V i deo : S t a t e o f t he Ar t

Johanna G i l l

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

dune 1976

L i br a r y o f Congr ess Ca t a l og i ng i n 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 t he a r t .

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

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

Pr i n t ed i n t he Un i t ed S t a t es o f Ame r i ca

CONTENTS

Page

Pr e f ace

I n t roduc t i on 1

H i s t or i ca l No t es 4

I nd i v i dua l s and Sma l l Groups 4

The Cen t e r s 12

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

Sou t he rn Ca l i f orn i a : TVTV andLong Beach 22

The Bay Ar ea : San F r anc i scoBe r ke l ey , San t a C l a r a 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

Toron t o 41

New Yor k S t a t e 43

New Yor k C i t y 50

PREFACE

Human be i ngs seem cons t an t l y t o be hun t i ng f or know l edge

abou t t he i r wor l d - t he wor l d w i t hou t and w i t h i n t he body . Ar t

seems t o be t he exchang i ng o f i n f orma t i on , some t i mes spec i f i ca l l y

r e f e r r i ng t o f ood , she l t e r and pro 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 t o i nne r s t a t es o f consc i ousness , emo t i ons ,

a t t i t udes . As t he messages a r e va r i ed , so a r e t he f orms . New

f orms o f t en i mpa r t f r eshness t o messages as o l d as t i me . The r e

i s d i ve r s i t y i n human expe r i ence and t he r e i s a un i t y t hroughou t

i t . The t ens i on be t ween t he " e p l ur i bus " and t he " unum " i s t he

spr i ng t ha t pr esses t he pendu l um on . Ar t g i ves us one way t o see

our se l ves and our wor l d , our un i t y and our d i ve r s i t y . I n t he new

ho l i sm o f t he 1970 ' s , a f us i on has t aken p l ace i n t he a r t s t ha t

emphas i zes t he organ i c or f unc t i ona l r e l a t i on be t ween pa r t s and

t he who l e . Nowhe r e i s t h i s mor e appa r en t t han i n t he wor k o f t he

sma l l bu t grow i ng body o f a r t i s t s wor k i ng i n t e l ev i s i on who ca l l

t hemse l ves " v i deo a r t i s t s . " Unde r t ha t banne r ma r ch concep t ua l

and app l i ed a r t i s t s whose wor ks comb i ne t he f i xed , p l as t i c a r t s

w i t h t he t i me - span pe r f orm i ng a r t s i n 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 r een can con t a i n m i l l i ons

o f po i n t s o f l i gh t t o e t ch t he p i c t ur e o f a t humb or t he wor l d

i t se l f f rom ou t e r space . And i t de f i es gr av i t y as f i l m does i n

t ha t i t s l aws need no t a f f ec t t he i mages be i ng pr esen t ed . The

a r t i s t s use a new f orm t o t e l l us o f our se l ves i n new ways . The

Rocke f e l l e r Founda t i on has been f or t una t e i n be i ng ab l e t o he l p

t hese a r t i s t s deve l op t h i s new a r t f orm by ass i s t i ng i nd i v i dua l s

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

wor k a t t he i r i deas .

The s t rugg l e f or wor l d dom i na t i on has been a common t heme

i n our t i me . One f orm o f dom i na t i on i s cu l t ur a l , and i n t ha t i t

embod i es a wor l d o f i deas and concep t s t ha t can be i n f l uen t i a l and

t hr ea t en i ng t o a s t a t us quo , i t may be t he mos t i mpor t an t f orm .

Such dom i na t i on o f wor l d cu l ture has f a l l en to the Un i t ed S t a t es

whose mus i c , dances and dress are accep t ed by l arge popu l a t i ons

i n add i t i on to the i r own around the wor l d . Jus t as popu l ar aspec t s

o f cu l ture have spread Amer i can va l ues and concep t s abroad , so the

ar ts , and espec i a l l y those forms wh i ch are un i que l y Amer i can , i n-

f i l t ra t e fore i gn l ands and m i nds and produce a spread - for be t t er

or worse - o f Amer i can i za t i on . Th i s has begun to happen a l ready

w i th i n the nar row f i e l d o f v i deo ar t . The ar t i s ts , whose work i s

descr i bed i n th i s Work i ng Paper , there fore , cons t i tu t e a new embassy

on beha l f o f Amer i can cu l ture . I t i s a grass roo t s e l i t e grownf rom a l l reg i ons o f Amer i ca and i nc l ud i ng expa t r i o t s f rom o thercoun t r i es . The i r ho l i s t i c message to our t i me i s per t i nen t , mov i ng ,and s t ems f rom a deep concern w i th unders t and i ng wha t i t i s to behuman , l i v i ng i n Marsha l l McLuhan ' s g l oba l v i l l age , l ook i ng aheadto 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 repor 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 are under way i n v i deo ar t . Johanna G i l l , who

recen t l y comp l e t ed her Ph . D . d i sser t a t i on i n v i deo ar t a t Brown

Un i vers i t y , and t eaches 20 th cen tury ar t h i s tory 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 wor l d o f v i deo ,

ar t i s t by ar 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

Howard K l e i nD i rec tor for Ar tsThe Rocke f e l l er Founda t i on

INTRODUCT ION

" V i deo was the mos t shared , the mos t demo-cra t i c ar t form . . . .. Everybody be l i eved deep l ytha t he had i nven t ed f eedback . Feedback wasi nven t ed s i mu l t aneous l y no t by f i ve peop l e ,l i ke e l ec t r i c i t y , bu t by f i ve thousand . "

Woody Vasu l ka

When one beg i ns to th i nk abou t v i deo , i t i s i mpor t an t to

keep i n m i nd i t s i mmense f l ex i b i l i t y as a med i um . I t i s no t on l y

TV , the s t andard p i ece o f Amer i can l i v i ng room furn i ture , i t i s

a l so a ma t er i a l for mak i ng e l ec t ron i c graph i cs , the surve i l l ance

sys t em i n the ne i ghborhood supermarke t , the t ra i n i ng too l tha t

shows a l l too i ns t an t l y wha t k i nd o f t eacher or t enn i s p l ayer

you are , and a means o f documen t i ng a l mos t any th i ng f rom theSLA burnou t i n Los Ange l es to a grandmo ther ' s memor i es o f herch i l dhood . In o ther words , the v i deo wor l d i s much l arger than

the ar t wor l d , and peop l e who make v i deo ar t may have very d i verse

backgrounds i n the med i um . Consequen t l y , the t erm " v i deo ar t "

does no t descr i be any s i ng l e un i f i ed s ty l e ; i t i nd i ca t es a shared

med i um .

Mos t v i deo ar t -mak i ng began i n 1968 and 1969 . The soc i a l

and ar t i s t i c ` f ermen t o f those years had a grea t dea l to do w i ththe way the med i um was f i rs t used . N i ne t een s i x ty-e i gh t a l so

marks a t echn i ca l wa t ershed : i t was the year por t ab l e , re l a t i ve l y

i nexpens i ve t e l ev i s i on equ i pmen t came on the marke t , thus open i ng

the med i um to

vas t new group o f peop l e . A l though these peop l e

were i n t eres t ed i n the equ i pmen t for many d i f f eren t reasons , mos t

o f them shared an acu t e d i ssa t i s f ac t i on w i th broadcas t t e l ev i s i on .

They were unhappy w i th the mono l i th i c na ture o f TV , w i th the con-

t ro l o f three ma j or ne tworks , w i th the qua l i t y o f programm i ng -

the l ack o f d i verse con t en t and the rou t i ne v i sua l sameness o f

i t a l l .

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

ce rn i b l e i n much ea r l y v i deo . Some expe r i men t e r s t ook t he i r new

l i gh t came r as ou t i n t o t he s t r ee t s and t o t he coun t r ys i de , r ecord

i ng peop l e and soc i a l s i t ua t i ons broadcas t TV neve r wou l d have

bo t he r ed w i t h . Th i s group o f peop l e was conce rned w i t h exp l or 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 broadcas t TV

had deve l oped b l and progr amm i ng i n an e f f or t t o o f f end as f ew

peop l e as poss i b l e , a t t r ac t h i gh r a t i ngs , and t hus command h i ghe r

pr i ces f or adve r t i s i ng t i me . The a l t e rna t i ve t e l ev i s i on peop l e

we r e no t suppor t ed by adve r t i s i ng ; t hey d i dn ' t ca r e abou t r a t i ngs .

They we r e f r ee t o f ocus t he i r came r as on any t h i ng , even t h i ngs

t ha t wou l d i n t e r es t on l y t he peop l e l i v i ng i n a s i ng l e ne i ghborhood .

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

men t . These peop l e cons i de r ed i t r i d i cu l ous t ha t t he pe r f ec t t e l e -

v i s i on i mage was t hough t t o be t he smoo t h , g l ow i ng p i nk f ace o f

Wa l t e r Cronk i t e . Some o f t hese expe r i men t e r s come f rom a s t rong

t wen t i e t h - cen t ur y gr aph i c t r ad i t i on o f exp l or a t i on w i t h l i gh t

i mage r y go i ng back a t l eas t as f a r as t he Fu t ur i s t s and t he Bauhaus .

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

we r e ove r j oyed t o f i nd t ha t t e l ev i s i on cou l d produce abs t r ac 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 . Some

membe r s o f t h i s group bu i l t new e l ec t ron i c c i r cu i t r y t o produce

d i f f e r en t i mage r y . These peop l e a r e among t he r ea l p i onee r s o f

t he med i um ; t hey a r e f asc i na t ed w i t h t he ro l e t echno l ogy p l ays i n

our soc i e t y and a r e cons t an t l y sea r ch i ng f or new ways t o make t h i s

ro l e v i sua l l y man i f es t . They f ee l t ha t t he s t ruc t ur e o f e l ec t ron i c

t oo l s r e f l ec t s as we l l as i n f orms our t h i nk i ng , and by us i ng t oo l s

t ha t produce v i sua l pa t t e rns , t hey hope t o r evea l t o us our soc i a l

and t echno l og i ca l d i r ec t i ons .

S t i l l ano t he r group was r eac t i ng aga i ns t t he one - d i r ec t i ona l

f l ow o f broadcas t TV , wh i ch s t r eams day a f t e r day i n t o t he homes o f

m i l l i ons o f peop l e w i t hou t prov i d i ng t he means f or t hem t o speak

back equa l l y d i r ec t l y . They po i n t ed ou t t ha t we have on l y r ece i ve r s

i n our homes , no t t ransm i t t ers , and some t i mes these peop l e se t upsma l l , c l osed-c i rcu i t env i ronmen t s tha t con t a i ned bo th cameras and

mon i tors .

O f t en the ear l i es t such env i ronmen t s he l d banks o f mon-i tors ; one cou l d see one ' s own i mage (be i ng p i cked up by cameras i nthe room) on mon i tors next to o thers show i ng programs com i ng o f f thea i r . In th i s manner , a v i ewer cou l d exp l ore the i dea tha t h i s orher i mage was as i n t eres t i ng as tha t o f a qu i z -show persona l i t y .Many o f those who crea t ed env i ronmen t s were fundamen t a l l y i n t eres t edi n the na ture o f v i sua l and aura l i n forma t i on , i n how we rece i ve andd i ges t i t , and i n how i t a f f ec t s us , bo th consc i ous l y and uncon-sc i ous l y .

Dur i ng the t i me th i s reac t i on aga i ns t broadcas t t e l ev i s i on wasgo i ng on (1967-1970) , the es t ab l i shed ar t wor l d was f ac i ng somecha l l enges o f i t s own . Many ar t i s ts found tha t the t rad i t i ons o fpa i n t i ng and , scu l p ture had ar r i ved a t a cr i t i ca l cu l -de -sac , andthey were search i ng for o ther means o f express i on . In add i t i on ,the commerc i a l ar t wor l d was i n the m i ds t o f esca l a t i ng pr i ces and

w i l d buy i ng , a s i tua t i on fur ther con fused by a preva i l i ng i ndec i -s i veness abou t the re l a t i ve mer i t s o f d i f f eren t k i nds o f ar t .

One resu l t o f th i s a tmosphere o fsome ar t i s ts aga i ns t the produc t i on o f ar tto work i n nonbuyab l e , nonpossessab l e med i a ,to f ree themse l ves f rom the ar t marke t as i tConsequen t l y , there was an

change was the reac t i on o f

ob j ec t s : they pre f er red

par t l y i n an a t t emp t

was then func t i on i ng .exp l os i on o f new k i nds o f ar t , mos t o f

them e i ther var i a t i ons on per formance , thea t er , and dance , or mechan-i ca l l y reproduc i b l e ar t forms such as pho tography , f i l m , and v i deo .

V i deo f e l l i n to th i s ar t wor l d very nea t l y . I t cou l d be used torecord a l l k i nds o f per formances and ac t i ons , enab l i ng them to berepea t ed aga i n and aga i n . I t cou l d be e i ther abs t rac t or repre -sen t a t i ve i n i t s i magery ( i t was no t i nheren t l y one or the o ther ) ,

d so s i des t epped cer t a i n cr i t i ca l d i l emmas . A f ew ga l l er i es andmuseums began to co l l ec t t apes , h i re cura tors , and organ i ze exh i -b i t i ons .

The fo l l ow i ng d i scuss i on i s no t a comprehens i ve h i s tory o f

the f i rs t years o f i n t eres t i n v i deo as a crea t i ve med i um , bu t i s

ra ther an a t t emp t to char t some o f the ways the energy has f l owed ,

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

In genera l , one m i gh t say tha t ar t -mak i ng has occur red i n three areas

o f v i deo ac t i v i t y - these are arb i t rary d i v i s i ons , bu t are use fu l

descr i p t i ve l y . One i s the a foremen t i oned rea l m o f e l ec t ron i cs

research and deve l opmen t . Because o f i t s roo t s i n o ther twen t i e th-

cen tury graph i c t rad i t i ons , th i s i s o f t en the work mos t access i b l e

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

" syn thes i zer " t apes and spec i a l e f f ec t s graph i cs o f many k i nds . A

second area o f ac t i v i t y has been documen t ary , an area tha t ds cur -

ren t l y i n t eres t i ng h i s tor i ans and cr i t i cs o f pho tography and f i l m

as we l l . The th i rd area i s probab l y the mos t comp l ex . I t i nc l udes

per formances , concep tua l work , and wha t may be ca l l ed i n forma t i on-

percep t i on p i eces .

Th i s group i nc l udes ' 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 i n some way expand the l i m i t s o f the v i ewer ' s

ab i l i t y to perce i ve h i mse l f or herse l f i n a t echno l og i ca l l y charged

env i ronmen t .

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

A f ew rumb l i ngs i n the ear l y s i x t i es an t i c i pa t ed the genera l

erup t i on o f i n t eres t i n the med i um l a t er i n the decade . Nam June Pa i k

i s probab l y the mos t f amous and cer t a i n l y one o f the mos t i n t eres t i ng

members o f the movemen t ; h i s work i s a co l l age o f a l l three d i v i s i ons

He was born i n Korea and was educa t ed i n Japan

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

over 100 per formances , wh i ch re f l ec t h i s i n t eres t

i n avan t -garde mus i c (John Cage i s a ma j or i n f l uence ) and the F l uxus

movemen t . H i s f i rs t exh i b i t i on o f t e l ev i s i on was i n Germany i n 1963 ,

i n wh i ch he showed t e l ev i s i on se t s whose o f f - the -a i r i mages were d i s-

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

d Germany , where

ma t e , he has g i ven

H ISTOR ICAL NOTES

tor t ed . By 1965 , Pa i k had moved to New York and was hav i ng exh i b i -t i ons here

H i s work t akes many forms - v i deo per formances andv 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 eres ti n process ra ther than produc t ; the new o f t en has e l emen t s car r i edforward f rom the o l d .

