l e wou l d fo rge t

abou t h i m and the re wou l d be a k i nd o f na tu r a lbehav i ou r . . . . I t was an abso l u t e l y va l i d i de a wheni t was f i r s t pu r sued because peop l e had no t l ea rned. . . the p rocess o f t e l ev i s i on i s no t a p roduc t , i t

i s an env i ronmen t and i t had no t ye t sa tu r a t ed them .

Now i f you go i n w i th a came ra and p l ay the d i rec t

c i nema ro l e . . . they a re consc i ous o f p r esen t i ng them -se l ves on t e l ev i s i on and thus c rea t e a consc i ous ,unconsc i ous s t y l e o f behav i ou r . . . . Tha t ' s no t ou r

s t y l e . Ou r s t y l e i s to make the came r a an immed i a t ee l emen t , mak i ng peop l e know tha t we a re shoo t i ngt ape i mmed i a t e l y , and no t to make a b i g dea l abou t

i t , no t to say " s t and ove r the re , " l i ke the ne two rksdo , bu t to say "Yes , we ' r e shoo t i ng . He re : wan tto l ook a t i t? " Tha t ' s l i t e ra l l y wha t we f i r s t d i d ;

we go t peop l e to shoo t us and we a t t emp t ed to makethem r e l axed i n the p resence o f med i a ra the r thanr e l axed in the absence o f med i a , wh i ch i s wha t c i n -

ema ve r i t e was a t t emp t i ng to do .

TVTV i s in a p rocess o f t rans i t ion a t the p r esen t t ime .

They a re the f i r s t to adm i t tha t they have f a i l ed to change t e l e -

v i s i on as a who l e ; the re a re no t many i ndependen t v i deo p roduc t i on

g roups ge t t i ng the i r t apes on the a i r , p rov i d i ng a w i de r ange o f

v i ews . The p rob l ems o f ge t t i ng even one p rog ram on the a i r a re

many . The cyc l e o f fund i ng , shoo t i ng and ed i t i ng , and f i nd i ng an

ou t l e t i s d i f f i cu l t to r epea t i nde f i n i t e l y : TVTV avo i ded th i s by

wo rk i ng for the TV Lab for a yea r as ex t ended a r t i s t s - in - res i dence ,

and they a re now do i ng a se r i es fo r KCET -TV i n Los Ange l es . Bu t

24



the p rob l em o f d i ve r s i f y i ng b roadcas t t e l ev i s i on in gene r a l rema i ns .

The h i s to r y o f v i deo in Sou the rn Ca l i fo rn i a has been tha t

o f d i s j o i n t ed bu t en thus i as t i c ac t i v i t y . The r e has been a ce r t a i n

amoun t o f v i deo exh i b i t ed in the mo re avan t -ga rde ga l l e r i es in Los

Ange l es ; B ruc e Nauman began to show t apes a t the N i cho l as W i l de r

Ga l l e r y in 1968 . In 1971 , the re was a bu rs t o f ac t i v i t y a t the

Ca l i fo rn i a Ins t i tu t e fo r the A r t s ; A l l an Kap row , John Ba l dessa r i ,

Gene Youngb l ood , Nam June Pa i k , and Sh i geko Kubo t a , a l l o f whoma re i nvo l ved in mak i ng or w r i t i ng abou t v ideo , we re on the f acu l t y .

S i nce tha t t i me , the re has been an i nc reas i ng l y s t eady

p roduc t i on o f v i deo t apes by i ndependen t a r t i s t s . A new focus for

the i r ac t i v i t y has appea r ed a t the Long Beach Museum o f A r t , whe r e

Dav i d Ross became the depu t y d i r ec to r for f i lm and t e l ev i s i on in

1974 . Ross had been v i deo cu r a to r a t the Eve r son Museum in Sy racuse ,

New Yo rk , fo r nea r l y th ree yea r s and had o rgan i zed an as ton i sh i ng

numbe r o f exh i b i t i ons o f v i deo a r t . H i s fo r t e has been h i s ab i l i t y

to f i nd l i t t l e -known a r t i s t s and to o rgan i ze the i r t apes , a l ong

w i th those o f mo re f amous a r t i s t s , i n to huge an tho l ogy - l i ke exh i b i -

t ions , p rov i d i ng a w i de range o f wo r ks fo r peop l e to v i ew . By

the summe r o f 1975 , he had managed to f i nd an amaz i ng numbe r o f

t apes made i n Sou the rn Ca l i fo rn i a and had comp i l ed them i n to an

exh i b i t i on , "Sou th l and V i deo An tho l ogy . "Ross has wo r ked ve r y ha rd to f i nd a way to exh i b i t t apes

we l l in a ga l l e r y se t t i ng . He i s on l y too awa re tha t mos t museum -

goe rs ope ra t e i n a c ru i se mode , and expec t to be ab l e to p i ck and

choose wha t they wan t to l ook a t , and to l ook on l y as l ong as the i r

a t t en t i on i s he l d . Many v i deo t apes a re mean t to be v i ewed f romcasua l v i s i to r may no t be ab l e to devo t e

the same t i me , i t can be d i f f i cu l t to c i r -

se t t i ng up p r ec i se v i ew i ng schedu l es , as i s

the r e a re so many t apes o f va r y i ng l eng ths .

A l so , i f tu rned i n to a k i nd o f thea t re -go i ng expe r i ence , i t wou l d

m i ss the casua l v i ewe r a l toge the r , and a new a r t med i um depends on

beg i nn i ng to end , and a

the necessa r y t ime .

A t

cumven t th i s p rob l em by

done fo r f i l ms , because

25



chance encoun t e r s to bu i l d an aud i ence . An added comp l i ca t i on i s

tha t v i deo i s essen t i a l l y an i n t i ma t e med i um , mean t for sma l l

spaces , no t l a rge ga l l e r i es .

Ross has wo r ked ou t a good comp rom i se . Fo r the l a rge

exh i b i t i on a t the Long Beach Museum , t apes run i n seve ra l rooms .

Some ha ve r egu l a r schedu l es , w i th t apes p l ay i ng in r epea t i ng cyc l es .

Casua l v i s i to r s can d rop in , see wha t happens to be p l ay i ng , and

s t ay i f they a re i n t e res t ed . In o the r rooms , t apes a re p l ayed by

spec i a l reques t , so v i s i to rs w i th spe c i f i c v i ew i ng des i res can be

accommoda t ed . A l l the rooms a re sma l l and sea t i ng i s com fo r t ab l e ,

app rox i ma t i ng a l i v i ng room s i tua t i on .

Mos t o f the t apes shown a t the "Sou th l and V i deo An tho l ogy "

seem to be va r i a t i ons o f reco rded pe r fo rmance .

In some cases , the

a r t i s t add r esses the came r a d i rec t l y , i mp l i ca t i ng the v i ewe r as

aud i ence . In o the r s , an ac tua l pe r fo rmance in f ron t o f an aud i ence

has been reco rded . The p reva i l i ng mood i s one o f f an t asy - the t apes

a re fu l l o f l i t t l e s to r i es , na r ra t i ves , games . When asked whe r e th i s

f asc i na t i on w i th s to r i es and na r r a t i ve comes f rom , Ross had an imme -

d i a t e answe r : "We ' re nea r Los Ange l es , so wha t do you th i nk? Ho l l y -

wood . " He wen t on to say tha t the two mos t i n f l uen t i a l peop l e i n

l oca l a r t schoo l s have been a r t i s t s John Ba l dessa r i and W i l l i am

Wegman , bo th o f whom wo r k w i th na r ra t i ve s t ruc tu res .

One o f the mos t i n t r i gu i ng t apes in the show was a l l abou t

f an t asy . I t was E l eano r An t i n ' s The L i t t l e Ma t ch G i r l Ba l l e t . An t i n

appea r s be fo r e an aud i ence in fu l l ba l l e r i na cos tume : she t e l l s us

she i s go i ng to New Yo rk to become a f amous Russ i an ba l l e r i na . She

f an t as i zes abou t he r f i r s t b i g ba l l e t , the s to ry o f the L i t t l e Ma t ch

G i r l . She s l ips i n to the s to r y and remembe r s he r f i r s t Ch r i s tmasat ho

me

. An t i n ' s f i ne l y

woven pe r fo r

mance f i t s f an t as i es one i ns i de

the o the r l i ke Ch i nese boxes , un t i l one has d r i f t ed f a r away f romsu re rea l / f an t asy bounda r i es . I t seemed an exce l l en t , i ron i c pe r -

fo rmance to wa t ch on a t e l ev i s i on se t .

2 6



The Bay A r ea : San F ranc i sco , Be r ke l ey , San t a C l a ra

The Bay a rea has p rov i ded a home for a w i de va r i e t y o f

v i deo , bu t i t has ex i s t ed the r e i n i so l a t ed pocke t s . Peop l e ha ve

wo r ked ne a rby fo r yea r s and known no th i ng abou t each o the r ' s ac t i v

i t i es . The NCET i s a p r i me examp l e : i t may ha ve been a na t i ona l

cen t e r , bu t i t was ce r t a i n l y neve r a l oca l one . The wo rk done the re

took the fo rm o f i n t ense v i sua l exp l o ra t i ons in a na r row d i rec t ion ,

so tha t the cen t e r ex i s t ed l i ke an i s l and in the San F ranc i sco a r t

wo r l d , sepa ra t e f rom mos t and unknown by many .

The wo rk i ng cond i t i ons a t the cen t e r have been desc r i bed

ea r l i e r . Fo r a va r i e t y o f reasons , the ea r l y yea r s o f expe r i men t a -

t i on began to y i e l d resu l t s i n 1972 -1973 , when many i n t e res t i ng

t apes we re made . One cha rac t e r i s t i c sha r ed by mos t o f these t apes

i s a s l owness o f pace . The bes t t apes f rom th i s pe r i od a t the

cen t e r i nc lude B i l l Gw i n ' s and Wa rne r Jepson ' s I r v i ng B r i dge ,

W i l l a rd Rosenqu i s t ' s and B i l l Roa r t y ' s Zos t i ne , Don Ha l l ock ' s K i ss

W i th No Up , and B i l l Roa r t y ' s and Don Ha l l oc k ' s Un t i t l ed - i n a l l o f

these the r e i s an ac ross - the -boa rd s l ow i ng down . The p i eces a re

usua l l y b r i l l i an t l y co l o red and dense l y l aye r ed v i sua l l y , and e l e -

men t s sh i f t ve r y s l ow l y w i th i n the f rame .

Pa r en the t i ca l l y , i t shou l d be no t ed tha t th i s s l ow pace i s

no t l i m i t ed to cen t e r wo r k . The a r t i s t s the r e pa r t i c i pa t ed i n a

t r end tha t had been deve l op i ng s i nce the l a t e 1960 ' s in the " t imea r t s . " A s l ow pace was c r eep i ng i n to wo rks by ve r y d i f f e ren t a r t i s t s ,

f rom the b l ack -and -wh i t e , hou r - l ong t apes o f T - sh i r t ed B ruce Naumanpac i ng a round h i s s tud i o , to the fu l l -co l o r , sump tuous na tu r e t apes

by B i l l Gw i n . In mos t o f these t apes a se t pa t t e rn i s es t ab l i shed

tha t i s repea t ed fo r a ve r y l ong t ime . Typ i ca l l y , the v i ewe r i s a t

f i r s t p r eoccup i ed w i th f i gu r i ng ou t wha t i s happen i ng , then s l ow l y

h i s a t t en t i on becomes focused on h i s own reac t i ons , on h i s ownthough t s . O f t en v i ewe r s become bo r ed and res t l ess as the p i eces

seem to pe r s i s t i n t e rm i nab l y . Bu t some t imes the ove r a l l r eac t i on



i s one o f re l i e f , o f dep ressu r i za t i on f rom the f as t pace and j am-

packed i mage r y o f much f i lm and TV o f the m i d - s i x t i es . Th i s s l owpace i s a phenomenon qu i t e pa r t i cu l a r to the l a te s i x t i es and ea r l y

seven t i es ( seve ra l a r t i s t s , f rom Nauman to Woody and S t e i na Vasu l ka ,

men t i oned the i n f l uence o f mus i c i ans l i ke La Mon t e Young ) . One doesn ' t

see so much o f i t anymo re , bu t a t the t i me i t was va l uab l e , and i t

had a way o f he l p i ng peop l e l ook a t mov i ng i mages w i th f resh eyes .

A t any ra t e , g i ven the sha red s l ow pace , t apes made a t the

cen t e r exp l o r ed d i f f e ren t k i nds o f i deas . Don Ha l l ock wo r ked w i th

ve r y s t ruc tu red f eedback , sh i f t ing h i s images s l ow l y un t i l the v i ewe r

l os t a no rma l sense o f ve r t i ca l o r i en t a t i on v i s - a - v i s the i mage .

W i l l a rd Rosenqu i s t and B i l l Roa r t y wo r ked w i th i nc red i b l y sub t l e

pa t t e rns o f l i gh t , tu rn i ng the mon i to r su r f ace i n to a d i aphanous

scu l p tu ra l space . B i l l Roa r t y i n l a t e r t apes has used s im i l a r l i gh t -

ing on the human fo rm , in th i s case the m i me dance r Noe l Pa ren t i .

These t apes wo r k in a f asc i na t i ng bo rde r a rea be tween rep resen t a t i ona l

and non rep resen t a t i ona l image ry : the mon i to r seems to con t a i n on l y

sha f t s o f co l o red l i gh t un t i l the f i gu re sh i f t s s l i gh t l y and a con -

tou r o f Pa ren t i ' s body seems d i sce rn i b l e .

A s im i l a r bo rde r a r ea was exp l o red by B i l l Gw i n and Wa rne r

Jepson in I r v i ng B r i dge . The re i s on l y one came ra sho t o f a woods

scene w i th a b r i dge . I t beg ins " s t ra igh t " : you can recogn i ze the

scene and hea r na tu ra l "woods " sounds . Ve r y s l ow l y bo th the v i sua l s

and the sound a re a l t e red e l ec t ron i ca l l y so tha t in the m i ds t o f the

t ape one i s see i ng an e l ec t ron i ca l l y co l o red equ i va l en t o f the woods

and hea r i ng e l ec t ron i c equ i va l en t s o f b i rd sounds . Then j us t as

s l ow l y i t changes back aga i n . The t ape was mean t to be p l ayed on a

l oop so tha t the sona t a - l i ke th ree -pa r t deve l opmen t o f i t s s t ruc tu re

wou l d no t be a pa t th i ng ; the scene wou l d sh i f t back and fo r th , f romone k i nd o f l andscape to ano the r .

S t ephen Beck ' s wo r k s t ands a l i t t l e as i de f rom the res t o f

the cen t e r ' s . Beck bu i l t a nonop t i ca l syn the s i ze r a t the cen t e r ;



th i s too l i s d i f f e ren t f rom the Pa i k -Abe syn thes i ze r i n tha t i t need

no t use came ras . The i mage r y i s a l l gene ra t ed e l ec t ron i ca l l y . In

some ways , Beck ' s wo rk i s the mos t t rad i t i ona l o f the abs t rac t co lo r

v i deo a r t i s t s . He t akes pa i ns t ak i ng ca re w i th the s t ruc tu re o f h i s

wo r ks - they t end to be sho r t , p rec i se , and r i ch w i th re f e rences -

j us t as he was me thod i ca l abou t h i s cho i ces when bu i l d i ng h i s syn -

the s i ze r . Th i s s t ruc tu red app roach to abs t rac t a r t i s no t new in

th i s cen tu r y . Beck speaks o f h i s r espec t for Kand i nsky :

He ' s r ea l l y the pa i n t e r who has i n f l uenced myown th i nk i ng the mos t . I th i nk th i s t i es myv i deo i n to a t r ad i t i on w i th i n the a r t s . . . thenon -ob j ec t i ve t rad i t i on . On t he Sp i r i tua l inA r t j a book w r i t t en by Kand i nsky i s rea l l y amas t e rp i ece

o f someone pu t t i ng down i n wo rdswha t the expe r i ence i s abou t . . . . I had expe r i -

ences o f see i ng the v i sua l f i e l d b reak downi n to e l emen t s , and when I was do i ng the des i gnfor the syn thes i ze r , I s t ruc tu red these e l emen t s :

co l o r , shape , t ex tu r e , and mo t i on . And I fu r the rtook the e l emen t o f shape i n to sub - ca t ego r i es o fpo i n t , l ine , p l ane , and i l l us i on o f space . Il a t e r read Kand i nsky ' s wo r k and I found i t wasrea l l y c l ose : I had no fo reknow l edge o f h i swo rk when I a r r i ved a t the same , or a ve r ys i m i l a r scheme . I was as tounded . I was r ead -i ng h i s no t es fo r

h i s c l assat the Bauhaus andthe re i t was , the ve r y same ana l y s i s .

Many o f Beck ' s wo r ks t ake as a theme a cen t r a l i de a ; he

s t ruc tu res the wo r k f rom ins i de ou t to make tha t i dea v i sua l l y

man i f es t . One p i ece was Concep t i on ; ano the r , done in co l l ab

o ra t i on w i th f i l m -make r Jo rdan Be l son , was ca l l ed Cyc l es . Th i s

l as t wo r k de a l s w i th l aye rs and l aye r s o f cyc l i c i mages , o rgan i zed

i n to a cyc l i c s t ruc tu re :

The po i n t i s , the cyc l e i s , aga i n , a phenomenonw i thou t magn i tude ; the r e a re sma l l cyc l es andthe r e a re b i g cyc l es . Th i s wo r k i nvo l ved a lo to f s tudy o f the phenomenon o f cyc l es , and i n asmuch as they we r e s tud i ed and unde r s tood , the i rconcep t s we re embod i ed v i sua l l y and dynam i ca l l y ,and i nco rpo ra t ed i n to the wo rk . The on l y wo rd

29



j ec t ma t t e r

Some o f Beck ' s mos t i n t e res t i ng wo rks manage to p r esen t

to a w i de r aud i ence ideas no rma l l y ava i l ab l e on l y to spec i a l i s t s . Hel i kes to use sc i en t i f i c and ma thema t i ca l i mage r y because he f ee l s

i t ' s pa r t o f ou r t imes . Th i s i n t e res t may come f rom h i s own e l ec -

t ron i cs backg round :

i n the wo r k i s the t i t l e , " cyc l es . " Eve r y th i nge l se abou t the conc ep t i s exp ressed in the v i sua ll anguage .

. . .wha t abou t the c i rcu i t des i gne r , the c i rcu i tbu i l de r as the rea l e l ec t ron i c a r t i s t . . . as opposedto peop l e who a re exp r ess i ng mo re t rad i t i ona l con -cep t s w i th v ideo , w i th e l ec t ron i c i mage ry? Wha tabou t the guys who a re ac tua l l y bu i l d i ng the i n -s t rumen t s , de s i gn i ng the c i rcu i t r y? I s the c i r -

cu i t r y no t capab l e o f be i ng recogn i zed as be i nga rea l accomp l i shmen t and ach i evemen t in and o f

i t se l f? An aes the t i cs tha t the ave rage man hasno i nk l i ng o f o the r than , "Wow! I t ' s a lo t o f

w i r es and sw i t ches and knobs . "

H i s l a t es t pa t t e rns , wh i ch he ca l l s " v i deo weav i ng , " a re

based on ideas f rom a t ime when a r t i s t s used ma thema t i cs as sub -

I t comes f rom the mag i c squa res dev i sed byArab i an th i nk e r s o f the s i x th and seven th cen -tu r i es , when the y mas t e r ed a l geb r a and app l i ed

a l geb r a to the i r a r t . The r e l i g i on o f I s l amfo rb ids any rep resen t a t i ona l image . I t ' s a

to t a l l y d i f f e ren t concep t o f v i sua l exp ress i onthan wha t we have ; you ' r e jus t no t pe rm i t t ed topo r t ray an ob j ec t o f c rea t i on . I t ' s l a rge l ybased on po r t r ay i ng wha t we wou l d ca l l ma the -ma th i ca l ha rmon i es . The i r wonde r fu l a r abesquesand domes and pa t t e rns a re a l l man i f es t a t i onso f ma thema t i cs , wh i ch i n ou r day and age wewou l d f i nd i n some equa t i on in a book , wh i ch

pe rhapsmakes

i tl ess v i v id , and l ess i

mpo r t an tto many peop l e . Peop l e ask me some t imes , " I s

th i s ma thema t i ca l ? How does th i s re l a t e to

ma thema t i cs? " And I say , " I t i s ma thema t i cs ,j us t l i ke mus i c i s ma thema t i cs . " You ha ve i m-p l i c i t s t ruc tu res o f ha rmon i es and ra t i os . In -s t ead o f mus i c , whe r e the re i s v i b r a t i on o f a i r ,

30



he re i t ' s the v i b r a t i on o f l igh t , w i th d i f f e ren tco l o rs and pa t t e rns . You don ' t have to r e l a t eto i t as a d rab ma thema t i ca l theo rum o r equa t i on .I t t akes on a much mo r e v i v i d p resence .

Wa rne r Jepson was the compose r for the cen t e r a f t e r 1972 ;

a t f i r s t , he wo rked c l ose l y w i th the a r t i s t s , pu t t i ng sound tothe i r t apes , bu t he has been expe r i men t i ng a l l a l ong w i th imageso f h i s own as we l l . Mos t o f h i s i mage r y i s gene ra t ed by aud i o

equ i pmen t tha t has been connec t ed to the v i deo gea r . He ta l ks

abou t h i s l a t es t wo r k :

. . . I ' ve been do i ng some th i ngs send i ng an aud ios i gna l i n to a mach i ne we have a t the Cen t e r ca l l eda m i xe r , a co l o r i ze r , and a keye r . I t t akes aud i o

s i gna l s f rom

the osc i l l a to r i ns i de the aud io syn -the s i ze r and changes them i n to bands o f va r i ousw i d ths and expans i ons on the sc reen and pu t s co lo rin , so the co l o r ge t s m i xed in go rgeous a r rays . . . .I ' ve even begun to use the came r a and to m i x aud i o -c r ea t ed images w i th came ra i mages . The aud i o th i ngsw i l l go r i gh t th rough the came ra i mages and makes t range new co l o rs .

H i s i dea i s to make a wo rk tha t i s to t a l l y i n t eg ra t edau r a l l y and v i sua l l y . He f ee l s the two shou l d comp l emen t each

o the r comp l e t e l y . Thep rob l e

mi s to ba l ance the wo r k so tha t

bo th v i sua l s and aud i o a re i n t e res t i ng . He exp l a i ns :

In a l o t o f these expe r i men t s , I 'm no t even pu t -t i ng the sound on because the sound i s dumb . Theth i ng abou t sound i s , i t ' s so comp l ex tha t wheni t ' s rep resen t ed in images , the images a re socomp l ex , they become chaos . Whe r eas the s imp l es tsounds make the c l ea res t images . . . . The r e ' s a l o to f ac t i v i t y in sounds and i t becomes b l u r r y v i su -a l l y ; i t l ooks l i ke no i se . So the s i mp l es t sounds ,l i ke s i ng l e tones , make the bes t i mages . . . wo r k i ngw i th sounds you ac tua l l y wan t to use and save i sa p rob l em .