Pa i k has a l ways been on the ou t er f r i nges o f the movemen tt echn i ca l l y . In 1965 , he bough t one o f Sony ' s f i rs t por t ab l e v i deot ape recorders and d i sp l ayed t apes the same n i gh t . He was the codeve l oper , w i th Shuya Abe , o f one o f the f i rs t v i deo syn thes i zers .Severa l peop l e were work i ng on syn thes i zers i n 1968 and 1969 andeach mach i ne re f l ec t s the des i res o f i t s bu i l der . They have i ncommon the ab i l i t y to produce dazz l i ng co l or pa t t erns and forms ,mov i ng and sh i f t i ng through t i me . The Pa i k -Abe syn thes i zer i s theper f ec t too l for Pa i k ' s work - i t t akes b l ack -and-wh i t e camera

i mages and m i xes and co l or i zes them , produc i ng dense , o f t en l ayered ,br i l l i an t l y co l ored f ragmen t s .

Pa i k ' s bas i c s ty l e i s one tha t has become f am i l i ar i n th i scen tury , a co l l age o f j uxt aposed p i eces o f i n forma t i on wrenched ou to f the i r or i g i na l con t exts . H i s t aped work cons t an t l y reshu f f l esb i t s and p i eces o f ma t er i a l f rom a l l over the wor l d - a Korean drum-mer i n ac t i on , Japanese Peps i commerc i a l s , go-go dancers , t apes o fh i s own per formances w i th ce l l i s t Char l o t t e Moorman . He has spoken

o f how we l i ve i n an age o f i n forma t i on overk i l l ; h i s f as t -paced ,

d i s j unc t , percuss i ve t apes he i gh t en and i n t ens i f y th i s bar rage o f

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

and th i nk , and he does th i s no t on l y i n h i s per formances and t apes :h i s produc t i on o f en i gma t i c , deadpan aphor i sms i s second on l y to

Andy Warho l ' s i n the wor l d o f ar t . " I wou l d ra ther be cor rup t ed

than repea t the sub l i me , " he sa i d w i th a chuck l e dur i ng a t e l ev i sed

i n t erv i ew w i th Russe l l Connor and Ca l v i n Tompk i ns .

Er i c S i ege l was ano ther forerunner . He began bu i l d i ng TV se t s

i n h i gh schoo l and has con t i nued bu i l d i ng v i deo equ i pmen t ever s i nce .He was a l so the bu i l der o f an ear l y v i deo syn thes i zer , and ano ther

too l , h i s co l or i zer , has been used by ha l f the ar t i s ts i n the coun-

t ry who wan t co l or i n the i r t apes . S i ege l ' s own work ranges f rom

an ear l y spec i a l -e f f ec t s t ape o f E i ns t e i n to more recen t persona l

documen t ary t apes .

A th i rd ear l y exper i men t er , and one who has rema i ned s t ead-

f as t l y i ndependen t o f any group a f f i l i a t i on , i s Les Lev i ne . In

1968 , a f t er he had been work i ng w i th v i deo t ape for some t i me , he

presen t ed the f i rs t pub l i c show i ng o f h i s work . As the aud i ence

wa t ched h i s prerecorded v i deo t apes on such sub j ec t s as the de -

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

own reac t i ons on a c l osed-c i rcu i t mon i tor : Lev i ne had a camera i n

the room . Th i s i s typ i ca l o f h i s work - Lev i ne i s no t i n t eres 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 ronmen t s , w i th

the movemen t o f i n forma t i on w i th i n phys i ca l and t empora l l i m i t s .

He was quo t ed i n a New York T i mes rev i ew as say i ng tha t he hoped

to he l p peop l e form 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 they no t e the i r

responses to var i ous s i tua t i ons presen t ed on the t apes . . . . I f you

see yourse l f l ook i ng se l f -consc i ous , for examp l e , you ' l l be forced

to th i nk why . "

A l so i n 1968 , Lev i ne produced h i s f i rs t " t e l ev i s i on scu l p ture , "

I r i s .

Once aga i n , Lev i ne had the v i ewer con f ron t i ng h i mse l f v i a

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

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

S t and i ng i n f ron t o f th i s conso l e , the v i ewer f aced s i x mon i tors

and three concea l ed v i deo cameras . The cameras sho t the space i n

f ron t o f the conso l e , and presen t ed v i ews o f the env i ronmen t i n

c l ose -up , m i dd l e d i s t ance , and w i de ang l e .

Each o f these cameras

had i t s own mon i tor and the three o thers prov i ded d i s tor t ed i mages

tha t m i gh t or m i gh t no t be recogn i zab l e . Thus , a v i ewer s t and i ng

i n f ron t o f the conso l e cou l d see three d i f f eren t v i ews o f h i m-

se l f j uxt aposed w i th o ther random v i deo i n forma t i on .

I n t h i s ea r l y wor k , Lev i ne opened an exam i na t i on o f t e l e -v i s i on as an i n f orma t i on sys t em o f gr ea 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 t he med i um has been f ur t he r exp l or ed w i t hi nc r eas i ng sub t l e t y and soph i s t i ca t i on by seve r a l a r t i s t s i n t he

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

By 1968 , i nexpens i ve por t ab l e equ i pmen t was becom i ng w i de l yava i l ab l e . Dur i ng t he nex t yea r or so , va r i ous peop l e bough tcame r as and v i deo t ape r ecorde r s (por t apaks )t hem a l one or i n sma l l groups . A group o f gr adua t i ng co l l egesen i or s i n San t a C l a r a , Ca l i f orn i a , was t yp i ca l : one o f t hem hadi nves t ed i n a por t apak , and he and h i s f r i ends used i t so cons t an t l yt ha t i t f i na l l y wor e ou t . Mos t o f t ha t group have con t i nued t he i ri n t e r es t i n v i deo , and t wo w i l l be d i scussed l a t e r - George Bo l l i ng ,

who i s t he v i deo cur a t or a t t he de Sa i sse t Ar t Ga l l e r y i n San t aC l a r a and i n t roduced a who l e gene r a t i on o f San F r anc i sco a r t i s t st o t he med i um , and Sk i p Sweeney , who co - f ounded V i deo F r ee Ame r i ca ,a San F r anc i sco group t ha t , among o t he r t h i ngs , sponsor ed some o ft he ea r l i es t v i deo t hea t e r .

I n New Yor k , Commed i a t i on appea r ed . I t was t he f i r s t o f al ong se r i es o f v i deo groups t o eme rge . Dav i d Cor 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 r e membe r s , and l i ke many peop l ei n i t i a l l y a t t r ac t ed t o t he med i um , t hey we r e pr i ma r i l y i n t e r es t edi n v i deo as a t oo l f or soc i a l change . A l i t t l e o f Dav i d Cor t ' s

h i s t or y may he l p t o i l l um i na t e t he mo t i ves o f many peop l e wor k i ngi n v i deo .

Cor t had or i g i na l l y been i nvo l ved i n t he t hea t e r , bu t t hel a t e 1960 ' s f ound h i m wor k i ng a t t he Brook l yn Ch i l dr en ' s Museum ,i nvo l ved i n an t i pove r t y ou t r each progr ams .

I go t s t a r t ed i n documen t a r y wor k i n po l i t i ca lt h i ngs , a t t emp t i ng t o br i ng t oge t he r d i ve rgen tpeop l es . . . . I was ove rwhe l med by t he l i gh t nesso f t he v i deo came r a , t he i n t i macy o f i t , t heway you cou l d t a l k f rom beh i nd t he came r a t opeop l e and t hey cou l d t a l k t o you l ook i ng a t

d expe r i men t ed w i t h

the camera .

The camera was l i ke a funne lthrough wh i ch you cou l d work . You cou l d movei n , and be i n t i ma t e and c l ose .

Cor t was i mpressed 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 i n broadcas t :

He goes on to say :

I l ook a t TV and i t ' s so pass i ve .

" Feed mei n forma t i on , t e l l me wha t to f ee l , t e l l me

wha t to be l i eve , and I ' l l s i t there and t akei t i n . " Wa l t er Cronk i t e t e l l s you wha t to

be l i eve .

. . . I ' d ra ther have l o t s o f d i f f eren t i nd i v i d-ua l s i nvo l ved , so you wou l d have a l o t o f d i f -f eren t v i ewpo i n t s , i deas , i ns t ead o f one .

Wa l t er Cronk i t e t r i es to t e l l you tha t he hasno v i ewpo i n t , tha t he ' s ob j ec t i ve ; " Tha t ' s theway i t i s . " The who l e s tory i s he l d toge therby h i s persona l i t y ; i t cen t ers around h i m . Ifound tha t to be un i n t eres t i ng .

Cor t was fur ther d i senchan t ed w i th TV because o f an uncom for t ab l e

exper 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 overwhe l med , hum i l i a t ed , and man i pu l a t ed , and the ex-

per i ence i n f l uenced Cor t ' s own work :

I t has become a bas i c es the t i c .

I t ' s l i ke a ru l e .Whenever I work i n v i deo , everybody I work w i thhas to have 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 ourna l i sm i s tha t peop l e come i nand they t ake your p i c ture , and you don ' t knowwha t they ' re t ak i ng . They may p l ay i t back toyou a f t erwards , bu t tha t ' s no t the same as see i ngi t wh i l e i t ' s there .

You know , I th i nk a l o t o f peop l e are i n v i deobecause they have no cho i ce - i t ' s so overwhe l m-i ng l y around you . I t ' s a l mos t l i ke a respons i -

b i l i t y tha t you have to t ake , tha t you have towork w i th i t because i t ' s a l l -pervas i ve . We arecon f ron t ed w i th th i s a l i en , co l d equ i pmen t andwe are to make some th i ng human , to i nvo l ve the

human be i ng i n i t i n some way , to make h i m ac t i ve ,to make h i m par t i c i pa t e . At one and the same t i meyou wan t to con t ro l i t and you wan t to des t roy i t ,you wan t to remove i t and ge t back to the roman t i c ,bu t you can ' t .

So you are f aced w i th i t and youhave to do some th i ng w i th i t tha t w i l l be fun , tha tw i l l be j oyous , tha t w i l l be human ra ther 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 hear conversa t i ons abou t the f i rs t f ew

mon ths o f exper i men t a t i on . In New York C i t y , peop l e car ry i ng

por t apaks bumped i n to each o ther on the s t ree t or a t par t i es

d go t to know each o ther ; the f amous concer t a t Woods tock i n

1969 was ye t ano ther mee t i ng p l ace . Many v i deo groups formed

qu i t e rap i d l y , and o f t en j us t as rap i d l y some o f them d i sso l ved ,

bu t the cas t o f charac t ers rema i ned remarkab l y cons t an t . Mos t

o f them , as was the case w i th the group i n San Franc i sco , are

s t i l l a t the hear t o f the med i um today :

I ra Schne i der , Frank

G i l l e t t e , Dav i d Cor t , Bery l Koro t , Ken Marsh , John Re i l l y ,

Rud i S t ern , Par ry Teaseda l e , M i chae l Shamberg , to men t i on on l y a

f ew o f them .

The ar t i s t Bruce Nauman , i n 1967 , used v i deo as par t o f a

ga l l ery i ns t a l l a t i on ; i n 1968 , he s t ar t ed to record h i s per for -

mances on v i deo t ape . And so , by the end o f the f i rs t year o f

ac t i v i t y i n the med i um , severa l d i f f eren t uses had a l ready been

es t ab l i shed : syn thes i zers were be i ng cons t ruc t ed to produce new

e l ec t ron i c i magery , documen t ary t apes were be i ng made , and the

med i um was beg i nn i ng to be exp l ored by concep tua l ar t i s ts to

record per formances and ges tures .

In 1969 , ar t i s ts who were no t a l ready acqua i n t ed found

themse l ves l ook i ng a t each o ther ' s work a t the f i rs t l arge

ga l l ery exh i b i t i on , " Te l ev i s i on as a Crea t i ve Med i um , " a d i s

p l ay tha t was organ i zed by Howard W i se . W i se has been one o f

the s t aunches t suppor t ers o f e l ec t ron i c ar ts i n genera l , and

v i deo i n par t i cu l ar . 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 ery i n order to suppor t v i deo fu l l t i me ,

and i s cur r en t l y one o f t he l a rges t d i s t r i bu t or s o f a r t i s t s ' v i deo

t apes . A t h i s F i f t h Avenue headqua r t e r s , E l ec t ron i c Ar t s I n t e rm i x ,

he a l so prov i des an open - access ed i t i ng f ac i l i t y f or a r t i s t s . A th i s 1969 show , he ga t he r ed t oge t he r v i deo t apes and sponsor ed i ns t a l -l a t i ons ; t he a r t i s t s go t t o know each o t he r , and seve r a l new v i deogroups f ormed as a r esu l t . A l so i n 1969 , WGBH - TV broadcas t t he f i r s tv i deo " samp l e r , " a ha l f - hour progr am show i ng t he wor 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 t o have a l l ma r ks o f a f u l l -f l edged a r t movemen t : t he r e was a l a rge museum show , a movemen t

magaz i ne appea r ed , a r t c r i t i cs go t i nvo l ved , and o f f i c i a l f und i ngagenc i es we r e i n t e r es t ed . F i r s t t he r e was t he exh i b i t i on a t t heRose Ar t Museum a t Br ande i s Un i ve r s i t y , organ i zed by Russe l l Connor .Connor , l i ke Howa rd W i se , has con t i nued t o be deep l y i nvo l ved i nv i deo and has i ndeed probab l y done mor e t han anyone e l se t o br i ngv i deo a r t t o a w i de aud i ence . Th i s pas t yea r , f or examp l e , he

hos t ed a se r i es o f t wen t y - t wo progr ams o f va r i ous a r t i s t s ' wor k ,

broadcas t ove r New Yor k C i t y ' s Channe l 13 . Many o f t he Eas t Coas t

v i deo a r t i s t s and groups we r e r epr esen t ed a t h i s Rose Ar t Museum

Show , " V i s i on and Te l ev i s i on . "

Second , dur i ng t he summe r o f 1970 , t he f i r s t i ssue o f t he

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

and was pub l i shed by Ra i ndance Corpor a t i on . The ea r l y i ssues o f

t he magaz i ne conveyed t he heady exc i t emen t o f t he t i mes ; t hey we r e

packed f u l l o f dr aw i ngs , how- t o a r t i c l es , names and addr esses .

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

i n 1970 ; one o f i t s ed i t or s i s W i l l oughby Sha rp , a v i deo - pe r f or -

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

Th i rd , t wo c r i t i cs wr 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 epor t e r f or T i me ; he became

one o f t he f ound i ng membe r s o f Ra i ndance Corpor a t i on , a group t ha t ,

t hrough Rad i ca l So f t wa r e and o t he r ac t i v i t i es , se r ved as i n f orma t i on

cen t r a l i n t he v i deo commun i t y . A wh i l e l a t e r , Shambe rg co - f ounded

TVTV , a v i deo documen t a r y group . Doug l as Dav i s was and i s t he a r t

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cr i t i c for Newsweek ; he has become an ext reme l y pro l i f i c v i deoar t i s t as we l l .

F i na l l y , i n 1970 , the New York S t a t e Counc i l for the Ar tsbecame very i nvo l ved i n suppor t i ng v i deo . The counc i l has fundeda w i de var i e t y o f pro j ec t s , cen t ers , and i nd i v i dua l s . The f i rs tyears o f the v i deo movemen t had w i tnessed , for the mos t par t ,openness and shar i ng among i t s members . Whe ther they were t i nker i ngw i th syn thes i zers or ou t i n the s t ree t s w i th por t apaks or bu i l d i ngcomp l i ca t ed ga l l ery i ns t a l l a t i ons , they a l l cons i dered themse l vesto be par t o f the same movemen t . By 1970-1971 , however , d i v i s i ons

began to occur . The two ma j or groups to emerge were " ar t v i deo "d " soc i a l ac t i on v i deo . " And w i th i n the ar t group there were

fur ther subd i v i s i ons i n to " syn thes i zer v i deo , " " concep tua l v i deo , "and so on .

Sp l i t s probab l y occur red mos t o f t en over prob l ems i nfund 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 . Theydo no t f i t i n to the t rad i t i ona l ar t marke t i ng sys t em a t a l l and so

have had to do much o f the i r work on gran t s f rom the NEA , s t a t ecounc i l s , and the Rocke f e l l er Founda t i on . They a l so have hadd i f f i cu l t i es i n ge t t i ng the i r work 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 eres t ed .Museums and ga l l er i es have begun a s t ream o f exh i b i t i ons bu t thesehave t aken awh i l e to ca t ch on . Exh i b i t i ons o f th i s sor t mus t bear ranged very care 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 ery i s no t com for t ab l e .

I t i s wor th no t i ng tha t i n 1970-1971 many concep tua l ar t i s tswere a t t rac t ed to the med i um . I t mus t have seemed l i ke manna f romheaven to a group search i ng for a new , i nexpens i ve means o f expressi ng comp l i ca t ed i deas , percep t i ons , and ac t i ons i n t i me . Mos t con-cep tua l ar t i s ts were a f f i l i a t ed w i th ga l l er i es i n one way or ano ther ,hav i ng shed ear l i er med i a , espec i a l l y scu l p ture , wh i ch ga l l er i escou l d more or l ess adequa t e l y exh i b i t . At any ra t e , they had away o f t ry i ng to absorb i n to the who l e ga l l ery sys t em a med i umtha t was no t a l ways com for 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 sys t em o f aes the t i cs der i ved f rom the cr i t i ca l

d i l emmas o f pa i n t i ng and scu l p ture dur i ng the 1960 ' s .

Poss i b l y th i s

fur ther deepened some o f the prev i ous l y men t i oned d i v i s i ons .

Even tua l l y , a l though fund i ng prob l ems were f ar f rom so l ved ,

the d i f f eren t groups se t t l ed down and made sub t l e sh i f t s to accom-

moda t e each o ther . I t has been my exper i ence tha t good ar t has

come f rom every group ; no one has a corner on ph i l osoph i c or

aes the t i c qua l i t y . The mos t i n t eres t i ng syn thes i zer ar t i s ts have

grown f rom ear l y co l or and pa t t ern exper i men t s (wh i ch earned them

the t i t l e o f " v i deo wa l l paper ar t i s ts " ) to mak i ng r i ch s t a t emen t s .

The mos t i n t eres t i ng concep tua l ar t i s ts have grown f rom app l y i ng

preconce i ved i deas to the med i um (wh i ch earned them the t i t l e o f

" bor i ng academ i c i ans " ) to work i ng w i th i n the med i um , l earn i ng f rom

i t , i n t egra t i ng i t i n to the f abr i c o f the i r p i eces .

A l so , some o f the ga l l er i es have worked very hard to d i s-

t r i bu t e t apes i n 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 Program i s espec i a l l y good . Under

the d i rec t i on o f Joyce Nereaux , ar t i s ts are asked to subm i t t apes

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

mee t the genera l t as t es o f the ga l l ery) i s tha t they be i n a

s t andard forma t .

The Cen t ers

Con t emporary to th i s ac t i v i t y car r i ed on by i nd i v i dua l s was

a sudden grow th o f i n t eres t i n exper i men t a l t e l ev i s i on a t three

ma j or broadcas t cen t ers : KQED i n San Franc i sco , WGBH ' i n Bos ton ,

and WNET i n New York . KQED and WGBH were f i rs t o f f the mark ; i n

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

es t ab l i sh exper i men t a l workshops i n t e l ev i s i on .

Br i ce Howard was the d i rec tor o f the f i rs t San Franc i sco

workshop . Dur i ng the f i rs t year , he asked f i ve ar t i s ts f rom the

Bay area 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 l m-maker , a

1 2

nove l i s t , a pa i n t er -scu l p tor , and a composer , R i chard Fe l c i ano , whos t ayed w i th the workshop i n fo l l ow i ng years . The TV d i rec tor forthe pro j ec t was Bob Zagone , a young man who had been i n t eres t ed i ni nnova t i ve programm i ng a t KQED for some t i me . The exper i men t ers

found i t i ncreas i ng l y d i f f i cu l t to work w i th i n the s t ruc ture o f abroadcas t s t a t i on , us i ng b i t s o f s tud i o t i me l e f t over f rom thenews produc t i ons .

Howard gradua l l y moved the program ou t o f theKQED bu i l d i ng and se t a separa t e , genu i ne workshop . The f i rs t -yearar t i s ts , who were es t ab l i shed i n the i r own d i sc i p l i nes , were re -p l aced dur i ng the ensu i ng years by peop l e who concen t ra 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 verse backgrounds) . The

bas i c group came to i nc l ude W i l l ard Rosenqu i s t , a pro f essor o f

des i gn a t Berke l ey ; B i l l Gw i n , a young pa i n t er ; S t ephen Beck , an

e l ec t ron i cs des i gner ; Don Ha l l ock , a man w i th pas t exper i ence bo th

i n broadcas t TV and pa i n t i ng ; B i l l Roar ty , a graph i cs des i gner who

had a l so worked i n t e l ev i s i on prev i ous l y ; and a t var i ous t i mes two

composers , f i rs t R i chard Fe l c i ano and l a t er Warner Jepson .

3n 1969 , the workshop became the Na t i ona l Cen t er for Exper i -

men t s i n Te l ev i s i on (NCET) , s t i l l under the d i rec t i on o f Br i ce

Howard .

Howard was an ext raord i nary man who prov i ded an a tmosphere

where exper i men t a t i on cou l d go on f ree f rom pressures o f a broad-

cas t s i tua t i on .

The workshop gradua l l y acqu i red and bu i l t equ i p-

men t , and the members had t i me to l earn the med i um i n a cra f t sman-

l i ke f ash i on .

Dur i ng the l a t e 1960 ' s and ear l y 1970 ' s , the Corpora t i on for

Pub l i c Broadcas t i ng sponsored an i n t ernsh i p program , i n wh i ch TV

personne l f rom around the coun t ry cou l d come to the cen t er to

s tudy . The cen t er ' s cur ren t d i rec tor , Pau l Kau fman , descr i bed

wha t happened :

. . . wha t wen t on was the forma t i on o f a workshopenv i ronmen t i n to wh i ch come dozens and dozens o fs tunned producers and d i rec tors f rom a l l over thepub l i c broadcas 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 t he sys t em we r e exposed , and a l o t o fpeop l e i n a sense wen t mad pro f ess i ona l l y , becauseBr i ce ' s pe r sona l i t y and t he gene r a l amb i ance i nt he Cen t e r so s t rong l y con t r as t ed w i t h t he somewha tup t i gh t and cons t r i c t i ve r e l a t i onsh i ps a t t he s t a -t i ons .

One o f t he peop l e who " wen t mad pro 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 i n 1969 and t hen came back t o s t ay

i n 1971 . H i s memor i es prov i de i ns i gh t i n t o t he a t mosphe r e a t t he

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

Wha t happened i n t ha t s i x weeks was f asc i na t i ng ,because eve r y t h i ng t hey we r e say i ng abou t t e l e -v i s i on connec t ed exac t l y w i t h eve r y t h i ng I hadbeen t o l d as a pa i n t i ng s t uden t . They we r eapproach i ng i t essen t i a l l y t he same way . . . i t wasma t e r i a l , i t was sur f ace . . . . The connec t i on wasobv i ous and i mmed i a t e t o me ; t he t h i ng I waswor k i ng i n , t e l ev i s i on , was a med i um , and I hadneve r t hough t o f i t t ha t way be f or e .

. . . The i dea t ha t Br i ce spoke abou t so beau t i f u l l ywas t ha t i f you d i d d i vor ce broadcas t f rom t hemak i ng o f t e l ev i s i on , you can cu t away an enormousamoun t o f ve r y conven t i ona l i zed and supe r f l uousr i t ua l . . . t he mak i ng o f progr ams f or broadcas t i nt he o l d sense was a t t he ve r y l eas t man i pu l a t i ve ,and no t i n any way connec t ed t o wha t I t hough t o fas t he c r ea t i ve process . I t goes r i gh t down t hel i ne . . . you can exam i ne t he vocabu l a r y peop l edeve l oped , " con t ro l room , " " came r a sho t s , " e t c .Broadcas t was e l i m i na t ed f rom our d i scuss i on bu tr ea l l y i t was i nc l uded a l l t he t i me , as a poorr e l a t i ve .

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

wh i ch a t t ha t t i me was i n one huge room :

Wa rne r and ' I wou l d be wor k i ng on a comp l ex soundcompos i t i on and i mmed i a t e l y t o our l e f t wou l d beS t ephen , des i gn i ng a c i r cu i t and t hen on t he o t he rs i de o f t ha t wou l d be B i l l Gw i n , l ook i ng a t a t ape ,and ove r t he r e wou l d be W i l l a rd , wor k i ng on l i gh tf orms . You cou l dn ' t he l p bu t be comp l e t e l y exc i t edby t he t hough t s and pe r cep t i ons o f a l l t he peop l ea round you approach i ng t h i ngs each i n h i s own way .

From 1971 on , the Rocke f e l l er Founda t i on gave suppor t to a

new program o f the cen t er ' s . Pau l Kau fman reca l l s :

The t i me had come to t ry to see i f you cou l d dosome th i ng abou t chang i ng the mor i bund charac t er -i s t i cs o f t each i ng abou t t e l ev i s i on i n the Un i -vers i t i es . . . . We began a pro j ec t tha t l as t ed forthree years , wh i ch i n i t i a l l y had peop l e f rom theCen t er go i ng ou t and v i s i t i ng a l o t o f campuses ,br i ng i ng t apes a l ong , go i ng to ar t depar tmen t s ,essen t i a l l y say i ng to Un i vers i t y peop l e , " Lookhere , here ' s some th i ng new and some th i ng i n t er -es t i ng , and you can do i t .

I t ' s i mpor t an t to doi t because we are go i ng to have to t ra i n a who l e

new genera t i on o f i mage -sens i t i ve peop l e , and theschoo l s aren ' t do i ng i t . " We l l , ou t o f th i s groupo 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 fsur f aced as poss i b l e workshop s i t es , and even tua l l ythese became more or l ess m i n i -Cen t ers i n themse l ves .

The cen t er en t ered a h i gh l y produc t i ve per i od i n the spr i ng

o f 1972 . Don Ha l l ock , B i l l Gw i n , W i l l ard Rosenqu i s t , and B i l l

Roar ty a l l produced 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 repor t . )

In the f a l l , Warner Jepson and S t ephen Beck embarked on a concer t

tour around the coun t ry , g i v i ng per formances w i th the i r aud i o and

v i deo syn thes i zers , respec t i ve l y .

Th i s burs t o f ac t i v i t y con t i nued i n to the summer o f 1973 ,

when Don Ha l l ock presen t ed h i s " V i deo l a " a t the San Franc i sco

Ar t Museum . S i nce tha t t i me , the d i rec t i on o f the cen t er has

been chang i ng . There has been a sh i f t f rom ar t to an i n t eres t i n

deve l op i ng s t ruc tura l approaches to the med i um . Pau l Kau fman , the

d i rec tor , used the t erm " v i sua l th i nk i ng " to descr i be h i s i n t eres t

i n f i nd i ng a way o f us i ng a l l the i r exper i men t a t i on o f the pre -

ced i ng years to he l p f i gure 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 deas across on t e l ev i s i on w i thou t resor t i ng to the

t rad i t i ona l l ec ture form .

At any ra t e , the cen t er as a p l ace for aes the t i c exp l ora -

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

1 5

wor l d . B i l l Gw i n s t umb l ed on t o t he o l d cen t e r i n 1969 as a young

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

I t was l ucky f or me because I l ea rned how t o uset h i ngs i n a ve r y s l ow and unpr essur ed way . WhenI was f i r s t t he r e , t hey had one b l ack and wh i t ecame r a and one t ape mach i ne , and t ha t was a l l .They added mor e equ i pmen t s l ow l y , so I s t a r t edo f f w i t h t he mos t bas i c k i nd o f s i t ua t i on , andove r a pe r i od o f t hr ee yea r s l ea rned how t o usea l l o f t ha t equ i pmen t . I t was n i ce ; t he r e ' s nop l ace l i ke i t anymor e , wh i ch i s a prob l em .

The wor kshop a t WGBH - TV i n Bos t on a l so was i n i t i a l l y f unded

by t he Rocke f e l l e r Founda t i on , bu t i t t ook a ve r y d i f f e r en t d i r ec -

t i on f rom t he Na t i ona l Cen t e r i n San F r anc i sco . No sepa r a t e wor k

shop was se t up dur i ng t he ea r l y yea r s ; i ns t ead , a r t i s t s - i n -

r es i dence emba r ked on spec i a l pro j ec t s , and produce r s on t he WGBH

s t a f f d i d i nnova t i ve pro j ec t s o f t he i r own as we l l . Thus , t he

expe r i men t a t i on was ca r r i ed on w i t h i n t he s t ruc t ur e o f t he s t a t i on ,

i n i t s s t ud i os , us i ng i t s equ i pmen t . Two produce r s a t t he 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 - hour s ex -

pe r i men t i ng w i t h j az z progr amm i ng i n 1964 . By 1969 , he had pro -

duced The Med i um I s t he Med i um , t he f i r s t broadcas t - TV progr am

magaz i ne o f v i deo a r t i s t s ' wor k , and he has con t i nued t o be wonde r -

f u l l y suppor t i ve o f expe r i men t a l wor k i n t he s t a t i on . Even a

pa r t i a l l i s t o f h i s progr ams r evea l s a w i de r ange o f i n t e r es t s ; he

produced an ea r l y , f r ee - f orm 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 t he f i r s t por t ab l e co l or v i deo equ i pmen t

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

Kur t Vonnegu t ' s wor k f or t e l ev i s i on , Be t ween T i me and T i mbuk t u i n

1971 - 1972 , and produced a second , l a rge r documen t o f t he v i deo

movemen t f or broadcas t , V i deo : The New Wave , i n 1973 . Ano t he r

produce r , R i ck Hause r , has concen t r a t ed on expe r i men t a l dr ama

and dance f or 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 - i n -

r es i dence w i t h i n t he s t a t i on , and he co l l abor a t ed w i t h p l aywr i gh t

Ma r y Fe l dhaus - Webe r on t wo progr ams . Bo t h we r e composed o f t wo

1 6

t apes , broadcas t over two channe l s s i mu l t aneous l y , and v i ewed bythe home aud i ence on two separa t e TV rece i vers . The f i rs t , C i t v /

Mo t i on / Space / Game , i n 1968 , was a qu i ck -paced exp l ora t i on o f var i -ous urban spaces by dancer Gus So l omons , Jr . , w i th a sound scorecomposed by John Mor 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 , i n 1969 , was an Oed i pa l drama tha t i mp l i -ca t ed the v i ewer as the ch i l d o f the my th . Hauser con t i nues towork i n a h i gh l y i mag i na t i ve and s t ruc tura l l y i n t eres t i ng way w i thdance and drama , push i ng the med i um i n new d i rec t i ons .