Jepson exp l a i ns the reasons he i s l ook i ng fo r d i rec t re -l a t i onsh i ps be tween sound and image . Many v i deo and f i lm a r t i s t s



make the v i sua l pa r t o f the i r wo rk , and then se t i t to t rad i t i ona l

mus i c to g i ve i t s t ruc tu re :

Even go i ng back to the 1920 ' s , the abs t rac t

f i l ms tha t we re made then r e l i ed on sound fo r

the i r fo rm .

EvenWa l t

Di sney ' s Fan t as i aMus i c has a l ways been a mov i ng a r t , and v i sua l s

had a l ways been s t a t i c , so when v i sua l s go t to

mov i ng , they needed tha t fo rm tha t mus i c i ans

have so l ved - i t g i ves suppo r t to the v i sua l

a r t i s t s . I t ' s t i me fo r v i sua l a r t i s t s to f i nd

the i r own mov i ng fo rm , pac i ng , and deve lopmen t ,

and f i gu re ou t wha t they need to do to make an

ex i s t ing wo rk w i thou t sound , o r w i th sound , bu t

on i t s own t e rms .

One o f the f ew t imes the wo rk o f the cen t e r was exh i b i t ed

in the San F r anc i sco commun i t y was when Don Ha l l ock bu i l t h i s

"V i deo l a " for an exh i b i t i on a t the San F r anc i sco Museum o f A r t

in the summe r o f 1973 . The V i deo l a was a cons t ruc t i on tha t

expanded the i mage f rom one t e l ev i s i on mon i to r so tha t a l a rge

aud i ence cou l d wa t ch i t . I t was essen t i a l l y a wooden py ram i d

l a i d on i t s s i de so tha t i t l ooked l i ke a huge megaphone open i ng

ou t towa rd the aud i ence . A t the back , a t the apex o f the py ra -

m i d , was a t e l ev i s i on mon i to r . The i ns i des o f the py r am i d we re

l i ned w i th m i r ro r s , so tha t the i mage on the mon i to r was madeka l e i doscop i c . Howeve r , the f ace t s o f the image d i dn ' t go o f f

a t s t ra i gh t ang l es ; the image ben t and became a c i rc l e , so tha t

f ace t s seemed to fo rm a sphe re . Fo r pe r fo rmances , a l l the l i gh t s

in the rooms we r e tu rned o f f and the ou t e r f rame o f the py r am i d

was masked w i th b l ack . The aud i ence cou l d l ook in and see wha t

appea red to be a huge sphe re o f sh i f t ing , d i sso l v i ng , l um i nous

co l o rs , suspended in da rk space . I t was espec i a l l y success fu l

because i t exp r essed the v i deo images in dema t e r i a l i zed , a lmos t

June Pa i k has exp l a i ned the d i f f e rence

v i deo a r t as the d i f f e rence be tween ma -

one uses ob j ec t s obv i ous l y con t ro l l ed by

Bu t the po t en t i a l l y we i gh t l ess

nonphys i ca l t e rms . Nambe tween k i ne t i c a r t and

ch ines and e l ec t ron i cs ;

g r av i t y and the o the r does no t .

32



qua l i t y o f the v i deo image i s o f t en a l t e red by i t s p resen t a t i onas a sma l l image in a p i ece o f fu rn i tu re in a l i t room . TheV i deo l a dev i ce a l l owed the image to f l oa t . "V i deo l a " was a ve r ysuccess fu l exh i b i t i on : two hund r ed peop l e cou l d wa t ch i t a t one

t i me , and Ha l l oc k es t ima t es tha t 24 , ooo peop l e in a l l saw the show .The cen t e r ' s me thod o f ope r a t i on was to l im i t the numbe r

o f peop l e wo rk i ng the re so tha t those peop l e cou l d wo r k ve r yf r ee l y and cons t an t l y , l ea rn i ng g radua l l y , as new equ i pmen t wasbu i l t and acqu i red , how to bu i l d new pa t t e rns o f i mages . Th i smean t tha t ve r y f ew peop l e had access to the equ i pmen t . S i ncep rac t i ca l l y no i nd i v i dua l has the means to own such equ i pmen tpe r sona l l y , o the r a r t i s t s i n the Bay a rea tu rned to sma l l - fo rma t ,

po r t ab l e b l ack -and -wh i t e equ i pmen t . As i f to f i l l the vacuum ,ano the r cen t e r appea r ed to suppor t th i s k i nd o f v i deo .

The d i r ec to r o f the de Sa i sse t A r t Ga l l e r y a t the Un i -ve r s i t y o f San t a C l a ra i s Lyd i a Mod i V i t a l e , who i s ve r y i n t e r -es t ed in exh i b i t i ng many fo rms o f avan t -ga rde a r t . In the w i n t e ro f 1971 -1972 , she h i r ed Geo rge Bo l l i ng as v i deo cu ra to r a t thede Sa i sse t , and g r adua l l y the ga l l e r y became the s t ead i es t cen t e ro f concep tua l v i deo i n the Bay a r ea . The re was a f l ou r i sh i ng con -

cep tua l a r t scene in San F ranc i sco a t tha t t ime , and Bo l l i ng i n t ro -duced seve r a l o f the a r t i s t s to v i deo , and even d id the v i deo formany o f the i r ea r l y t apes . The fou r mos t cons i s t en t wo rke r s inthe med i um have been Howa rd F r i ed , Joe l G l assman , Te r r y Fox , andPau l Kos . Bo l l i ng has he l d a cons t an t s t ream o f exh i b i t i ons o fv i deo f rom a l l ove r the coun t r y . Whe re Dav i d Ross ' s s t reng th i sto o rgan i ze l a rge , democ ra t i c exh i b i t i ons tha t g i ve exposu r e toa l a rge numbe r o f wo rks , Bo l l i ng ' s i s to be c r i t i ca l l y se l ec t i ve ,

o rgan i z i ng one -pe rson or sma l l -g roup shows .Howa rd F r i ed ' s wo r k i s i n t r i gu i ng and ra the r un i que in the

concep tua l v i deo wo r l d . H i s t apes a re ca re fu l l y s t ruc tu red pe r -fo rmances , wh i ch have go t t en mo re and mo re comp l ex w i th t ime . Inh i s ea r l y t apes , F r i ed h i mse l f i s the p ro t agon i s t , and du r i ng the

3 3



cou r se o f the wo r k p i t s h i mse l f aga i ns t some soc i a l s t ruc tu r e ,

t r y i ng to f i gu re ou t a way o f p roceed i ng . An examp l e i s Sea

Se l l Sea S i ck a t Saw Sea Soa r , a fo r t y -m i nu t e b l ack - and -wh i t e

t ape done in 1971 . F r i ed i s sea t ed a t a t ab l e , t ry i ng to run

the gaun t l e t o f cho i ces wh i l e o rde r i ng in a res t au r an t . He

keeps answe r i ng the wa i t e r ' s ques t i ons w i th mo re ques t i ons ,

"Wha t k i nd o f p i e do you have '? " . . . "Wha t i s the d i f f e rence be tween

B ig Bu rge r s and Jumbo Bu rge r s? " . . . "You don ' t have Coke? " - un t i l

the wa i t e r becomes annoyed and asks ano the r to t ake the o rde r .

F r i ed exaspe ra t es th i s wa i t e r as we l l , and the two wa i t e r s beg i n

to t ake tu rns t r y i ng to ge t the o rde r . Th i s goes on i n t e rm i nab l y .

The t ab l e w i th F r i ed i s on a sw i ng pa r a l l e l to the came ra , as a re

the two wa i t e r s . The came ra i t se l f i s on a th i rd sw i ng so tha t

the ac t i on i n the i mage i s as pe r s i s t en t l y sh i f t i ng and i ncon -

c l us i ve as the ac t i on i n the pe r fo rmance . G radua l l y , the scene

comes to have b roade r imp l i ca t i ons ; F r i ed seems l i ke the ba t t e r ed

v i c t i m o£ a cease l ess i n t e r roga t i on . H i s de f ense i s to be pas s i ve ,

to no t orde r , and i t f i na l l y wo rks : one o f the wa i t e r s qu i t s i n

d i sgus t , and one o f the va r i ab l es o f a s i tua t i on tha t seems to

be no th i ng bu t va r i ab l es i s e l i m i na t ed .

F r i ed has a s t a r t l i ng ab i l i t y to choose s i ng l e s i tua t i ons

tha t seem to ho l d i mp l i c i t l y many i ssues o f i ns t i tu t i ona l and

i nd i v i dua l san i t y ; a t base , he i s exam i n i ng the ro l e dec i s i on

mak i ng p rocedu res p l ay in s t ruc tu r i ng san i t y .

Joe l G l assman has deve l oped a ve r y d i f f e ren t s t y l e . He

began on the Ea s t Coas t - he d i d bo th l i gh t scu l p tu r e and sequences

o£ pho tog raphs . H i s l a t es t t ape , D reams , i s a co l l age o f images

tha t i s somewha t s im i l a r to t apes be i ng made a t the p r esen t t i me

by a f ew o the r peop l e i n the coun t r y . The ea r l y concep tua l t apes

tha t exp l o red spec i f i c aspe c t s o f pe rcep t i on ha ve g i ven way i n

some cases to an i n t e res t in how one pe r ce i ves th rough t ime , how

one bu i l ds up memo r i es . A t one end o f th i s g roup o f a r t i s t s i s



the i n fo rma t i on -co l l age wo r k o f I ra Schne i de r ; a t the o the r enda re the i n t ense l y pe r sona l t apes o f L i sa S t ee l e and Co l i n Campbe l lin To ron to . G l assman ' s t ape i s somewhe re in be tween . We a re showna se r i es o f i mages tha t seem to be l ong to one man ' s expe r i ence -

the wa l l s o f a pa r t i cu l a r room , c l ouds , pa r t i cu l a r b i t s o f l and -scape , w r i t t en no t es . Some o f the i mages a re pe r s i s t en t and seemto have spec i a l powe r or s i gn i f i cance , as do ce r t a i n images in ad r eam . Scenes r eappea r aga i n and aga in , a l t e r ed s l i gh t l y by wha tcame be fo r e them , and a l t e red as we l l by wha t one he a r s as onesees them . G l assman t akes pa i ns t ak i ng ca re w i th the sound and i sve r y awa re tha t wha t we he a r shapes wha t we read i n to a scene ;

seem i ng l y i nnocen t scenes can send sh i ve rs down you r sp i ne whenyou hea r man i c l augh t e r , sobs , wh i spe r s i n the backg round .

G l assman shows tha t v i deo t ape can be used to p rov i de ame t apho r fo r one ' s consc iousness . Images can be s t rung a l ongth rough t ime , pa r a l l e l i ng the m i nd ' s ab i l i t y to reca l l i mages .

Ac tua l even t s and ac t i ons a re no t reca l l ed in a pu re o r neu t r a ls t a t e bu t up th rough the sw i r l o f i mages ex i s t ing i n the m i nd ,co l o red by wha t one was th i nk i ng o f ea r l i e r .

In add i t i on to these two cen t e r s , NCET and the de Sa i sse t

the re we re o the r ac t i v i t i es go i ng on in the Bay a rea as we l l . TVTVhad i t s headqua r t e r s in San F ranc i sco fo r a f ew yea r s , and an exce ll en t documen t a r y g roup , Op t i c Ne r ve , ex i s - t s the r e today , as we l l as

we r e mo r e d i r ec t l y and ac t i ve l y pa r t o f the

o f the l a t e 1960 ' s and ea r l y 1970 ' s than wasthe de Sa i sse t , bu t i t wou l d be w rong to say

1 35

An t Fa rm , a med i a g roup tha t has made many t apes and he l d exh i b i t i ons .

S t i l l ano the r g roup , V i deo F ree Ame r i ca , was co - founded by Sk i pSweeney and A r thu r G i nsbu rg . They have made documen t a r y v i deot apes , moun t ed e l abo r a t e ga l l e r y i ns t a l l a t i ons , i nnova t ed wayso f us i ng v i deo w i th l i ve the a t e r , and he l d r egu l a r l y schedu l ed v i ew -

i ngs o f t apes . They

v i deo coun t e rcu l tu r e

e i the r the cen t e r or

they we re mo re i n t e res t ed in po l i t i cs than a r t . They used wha t



was a t f i r s t ve r y l i m i t ed equ i pmen t and c rea t ed ve r y beau t i fu l

v i deo . Sweeney , fo r examp l e , th rough hou r s and hou rs o f t i nke r i ng

w i th knobs , became one o f the hand fu l o f peop l e to mas t e r f eedback .

A no t e abou t f eedback : the r e a re many , many f eedback t apes .

A l mos t eve r y a r t i s t wen t th rough a pe r i od o f do ing f eedback , i f

on l y because i t i s one o f the s imp l es t ways to c rea t e powe r fu l l y

l y r i ca l , abs t rac t image r y g i ven on l y a came ra and a mon i to r . I t

i s pu r e v i deo : the came r a i s tu rned to p i ck up the image on the

f ace o f the mon i to r tha t i s d i sp l ay i ng tha t came ra ' s image . A

c l osed c i r cu i t has been es t ab l i shed , so wha t you ge t i s an imageo f a mon i to r w i th i n a mon i to r , and so on , an i n f i n i t e l y r epea t i ng

image . By t i l t i ng the came ra and by a l t e r i ng the con t ro l s for

b r i gh tness , e t c . , abs t r ac t pa t t e rns a re fo rmed . The re a re so

many va r i ab l es in the image tha t i t i s ve r y d i f f i cu l t to con t ro l ;

the p i c tu re cons t an t l y " sp ins ou t . " A ve r y cha r ac t e r i s t i c f eed -

back image i s o f a vo r t ex , an e l ec t ron i c wh i r l poo l . In p r ac t i ced

hands , such as Sweeney ' s , th i s can become a sh i mme r i ng , i n t e rweav i ng

manda l a .

Sea t t l e

Sea t t l e shou l d se r ve as an examp l e to b i gge r a r t cen t e rs :

some t imes the sma l l e r p l aces can do th i ngs be t t e r . The r e i s a

g roup o f peop l e the re who a re no t assoc i a t ed in a fo rma l way -

Anne Focke runs an a r t ga l l e r y , Ron C i ro and C l i f f H i l l house wo r k

fo r the l oca l pub l i c t e l ev i s i on s t a t i on KCTS -TV , and B i l l R i t ch i e

i s a p ro f esso r a t the Un i ve r s i t y o f Wash i ng ton - bu t who sha re an

i n t e res t in v ideo , keep in touch w i th each o the r , and make th i ngs

happen . They wo rk on a modes t sca l e , no t suppo r t ed by huge ins t i -

tu t i ons or g ran t s , bu t they pe r seve r e and make , o r he l p make pos s i -

b l e , ma r ve l ous t apes .

Anne Focke used to wo r k for the Sea t t l e Ar t Museum and found

he r se l f p roduc i ng shows abou t a r t fo r loca l TV . Two yea r s ago , she

b roke away and es t ab l i shed an i ndependen t , nonp ro f i t a r t ga l l e r y

36



ca l l ed and /o r . As the ga l l e r y ' s name sugges t s , Focke has a p l u ra l i s t ,

open app roach to con t empo ra r y a r t and shows a w i de va r i e t y o f wo r k .

She has , howeve r , been espec i a l l y i n t e res t ed in v i deo . She has

he l ped a r t i s t s ge t t ime to use the KCTS s tud i os and has shown bo th

l oc a l l y known and na t i ona l l y f amous v i deo a r t i s t s i n he r ga l l e r y

.

A t KCTS , Ron C i ro has wo rked w i th Anne Focke to ge t a r t i s t s

i n to the s tud i o . He has a l so encou raged C l i f f H i l l house , a s t a t i on

eng i nee r , to wo rk on h i s own v i deo quan t i ze r / co l o r i ze r . C i ro and

H i l l house bo th v i s i t ed the Na t i ona l Cen t e r in San F ranc i sco as pa r t

o f i t s i n t e rnsh i p p rog ram , and a re now exc i t ed abou t expe r i men t i ng

w i th v i deo image ry . KCTS -TV ' s equ i pmen t i s b l ack - and -wh i t e , bu t

C i ro and H i l l house a re eage r to wo r k in co l o r . C l i f f wo rks du r i ng

h i s o f f -hou r s bu i l d i ng new

equ i pmen t based

onc i rcu i t des i gns the

Na t i ona l Cen t e r gave h i m . He makes one th i nk the shy ga rage in -

ven to r , who wo r ks unsuppo r t ed by mas s i ve r esea rch and deve l opmen t

money , i s s t i l l a l i ve and we l l in Ame r i ca , even today . H i s on l y

p rob l em i s f i nd i ng money to v i s i t o the r eng i ne e r s de s i gn i ng newv i deo equ i pmen t so they won ' t dup l i ca t e each o the r ' s wo r k .

B i l l R i t ch i e i s a p ro f esso r o f f i ne a r t s a t the Un i ve r s i t y

o f Wash i ng ton . He t eaches p r i n t mak i ng mos t o f the t ime , and

v i deo pa r t o f the t ime

. He

i sve r y

wi de l y read and

i n t e res t ed in

how v i deo f i t s i n to the h i s to r y o f a r t i n gene ra l and p r in t mak i ng

i n pa r t i cu l a r . He has done one o f the two or th ree bes t f eedback

tapes i n the movemen t . I t i s " seeded " f eedback ; tha t i s , i t i s

based on an ou t s i de image , i n th i s case tha t o f a p r in t R i t ch i e

d id ca l l ed Nay Fa the r ' s Fa rm . In a f eedback se tup , the image tu rns

i n to ve r y r i ch , s t r eam i ng co lo rs . R i t ch i e ' s f r i end Ca r l Chew pu t

h i s hand in f ron t o f the mon i to r , so in the f i na l t ape i t looks as

i fh i s hands a re fo r

mi ng and

mode l i ng the f l o

wo f co lo rs

: thet ape

i s ca l l ed The Hands o f Ca r l Chew on ' "My Fa the r ' s Fa rm . " Feedback

i s made by peop l e , bu t ra re l y does a human fo rm seem to have any

pa r t i n i t v i sua l l y : i n th i s t ape i t ach i eves a wonde r fu l m i x .

37



Da l l as

Da l l as i s the l oc a t i on o f one o f the th ree ma j o r sa t e l l i te

cen t e rs se t up by the Na t i ona l Cen t e r . (The o the r two a re a t

Sou the rn I l l i no i s Un i ve r s i t y , d i rec t ed by Jon Moo rman , and the

Rhode I s l and Schoo l o f Des i gn , d i rec t ed by Bob Junge l s . ) I t i s

run by Dav i d Dowe and Je r r y Hun t . Dowe was a d i rec to r a t the pub l i c

t e l ev i s i on s t a t i on in Da l l as when he wen t to the Na t i ona l Cen t e r to

be in i t s i n t e rnsh i p p rog ram . He wen t back to Da l l as exc i t ed abou t

expe r i men t a l t e l ev i s i on ; for a wh i l e he conduc t ed wo rkshops bo th

a t Channe l 13 and Sou the rn Me thod i s t Un i ve r s i t y , bu t even tua l l y he

sh i f t ed the who l e ope ra t i on to SMU . Je r r y Hun t ' s f i e l d i s mus i c ,

and he has se t up an e l ec t ron i c mus i c s tud i o /wo rkshop a l ongs i de

Dowe ' s v i deo s tud i o a t SMU . The two men bu i l d the i r own equ i pmen t

d a re cons t an t l y e l abo ra t i ng upon , imp rov i ng , and resyn the s i z ing

the i r mach i nes . Some o f the i r mos t exc i t i ng wo rk has be en done in

pe r fo rmance , p l ay i ng the i r aud i o and v i deo syn thes i ze r s toge the r .

They have g i ven conce r t s in the U .S . and Canada , and have made a

Eu ropean tou r as we l l .

I t i s obv i ous tha t bo th men sha re a ra re se t o f t a l en t s ;

no t on l y a re they i nvo l ved in p i onee r i ng t echn i ca l wo rk , bu t t he y ,

a re a l so capab l e o f exp l a i n i ng wha t they ha ve done - they a re bo rn

t eache rs . In add i t i on to a mas t e r fu l , da rk l y symbo l i c t ape ,

P roc ess i on , the y p roduced a l i gh thea r t ed E l ec t ron i c No t ebook t ape

fo r the Na t i ona l Cen t e r , wh i ch exp l a i ns in a ma r ve l ous l y c l ea r way

wha t f eedback i s .

M i nneapo l i s

J i m By rne was j us t ou t o f a r t schoo l when he a t t ended a

Na t i ona l V i deo t ape Fes t i va l Wo r kshop he l d a t the M i nneapo l i s

Co l l ege o f Ar t and Des i gn . He says he had been a t l oose ends ,

dep r essed by a l l the "bad a r t " he saw be i ng p roduced . The t eache r s

a t the wo r kshop i nc l uded Pe t e r Campus , and By rne was i mmed i a t e l y

38



imp ressed by h i s wo r k . He became Campus ' s s tuden t and wo r ked w i th

h i m for a yea r and a ha l f ; he i s wo r k i ng i ndependen t l y now . In a

sense , he i s i n a second gene ra t i on o f v i deo a r t i s t s .

H i s wo r k r em i nds one o f Campus ' s i n tha t he does bo th in -

s t a l l a t i ons and t apes , and h i s t apes a re conc i se s t a t emen t s o f t en

made us i ng one spec i a l e f f ec t ob t a i nab l e on l y i n v i deo . One o f the

t apes By rne p roduced in 1974 , Tangen t , i s t yp i ca l . To s t a r t , he

ha s p r e r eco rded an image o f h i mse l f mov i ng abou t a space . Some -

t i mes he comes up c l ose to the came r a and s t a res ou t so tha t one

sees on l y h i s head ; some t imes he wa l ks back and s t ands aga i ns t a

f a r wa l l . In Tangen t , By rne p l ays th i s t ape on a mon i to r , then

t apes h i mse l f p i ck i ng up the mon i to r and r eac t i ng to the image ,

compa r i ng h i s space to the image o f h i mse l f in the space on the

mon i to r . Some t imes he ho l ds the mon i to r up to the came ra so the

f rame ma t che s the f rame o f "ou r " mon i to r : i t l ooks as i f the p re -

r eco rded image i s p l ay i ng d i r ec t l y on ou r mon i to r . Then he tw i s t s

the mon i to r back so on l y one s i de o f i t co i nc i des w i th ou r mon i to r .

The space bo th i ns i de and ou t s i de ou r mon i to r seems to wa rp . Wha t

By rne has done i s c rea t e a se t o f powe r fu l i l l us i ons tha t make ou r

space seem to mee t t angen t i a l l y w i th the spaces in the mon i to r .