The Rocke f e l l er Founda t i on ar t i s t - i n- res i dence program a l sobrough t Nam June Pa i k and f i l m-maker S t an Vanderbeek to broad-cas t t e l ev i s i on . Nam June began h i s year a t WGBH i n 1968-1969 ,do i ng a shor t segmen t for The Med i um I s the Med i um . He and ShuyaAbe bu i l t the i r f i rs t v i deo syn thes i zer there and f i rs t d i sp l ayedi t s i magery i n a four -hour - l ong b l ockbus t er program ca l l ed V i deo

Commune , broadcas t dur i ng the summer o f 1970 .

The sound t rack wasa l l o f the Bea t l es ' recorded mus i c ; peop l e were i nv i t ed o f f thes t ree t s to he l p con t r i bu t e ma t er i a l (o f t en the i r f aces) for thesyn thes i zer to process . V i ewers a t home wa t ched four hours o fdense , l ayered , s l ow l y sh i f t i ng , br i l l i an t l y co l ored i mages , someo f wh i ch were recogn i zab l e and some no t . S t an Vanderbeek a l sopu t toge ther a very l arge show , ca l l ed V i o l ence Sona t a , wh i chwas broadcas t i n 1970 . Vanderbeek had assemb l ed many b i t s o f

ma t er i a l f rom wh i ch to choose , sw i t ch i ng f rom one to ano ther i nrea l t i me as the show was broadcas t . There were f i l m c l i ps o fv i o l en t sub j ec t ma t t er , a s tud i o aud i ence tha t i nc l uded m i l i t an tpo l i t i ca l groups , kara t e exper ts l ung i ng a t ' each o ther i n the a i s l e ,and so on . The resu l t was typ i ca l o f Vanderbeek ' s work a t the t i me :a sho tgun b l as t o f i n forma t i on .

In 1972 , ano ther program was i n i t i a t ed a t WGBH :

the Mus i c -Image Workshop , es t ab l i shed by Ron Hays .

(WGBH had been broadcas t i ngmus i c programs for severa l years , and i n 1971 had broadcas t V i deo

Var i a t i ons , a group o f exper i men t a l v i sua l p i eces se t to , mus i c p l ayed

1 7

by t he Bos t on Symphony Or ches t r a . ) The r e l a t i onsh i p be t ween sound

and i mage has pr esen t ed one o f t he t horn i es t prob l ems t o a r t i s t s

wor k i ng w i t h i mages i n t i me . Many d i f f e r en t so l u t i ons have been

proposed , f rom us i ng c l ass i ca l mus i c f or sound t r acks , t o compos i ng

mus i c espec i a l l y f or each p i ece , t o hook i ng up v i deo and aud i o

equ i pmen t so t he sound and i mage a r e c r ea t ed t oge t he r , t o us i ng no

sound a t a l l . Ron Hays addr essed h i mse l f spec i f i ca l l y t o t h i s prob -

l em , mee t i ng w i t h eve r yone who had g i ven t he ma t t e r se r i ous t hough t .

He se t t l ed on us i ng t he Pa i k - Abe syn t hes i ze r as h i s v i deo t oo l . I t

had no d i r ec t hookup t o mus i c - gene r a t i ng equ i pmen t ; i t was ope r a t ed

manua l l y . Hays spen t mon t hs l ea rn i ng how t o ope r a t e t he syn t hes i ze r

and gr adua l l y deve l oped a " vocabu l a r y " f or i t , t ha t i s , se t s o f

i mages and pa t t e rns o f movemen t he cou l d dr aw upon a t w i l l . Hays

sa i d :

A t t h i s po i n t i t was obv i ous t ha t t he Pa i k - Abe ' spo t en t i a l v i sua l con f i gur a t i ons we r e so i nc r ed i b l yvas t i n numbe r t ha t some sor t o f d i sc i p l i ne wasdemanded ; some orde r and t i me s t ruc t ur e had t o bei mposed i f t he r esu l t s we r e t o be en j oyed as any -t h i ng beyond end l ess chang i ng i mages . The s t ruc t ur eo f ex i s t i ng mus i c wou l d g i ve me a s t ruc t ur e w i t h i nwh i ch I cou l d produce and con t ro l and t hen chooset he mov i ng i mages .

Thus , Hays se t t l ed on compos i ng i mages w i t h t he Pa i k - Abe syn t hes i ze r

t o go w i t h ex i s t i ng p i eces o f mus i c , a l t hough he has wor ked w i t h new

mus i c as we l l . He broadcas t shor t wor ks o f v i deo se t t o spec i f i c

p i eces o f mus i c by va r i ous compose r s (Ba t h , Ba r t ok , S t r av i nsky ,

Dvor ak , Rave l , t o name a f ew) . Hays ' s f i r s t ma j or wor k w i l l be broad -cas t t h i s yea r as pa r t o f t he Nor t on Lec t ur es de l i ve r ed 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 t o t he " Love - Dea t h

Pr e l ude " f rom Wagne r ' s Tr i s t an and I so l de ; t he i mage r y i s a comp l ex

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

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

S i nce Februa r y o f 1974 , expe r i men t a l wor k a t WGBH has sh i f t ed

l a rge l y t o t he New Te l ev i s i on Wor kshop , wh i ch i nhab i t s a f orme r

mov i e thea t er i n Wa t er town , Massachuse t t s . Managed by Doro thy

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

workshop has prov i ded the f i rs t re 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 ar t i s ts , and has a l so i nv i t ed ar t i s ts l i ke

Pe t er Campus and W i l l i am Wegman , who are a l ready we l l -es t ab l i shed i n

the med i um , to make new t apes us i ng the workshop f ac i l i t y . The work -

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 i n i t s spec i a l dance

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

i n t eres 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 chore -

ographers and dancers to come to the workshop to exper i men t w i th the

equ i pmen t , and by se t t i ng up a program to record ex i s t i ng dance o f

a l l k i nds for arch i va l purposes .

The th i rd ma j or cen t er i s the Te l ev i s i on Labora tory a t WHET

i n New York C i t y , d i rec t ed by Dav i d Loxton . I t was es t ab l i shed i n

1972 w i th suppor t f rom the Rocke f e l l er Founda t i on and the New York

S t a t e Counc i l for the Ar ts , w i th spec i a l pro j ec t s suppor t f rom the

Na t i ona l Endowmen t for the Ar ts . I f the Na t i ona l Cen t er i n San

Franc i sco was an i n t rospec t i ve cen t er for pure , broadcas t -pressure -

f ree research i n to the med i um , and WGBH ' s workshops (un t i l recen t l y)

ex i s t ed w i th i n the f abr i c o f the broadcas t s i tua t i on and near l y

a l ways pu t the i r work on the a i r i n one form or ano ther , the TV Lab

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

years , i t purchased 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 gradua 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 abora t e co l or v i deo s tud i os i n the coun t ry . Dur i ng tha t year ,

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

Some -

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

par t i c i pa t ed i n an ar t i s t - i n- res i dence program (s i m i l ar to the one

a t WGBH) i n wh i ch spec i a l pro j ec t s were deve l oped and some were

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

program ra ther l i ke the one KQED had i t s f i rs t year , i n wh i ch peop l e

f rom many d i sc i p l i nes (scu l p ture , poe t ry , graph 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 .

Gradua l l y , the TV Lab has devo t ed more and more o f i t s t i me

to an ext ended ar t i s t - i n- res i dence program . John God f rey , the TV

Lab ' s eng i neer , po i n t s ou t tha t i t was very d i f f i cu l t , due to l i m i t a

t i ons o f t i me , 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 or d i f f eren t ,

At the end o f the two or three weeks a l l o t t ed to them , mos t peop l e

were s t i l l j us t beg i nn i ng to l earn the mos t bas i c i mage -mak i ng

pa t t erns . S i nce the TV Lab i s the mos t e l abora t e i ns t a l l a t i on o f

i t s k i nd , i t has seemed more wor thwh i l e to i nv i t e f ewer peop l e , who

a l ready know the bas i cs o f the med i um , to process t apes they a l ready

have or to execu t e p l anned works , 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 . At the same t i me , WHET i s expand-

i ng i t s " broadcas t access " :

Channe l 13 broadcas ts much more a l t erna -

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 over - the -a i r ou t l e t for unusua l or

exper i men t a l t e l ev i s i on o f many k i nds , f rom spec i a l -e f f ec t s ext rav-

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

Pa i k , to new k i nds o f documen t ary , or non f i c t i on , t e l ev i s i on .

Dur i ng i t s f i rs t phase , wh i ch ended i n the spr i ng o f 1974 , a

f ew works were made a t the TV Lab tha t are among the c l ass i cs o f

the v i deo movemen t . In March , 1973 , Ed Emshw i l l er ' s Scape Ma t es

was broadcas t . Emshw i l l er i s a f i l m-maker known for - h i s t echn i ca l

exper t i se and w i l l i ngness to exp l ore new v i sua l e f f ec t s . H i s work

t yp i ca l l y i nc l udes the human f i gure , and i ndeed seems l i ke a spec i a l

k i nd o f dance . Scape Ma t es was one o f the f i rs t a t t emp t s to marsha l

spec i a l e f f ec t s i n v i deo and compu t er 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 i me , much exp l ora 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

there had been l i t t l e a t t emp t to ga ther them toge ther and crea t e

a f i n i shed work . In Scape Ma t es , f i gures j ourney s l ow l y through

dazz l i ng e l ec t ron i c l andscapes ; the use o f the human f i gure i n t er -

woven w i th abs t rac t e l ec t ron i c i magery 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 crea t es power fu l l y sur rea l i mages o f

peop l e t rapped i n Escher - l i ke mazes . Emshw i l l er has con t i nued to

m i x the human f i gure and e l ec t ron i c i magery i n two more 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 ther ma j or programs done dur i ng the f i rs t phase a t the TV

Lab were Nam June Pa i k ' s G l oba l Groove , an i n t erna t i ona l cu l tura l

co l l age , and B i l l Gw i n ' s Swee t Ver t i ca l i t y , a poem abou t New York

C i t y to be d i scussed l a t er .

The TV Lab a l so i nc l udes i n i t s suppor t v i deo documen t ary ,

" non f i c t i on " t e l ev i s i on . In February , 1974 , WNET broadcas t The Lord

o f the Un i verse , a documen t ary abou t the guru Mahara j J i , made by

Top Va l ue Te l ev i s i on (TVTV) .

I t was a l andmark i n broadcas t t e l e -

v i s i on because i t was the f i rs t t i me an en t i re documen t ary was made

for broadcas t f rom one -ha l f - i nch-w i de v i deo t ape . The por t ab l e ,

i nexpens i ve v i deo t ape recorders (por t apaks) record 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 ary

are obv i ous : 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 twork equ i pmen t . However , for

years th i s k i nd o f t ape was banned f rom broadcas 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 -base cor rec tors , ex i s t ed tha t cou l d regu l ar i ze the

s i gna l o f one -ha l f - i nch t ape enough to conv i nce TV eng i neers i t was

su i t ab l e for broadcas t . A who l e new range o f ma t er i a l was po t en-

t i a l l y ava i l ab l e for broadcas t -TV aud i ences ; the TV Lab comm i ss i oned

a group o f programs f rom TVTV for 1974-1975 , and a four -par t ser i es

on Wash i ng ton (Gera l d Ford ' s Amer i ca ) as we l l as a p i ece on Ca j un

Lou i s i ana (The Good T i mes Are K i l l i ng Me ) have been broadcas t to

da t e .

In the spr i ng and summer o f 1975 , WHET broadcas t a ser 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 Connor . VTR was a magaz i ne o f shows abou t peop l e who

make a l t erna t e t e l ev i s i on o f a l l k i nds . The forma t var i ed f rom

show to show ; some t i mes the program cons i s t ed a l mos t en t i re l y o f

i n t erv i ew , as i n 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 work , as when Pa i k ' s G l oba l

Groove was broadcas t . Dur i ng the same spr i ng , Pa i k h i mse l f made a

ser i es o f v i gne t t es abou t New York C i t y , wh i ch were broadcas t each

n i gh t a t s i gn-o f f t i me .

They wen t under the name Su i t e 212 and

have s i nce been ga thered 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 thern Ca l i forn 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 ary group

tha t has headquar t ers i n a house i n Wes t Los Ange l es . I t i s a

congrega t i on o f peop l e who have backgrounds i n var i ous aspec t s o f

a l t erna t i ve t e l ev i s i on and pr i n t med i a ; they came toge ther to form

TVTV i n 1972 . The i r f i rs t pro j ec t was to t ape the Democra t i c and

Repub l i can na t i ona l conven t i ons o f tha t , year . A l l en Rucker , afound i ng member o f the group , exp l a i ns :

Our i n t en t i on , and i t ' s s t i l l our 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 forma -t i on , the po l i t i cs o f t e l ev i s i on , are wha t weare t ry i ng to a l t er . When we f i rs t wen t to theconven t i ons i n 1972 , we se t ou t to prove a po i n t .The po i n t was tha t we cou l d t ake 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 wrung through the broadcas t t e l ev i s i onsys t 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 i n wh i ch the i n forma -t i on was shock i ng l y d i f f eren t . The na ture o f thei n forma t i on was d i f f eren t ; i t was l ooser , mored i rec t , more i n forma l , more persona l , and i t wasmore v i scera l . You f e l t l i ke you were therea f t er 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 erm" documen t ary . " For decades , med i a tha t are capab l e o f mechan i ca l l yrecord i ng and reproduc i ng i mages (pho tography , f i l m , and v i deo)have been accep t ed as neu t ra l w i tnesses o f rea l i t y , as pure record-i ng dev i ces tha t t ake no s t and on i ssues bu t mere l y revea l them . Acompar i son o f ne twork news documen t ar i es o f the conven t i ons w i th

TVTV ' s documen t ar i es revea l s tha t a l l record i ngs re f l ec t i n someway the th i nk i ng o f those who make them. There i s cur ren t l y aboom i ng i n t eres t i n documen t ary f i l m , pho tography , and v i deo byar t i s ts , cr i t i cs , and h i s tor i ans , a l l peop l e who here to fore wou l dno t have cons i dered i t o f aes the t i c i n t eres t . Th i s i s no t to saytha t a l l o f TVTV ' s t echn i ques are or i g i na l or tha t a l l o f the i r v i deot apes are works o f ar t . However , they are par t o f a movemen t toapproach soc i a l ma t er i a l cr i t i ca l l y , as i n forma t i on , and they arework i ng ou t exper i men t a l modes o f j ourna l i sm ; so , i n turn , theybroaden our awareness o f the med i um i t se l f .

TVTV ' s ed i t i ng s ty l e i s tha t o f sem i chrono l og i ca l co l l age ,w i th b i t s o f i n forma t i on brush i ng aga i ns t each o ther . The v i ewerdoesn ' t rece i ve i n forma t i on i n nar ra t i ve b l ocks ; he i s l ed througha process o f mee t i ng peop l e , hear i ng conversa t i ons . At the end hehas been to l d a s tory , bu t no t i n the conven t i ona l broadcas t -TV way :an omn i po t en t nar ra t i ve vo i ce t e l l i ng you wha t you ' re 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 youhave j us t seen .

The group f ee l s a nos t a l g i a for the o l d days o f TV , whenprograms were l i ve and the ac t i on was spon t aneous . A l l en Ruckersays

A l l o f a sudden wha t happened was tha t i n thepo l i t i cs o f commerc i a l t e l ev i s i on those th i ngsbecame hardened i n to par t i cu l ar forma t s . Ra therthan S t eve A l l en t a l k i ng to peop l e on the s t ree t ,Johnny Carson hardened the i dea i n to the t a l kshow . . . . I f you wa t ch Johnny Carson now , i t ' s anamaz i ng k i nd o f r i tua l , and there ' s no th i ng spon-t aneous abou t i t .