Wa t ch i ng the t ape changes the way you th i nk abou t the i l l us i on o f

the TV i mage . By p r esen t i ng us w i th such a c l ea r , rea l space and

pe rson , h i mse l f , By rne has opened a doo r - he has a l l owed us to

compa re ou r own env i ronmen t w i th tha t on a t e l ev i s i on mon i to r and

so has d i sp l ayed i t s i l l us i on to us .

By rne wo rks a l one in M i nneapo l i s and some o f h i s wo rk has

been shown a t the Wa l ke r A r t Cen t e r the r e . The re i s an exce l l en t

v i deo access cen t e r i n M i nneapo l i s , the Un i ve r s i t y Commun i t y V i deo

Cen t e r a t the

Un i ve r s i t y o f

Mi nneso t a . They have one -ha l f - i nch

v i deo t ape equ i pmen t , bo th for reco rd i ng and ed i t i ng , and By rne

d i d h i s f i rs t wo rk on the i r equ i pmen t .



Ha l i f ax

The Nova Sco t i a Co l l ege o f Ar t and Des i gn i n Ha l i f ax i s

run by Ga r r y Ne i l l Kennedy , an a r t i n t e rna t i ona l i s t . He i nv i t es

a r t i s t s f rom many p l aces to come to NSCAD to t each , and consequen t l y

the schoo l comb i nes a beau t i fu l seapor t l oca t i on w i th a cosmopo l i t an

t each i ng p rog ram . The schoo l has ve r y modes t v i deo equ i pmen t , a l l

b l ack and wh i t e , some po r t apak , and the i dea has been to conduc t a

pu rpose fu l i nves t i ga t i on o f the med i um . A r ev i ew o f t apes made a t

the schoo l s i nc e 1970 i s a m i n i - r ev i ew o f the gene ra l cou r se con -

cep tua l a r t has t aken ove r the pas t f i ve yea r s .

The f i r s t t apes done , in Pa t Ke l l y ' s t each i ng c l asses , a re

ve r y s t ra i gh t fo rwa rd exp l o ra t i ons o f the med i um , w i th membe r s o f

the c l ass t r y i ng ou t d i f f e ren t ways o f f i l l i ng the mon i to r ' s space

w i th the i r bod i es . Soon the t apes revea l a sea rch for a way to

s t ruc tu re t i me and even t s , and th i s o f t en t akes the fo rm o f coun t -

i ng o r repea t i ng so the s t ruc tu re i s as se l f - ev i den t as poss i b l e .

Some t apes exam i ne mo re spec i f i c p rob l ems , l i ke sound - i mage re -

l a t i onsh i ps .

Fo r examp l e , in Dav i d Askevo l d ' s F i l l , the a r t i s t w raps

p i eces o f fo i l a round a m i c rophone head ; as the image ( the s i l ve r

ba l l o f fo i l ) i nc reases , the sound ( the rus t l e o f fo i l on the m i ke )

becomes mu f f l ed and de c reases . As he removes the p i eces o f fo i l

one by one , the p rocess i s r eve r sed .

A second se r i es o f t apes , done s i nce 1974 , a re c l eane r ,

t i gh t e r , mo re po l i shed p roduc t s based on the ea r l y exp l o ra t i ons .

An examp l e i s Lau ren Bu t l e r ' s Un t i t l ed . We see ba r e f ee t wa l k i ng

a round on wh i t e pape r . The pe r son i s ca r r y i ng a bucke t f i l l ed

w i th da rk l i qu i d ; f rom t ime to t ime the pe r son pu t s h i s / he r f ee t

i n to the bucke t to dye them , so the f ee t l eave t racks on the pape r .We can on l y see the pa c i ng f ee t and foo tp r i n t s - we can ' t see the

edges o f the pape r . F i na l l y , the pe r son wa l ks o f f the pape r , the

came r a zooms back , and we see the foo tp r i n t s spe l l ou t "one s t ep

a t a t ime . "



The mos t recen t t apes i nd i ca t e a new , mo re pe r sona l d i rec t i on .

One , by Dede Bazyck , was i n the "Sou th l and V i deo An tho l ogy . " I t i s

a su r rea l j ou rna l , a co l l ec t i on o f v i v i d l i t t l e imp ress i ons and

ac t ions s t rung toge the r th rough t i me by the a r t i s t .

To ron to

Ano the r cen t e r fo r v i deo ac t i v i t y i n Canada i s i n To ron to .

I t i s focused a round two o rgan i za t i ons in the c i t y . The f i r s t i s

a g roup o f th ree a r t i s t s , M i chae l T ims , Ron Gabe , and Jo rge Sa i a ,

who ca l l themse l ves Gene ra l Idea . They a re engaged in many ac t i v -

i t i es , bu t mos t o f them cen t e r a round l oc a t i ng and res t ag i ng con -

t empo r a r y r i tua l s . Fo r examp l e , f rom 1968 to 1971 , they s t aged

annua l M i ss Gene ra lIde a

pagean t s based on the r i tua l o f M i ssAny th i ng beau t y pagean t s , and managed to emb ro i de r an e l abo r a t e

s t a t emen t abou t the con t empo ra r y i conog raphy o f g l amou r . They a re

now i nvo l ved i n a comp l i ca t ed campa i gn o f maneuve r s and p repa ra t i ons

fo r the i r b i gges t even t , the M i ss Gene ra l Idea pagean t o f 1984 .

They f i r s t used v i deo in

have con t i nued to use i t

w i th m i r ro r s and made an

V i deo . Two m i r ro r s a re se tup oppos i t e each o the r a t the wa t e r ' s

edge on a l akesho re . The m i r ro r s a re t i l ted , c rea t i ng i n f i n i t e

echoes o f re f l ec t i ons (a pu re examp l e o f none l ec t ron i c f eedback ) .

The came ra zooms s l ow l y in

neve r sure how deep ins ide

when the came ra d raws back

I t i s a sho r t , pe r f ec t l y c r a f t ed wo r k tha t cap i t a l i zes on the seem -i ng t r anspa r ency and c l a r i t y o f wa t e r , m i r ro r s , and l i gh t to d i s -

o r i en t the v i ewe r .

One membe r o f the group , M i chae l T ims , has a l so o rgan i zed

a med i a d i s t r i bu t i on system ca l l ed Ar t Me t ropo l e . They have a

h i gh l y se l ec t i ve ca t a l ogue l i s t i ng an exce l l en t g roup o f books ,

f i l ms , and v i deo t apes . The i r v i deo t ape d i s t r i bu t i on i s hand l ed

1970 to documen t tha t yea r ' s pagean t and

o f f and on . They have wo r ked a g rea t de a l

exqu i s i t e t ape i n 1970 ca l l ed Doub l e -M i r ro r

and ou t o f the m i r ro r i mages ; one i s

the i l l us i on one i s un t i l the ve r y end ,

f rom the m i r ro r re f l ec t i on a l toge the r .



by Peggy Ga l e , who was un t i l r ecen t l y the head o f v i deo fund ing fo r

the Canada Counc i l .

Ano the r cen t e r in To ron to i s A Space , an a r t ga l l e r y tha t

suppo r t s v i deo and has a l i b ra r y o f t apes . Pa r ked unde r the ga l l e r y

i s a van w i th a s tud i o co lo r came ra and ed i t i ng equ i pmen t ; th i s van

p rov i des access to equ i pmen t fo r l oca l a r t i s t s . One pe r son who uses

the equ i pmen t i s Te r r y McG l ade , who wo r ks mos t l y w i th dance . He

has made a w i de va r i e t y o f i n t e res t i ng t apes exp l o r i ng a l l k i nds o f

dance - v i deospace re l a t i onsh i ps .

In add i t i on , To ron to i s becom i ng a cen t e r fo r a new l y eme rg -

ing k i nd o f v i deo . B i t s o f i t ex i s t e l sewhe r e - in some o f the t apes

f rom the "Sou th l and V i deo An tho l ogy , " in Joe l G l assman ' s wo rk i n

San F ranc i sco , and i n some t apes made in the l as t yea r o r two i n

New Yo r k C i t y . In To ron to , two a r t i s t s i n pa r t i cu l a r , L i sa S t ee l e

and Co l i n Campbe l l , ha ve concen t ra t ed on i t . A l l these a r t i s t s

sha re a conce rn w i th f i nd i ng ways o f s t ruc tu r i ng au tob i og r aph i ca l

ma t e r i a l in new , nonna r r a t i ve ways . In S t ee l e ' s and Campbe l l ' s wo rk ,

recen t tapes s t r i ng toge the r a se r i es o f i mages , o r qu i e t even t s .O f t en the a r t i s t appea r s as the so l e pe r son i n the t apes ; a l mos t

a l ways one he a r s h i s o r he r vo i ce , t e l l i ng you the " s to ry . " O f t en

the re a re r ecu r r i ng images , ones tha t seem to have a spec i a l ho l d

on the a r t i s t ' s m i nd .

L i sa S t ee l e pu t s he r ob j ec t i ves c l ea r l y :

I go t s i ck o f peop l e po r t ray i ng d r eams as foggy

d r y - i ce -and -wa t e r t ype scenes . D r eams a ren ' t

l i ke tha t . They a re c r ys t a l c l ea r . Th ey j us t

seem to fo l l ow a l og i c o f the i r own . I ' m t r y i ng

to recons t ruc t tha t log i c in my t apes .

Th i s i s rem i n i scen t o f G l assman ' s recen t t ape , D r eams , bu t

he rs a re even mo r e d i rec t l y pe r sona l , s i nce the a r t i s t o f t en l ooks

d i r ec t l y ou t a t the v i ewe r .

Campbe l l and S t ee l e base the i r t apes on eve r yday v i sua l r ea l i t y .

No th i ng a t a l l ex t rao rd i na r y i s pu t i n f ron t o f the came ra phys i ca l l y -

42



Campbe l l shows us the v i ew f rom h i s w i ndow , S t ee l e exam i ne s he r

p l an t co l l ec t i on . I t i s the means o f show i ng these th i ngs , the

o rde r and way in wh i ch we a re asked to pe rce i ve them tha t i s

ex t rao rd i na r y . I t r em i nds one o f Ana l y t i c Cub i sm : P i casso and

B r aque we r e a l so i n t e res t ed in pe rcep t i on i t se l f , in how peop l e

t ake in i n fo rma t i on . Howeve r , the means o f dep i c t i ng th i s , the

new t echn i ques , i s so s t range to l ook a t a t f i r s t tha t the r e wasthe dange r peop l e wou l dn ' t be ab l e to " read " the pa i n t i ngs a t a l l .

The re fo re , the pa i n t e r s used as a fo i l for the i r new mode recog -

n i zab l e eve r yday con t en t - gu i t a r s , co f f ee cups , w i neg l asses ,

peop l e . Much o f the f asc i na t i on o f these pa i n t i ngs comes f rom the

t ens i on be tween wha t you can recogn i ze and wha t i s new to you .

Some o f the new v i deo t apes do the same th i ng , a l be i t i n

d i f f e r en t ways . Campbe l l ' s and S t ee l e ' s wo r k shows you eve r yda y

phys i ca l r ea l i t y in new sequences ; they a re us i ng bo th the came ra ' s

ab i l i t y to reco rd ou r da i l y l i v i ng env i ronmen t and i t s ab i l i t y to

s t ruc tu re th i s i n fo rma t i on th rough t ime to cons t ruc t new modes o f

pe rcep t i on .