I f you ' ve wa t ched i t once ,

2 3

you know every r i f f . Gues ts come ou t to promo t ethemse l ves , and they are ac t i ng as i f they arei n forma l , bu t they are no t i n forma l .

TVTV has se t ou t to work i n a way tha t wou l d perm i t i n for -

ma l i t y and spon t ane i t y , reca l l i ng the i mmed i acy tha t once seemed

i nheren t i n the med i um . At the same t i me , they rea l i ze they are

work i ng i n an i ncred 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 proverb i a l f l y on the wa l l wh i l e

t ap i ng . Rucker exp l a i ns :

The who l e i dea beh i nd c i nema ver i t e was tha t thecamera man d i d no t ex i s t -peop l e wou l d forge tabou t h i m and there wou l d be a k i nd o f na tura l

behav i our . . . . I t was an abso l u t e l y va l i d i dea wheni t was f i rs t pursued because peop l e had no t l earned. . . the process o f t e l ev i s i on i s no t a produc t , i ti s an env i ronmen t and i t had no t ye t sa tura t ed them .

Now i f you go i n w i th a camera and p l ay the d i rec tc i nema ro l e . . . they are consc i ous o f presen t i ng them-se l ves on t e l ev i s i on and thus crea t e a consc i ous ,unconsc i ous s ty l e o f behav i our . . . . Tha t ' s no t ours ty l e . Our s ty l e i s to make the camera an i mmed i a t ee l emen t , mak i ng peop l e know tha t we are 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 ti t , no t to say "s t and over there , " l i ke the ne tworksdo , bu t to say " Yes , we ' re shoo t i ng . Here : wan tto l ook a t i t? " Tha t ' s l i t era l l y wha t we f i rs t d i d ;

we go t peop l e to shoo t us and we a t t emp t ed to makethem re l axed i n the presence o f med i a ra ther thanre l axed i n the absence o f med i a , wh i ch i s wha t c i n-ema ver i t e was a t t emp t i ng to do .

TVTV i s i n a process o f t rans i t i on a t the presen t t i me .

They are the f i rs 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 ; there are no t many i ndependen t v i deo produc t i on

groups ge t t i ng the i r t apes on the a i r , prov i d i ng a w i de range o f

v i ews .

The prob l ems o f ge t t i ng even one program on the a i r are

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 repea t i nde f i n i t e l y : TVTV avo i ded th i s by

work i ng for the TV Lab for a year as ext ended ar t i s ts- i n- res i dence ,

and they are now do i ng a ser i es for KCET-TV i n Los Ange l es . Bu t

2 4

the prob l em o f d i vers i f y i ng broadcas t t e l ev i s i on i n genera l rema i ns .

The h i s tory o f v i deo i n Sou thern Ca l i forn 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 .

There has been a cer t a i n

amoun t o f v i deo exh i b i t ed i n the more avan t -garde ga l l er i es i n Los

Ange l es ; Bruce Nauman began to show t apes a t the N i cho l as W i l der

Ga l l ery i n 1968 . In 1971 , there was a burs t o f ac t i v i t y a t the

Ca l i forn i a Ins t i tu t e for the Ar ts ; A l l an Kaprow , John Ba l dessar i ,

Gene Youngb l ood , Nam June Pa i k , and Sh i geko Kubo t a , a l l o f whom

are i nvo l ved i n mak i ng or wr i t i ng abou t v i deo , were on the f acu l t y .

S i nce tha t t i me , there has been an i ncreas i ng l y s t eady

produc t i on o f v i deo t apes by i ndependen t ar t i s ts . A new focus for

the i r ac t i v i t y has appeared a t the Long Beach Museum o f Ar t , where

Dav i d Ross became the depu t y d i rec tor for f i l m and t e l ev i s i on i n

1974 . Ross had been v i deo cura tor a t the Everson Museum i n Syracuse ,

New York , for near l y three years and had organ i zed an as ton i sh i ng

number o f exh i b i t i ons o f v i deo ar t . H i s for t e has been h i s ab i l i t y

to f i nd l i t t l e -known ar t i s ts and to organ i ze the i r t apes , a l ong

w i th those o f more f amous ar t i s ts , i n to huge an tho l ogy- l i ke exh i b i -

t i ons , prov i d i ng a w i de range o f works for peop l e to v i ew . By

the summer o f 1975 , he had managed to f i nd an amaz i ng number o f

t apes made i n Sou thern Ca l i forn 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 worked very hard to f i nd a way to exh i b i t t apes

we l l i n a ga l l ery se t t i ng . He i s on l y too aware tha t mos t museum-

goers opera t e i n a cru 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 are mean t to be v i ewed f rom

casua l v i s i tor 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 prec i se v i ew i ng schedu l es , as i s

there are so many t apes o f vary i ng l eng ths .

A l so , i f turned i n to a k i nd o f thea t re -go i ng exper i ence , i t wou l d

m i ss the casua l v i ewer a l toge ther , and a new ar t med i um depends on

beg i nn i ng to end , and a

the necessary t i me . At

cumven t th i s prob l em by

done for f i l ms , because

2 5

chance encoun t ers 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 arge ga l l er i es .

Ross has worked ou t a good comprom i se . For the l arge

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

Some have regu l ar schedu l es , w i th t apes p l ay i ng i n repea t i ng cyc l es .

Casua l v i s i tors can drop i n , see wha t happens to be p l ay i ng , and

s t ay i f they are i n t eres t ed .

In o ther rooms , t apes are p l ayed by

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

accommoda t ed . A l l the rooms are sma l l and sea t i ng i s com for t ab l e ,

approx 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 var i a t i ons o f recorded per formance . In some cases , the

ar t i s t addresses the camera d i rec t l y , i mp l i ca t i ng the v i ewer as

aud i ence . In o thers , an ac tua l per formance i n f ron t o f an aud i ence

has been recorded . The preva i l i ng mood i s one o f f an t asy - the t apes

are fu l l o f l i t t l e s tor i es , nar ra t i ves , games . When asked where th i s

f asc i na t i on w i th s tor i es and nar ra t i ve comes f rom , Ross had an i mme -

d i a t e answer :

" We ' re near 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 ar t schoo l s have been ar t i s ts John Ba l dessar i and W i l l i am

Wegman , bo th o f whom work w i th nar ra t i ve s t ruc tures .

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

f an t asy . I t was E l eanor 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

appears be fore an aud i ence i n fu l l ba l l er i na cos tume : she t e l l s us

she i s go i ng to New York to become a f amous Russ i an ba l l er i na . She

f an t as i zes abou t her f i rs t b i g ba l l e t , the s tory o f the L i t t l e Ma t ch

G i r l . She s l i ps i n to the s tory and remembers her f i rs t Chr i s tmas

a t home . An t i n ' s f i ne l y woven per formance f i t s f an t as i es one i ns i de

the o ther l i ke Ch i nese boxes , un t i l one has dr i f t ed f ar away f rom

sure rea l / f an t asy boundar i es . I t seemed an exce l l en t , i ron i c per -

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

2 6

The Bay Area :

San Franc i sco , Berke l ey , San t a C l ara

The Bay area has prov i ded a home for a w i de var i e t y o fv i deo , bu t i t has ex i s t ed there i n i so l a t ed pocke t s . Peop l e haveworked nearby for years and known no th i ng abou t each o ther ' s ac t i vi t i es . The NCET i s a pr i me examp l e : i t may have been a na t i ona lcen t er , bu t i t was cer t a i n l y never a l oca l one . The work done theretook the form o f i n t ense v i sua l exp l ora t i ons i n a nar row d i rec t i on ,so tha t the cen t er ex i s t ed l i ke an i s l and i n the San Franc i sco ar t

wor l d , separa t e f rom mos t and unknown by many .

The work i ng cond i t i ons a t the cen t er have been descr i bedear l i er . For a var i e t y o f reasons , the ear l y years o f exper 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 eres t i ngt apes were made .

One charac t er i s t i c shared by mos t o f these t apesi s a s l owness o f pace . The bes t t apes f rom th i s per i od a t thecen t er i nc l ude B i l l Gw i n ' s and Warner Jepson ' s I rv i ng Br i dge ,W i l l ard Rosenqu i s t ' s and B i l l Roar ty ' s Zos t i ne , Don Ha l l ock ' s K i ssW i th No Up , and B i l l Roar ty ' s and Don Ha l l ock ' s Un t i t l ed - i n a l l o fthese there i s an across- the -board s l ow i ng down . The p i eces are

usua l l y br i l l i an t l y co l ored and dense l y l ayered v i sua l l y , and e l e -men t s sh i f t very s l ow l y w i th i n the f rame .

Paren 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 sno t l i m i t ed to cen t er work . The ar t i s ts there par t i c i pa t ed i n at rend tha t had been deve l op i ng s i nce the l a t e 1960 ' s i n the " t i mear ts . " A s l ow pace was creep i ng i n to works by very d i f f eren t ar t i s ts ,f rom the b l ack -and-wh i t e , hour - l ong t apes o f T-sh i r t ed Bruce Nauman

pac i ng around h i s s tud i o , to the fu l l -co l or , sump tuous na ture t apesby B i l l Gw i n . In mos t o f these t apes a se t pa t t ern i s es t ab l i shedtha t i s repea t ed for a very l ong t i me . Typ i ca l l y , the v i ewer i s a tf i rs t preoccup i ed w i th f i gur 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 ewers become bored and res t l ess as the p i ecesseem to pers i s t i n t erm i nab l y . Bu t some t i mes the overa l l reac t i on

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

packed i magery o f much f i l m and TV o f the m i d-s i x t i es . Th i s s l ow

pace i s a phenomenon qu i t e par t i cu l ar to the l a t e s i x t i es and ear l y

seven t i es (severa l ar t i s ts , 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 anymore , 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 .

At any ra t e , g i ven the shared s l ow pace , t apes made a t the

cen t er exp l ored d i f f eren t k i nds o f i deas . Don Ha l l ock worked w i th

very s t ruc tured f eedback , sh i f t i ng h i s i mages s l ow l y un t i l the v i ewer

l os t a norma l sense o f ver t i ca l or i en t a t i on v i s-a -v i s the i mage .

W i l l ard Rosenqu i s t and B i l l Roar ty worked w i th i ncred i b l y sub t l e

pa t t erns o f l i gh t , turn i ng the mon i tor sur f ace i n to a d i aphanous

scu l p tura l space . B i l l Roar ty i n l a t er t apes has used s i m i l ar l i gh t -

i ng on the human form , i n th i s case the m i me dancer Noe l Paren t i .

These t apes work i n a f asc i na t i ng border area be tween represen t a t i ona l

and nonrepresen t a t i ona l i magery : the mon i tor seems to con t a i n on l y

sha f t s o f co l ored l i gh t un t i l the f i gure sh i f t s s l i gh t l y and a con-

tour o f Paren t i ' s body seems d i scern i b l e .

A s i m i l ar border area was exp l ored by B i l l Gw i n and Warner

Jepson i n I rv i ng Br i dge . There i s on l y one camera sho t o f a woods

scene w i th a br i dge .

I t beg i ns " s t ra i gh t " : you can recogn i ze the

scene and hear na tura l " woods " sounds . Very s l ow l y bo th the v i sua l s

and the sound are a l t ered e l ec t ron i ca l l y so tha t i n 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 ored equ i va l en t o f the woods

and hear 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 three -par t deve l opmen t o f i t s s t ruc ture

wou l d no t be a pa t th i ng ; the scene wou l d sh i f t back and for th , f rom

one k i nd o f l andscape to ano ther .

S t ephen Beck ' s work s t ands a l i t t l e as i de f rom the res t o f

the cen t er ' s . Beck bu i l t a nonop t i ca l syn thes i zer a t the cen t er ;

t h i s t oo l i s d i f f e r en t f rom t he Pa i k - Abe syn t hes i ze r i n t ha t i t needno t use came r as . The i mage r y i s a l l gene r a t ed e l ec t ron i ca l l y . I nsome ways , Beck ' s wor k i s t he mos t t r ad i t i ona l o f t he abs t r ac t co l orv i deo a r t i s t s . He t akes pa i ns t ak i ng ca r e w i t h t he s t ruc t ur e o f h i swor ks - t hey t end t o be shor t , pr ec i se , and r i ch w i t h r e f e r ences -j us t as he was me t hod i ca l abou t h i s cho i ces when bu i l d i ng h i s syn -t hes i ze r . Th i s s t ruc t ur ed approach t o abs t r ac t a r t i s no t new i nt h i s cen t ur y . Beck speaks o f h i s r espec t f or Kand i nsky :

He ' s r ea l l y t he pa i n t e r who has i n f l uenced myown t h i nk i ng t he mos t . I t h i nk t h i s t i es myv i deo i n t o a t r ad i t i on w i t h i n t he a r t s . . . t henon - ob j ec t i ve t r ad i t i on . On t he Sp i r i t ua l i nAr t j a book wr i t t en by Kand i nsky i s r ea l l y amas t e rp i ece o f someone pu t t i ng down i n wordswha t t he expe r i ence i s abou t . . . . I had expe r i -ences o f see i ng t he v i sua l f i e l d br eak downi n t o e l emen t s , and when I was do i ng t he des i gnf or t he syn t hes i ze r , I s t ruc t ur ed t hese e l emen t s :co l or , shape , t ex t ur e , and mo t i on . And I f ur t he rt ook t he e l emen t o f shape i n t o sub - ca t egor i es o fpo i n t , l i ne , p l ane , and i l l us i on o f space . Il a t e r r ead Kand i nsky ' s wor k and I f ound i t wasr ea l l y c l ose : I had no f or eknow l edge o f h i swor k when I a r r i ved a t t he same , or a ve r ys i m i l a r scheme . I was as t ounded . I was r ead -i ng h i s no t es f or h i s c l ass a t t he Bauhaus andt he r e i t was , t he ve r y same ana l ys i s .

Many o f Beck ' s wor ks t ake as a t heme a cen t r a l i dea ; hes t ruc t ur es t he wor k f rom i ns i de ou t t o make t ha t i dea v i sua l l y

man i f es t . One p i ece was Concep t i on ; ano t he r , done i n co l l abor a t i on w i t h f i l m- make r Jordan Be l son , was ca l l ed Cyc l es . Th i sl as t wor k dea l s w i t h l aye r s and l aye r s o f cyc l i c i mages , organ i zedi n t o a cyc l i c s t ruc t ur e :

The po i n t i s , t he cyc l e i s , aga i n , a phenomenonw i t hou t magn i t ude ; t he r e a r e sma l l cyc l es andt he r e a r e b i g cyc l es . Th i s wor k i nvo l ved a l o to f s t udy o f t he phenomenon o f cyc l es , and i n asmuch as t hey we r e s t ud i ed and unde r s t ood , t he i rconcep t s we r e embod i ed v i sua l l y and dynam i ca l l y ,and i ncorpor a t ed i n t o t he wor k . The on l y word

29

j ec t ma t t e r

Some o f Beck ' s mos t i n t e r es t i ng wor ks manage t o pr esen t

t o a w i de r aud i ence i deas norma l l y ava i l ab l e on l y t o spec i a l i s t s . He

l i kes t o use sc i en t i f i c and ma t hema t i ca l i mage r y because he f ee l s

i t ' s pa r t o f our t i mes . Th i s i n t e r es t may come f rom h i s own e l ec -

t ron i cs background :

i n t he wor k i s t he t i t l e , " cyc l es . " Eve r y t h i nge l se abou t t he concep t i s expr essed i n t he v i sua ll anguage .