New Yo r k S t a t e

Ow i ng l a rge l y to suppo r t f rom the New Yo rk S t a t e Counc i l fo r

the A r t s , New Yo rk S t a t e has the mos t ene rge t i c and d i ve r se range

o f v i deo ac t i v i t i es o f any a rea i n th i s coun t r y o r Canada . Mos t

o f the ac t i v i t y s t a r t ed in the ea r l y yea r s -o f the v i deo movemen t in

New Yo rk C i t y . Ove r the yea rs , peop l e l e f t the c i t y for sma l l e r

commun i t i es and se t up sma l l g roups and o rgan i za t i ons , each w i th

i t s own pe rspec t i ve .

The Cen t e r for Expe r i men t a l Te l ev i s i on i s i n B i ngham ton .

I t ex i s t s comp l e t e l y i ndependen t l y o f SUNY , bu t a p ro f esso r f romthe un i ve r s i t y , Ra l ph Hock i ng , runs i t . He i s as s i s ted by She r r y

M i l l e r and R and D pe r sons Don McA r thu r and Dav i d Jones . I t i s

an access cen t e r - anyone can come in and check ou t equ i pmen t . t o

make any k i nd o f t ape . One o f Hock i ng ' s ma i n i n t e res t s , howeve r ,



i s for p rocessed co lo r image ry , and he has done a l l he can to - en -

cou rage tha t k i nd o f v i deo a t the cen t e r . Nam June Pa i k was the

f i r s t a r t i s t - in - res i dence , and he bu i l t h i s second syn the s i ze r the re .

La t e l y , the cu r ren t a r t i s t - i n - res i dence , Wa l t e r W r i gh t , who comes

f rom a compu t e r backg round , has been wo rk i ng w i th Hock i ng to des i gn

new equ i pmen t and bu i l d up an image bank . Th i s bank i s a co l l ec t i on

o f b l ack -and -wh i t e t apes tha t have been p rocessed in i nc reas i ng l y

soph i s t i ca t ed ways ; the r esu l t i ng images have t ru l y amaz i ng co l o rs

and so l a r i zed e f f ec t s . I t i s i n t e res t i ng to no t e tha t the image

bank ma t e r i a l i s no t pu re l y abs t rac t . W r i gh t f ee l s tha t compu t e r -

gene ra t ed a r t i s o f t en du l l . He says v i ewe r s can i n tu i t i ve l y com-

p l e t e the who l e pa t t e rn a f t e r hav i ng seen on l y a t i ny po r t i on , and

wa t ch i ng i t wo r k i t se l f ou t becomes bo r i ng . W r i gh t ' s bas i c b l ack -

and -wh i t e foo t age i s o f "na tu ra l " i mage ry , mov i ng wa t e r be i ng an

examp l e . The movemen t i s rhy thm i c and has a ce r t a i n r egu l a r i t y ,

bu t s i nce in na tu re the re a re so many va r i ab l es caus i ng mo t i on , i t

pa r adox i ca l l y a l so seems to have a random e l emen t , and so ho l ds

su rp r i se . One o f the mos t i n t r i gu i ng th i ngs abou t wa t ch i ng these

i mages i s tha t mos t o f one ' s ab i l i t y to recogn i ze the base i mage

th rough a l l the co l o r and spec i a l e f f ec t s i s dependen t upon i t s

movemen t ; one can a l ways recogn i ze r i pp l i ng wa t e r , whe r eas a s t i l l

f rame f rom the t ape wou l d be i l l eg i b l e , abs t rac t . W r i gh t has t rav -

e l ed a round the s t a t e , g i v i ng syn thes i ze r pe r fo rmances .

A second focus o f ac t i v i t y i n the s t a t e has been Sy r acuse .

The Eve r son Museum has had an amaz i ng numbe r o f exh i b i t i ons o f

many d i f f e r en t k i nds o f v i deo a r t , f i r s t unde r the d i rec t i on o f

Dav i d Ross and now unde r R i cha rd S i mmons . Many a r t i s t s have had

f i r s t one -pe rson shows the re . A l l in a l l , i t has been the cons i s -

t en t l y be s t p l ace on the Eas t Coas t to see new v i deo a r t . A l so i n

Sy r acuse i s Synapse , a ve r y posh , we l l - equ i pped cab l e sys t em a t the

un i ve r s i t y . S tuden t s the r e have rece i ved exce l l en t t echn i ca l t r a i n -

i ng . One o f them , John T r ayna , i s now the t echn i c i an a t E l ec t ron i c



A r t s In t e rm i x in New Yo rk C i t y ; ano the r , B i l l V i o l a , i s runn i ng

Ar t Tapes 22 in F l o rence , I t a l y .

Woods toc k Commun i t y V i deo i s d i r ec t ed by Ken Ma r sh . He wasan o r i g i na l membe r o f Peop l e ' s V i deo Thea t re , an ea r l y v i deo g roup

i n New Yo rk C i t y . In Woods tock , he has been comm i t t ed to ge t t i ng

a l t e rna t e ma t e r i a l on cab l e TV .

An i ndependen t , non i ns t i tu t i ona l g roup named Med i a Bus l i ve

i n Lanes v i l l e , New Yo rk . The i r roo t s a re a l so in the c i t y ; as the

V i deo f reex , they we re one o f the f i r s t g roups to fo rm . They moved

to Lanes v i l l e to see i f the y cou l d es t ab l i sh a genu i ne l y a l t e rna t i ve

t e l ev i s i on syst em for a sma l l commun i t y , and the y have l a rge l y suc -

ceeded . They have a r egu l a r Sa tu rda y -n i gh t show , fo r and abou t the

commun i t y . The membe r sh i p o f the g roup i s d i ve rse - the y do a l l

k i nds o f wo rk , f rom l oca l r epo r t i ng to v i deo games , and membe r s o f

the g roup do i nd i v i dua l c rea t i ve wo rk as we l l .

One o f the bes t "documen t a r y " t apes was made by Nanc y Ca i n

o f Med i a Bus . I t i s a ve r y sho r t p i ece t i t l ed Ha r r i e t . I t showsHa r r i e t , a Lanes v i l l e woman , a t home , t ak i ng ca re o f he r ch i l d ren ,

mak i ng beds , f i x i ng mea l s . He r l i f e seems made up o f ra the r du l l

wo rk , bu t she i s a ve r y sp i r i t ed and l i ve l y pe r son . A t the end o f

the t ape , she ac t s ou t a f an t asy fo r the came ra : she packs he r

bag , sc reams she ' s f ed up w i th Lanes v i l l e , jumps i n the ca r and

t akes o f f down the road , l augh i ng up roa r i ous l y , rad i o b l a r i ng .

I t was a ma r ve l ous documen t a ry o f the t ype p ro f ess i ona l documen t a r y

g roups a re on l y t a l k i ng abou t - a m i x tu r e o f f i c t i on , non f i c t i on ,

eve r yday rou t i ne and f an t asy , a l l o f wh i ch adds up to a mos t sens i -

t i ve po r t r a i t .

In r ecen t yea rs , Bu f f a l o has become a sma l l th i nk - t ank for

s tud i es in med i a . Th i s i s l a rge l y due to the ene rgy , en thus i asm ,

and amb i t i on o f Ge r a l d O 'Grady , who has se t up the Med i a S tudy

Cen t e r , an i ndependen t depa r tmen t w i th i n SUNY a t Bu f f a l o . He has

assemb l ed a f acu l t y tha t i nc l udes some o f the mos t i n t e res t i ng

peop l e wo rk i ng in f i lm and v i deo today - Pau l Sha r i t s and Ho l l i s

45



F ramp ton in f i lm , and Woody and S t e i na Vasu l ka in v i deo . O 'G rady

has a cons t an t schedu l e o f wo rkshops and con f e rences , l ec tu res and

v i ew i ngs . He i s i n t e res t ed i n a l l aspec t s o f med i a , f rom each ind i -

v i dua l wo rk to the ro l e a l l the mass med i a p l ay in ou r soc i e t y .

The Vasu l kas a r e p robab l y among the mos t though t fu l , i n t e3 l i -

gen t peop l e wo r k i ng in v ideo , and the i r wo rk i s cen t ra l to the bas i c

conce rns o f the med i um . S t e i na i s a v i o l i n i s t f rom I ce l and and Woody

i s a f i l m -make r f rom Czechos l ovak i a ; bo th ha ve been i n t e res t ed in

e l ec t ron i c a r t s o f a l l k i nds fo r a l ong t i me . They l i ved for seve r a l

yea r s in New Yo r k C i t y , whe r e the y se t up The K i t chen , a k i nd o f

f r ee - fo rm ga l l e r y and e l ec t ron i c -a r t s pe r fo rmance cen t e r , in the

summe r o f 1971 , and showed much ea r l y v i deo the re as we l l as he l p i ng

to o rgan i ze some o f the f i r s t v i deo t ape f es t i va l s .Woody remembe r s how they f e l t when they f i r s t began to use

v i deo :

Ou r con t ex t was no t r ea l l y a r t i s t i c when we s t a r t ed

to wo r k w i th v i deo . I t was ve r y f a r f rom wha t I

wou l d recogn i ze as a r t . . . . The re a re va r i ous mo t i ves

fo r peop l e who s tumb l e i n to v i deo . In some cases ,

i t was pu re acc i den t ; i n some cases , i t was hope .

In my case , I had been in th i ngs I cou l dn ' t wo r k

w i th . I was in f i lm , and I cou l dn ' t do any th i ng

w i th i t . I t was abso l u t e l y a c l osed med i um to me .

I was educa t ed in f i lm a t a f i lm schoo l . I wasexposed to a l l the na r r a t i ve s t ruc tu r es o f f i lm ,

bu t they we ren ' t rea l to me and I cou l dn ' t unde r -

s t and wha t i ndependen t f i lm was . - I was to t a l l y

l ocked i n to th i s i nab i l i t y to cope w i th the med i umI was t r a i ned in . So fo r me , v i deo rep resen t ed

be i ng ab l e to d i s r ega rd a l l tha t and f i nd newma t e r i a l wh i ch had no es the t i c con t en t or con t ex t .

When I f i r s t saw v i deo f eedback , I knew I had seen

the cave f i re . I t had no th i ng to do w i th any th i ng ,

j us t a pe rpe tua t i on o f some k i nd o f ene rgy . . . .

The Vasu l kas have done bo th "documen t a r y " and " abs t rac t " v i deo ove r

the yea r s : th i s d i scuss i on w i l l cove r on l y the l a t t e r . They s tuc k

to the i r guns - the re i s no d rama t i c s t ruc tu re in the i r wo rk ; the

t apes have f as t -mov i ng rhy thms , bu t sh i f t s occu r acco rd i ng to pe r -



mu t a t i ons in the way the image i s s t ruc tu red , no t acco rd i ng to anyd r ama t i c p l an .

Woody :

The f i r s t too l the Vasu l kas go t was a po r t apak ; the second was an

aud i o syn thes i ze r . They hooked the two up and some t imes cou l d usethe aud i o s i gna l to gene r a t e v i deo i mages , and some t i mes use thev i deo s i gna l to gene r a t e sounds .

S t e i na :

The i r ea r l y wo r k pu r sued two themes , acco rd i ng to S t e i na :

We app roached the a r t ma t e r i a l , mean i ng tha t wedea l t w i th vo l t ages and f r equenc i es . We a re de a l -i ng w i th the s igna l , tha t i s the aud i o s i gna l andthe v i deo s i gna l . . . .

Tha t was the f i r s t app roach we had . Second l y ,ano the r cha rac t e r i s t i c o f ou r wo r k has been acons i s t en t t rave l i ng o f the f rame , ho r i zon t a lt r ave l i ng .