. . . wha t abou t t he c i r cu i t des i gne r , t he c i r cu i tbu i l de r as t he r ea l e l ec t ron i c a r t i s t . . . as opposedt o peop l e who a r e expr ess i ng mor e t r ad i t i ona l con -cep t s w i t h v i deo , w i t h e l ec t ron i c i mage r y? Wha tabou t t he guys who a r e ac t ua l l y bu i l d i ng t he i n -s t rumen t s , des i gn i ng t he c i r cu i t r y? I s t he c i r -cu i t r y no t capab l e o f be i ng r ecogn i zed as be i nga r ea l accomp l i shmen t and ach i evemen t i n and o fi t se l f ? An aes t he t i cs t ha t t he ave r age man hasno i nk l i ng o f o t he r t han , " Wow! I t ' s a l o t o fw 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 r ebased on i deas f rom a t i me when a r t i s t s used ma t hema t i cs as sub -

I t comes f rom t he mag i c squa r es dev i sed byAr ab i an t h i nke r s o f t he s i x t h and seven t h cen -t ur i es , when t hey mas t e r ed a l gebr a and app l i eda l gebr a t o t he i r a r t . The r e l i g i on o f I s l amf orb i ds any r epr esen t a t i ona l i mage . I t ' s at o t a l l y d i f f e r en t concep t o f v i sua l expr ess i ont han wha t we have ; you ' r e j us t no t pe rm i t t ed t o

por t r ay an ob j ec t o f c r ea t i on . I t ' s l a rge l ybased on por t r ay i ng wha t we wou l d ca l l ma t he -ma t h i ca l ha rmon i es . The i r wonde r f u l a r abesquesand domes and pa t t e rns a r e a l l man i f es t a t i onso f ma t hema t i cs , wh i ch i n our day and age wewou l d f i nd i n some equa t i on i n a book , wh i chpe rhaps makes i t l ess v i v i d , and l ess i mpor t an tt o many peop l e . Peop l e ask me some t i mes , " I st h i s ma t hema t i ca l ? How does t h i s r e l a t e t oma t hema t i cs? " And I say , " I t i s ma t hema t i cs ,j us t l i ke mus i c i s ma t hema t i cs . " You have i m-

p l i c i t s t ruc t ur es o f ha rmon i es and r a t i os . I n -s t ead o f mus i c , whe r e t he r e i s v i br a t i on o f a i r ,

3 0

he r e i t ' s t he v i br a t i on o f l i gh t , w i t h d i f f e r en tco l or s and pa t t e rns . You don ' t have t o r e l a t et o i t as a dr ab ma t hema t i ca l t heorum or equa t i on .I t t akes on a much mor e v i v i d pr esence .

Wa rne r Jepson was t he compose r f or t he cen t e r a f t e r 1972 ;a t f i r s t , he wor ked c l ose l y w i t h t he a r t i s t s , pu t t i ng sound t ot he i r t apes , bu t he has been expe r i men t i ng a l l a l ong w i t h i mageso f h i s own as we l l . Mos t o f h i s i mage r y i s gene r a t ed by aud i oequ i pmen t t ha t has been connec t ed t o t he v i deo gea r . He t a l ksabou t h i s l a t es t wor k :

. . . I ' ve been do i ng some t h i ngs send i ng an aud i os i gna l i n t o a mach i ne we have a t t he Cen t e r ca l l eda m i xe r , a co l or i ze r , and a keye r . I t t akes aud i os i gna l s f rom t he osc i l l a t or i ns i de t he aud i o syn -t hes i ze r and changes t hem i n t o bands o f va r i ousw i d t hs and expans i ons on t he sc r een and pu t s co l ori n , so t he co l or ge t s m i xed i n gorgeous a r r ays . . . .I ' ve even begun t o use t he came r a and t o m i x aud i o -c r ea t ed i mages w i t h came r a i mages . The aud i o t h i ngsw i l l go r i gh t t hrough t he came r a i mages and makes t r ange new co l or s .

H i s i dea i s t o make a wor k t ha t i s t o t a l l y i n t egr a t edaur a l l y and v i sua l l y . He f ee l s t he t wo shou l d comp l emen t eacho t he r comp l e t e l y . The prob l em i s t o ba l ance t he wor k so t ha tbo t h v i sua l s and aud i o a r e i n t e r es t i ng . He exp l a i ns :

I n a l o t o f t hese expe r i men t s , I ' m no t even pu t -t i ng t he sound on because t he sound i s dumb . Thet h i ng abou t sound i s , i t ' s so comp l ex t ha t wheni t ' s r epr esen t ed i n i mages , t he i mages a r e socomp l ex , t hey become chaos . Whe r eas t he s i mp l es tsounds make t he c l ea r es t i mages . . . . The r e ' s a l o to f ac t i v i t y i n sounds and i t becomes b l ur r y v i su -a l l y ; i t l ooks l i ke no i se . So t he s i mp l es t sounds ,l i ke s i ng l e t ones , make t he bes t i mages . . . wor k i ng

w i t h sounds you ac t ua l l y wan t t o use and save i sa prob l em .

Jepson exp l a i ns t he r easons he i s l ook i ng f or d i r ec t r e -l a t i onsh i ps be t ween sound and i mage . Many v i deo and f i l m a r t i s t s

make the v i sua l par t o f the i r work , 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 ture :

Even go i ng back to the 1920 ' s , the abs t rac tf i l ms tha t were made then re l i ed on sound forthe i r form .

Even Wa l t D i sney ' s Fan t as i aMus i c has a l ways been a mov i ng ar t , and v i sua l shad a l ways been s t a t i c , so when v i sua l s go t tomov i ng , they needed tha t form tha t mus i c i anshave so l ved - i t g i ves suppor t to the v i sua lar t i s ts . I t ' s t i me for v i sua l ar t i s ts to f i ndthe i r own mov i ng form , pac i ng , and deve l opmen t ,and f i gure ou t wha t they need to do to make anex i s t i ng work w i thou t sound , or w i th sound , bu ton i t s own t erms .

One o f the f ew t i mes the work o f the cen t er was exh i b i t ed

i n the San Franc 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 Franc i sco Museum o f Ar t

i n the summer 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 tor so tha t a l arge

aud i ence cou l d wa t ch i t . I t was essen t i a l l y a wooden pyram 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 toward the aud i ence .

At the back , a t the apex o f the pyra -

m i d , was a t e l ev i s i on mon i tor . The i ns i des o f the pyram i d were

l i ned w i th m i r rors , so tha t the i mage on the mon i tor was made

ka l e i doscop i c . However , the f ace t s o f the i mage d i dn ' t go o f f

a t s t ra i gh t ang l es ; the i mage ben t and became a c i rc l e , so tha t

f ace t s seemed to form a sphere . For per formances , a l l the l i gh t s

i n the rooms were turned o f f and the ou t er f rame o f the pyram i d

was masked w i th b l ack .

The aud i ence cou l d l ook i n and see wha t

appeared to be a huge sphere o f sh i f t i ng , d i sso l v i ng , l um i nous

co l ors , suspended i n dark space . I t was espec i a l l y success fu l

because i t expressed the v i deo i mages i n dema t er i a l i zed , a l mos t

June Pa i k has exp l a i ned the d i f f erence

v i deo ar t as the d i f f erence 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 erms . Nam

be tween k i ne t i c ar t and

ch i nes and e l ec t ron i cs ;

grav i ty and the o ther does no t .

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qua l i t y o f the v i deo i mage i s o f t en a l t ered by i ts presen t a t i onas a sma l l i mage i n a p i ece o f furn i ture i n a l i t room . The

V i deo l a dev i ce a l l owed the i mage to f l oa t . " V i deo l a " was a verysuccess fu l exh i b i t i on : two hundred peop l e cou l d wa t ch i t a t onet i me , and Ha l l ock es t i ma t es tha t 24 , ooo peop l e i n a l l saw the show .

The cen t er ' s me thod o f opera t i on was to l i m i t the numbero f peop l e work i ng there so tha t those peop l e cou l d work veryf ree l y and cons t an t l y , l earn i ng gradua l l y , as new equ i pmen t was

bu i l t and acqu i red , how to bu i l d new pa t t erns o f i mages . Th i smean t tha t very f ew peop l e had access to the equ i pmen t . S i nceprac t i ca l l y no i nd i v i dua l has the means to own such equ i pmen tpersona l l y , o ther ar t i s ts i n the Bay area turned to sma l l - forma t ,por 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 ther cen t er appeared to suppor t th i s k i nd o f v i deo .

The d i rec tor o f the de Sa i sse t Ar t Ga l l ery a t the Un i -vers i t y o f San t a C l ara i s Lyd i a Mod i V i t a l e , who i s very i n t er -es t ed i n exh i b i t i ng many forms o f avan t -garde ar t . In the w i n t ero f 1971-1972 , she h i red George Bo l l i ng as v i deo cura tor a t thede Sa i sse t , and gradua l l y the ga l l ery became the s t ead i es t cen t ero f concep tua l v i deo i n the Bay area . There was a f l our i sh i ng con-cep tua l ar t scene i n San Franc i sco a t tha t t i me , and Bo l l i ng i n t ro-duced severa l o f the ar t i s ts to v i deo , and even d i d the v i deo formany o f the i r ear l y t apes. The four mos t cons i s t en t workers i nthe med i um have been Howard Fr i ed , Joe l G l assman , Ter ry Fox , and

Pau 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 over the coun t ry . Where Dav i d Ross ' s s t reng th i sto organ i ze l arge , democra t i c exh i b i t i ons tha t g i ve exposure toa l arge number o f works , Bo l l i ng ' s i s to be cr i t i ca l l y se l ec t i ve ,organ i z i ng one -person or sma l l -group shows .

Howard Fr i ed ' s work i s i n t r i gu i ng and ra ther un i que i n theconcep tua l v i deo wor l d . H i s t apes are care fu l l y s t ruc tured per -formances , wh i ch have go t t en more and more comp l ex w i th t i me .

Inh i s ear l y t apes , Fr i ed h i mse l f i s the pro t agon i s t , and dur i ng the

3 3

course o f the work p i t s h i mse l f aga i ns t some soc i a l s t ruc ture ,

t ry i ng to f i gure ou t a way o f proceed i ng . An examp l e i s Sea

Se l l Sea S i ck a t Saw Sea Soar , a for ty-m i nu t e b l ack -and-wh i t e

t ape done i n 1971 . Fr 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 order i ng i n a res t auran t . He

keeps answer i ng the wa i t er ' s ques t i ons w i th more 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 erence be tween

B i g Burgers and Jumbo Burgers? " . . . " You don ' t have Coke? " - un t i l

the wa i t er becomes annoyed and asks ano ther to t ake the order .

Fr i ed exaspera t es th i s wa i t er as we l l , and the two wa i t ers beg i n

to t ake turns t ry i ng to ge t the order . Th i s goes on i n t erm i nab l y .

The t ab l e w i th Fr i ed i s on a sw i ng para l l e l to the camera , as are

the two wa i t ers . The camera 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 pers 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 per formance . Gradua l l y , the scene

comes to have broader i mp l i ca t i ons ; Fr i ed seems l i ke the ba t t ered

v i c t i m o£ a cease l ess i n t er roga t i on . H i s de f ense i s to be pass i ve ,

to no t order , and i t f i na l l y works :

one o f the wa i t ers qu i t s i n

d i sgus t , and one o f the var i ab l es o f a s i tua t i on tha t seems to

be no th i ng bu t var i ab l es i s e l i m i na t ed .

Fr i ed has a s t ar 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 procedures p l ay i n s t ruc tur i ng san i t y .

Joe l G l assman has deve l oped a very d i f f eren t s ty l e . He

began on the Eas t Coas t - he d i d bo th l i gh t scu l p ture and sequences

o£ pho tographs . H i s l a t es t t ape , Dreams , i s a co l l age o f i mages

tha t i s somewha t s i m i l ar to t apes be i ng made a t the presen t t i me

by a f ew o ther peop l e i n the coun t ry . The ear l y concep tua l t apes

tha t exp l ored spec i f i c aspec t s o f percep t i on have g i ven way i n

some cases to an i n t eres t i n how one perce i ves through t i me , how

one bu i l ds up memor i es . At one end o f th i s group o f ar t i s ts i s

the i n forma t i on-co l l age work o f I ra Schne i der ; a t the o ther endare the i n t ense l y persona l t apes o f L i sa S t ee l e and Co l i n Campbe l li n Toron to . G l assman ' s t ape i s somewhere i n be tween . We are shown

a ser i es o f i mages tha t seem to be l ong to one man ' s exper i ence -the wa l l s o f a par t i cu l ar room , c l ouds , par t i cu l ar b i t s o f l and-scape , wr i t t en no t es .

Some o f the i mages are pers i s t en t and seemto have spec i a l power or s i gn i f i cance , as do cer t a i n i mages i n adream .

Scenes reappear aga i n and aga i n , a l t ered s l i gh t l y by wha tcame be fore them , and a l t ered as we l l by wha t one hears as onesees them . G l assman t akes pa i ns t ak i ng care w i th the sound and i svery aware tha t wha t we hear shapes wha t we read i n to a scene ;seem i ng l y i nnocen t scenes can send sh i vers down your sp i ne whenyou hear man i c l augh t er , sobs , wh i spers i n the background .

G l assman shows tha t v i deo t ape can be used to prov i de ame t aphor for one ' s consc i ousness . Images can be s t rung a l ongthrough t i me , para 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 are no t reca l l ed i n a pure or neu t ra ls t a t e bu t up through the sw i r l o f i mages ex i s t i ng i n the m i nd ,co l ored by wha t one was th i nk i ng o f ear l i er .

In add i t i on to these two cen t ers , NCET and the de Sa i sse tthere were o ther ac t i v i t i es go i ng on i n the Bay area as we l l . TVTV

had i t s headquar t ers i n San Franc i sco for a f ew years , and an exce ll en t documen t ary group , Op t i c Nerve , ex i s- ts there today , as we l l as

were more d i rec t l y and ac t i ve l y par t o f theo f the l a t e 1960 ' s and ear l y 1970 ' s than wasthe de Sa i sse t , bu t i t wou l d be wrong to say

1 3 5

An t Farm , a med i a group tha t has made many t apes and he l d exh i b i t i ons .S t i l l ano ther group , V i deo Free Amer i ca , was co- founded by Sk i pSweeney and Ar thur G i nsburg . They have made documen t ary v i deot apes , moun t ed e l abora t e ga l l ery 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 thea t er , and he l d regu l ar l y schedu l ed v i ew-i ngs o f t apes . They

v i deo coun t ercu l ture

e i ther the cen t er or

they were more i n t eres t ed i n po l i t i cs than ar 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 r ea t ed ve r y beau t i f u l

v i deo . Sweeney , f or examp l e , t hrough hour s and hour s o f t i nke r i ng

w i t h knobs , became one o f t he hand f u l o f peop l e t o mas t e r f eedback .

A no t e abou t f eedback : t he r e a r e many , many f eedback t apes .

A l mos t eve r y a r t i s t wen t t hrough a pe r i od o f do i ng f eedback , i f

on l y because i t i s one o f t he s i mp l es t ways t o c r ea t e powe r f u l l y

l y r i ca l , abs t r ac t i mage r y g i ven on l y a came r a and a mon i t or . I t

i s pur e v i deo : t he came r a i s t urned t o p i ck up t he i mage on t he

f ace o f t he mon i t or t ha t i s d i sp l ay i ng t ha t came r a ' s i mage . 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 i mage

o f a mon i t or w i t h i n a mon i t or , and so on , an i n f i n i t e l y r epea t i ng

i mage . By t i l t i ng t he came r a and by a l t e r i ng t he con t ro l s f or

br i gh t ness , e t c . , abs t r ac t pa t t e rns a r e f ormed . The r e a r e so

many va r i ab l es i n t he i mage t ha t i t i s ve r y d i f f i cu l t t o con t ro l ;

t he p i c t ur e cons t an t l y " sp i ns ou t . " A ve r y cha r ac t e r i s t i c f eed -

back i mage i s o f a vor t ex , an e l ec t ron i c wh i r l poo l . I n pr ac t i ced

hands , such as Sweeney ' s , t h 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 t o b i gge r a r t cen t e r s :

some t i mes t he sma l l e r p l aces can do t h i ngs be t t e r . The r e i s a

group o f peop l e t he r e who a r e no t assoc i a t ed i n a f orma 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 wor k

f or t he 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 pro f essor a t t he Un i ve r s i t y o f Wash i ng t on - bu t who sha r e an

i n t e r es t i n v i deo , keep i n t ouch w i t h each o t he r , and make t h i ngs

happen . They wor k on a modes t sca l e , no t suppor t ed by huge i ns t i -

t u t i ons or gr an t s , bu t t hey pe r seve r e and make , or he l p make poss i -

b l e , ma r ve l ous t apes .

Anne Focke used t o wor k f or t he Sea t t l e Ar t Museum and f ound

he r se l f produc i ng shows abou t a r t f or l oca l TV . Two yea r s ago , she

broke away and es t ab l i shed an i ndependen t , nonpro f i t a r t ga l l e r y

3 6

ca l l ed and / or . As the ga l l ery ' s name sugges ts , Focke has a p l ura l i s t ,

open approach to con t emporary ar t and shows a w i de var i e t y o f work .

She has , however , been espec i a l l y i n t eres t ed i n v i deo . She has

he l ped ar t i s ts ge t t i me to use the KCTS s tud i os and has shown bo th

l oca l l y known and na t i ona l l y f amous v i deo ar t i s ts i n her ga l l ery .

At KCTS , Ron C i ro has worked w i th Anne Focke to ge t ar t i s ts

i n to the s tud i o . He has a l so encouraged C l i f f H i l l house , a s t a t i on

eng i neer , to work on h i s own v i deo quan t i zer / co l or i zer . 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 er i n San Franc i sco as par t

o f i t s i n t ernsh i p program , and are now exc i t ed abou t exper i men t i ng

w i th v i deo i magery . 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 are eager to work i n co l or . C l i f f works dur i ng

h i s o f f -hours bu i l d i ng new equ i pmen t based on c i rcu i t des i gns the

Na t i ona l Cen t er gave h i m . He makes one th i nk the shy garage i n-

ven tor , who works unsuppor t ed by mass i ve research and deve l opmen t

money , i s s t i l l a l i ve and we l l i n Amer i ca , even today . H i s on l y

prob l em i s f i nd i ng money to v i s i t o ther eng i neers des i gn i ng new

v i deo equ i pmen t so they won ' t dup l i ca t e each o ther ' s work .

B i l l R i t ch i e i s a pro f essor o f f i ne ar ts a t the Un i vers i t y

o f Wash i ng ton . He t eaches pr i n t mak i ng mos t o f the t i me , and

v i deo par t o f the t i me . He i s very w i de l y read and i n t eres t ed i n

how v i deo f i t s i n to the h i s tory o f ar t i n genera l and pr i n t mak i ng

i n par t i cu l ar . He has done one o f the two or three bes t f eedback

t apes 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 i mage , i n th i s case tha t o f a pr i n t R i t ch i e

d i d ca l l ed Nay Fa ther ' s Farm . In a f eedback se tup , the i mage turns

i n to very r i ch , s t ream i ng co l ors . R i t ch i e ' s f r i end Car l Chew pu t

h i s hand i n f ron t o f the mon i tor , so i n the f i na l t ape i t l ooks as

i f h i s hands are form i ng and mode l i ng the f l ow o f co l ors : the t ape

i s ca l l ed The Hands o f Car l Chew on ' " My Fa ther ' s Farm . " Feedback

i s made by peop l e , bu t rare l y does a human form seem to have any

par t i n i t v i sua l l y :

i n th i s t ape i t ach i eves a wonder fu l m i x .

3 7

Da l l as

Da l l as i s the l oca t i on o f one o f the three ma j or sa t e l l i t e

cen t ers se t up by the Na t i ona l Cen t er . (The o ther two are a t

Sou thern I l l i no i s Un i vers i t y , d i rec t ed by Jon Moorman , 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 Jer ry Hun t . Dowe was a d i rec tor a t the pub l i c

t e l ev i s i on s t a t i on i n Da l l as when he wen t to the Na t i ona l Cen t er to

be i n i t s i n t ernsh i p program . He wen t back to Da l l as exc i t ed abou t

exper i men t a l t e l ev i s i on ; for a wh i l e he conduc t ed workshops bo th

a t Channe l 13 and Sou thern Me thod i s t Un i vers i t y , bu t even tua l l y he

sh i f t ed the who l e opera t i on to SMU . Jer ry 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 / workshop 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 are cons t an t l y e l abora t i ng upon , i mprov i ng , and resyn thes i z i ng

the i r mach i nes . Some o f the i r mos t exc i t i ng work has been done i n

per formance , p l ay i ng the i r aud i o and v i deo syn thes i zers toge ther .

They have g i ven concer ts i n the U . S . and Canada , and have made a

European tour as we l l .

I t i s obv i ous tha t bo th men share a rare se t o f t a l en t s ;

no t on l y are they i nvo l ved i n p i oneer i ng t echn i ca l work , bu t they ,

are a l so capab l e o f exp l a i n i ng wha t they have done - they are born

t eachers . In add i t i on to a mas t er fu l , dark l y symbo l i c t ape ,

Process i on , they produced a l i gh thear t ed E l ec t ron i c No t ebook t ape

for the Na t i ona l Cen t er , wh i ch exp l a i ns i n a marve l ous l y c l ear way

wha t f eedback i s .

M i nneapo l i s

J i m Byrne was j us t ou t o f ar 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 Workshop 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 ,

depressed by a l l the " bad ar t " he saw be i ng produced .

The t eachers

a t the workshop i nc l uded Pe t er Campus , and Byrne was i mmed i a t e l y

3 8

i mpressed by h i s work . He became Campus ' s s tuden t and worked w i th

h i m for a year and a ha l f ; he i s work i ng i ndependen t l y now . In a

sense , he i s i n a second genera t i on o f v i deo ar t i s ts .

H i s work rem i nds one o f Campus ' s i n tha t he does bo th i n-

s t a l l a t i ons and t apes , and h i s t apes are 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 Byrne produced i n 1974 , Tangen t , i s t yp i ca l . To s t ar t , he

has prerecorded an i mage 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 camera and s t ares ou t so tha t one

sees on l y h i s head ; some t i mes he wa l ks back and s t ands aga i ns t a

f ar wa l l .

In Tangen t , Byrne p l ays th i s t ape on a mon i tor , then

t apes h i mse l f p i ck i ng up the mon i tor and reac t i ng to the i mage ,

compar i ng h i s space to the i mage o f h i mse l f i n the space on the

mon i tor . Some t i mes he ho l ds the mon i tor up to the camera so the

f rame ma t ches the f rame o f " our " mon i tor : i t l ooks as i f the pre -

recorded i mage i s p l ay i ng d i rec t l y on our mon i tor . Then he tw i s ts

the mon i tor back so on l y one s i de o f i t co i nc i des w i th our mon i tor .

The space bo th i ns i de and ou t s i de our mon i tor seems to warp . Wha t

Byrne has done i s crea t e a se t o f power fu l i l l us i ons tha t make our

space seem to mee t t angen t i a l l y w i th the spaces i n the mon i tor .

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 presen t i ng us w i th such a c l ear , rea l space and

person , h i mse l f , Byrne has opened a door - he has a l l owed us to

compare our own env i ronmen t w i th tha t on a t e l ev i s i on mon i tor and

so has d i sp l ayed i t s i l l us i on to us .

Byrne works a l one i n M i nneapo l i s and some o f h i s work has

been shown a t the Wa l ker Ar t Cen t er there . There i s an exce l l en t

v i deo access cen t er i n M i nneapo l i s , the Un i vers i t y Commun i t y V i deo

Cen t er a t the Un i vers i t y o f M i nneso t a . They have one -ha l f - i nch

v i deo t ape equ i pmen t , bo th for record i ng and ed i t i ng , and Byrne

d i d h i s f i rs t work 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 srun by Gar ry Ne i l l Kennedy , an ar t i n t erna t i ona l i s t . He i nv i t es

ar t i s ts 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 program . The schoo l has very modes t v i deo equ i pmen t , a l l

b l ack and wh i t e , some por t apak , and the i dea has been to conduc t a

purpose fu l i nves t i ga t i on o f the med i um . A rev i ew o f t apes made a t

the schoo l s i nce 1970 i s a m i n i - rev i ew o f the genera l course con-

cep tua l ar t has t aken over the . pas t f i ve years .

The f i rs t t apes done , i n Pa t Ke l l y ' s t each i ng c l asses , are

very s t ra i gh t forward exp l ora t i ons o f the med i um , w i th members o f

the c l ass t ry i ng ou t d i f f eren t ways o f f i l l i ng the mon i tor ' s space

w i th the i r bod i es .

Soon the t apes revea l a search for a way to

s t ruc ture t i me and even t s , and th i s o f t en t akes the form o f coun t -

i ng or repea t i ng so the s t ruc ture i s as se l f -ev i den t as poss i b l e .

Some t apes exam i ne more spec i f i c prob l ems , l i ke sound- i mage re -

l a t i onsh i ps .

For examp l e , i n Dav i d Askevo l d ' s F i l l , the ar t i s t wraps

p i eces o f fo i l around a m i crophone head ; as the i mage ( the s i l ver

ba l l o f fo i l ) i ncreases , the sound ( the rus t l e o f fo i l on the m i ke )

becomes mu f f l ed and decreases . As he removes the p i eces o f fo i l

one by one , the process i s reversed .

A second ser i es o f t apes , done s i nce 1974 , are c l eaner ,

t i gh t er , more po l i shed produc t s based on the ear l y exp l ora t i ons .

An examp l e i s Lauren Bu t l er ' s Un t i t l ed . We see bare f ee t wa l k i ng

around on wh i t e paper . The person i s car ry i ng a bucke t f i l l ed

w i th dark l i qu i d ; f rom t i me to t i me the person pu t s h i s / her f ee t

i n to the bucke t to dye them , so the f ee t l eave t racks on the paper .

We can on l y see the pac i ng f ee t and foo tpr i n t s - we can ' t see the

edges o f the paper . F i na l l y , the person wa l ks o f f the paper , the

camera zooms back , and we see the foo tpr i n t s spe l l ou t " one s t ep

a t a t i me . "

The mos t recen t t apes i nd i ca t e a new , more persona 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 sa sur rea l j ourna l , a co l l ec t i on o f v i v i d l i t t l e i mpress i ons andac t i ons s t rung toge ther through t i me by the ar t i s t .

Toron to

Ano ther cen t er for v i deo ac t i v i t y i n Canada i s i n Toron to .I t i s focused around two organ i za t i ons i n the c i t y . The f i rs t i s

a group o f three ar t i s ts , M i chae l T i ms , Ron Gabe , and Jorge Sa i a ,who ca l l themse l ves Genera l Idea . They are engaged i n many ac t i v-i t i es , bu t mos t o f them cen t er around l oca t i ng and res t ag i ng con-t emporary r i tua l s . For examp l e , f rom 1968 to 1971 , they s t agedannua l M i ss Genera l Idea 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 embro i der an e l abora t es t a t emen t abou t the con t emporary i conography o f g l amour . They are

now i nvo l ved i n a comp l i ca t ed campa i gn o f maneuvers and prepara t i onsfor the i r b i gges t even t , the M i ss Genera l Idea pagean t o f 1984 .

They f i rs t used v i deo i n

have con t i nued to use i t

w i th m i r rors and made an

V i deo . Two m i r rors are se t up oppos i t e each o ther a t the wa t er ' sedge on a l akeshore . The m i r rors are t i l t ed , crea t i ng i n f i n i t eechoes o f re f l ec t i ons (a pure examp l e o f none l ec t ron i c f eedback ) .The camera zooms s l ow l y i nnever sure how deep i ns i de

when the camera draws back

I t i s a shor t , per f ec t l y cra f t ed work tha t cap i t a l i zes on the seem-i ng t ransparency and c l ar i t y o f wa t er , m i r rors , and l i gh t to d i s-

or i en t the v i ewer .

One member o f the group , M i chae l T i ms , has a l so organ i zeda med i a d i s t r i bu t i on sys t em ca l l ed Ar t Me t ropo l e .

They have ah 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 group 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 year ' s pagean t ando f f and on . They have worked a grea t dea lexqu i s i t e t ape i n 1970 ca l l ed Doub l e -M i r ror

and ou t o f the m i r ror i mages ; one i sthe i l l us i on one i s un t i l the very end ,f rom the m i r ror re f l ec t i on a l toge ther .

by Peggy Ga l e , who was un t i l recen t l y the head o f v i deo fund i ng for

the Canada Counc i l .

Ano ther cen t er i n Toron to i s A Space , an ar t ga l l ery tha t

suppor ts v i deo and has a l i brary o f t apes .

Parked under the ga l l ery

i s a van w i th a s tud i o co l or camera and ed i t i ng equ i pmen t ; th i s van

prov i des access to equ i pmen t for l oca l ar t i s ts . One person who uses

the equ i pmen t i s Ter ry McG l ade , who works mos t l y w i th dance .

He

has made a w i de var i e t y o f i n t eres t i ng t apes exp l or 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 , Toron to i s becom i ng a cen t er for a new l y emerg-

i ng k i nd o f v i deo . B i t s o f i t ex i s t e l sewhere - i n some o f the t apes

f rom the " Sou th l and V i deo An tho l ogy , " i n Joe l G l assman ' s work i n

San Franc i sco , and i n some t apes made i n the l as t year or two i n

New York C i t y . In Toron to , two ar t i s ts i n par t i cu l ar , L i sa S t ee l e

and Co l i n Campbe l l , have concen t ra t ed on i t . A l l these ar t i s ts

share a concern w i th f i nd i ng ways o f s t ruc tur i ng au tob i ograph i ca l

ma t er i a l i n new , nonnar ra t i ve ways . In S t ee l e ' s and Campbe l l ' s work ,

recen t t apes s t r i ng toge ther a ser i es o f i mages , or qu i e t even t s .

O f t en the ar t i s t appears as the so l e person i n the t apes ; a l mos t

a l ways one hears h i s or her vo i ce , t e l l i ng you the " s tory . " O f t en

there are recur r i ng i mages , ones tha t seem to have a spec i a l ho l d

on the ar t i s t ' s m i nd .

L i sa S t ee l e pu t s her ob j ec t i ves c l ear l y :

I go t s i ck o f peop l e por t ray i ng dreams as foggydry- i ce -and-wa t er type scenes . Dreams aren ' tl i ke tha t .

They are crys t a l c l ear .

They j us tseem to fo l l ow a l og i c o f the i r own . I ' m t ry i ngto recons t ruc t tha t l og i c i n my t apes .

Th i s i s rem i n i scen t o f G l assman ' s recen t t ape , Dreams , bu t

hers are even more d i rec t l y persona l , s i nce the ar t i s t o f t en l ooks

d i rec t l y ou t a t the v i ewer .