Much abs t rac t v i deo i mage r y has the t endency to move ve r t i ca l l y .The Vasu l kas i ns i s t ed on mov i ng the i r s ho r i zon t a l l y , o f t en a l ongl i nes o f mon i to r s so i t l ooked as i f the i mage was t r ave l i ng downthe l i ne f rom one mon i to r to the nex t . Woody exp l a i ns :

A t tha t t ime I was to t a l l y obsessed w i th th i si de a tha t the r e was no s ing l e f rame anymo re . Icome f rom the mov i es , whe re the f rame was ex -t r eme l y r ig id , and I unde r s tood tha t e l ec t ron i cma t e r i a l has no l im i t a t i on w i th i n i t s ex i s t ence .I t on l y has l i m i t a t i on when i t reaches the sc reenbecause the sc reen i t se l f i s a r i g i d t ime s t ruc tu re .Bu t the e l ec t ro -magne t i c spec t rum i t se l f ex i s t s ,o rgan i zed or uno rgan i zed , to t a l l y in space . Con -f i n i ng i t i n a s i ng l e mon i to r i s l i ke a v i ewth rough a came ra , o r a s ing l e p ro j ec t i on f rame .

Wha t was rea l l y , t ru l y s i gn i f i can t to us a t tha tt ime was some th i ng nobody rea l l y de t ec t ed . Tha twas to make p i c tu r es by aud io f requenc i es , and toge t aud i o f r equenc i es ou t o f p i c tu r es .



A l l th i s gave us the i dea tha t the re was no t ru l y

r i g i d f rame , j us t pa r t i cu l a r o rgan i za t i ons o f t i meand ene rgy . The i mage i s f ed i n to a sound syn the -

s i ze r . . . the o rgan i za t i ona l ma rk i t se l f i s e l ec t ron i c .

Tha t ' s wha t we i n v i deo ca l l ho r i zon t a l and ve r t i ca l

pu l se - i t paces the image . These a re the sync ma r ks

wh i ch a re usua l l y h i dden beh i nd the f r ame

.

I t ' s a l lon the i mages , j us t as f i l m has sp rocke t ho l es wh i ch

a re no rma l l y h i dden . E l ec t ron i ca l l y , the r e a re a l so

f rames . Wha t th i s does i s d i s rega rd the r e f e rence o f

be i ng l ocked i n to a s i ng l e f rame . I t t r ave l s ; the r e

a re two t ime l aye r s . One i s s t a t i c , and the o the r i s

dynam i c and a l l th i s i s exposed . . . .

A l l th i s means tha t one i s o f t en wa t ch i ng a ho r i zon t a l l y dr i f t i ng ,

image , and tha t the sound and the i mage a re d i r ec t l y r e l a t ed in

some way . The to t a l e f f ec t i s o f a to t a l l y i n t eg ra t ed wo rk tha t

i s neve r the l ess dynam i c , a lways ene rge t i c , a l ways mov i ng .

The Vasu l kas ' wo rk has t ended to evo l ve w i th the i r equ i p -

men t . Woody says :

Ou r wo rk i s a d i a l ogue be tween the too l and the

i mage , so we wou l d no t p r econce i ve an i mage , sep -

a r a t e l y make a consc i ous mode l o f i t , and then t r y

to ma t ch i t , as o the r peop l e do . We wou l d ra the r

make a too l and d i a l ogue w i th i t ; tha t ' s how webe l ong w i th the f am i l y o f peop l e who wou l d f i nd

i mages l i ke found ob j ec t s . Bu t i t i s mo re comp l ex ,

because we some t imes des i gn the too l s , and so doconcep tua l wo r k as we l l .

Du r i ng the yea r s 1972 -1973 , they wen t th rough a su r rea l i s t pe r i od .

They had been go i ng th rough p i c tu re books o f Mag r i t t e ' s wo rk , f i g -

u r i ng ou t how na tu ra l i t wou l d be to do some o f h i s wo rks w i t h

v i deo spec i a l e f f ec t s . One wo rk , The Go l den Voyage , i s d i r ec t l y

based on .Mag r i t t e ' s pa i n t i ng The Go l den Legend - a l oa f o f b r ead

t rave l s l i ke a f i nge r , open i ng up ce r t a i n a reas o f the image to

spec i a l e f f ec t s . Even in these wo r ks , whe r e the re i s no ho r i zon t a l

dr i f t , the re a re a t l eas t two k i nds o f mo t i on go ing on in each

i mage ; mo t i on , ra t es o f change , a re a lways p r esen t in the i r wo r k .

The i r l a t es t wo rk i nvo l ves ras t e r man i pu l a t i on ; each l i ne

o f the v i deo image becomes a ca r r i e r o f ene rgy th rough t ime . Some -

48



t imes the i mages a re ske t ches o f s i mp l e wave pa t t e rns . Some t imesa po r t apak t ape o f a s t ree t scene i s used , and the ras t e r i s a l t e red

acco rd i ng to the b r i gh tness o r ene rgy in the image . So wha t one i s

see i ng i s a topog raph i ca l map o f the b r i gh tness o f an image ; whe r e

the image i s b r i gh t , i t l i f t s the l i nes ; whe re i t i s b l ack , the y

f a l l . The Vasu l kas ca l l th i s reco i l ing , and i ndeed i t does makeone recode the way the i mage i s l ooked a t because new k i nds o f

i n fo rma t i on a re be i ng g i ven .

Woody exp l a i ns wha t he i s a t t emp t i ng to do w i th th i s newimage ry , wh i ch can l ook qu i t e s t a rk and unaes the t i c , because i t

i s so new :

You shou l d be p r ec i se abou t you r p l easu res , andcommun i ca t e those to the aud i ence , ra the r thanthose wh i ch a re w i de l y sha red . Tha t ' s wha t Ihave aga i ns t any d r ama t i c s t ruc tu res . Th eya l r eady appea l to an expe r i ence wh i ch i s bu i l tth rough the cen tu r i es . . . . I wa l k somewhe re , andI see some th i ng wh i ch i s a r t , and I ag ree w i thi t . Bu t then I ques t i on i t . I say "Why d i dI l i ke th i s? Because i t i s a r t? " And thena f t e r a l l , I f ee l f rus t ra t ed tha t I rea l l y en -j oyed i t , because the r e we re o the r qua l i t i estha t we r e m i s s i ng . , . .R i gh t now I am i n t e r es t edi n know i ng , i n know l edge , than in the es the t i cend o f i t . So then I mus t say , "D i d i t sayany th i ng towa rds my own p rocess? " And o f t en Ihave to say i t d idn ' t , i t jus t ex t ended wha t i sca l l ed a r t , in i t s beau t y , o r i t s accomp l i sh -men t s , bu t i t d i dn ' t say any th i ng to my pe r sona lp rob l ems . Some t i mes when I wa t ch peop l e ' s wo rk ,I t end to unde r es t i ma t e i t because i t ' s no tbeau t i fu l . Bu t then I have to re - eva l ua t e i tand change my p re f e rence , because in the l ongrun , tha t wo r k wh i ch was no t so beau t i fu l , m i gh thave been mo re impo r t an t . . . .

Bas i ca l l y a r t p rov i des a con t i nuous s t ream .o f mode l so f consc i ousness . The re a re a lways ce r t a i n h i s to r i -ca l pe r i ods when new consc i ousness i s c rea t ed , forexamp l e , when F r eud r eached a new unde rs t and i ng o fthe re l a t i onsh i p be tween peop l e . Even tua l l y the rei s a cons t ruc t o f consc i ousness wh i ch has a r t as amode l . . . .Now , wha t I am i n t e res t ed in i s i f the r ei s the poss i b i l i t y o f ac tua l , to t a l r edes i gn o f con -

49



New Yo r k C i t y

sc i ousness i n the sense o f i t s mode l . Du r i ngthe ea r l y pa r t o f my l i f e , I was l ook i ng i n t o

myse l f for an a l t e rna t e mode l o f consc i ousness ,and I d i dn ' t f i nd i t . Now tu rn i ng mo re and

mo r e towa rds ma t e r i a l , I 'm t r y i ng to f i nd th i snew mode l o f consc i ousness w i th i n the ma t e r i a l .

S inc e we l ook a t rea l i t y mos t l y th rough ou reyes , the r ea l i t y has to t a l dependence on pe r -cep t i on , on how images a re fo rmed i n the eye . . . .

Bu t th rough an e l ec t ron i ca l l y -gene ra t ed i mage ,I found non - l ens , non - eye poss i b i l i t i es o f

res t ruc tu r i ng the image . . . . I am no t to t a l l ydependen t on rea l i t y as we know i t th rough thel ens o r eye . . . . Th rough e l ec t ron i cs , I th i nk the rei s a way o f i n t e rac t i ng w i th rea l mode l s , w i thmode l s t aken f rom na tu re , and a new concep t o fna tu re can be syn thes i zed .

. .

.The c l oses t th i ng to a l l th i si s

rad ioas t ronomy . The un i ve r se as we knew i t un t i l nowwas cons t ruc t ed on i n fo rma t i on o f l igh t , wh i chr eached ou r eyes and p rov i ded a mode l o f the con -sc ious un i ve r se . Bu t now , w i th r ad i o as t ronomy ,we a re ge t t i ng a ve r y d i f f e r en t no t i on o f ou run i ve r se . F i r s t o f a l l , we r ece i ve i n fo rma t i onwh i ch i s no t v i s i b l e . I t ' s no t po i n t s o r sphe resanymo r e . I t ' s ene rgy wh i ch i s no t i n a pe rmanen ts t a t e ; i t i s pe rmu t a t i ng , as a ma t t e r o f f ac t , a l l

the t ime . So tha t sudden l y , th rough the i ns t ru -men t s we have , we a re recons t ruc t i ng the un i ve r sein some v i sua l

sense , because even tua l l ywe t rans -l a t e r ad i o waves i n to some v i sua l mode l . We a re

now t r y i ng to v i sua l i ze space wh i ch ex i s t s on l y as

e l ec t ro -magne t i c fo rces . . . . I t ' s the no t i on o f theo rgan i za t i on o f ene rgy in t ime tha t for me i s thekey to a l l so r t s o f changes w i th i n l i f e .

New Yo r k C i t y has con t i nued to be the s i ng l e mos t p roduc t i ve

p l ace in the v i deo a r t wo r l d . The r e a re seve r a l p l aces peop l e can

wa t ch t apes andsee i ns t a l l a t i ons :

Cas t e l l i -

Sonnabend E l ec t ron i c

Ar t s In t e rm i x , The K i t chen , and a t An tho l ogy F i l m Ar ch i ves , the

v i deo pa r t o f wh i ch i s d i r ec t ed by v i deo a r t i s t Sh i geko Kubo t a , to

men t i on on l y a f ew o f the mos t p rom i nen t . Some a r t i s t s can wo r k

a t the TV Lab ; i ndependen t a r t i s t s can now f i nd access cen t e r s for

5 0



equ i pmen t and ed i t i ng f ac i l i t i es . The re a re f requen t l y exh i b i -

t i ons , as we l l as new books and a r t i c l es . A d i scuss i on o f the

wo rk o f th ree a r t i s t s , I ra Schne i de r , Pe t e r Campus , and B i l l Gw in ,

may se r ve to i nd i ca t e i n a modes t way the r i chness and d i ve r s i t y

o f wo r k be i ng p roduced .

I ra Schne i de r ' s wo r k has been as cen t ra l to the med i um as

tha t o f the Vasu l kas . He was p resen t du r i ng the ' ve r y ea r l i es t

mon ths o f the movemen t , and seems to have been a found i ng membe r o f

mos t o f the o r i g i na l g roups . Toge the r w i th F r ank G i l l e t t e , he d i done o f the ea r l i es t mu l t i mon i to r i ns t a l l a t i ons , W i pe Cyc l e , a t the

"Te l ev i s i on as a C rea t i ve Med i um " exh i b i t i on he l d a t Howa rd W i se ' s

ga l l e r y i n 1969 . I t was a n i ne -mon i to r p i ece , a conso l e o f mon i to r s

th r ee h i gh and th ree w i de . Images shu t t l ed f rom mon i to r to mon i to r ,

fo l l ow i ng fou r sepa ra t e p rog r ammed cyc l es ; the re we re l i ve and de -l ayed i mages o f the ga l l e r y i t se l f , b roadcas t images , p re reco rded

t apes , and g ray " l i gh t " pu l ses .

Th i s m i x o f images , wh i ch Schne i de r ca l l s " i n fo rma t i on co l -

l age , " has rema i ned cen t ra l to h i s wo r k . In the sp r i ng o f 1974 , he

d i d an i ns t a l l a t i on a t bo th the Eve r son Museum and The K i t chen

ca l l ed Manha t t an I s an I s l and . Twen t y - f ou r mon i to r s we re a r r anged

in the shape o f Manha t t an I s l and . The ou t s i de r i ng o f mon i to r s

showed t apes o f i mages o f the i s l and f rom boa t s ; bus , l and , a rch i -

t ec tu re , and peop l e t apes we r e a l l p l ayed on mon i to r s in a l og i ca l

pa r t o f the " i s l and . " The mon i to r s we re a r r anged a t d i f f e r en t

he i gh t s , fo l l ow i ng the topog raphy o f the i s l and . One mon i to r ,

f ac i ng up , d i sp l ayed t ape t aken f rom a he l i cop t e r . V i ewe r s cou l d

move i n amongs t the mon i to r s , see i ng spe c i f i c b i t s and v i ews o f

c i t yscape , or s t and ou t s i de and wa t ch the who l e i s l and hum a l ong .

The t apes f rom th i s p i ece ha ve been ed i t ed down i n to a s ing l e t ape

one can wa t ch on a s i ng l e mon i to r .

Schne i de r says he t r i es to es t ab l i sh cond i t i ons w i th the

i n fo rma t i on he p rov i des , and so "gu ide , no t push " an aud i ence a l ong



a rou t e o f pe rcep t i on . H i s l a t es t tape , B i t s , Chunks , and P i eces ,

does p r ec i se l y tha t . So f a r , i t i s a b l ack - and -wh i t e f i f t y - fou r

m i nu t e " v i deo a l bum . " I t i s ve r y c l ea r l y and e l egan t l y t aped and

moves the v i ewe r a l ong th rough d i f f e ren t k i nds o f Ame r i can l andscape .

One goes f rom "San t e Fe F i es t a " to "Tex -Mex " to "Rock l , " zoom i ng

a l ong l ook i ng ou t a ca r w i ndow , s topp i ng to see an e i gh t y - f i ve - foo t

do l l named Zozob ra exp l ode i n f i rewo rks a t the f i es t a . Towa rd the

end , the pace qu i ckens , one becomes awa re tha t the sound doesn ' t

necessa r i l y ma t ch the image , and ce r t a i n sequences a re r epea t ed ove r

and ove r (one remembe r s espec i a l l y a l i ne o f cows sw i ng i ng a l ong the

s i de o f a road wh i l e "Pu t on You r H i gh -Hee l ed Sneake r s " b l a res on

the ca r rad i o ) . Schne i de r s t resses the nonna r ra t i ve na tu re o f h i s

a l bum ; he wan t s each v i ewe r to f igu re ou t the i n fo rma t i on by h i mse l f .

Pe t e r Campus was in the f i lm bus i ne ss for seve ra l yea r s . F rom

abou t 1966 to 1970 he unde rwen t a g radua l change , d i sen t ang l i ng h im-

se l f f rom f i lm : even tua l l y he made the dec i s i on to become an a r t -

i s t and began to do wo rk i n v i deo . H i s wo r k t akes two fo rms - he

does bo th t apes and ga l l e r y i ns t a l l a t i ons . The tapes t yp i ca l l y use

some v i sua l e f f ec t spe c i a l to v i deo , ch roma - key or two came ra images

supe r imposed , to se t up a sh i f t in pe r cep t i on . H i s two be s t - known

wo rks , Th ree T rans i t i ons and Se t o f Co i nc i dence , each have th ree

pa r t s , and each one bu i l ds qu i e t l y on the s t a t emen t made by the p re -

v i ous pa r t , f rom conc re t e to abs t rac t , f rom w i t t y to sombe r .

One sees the image o f Campus h imse l f in the t apes ; the in -

s t a l l a t i ons a re t r i gge red by the v i ewe r , who usua l l y dea l s w i th an

i mage o f h i mse l f . Gene ra l l y , the re i s a da rkened room tha t ho l ds

a came ra and a v i deo p ro j ec t o r . The v i ewe r wa l ks in ; h i s image i s

p i cked up by the came ra and p ro j ec t ed aga i ns t a wa l l , usua l l y i n

a way tha t d i s to r t s the image or makes i t e l us i ve i n some way . By

wa l k i ng a round the space , the v i ewe r can exp l o re the pa rame t e r s o f

the p i ece - whe re the came ra w i l l o r w i l l no t p i ck up h i s i mage ,

how h i s p l acemen t in the room a f f ec t s the s i ze and shape o f h i s

image on the wa l l , and so on .

52



F rom I r v i ng B r i des to Swee t Ve r t i ca l i t y the re i s a ma r ked

change o f i n t en t i n Gw i n ' s wo r k . He has been l ed to an i n t e r es t

i n l anguage , no t j us t mus i c or e l ec t ron i c sounds , bu t l anguage in

h i s v i sua l wo r k :

W i th v ideo , the med i um can t ake ove r , much mo re

eas i l y than w i th pa i n t i ng . In the wo r k i ng re -

l a t i onsh i p i t ' s a much mo re powe r fu l , agg r ess i vek i nd o f med i um . Maybe you have to be a l i t t l e

f i rme r w i th you r i deas , and be ca r e fu l no t to l e t

i t ge t ou t o f hand , wh i ch I th i nk happens a g rea t

de a l w i th peop l e ' s wo r k . I t ' s pe r f ec t l y unde r -s t andab l e . I t ' s a ha rd th i ng to avo i d . V i deo

can be ve r y cap t i va t i ng ; i t ' s easy to do up to a

po in t , and then i t becomes ve r y d i f f i cu l t . Bu t

the re i s a ce r t a i n amoun t o f s tu f f tha t i t makesa l l by i t se l f , l i ke spon t aneous gene r a t i on . You

can s i t the re , and you tu rn one knob , and a l l th i s

s tu f f goes on . . . . I f you don ' t know , you can ge t

l os t i ns i de o f i t . The r e ' s no th i ng w rong w i th tha t ;

i n f ac t , i t ' s a wonde r fu l way to l ea rn . Tha t ' s

exac t l y the way I d i d l ea rn . Bu t you need a l onge r

t i me than the two weeks the TV Lab can g i ve you to

m i x a p rog r am : I d i d i t for th ree yea r s .

I r v i ng B r i dge was i n t ended to be a k i nd o f s t i m -

u l us , some th i ng tha t wou l d s t a r t peop l e ' s m i nds

wo r k i ng in a way tha t was d i f f e r en t f rom the wayyou r m i nd no rma l l y func t i ons . You a re g i ven a

s i tua t i on tha t asks you to r ed i r ec t the way youth i nk . Bu t the r e i s no e f fo r t to make any k i nd

o f p r ec i se and ' i n t e l l i g i b l e s t a t emen t . I t wason l y an a t t emp t to ge t peop l e to s t a r t to th ink ,

and the way they wen t wou l d be to t a l l y dependen t

upon themse l ves - mos t peop l e wou l d va ry con -

s i de r ab l y i n the i r r esponses . I th i nk I wan t to

move i n the d i r ec t i on o f a mo re p r ec i se s t a t e -

men t . A t l eas t I wan t to know i f I can maketha t k i nd o f p rec i se s t a t emen t i f I choose to .

So tha t I ' m no t a lways t r y i ng to ge t peop l e to

th i nk , bu t tha t I ' m a l so t r y i ng to say some th i ng .

Th i s has l ed me to the use o f l anguage . I guessi t ' s one o f the mos t cen t ra l th i ngs to my th i nk -

i ng , bo th i n my pa i n t i ngs and my v i deo t apes . . . .Tha t was the ques t i on Swee t Ve r t i ca l i t y r a i sed .I t ' s how to pu t l anguage i n to wha t i s essen t i a l l y

a v i sua l fo rm . Language i s a wonde r fu l th i ng ,

55



you know . The re a re th i ngs you can say w i th

l anguage you jus t can ' t say any o the r way . A t

the same t ime , the re i s some th i ng pa r t i cu l a r

abou t the k i nd o f responses you can e l i c i t w i th

v i sua l th i ngs . And I th ink , i f you cou l d pu t

those two e l emen t s toge the r i n some way tha t wascohes i ve , you wou l d have opened up the pos s i -b i l i t y for a huge range o f s t a t emen t s , s t a t e -

men t s o f mos t any sor t , f rom the mos t abs t rac t ,

pu re l y v i sua l k i nds , to the k i nds o f spec i f i c

s t a t emen t s you can make w i th l anguage .

Swee t Ve r t i ca l i t y has s i ng l e vo i ces and cho ruses speak i ng

the poem as reade r s ( tw i n i s ca re fu l to d i s t i ngu i sh be tween reade rs

and na r ra to r s ) , and p r i n t ed wo rds s t r eam ac ross the sc reen as we l l .

In h i s mos t recen t pa i n t i ng , a se l f -po r t ra i t , ph rases and b i t s o f

au tob i og raph i ca l i n fo rma t i on a r e w r i t t en on the canvas , bu r i ed i n

the pa i n t ed co l l age o f ma t e r i a l the way he bu r i es h i s wo rds in the

pa ss i ng t ime o f Swee t Ve r t i ca l i t y . In bo th cases , he i s sea rch i ng

for a med i um ve r sa t i l e enough to ho l d bo th image and l anguage .

In th i s move f rom I r v i ng B r i dge to Swee t Ve r t i ca l i t y , Gw i n

ma rks a change tha t has occu r r ed in many a r t i s t s ' wo r k in v i deo .

The ea r l y f asc i na t i on w i th the l im i t s o f the med i um i t se l f , w i th

i t s ab i l i t y to shape and pace t ime , i t s ab i l i t y to r eco rd "na tu ra l "

even t s as we l l as cons t ruc t abs t rac t ones , has sh i f t ed to an i n t e res t

in us i ng these i nhe ren t cha rac t e r i s t i cs to make mo re spec i f i c s t a t e -

men t s . Th i s i s happen i ng in many d i f f e ren t ways , howeve r , re f l ec t i ng

as a l ways the f l ex i b i l i t y and openness o f the med i um . As Gw i n says :

I t ' s s t i l l a ve r y young th i ng . Ten yea r s i s a

sho r t t ime . I t ' s imposs i b l e to see wha t d i rec -

t i on i t w i l l take . . . i t ' s such an i mmense l y f l ex -

i b l e med i um , pe rhaps the mos t f l ex i b l e med i umtha t ' s eve r been made ava i l ab l e . I t j us t can do

an as tound i ngnumbe r o f th i ngs , so peop l e a re

do i ng a l o t o f d i f f e ren t th i ngs w i th i t . Bu t

tha t ' s exc i t i ng .

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