Campbe l l and S t ee l e base the i r t apes on everyday v i sua l rea l i t y .

No th i ng a t a l l ext raord i nary i s pu t i n f ron t o f the camera phys i ca l l y -

42

Campbe l l shows us t he v i ew f rom h i s w i ndow , S t ee l e exam i nes he r

p l an t co l l ec t i on . I t i s t he means o f show i ng t hese t h i ngs , t he

orde r and way i n wh i ch we a r e asked t o pe r ce i ve t hem t ha t i s

ex t r aord 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

Br aque we r e a l so i n t e r es t ed i n pe r cep t i on i t se l f , i n how peop l e

t ake i n i n f orma t i on . Howeve r , t he means o f dep i c t i ng t h i s , t he

new t echn i ques , i s so s t r ange t o l ook a t a t f i r s t t ha t t he r e was

t he dange r peop l e wou l dn ' t be ab l e t o " r ead " t he pa i n t i ngs a t a l l .

The r e f or e , t he pa i n t e r s used as a f o i l f or t he i r new mode r ecog -

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 t he f asc i na t i on o f t hese pa i n t i ngs comes f rom t he

t ens i on be t ween wha t you can r ecogn i ze and wha t i s new t o you .

Some o f t he new v i deo t apes do t he same t h 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 wor k shows you eve r yday

phys i ca l r ea l i t y i n new sequences ; t hey a r e us i ng bo t h t he came r a ' s

ab i l i t y t o r ecord our da i l y l i v i ng env i ronmen t and i t s ab i l i t y t o

s t ruc t ur e t h i s i n f orma t i on t hrough t i me t o cons t ruc t new modes o f

pe r cep t i on .

New Yor k S t a t e

Ow i ng l a rge l y t o suppor t f rom t he New Yor k S t a t e Counc i l f or

t he Ar t s , New Yor k S t a t e has t he mos t ene rge t i c and d i ve r se r ange

o f v i deo ac t i v i t i es o f any a r ea i n t h i s coun t r y or Canada . Mos t

o f t he ac t i v i t y s t a r t ed i n t he ea r l y yea r s - o f t he v i deo movemen t i n

New Yor k C i t y . Ove r t he yea r s , peop l e l e f t t he c i t y f or sma l l e r

commun i t i es and se t up sma l l groups and organ i za t i ons , each w i t h

i t s own pe r spec t i ve .

The Cen t e r f or Expe r i men t a l Te l ev i s i on i s i n B i ngham t on .

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 pro f essor f rom

t he un i ve r s i t y , Ra l ph Hock i ng , runs i t . He i s ass i s t ed by She r r y

M i l l e r and R and D pe r sons Don McAr t hur and Dav i d Jones . I t i s

an access cen t e r - anyone can come i n 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 r es t s , howeve r ,

i s for processed co l or i magery , and he has done a l l he can to- en-

courage tha t k i nd o f v i deo a t the cen t er . Nam June Pa i k was the

f i rs t ar t i s t - i n- res i dence , and he bu i l t h i s second syn thes i zer there .

La t e l y , the cur ren t ar t i s t - i n- res i dence , Wa l t er Wr i gh t , who comes

f rom a compu t er background , has been work i ng w i th Hock i ng to des i gn

new equ i pmen t and bu i l d up an i mage 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 processed i n i ncreas i ng l y

soph i s t i ca t ed ways ; the resu l t i ng i mages have t ru l y amaz i ng co l ors

and so l ar i zed e f f ec t s . I t i s i n t eres t i ng to no t e tha t the i mage

bank ma t er i a l i s no t pure l y abs t rac t . Wr i gh t f ee l s tha t compu t er -

genera t ed ar t i s o f t en du l l . He says v i ewers can i n tu i t i ve l y com-

p l e t e the who l e pa t t ern a f t er hav i ng seen on l y a t i ny por t i on , and

wa t ch i ng i t work i t se l f ou t becomes bor i ng . Wr i gh t ' s bas i c b l ack -

and-wh i t e foo t age i s o f " na tura l " i magery , mov i ng wa t er be i ng an

examp l e . The movemen t i s rhy thm i c and has a cer t a i n regu l ar i t y ,

bu t s i nce i n na ture there are so many var i ab l es caus i ng mo t i on , i t

paradox i ca l l y a l so seems to have a random e l emen t , and so ho l ds

surpr 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

through a l l the co l or 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 er , whereas 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 .

Wr i gh t has t rav-

e l ed around the s t a t e , g i v i ng syn thes i zer per formances .

A second focus o f ac t i v i t y i n the s t a t e has been Syracuse .

The Everson Museum has had an amaz i ng number o f exh i b i t i ons o f

many d i f f eren t k i nds o f v i deo ar t , f i rs t under the d i rec t i on o f

Dav i d Ross and now under R i chard S i mmons . Many ar t i s ts have had

f i rs t one -person shows there . A l l i n a l l , i t has been the cons i s-

t en t l y bes t p l ace on the Eas t Coas t to see new v i deo ar t . A l so i n

Syracuse i s Synapse , a very posh , we l l -equ i pped cab l e sys t em a t the

un i vers i t y . S tuden t s there have rece i ved exce l l en t t echn i ca l t ra i n-

i ng . One o f them , John Trayna , i s now the t echn i c i an a t E l ec t ron i c

Ar ts In t erm i x i n New York C i t y ; ano ther , B i l l V i o l a , i s runn i ng

Ar t Tapes 22 i n F l orence , I t a l y .

Woods tock Commun i t y V i deo i s d i rec t ed by Ken Marsh . He was

an or i g i na l member o f Peop l e ' s V i deo Thea t re , an ear l y v i deo group

i n New York C i t y . In Woods tock , he has been comm i t t ed to ge t t i ng

a l t erna t e ma t er i a l on cab l e TV .

An i ndependen t , non i ns t i tu t i ona l group named Med i a Bus l i ve

i n Lanesv i l l e , New York . The i r roo t s are a l so i n the c i t y ; as the

V i deo f reex , they were one o f the f i rs t groups to form . They moved

to Lanesv i l l e to see i f they cou l d es t ab l i sh a genu i ne l y a l t erna t i ve

t e l ev i s i on sys t em for a sma l l commun i t y , and they have l arge l y suc -

ceeded . They have a regu l ar Sa turday-n i gh t show , for and abou t the

commun i t y .

The membersh i p o f the group i s d i verse - they do a l lk i nds o f work , f rom l oca l repor t i ng to v i deo games , and members o f

the group do i nd i v i dua l crea t i ve work as we l l .

One o f the bes t " documen t ary " t apes was made by Nancy Ca i n

o f Med i a Bus . I t i s a very shor t p i ece t i t l ed Har r i e t . I t shows

Har r i e t , a Lanesv i l l e woman , a t home , t ak i ng care o f her ch i l dren ,

mak i ng beds , f i x i ng mea l s .

Her l i f e seems made up o f ra ther du l l

work , bu t she i s a very sp i r i t ed and l i ve l y person . At the end o f

the t ape , she ac t s ou t a f an t asy for the camera : she packs her

bag , screams she ' s f ed up w i th Lanesv i l l e , j umps i n the car and

t akes o f f down the road , l augh i ng uproar i ous l y , rad i o b l ar i ng .

I t was a marve l ous documen t ary o f the t ype pro f ess i ona l documen t ary

groups are on l y t a l k i ng abou t - a m i x ture o f f i c t i on , non f i c t i on ,

everyday 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 por t ra i t .

In recen t years , Bu f f a l o has become a sma l l th i nk - t ank for

s tud i es i n med i a . Th i s i s l arge l y due to the energy , en thus i asm ,

and amb i t i on o f Gera l d O ' Grady , who has se t up the Med i a S tudy

Cen t er , an i ndependen t depar 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 eres t i ng

peop l e work i ng i n f i l m and v i deo today - Pau l Shar i t s and Ho l l i s

45

Framp ton i n f i l m , and Woody and S t e i na Vasu l ka i n v i deo . O ' Grady

has a cons t an t schedu l e o f workshops and con f erences , l ec tures and

v i ew i ngs . He i s i n t eres t ed i n a l l aspec t s o f med i a , f rom each i nd i -

v i dua l work to the ro l e a l l the mass med i a p l ay i n our soc i e t y .

The Vasu l kas areprobab l y among the mos t though t fu l , i n t e3 l i -

gen t peop l e work i ng i n v i deo , and the i r work i s cen t ra l to the bas i c

concerns 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-maker f rom Czechos l ovak i a ; bo th have been i n t eres t ed i n

e l ec t ron i c ar ts o f a l l k i nds for a l ong t i me . They l i ved for severa l

years i n New York C i t y , where they se t up The K i t chen , a k i nd o f

f ree - form ga l l ery and e l ec t ron i c -ar ts per formance cen t er , i n the

summer o f 1971 , and showed much ear l y v i deo there as we l l as he l p i ng

to organ i ze some o f the f i rs t v i deo t ape f es t i va l s .

Woody remembers how they f e l t when they f i rs t began to use

v i deo :

Our con t ext was no t rea l l y ar t i s t i c when we s t ar t edto work w i th v i deo .

I t was very f ar f rom wha t Iwou l d recogn i ze as ar t . . . . There are var i ous mo t i vesfor peop l e who s tumb l e i n to v i deo . In some cases ,i t was pure acc i den t ; i n some cases , i t was hope .In my case , I had been i n th i ngs I cou l dn ' t work

w i th . I was i n f i l m , and I cou l dn ' t do any th i ngw 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 i n f i l m a t a f i l m schoo l . I wasexposed to a l l the nar ra t i ve s t ruc tures o f f i l m ,bu t they weren ' t rea l to me and I cou l dn ' t under -s t and wha t i ndependen t f i l m was . - I was to t a l l yl 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 ra i ned i n . So for me , v i deo represen t ed

be i ng ab l e to d i sregard a l l tha t and f i nd newma t er i a l wh i ch had no es the t i c con t en t or con t ext .When I f i rs t saw v i deo f eedback , I knew I had seenthe cave f i re . I t had no th i ng to do w i th any th i ng ,j us t a perpe tua t i on o f some k i nd o f energy . . . .

The Vasu l kas have done bo th " documen t ary " and " abs t rac t " v i deo over

the years :

th i s d i scuss i on w i l l cover on l y the l a t t er .

They s tuck

to the i r guns - there i s no drama t i c s t ruc ture i n the i r work ; the

t apes have f as t -mov i ng rhy thms , bu t sh i f t s occur accord i ng to per -

mu t a t i ons i n t he way t he i mage i s s t ruc t ur ed , no t accord i ng t o anydr ama t i c p l an .

Woody :

The f i r s t t oo l t he Vasu l kas go t was a por t apak ; t he second was anaud i o syn t hes i ze r . They hooked t he t wo up and some t i mes cou l d uset he aud i o s i gna l t o gene r a t e v i deo i mages , and some t i mes use t hev i deo s i gna l t o gene r a t e sounds .

S t e i na :

The i r ea r l y wor k pur sued t wo t hemes , accord i ng t o S t e i na :

We approached t he a r t ma t e r i a l , mean i ng t ha t wedea l t w i t h vo l t ages and f r equenc i es . We a r e dea l -i ng w i t h t he s i gna l , t ha t i s t he aud i o s i gna l andt he v i deo s i gna l . . . .

Tha t was t he f i r s t approach we had . Second l y ,ano t he r cha r ac t e r i s t i c o f our wor k has been acons i s t en t t r ave l i ng o f t he f r ame , hor i zon t a lt r ave l i ng .

Much abs t r ac t v i deo i mage r y has t he t endency t o move ve r t i ca l l y .The Vasu l kas i ns i s t ed on mov i ng t he i r s hor i zon t a l l y , o f t en a l ongl i nes o f mon i t or s so i t l ooked as i f t he i mage was t r ave l i ng downt he l i ne f rom one mon i t or t o t he nex t . Woody exp l a i ns :

A t t ha t t i me I was t o t a l l y obsessed w i t h t h i si dea t ha t t he r e was no s i ng l e f r ame anymor e . Icome f rom t he mov i es , whe r e t he f r ame was ex -t r eme l y r i g i d , and I unde r s t ood t ha t e l ec t ron i c

ma t e r i a l has no l i m i t a t i on w i t h 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 r eaches t he sc r eenbecause t he sc r een i t se l f i s a r i g i d t i me s t ruc t ur e .Bu t t he e l ec t ro - magne t i c spec t rum i t se l f ex i s t s ,organ i zed or unorgan i zed , t o t a l l y i n space . Con -f i n i ng i t i n a s i ng l e mon i t or i s l i ke a v i ewt hrough a came r a , or a s i ng l e pro j ec t i on f r ame .

Wha t was r ea l l y , t ru l y s i gn i f i can t t o us a t t ha tt i me was some t h i ng nobody r ea l l y de t ec t ed . Tha twas t o make p i c t ur es by aud i o f r equenc i es , and t oge t aud i o f r equenc i es ou t o f p i c t ur es .

A l l t h i s gave us t he i dea t ha t t he r e was no t ru l yr i g i d f r ame , j us t pa r t i cu l a r organ i za t i ons o f t i meand ene rgy . The i mage i s f ed i n t o a sound syn t he -s i ze r . . . t he organ i za t i ona l ma r k 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 hor i zon t a l and ve r t i ca lpu l se - i t paces t he i mage . These a r e t he sync ma r kswh i ch a r e usua l l y h i dden beh i nd t he f r ame . I t ' s a l lon t he i mages , j us t as f i l m has sprocke t ho l es wh i cha r e norma l l y h i dden . E l ec t ron i ca l l y , t he r e a r e a l sof r ames . Wha t t h i s does i s d i s r ega rd t he r e f e r ence o f

be i ng l ocked i n t o a s i ng l e f r ame . I t t r ave l s ; t he r ea r e t wo t i me l aye r s . One i s s t a t i c , and t he o t he r i sdynam i c and a l l t h i s i s exposed . . . .

A l l t h i s means t ha t one i s o f t en wa t ch i ng a hor i zon t a l l y dr i f t i ng ,

i mage , and t ha t t he sound and t he i mage a r e d i r ec t l y r e l a t ed i n

some way . The t o t a l e f f ec t i s o f a t o t a l l y i n t egr a t ed wor k t ha t

i s neve r t he l ess dynam i c , a l ways ene rge t i c , a l ways mov i ng .

The Vasu l kas ' wor k has t ended t o evo l ve w i t h t he i r equ i p -

men t . Woody says :

Our wor k i s a d i a l ogue be t ween t he t oo l and t hei mage , so we wou l d no t pr 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 t hen t r yt o ma t ch i t , as o t he r peop l e do . We wou l d r a t he rmake a t oo l and d i a l ogue w i t h i t ; t ha t ' s how webe l ong w i t h t he f am i l y o f peop l e who wou l d f i ndi mages l i ke f ound ob j ec t s . Bu t i t i s mor e comp l ex ,

because we some t i mes des i gn t he t oo l s , and so doconcep t ua l wor k as we l l .

Dur i ng t he yea r s 1972 - 1973 , t hey wen t t hrough a sur r ea l i s t pe r i od .

They had been go i ng t hrough p i c t ur e books o f Magr i t t e ' s wor k , f i g -

ur i ng ou t how na t ur a l i t wou l d be t o do some o f h i s wor ks w i t h

v i deo spec i a l e f f ec t s . One wor k , The Go l den Voyage , i s d i r ec t l y

based on . Magr i t t e ' s pa i n t i ng The Go l den Legend - a l oa f o f br ead

t r ave l s l i ke a f i nge r , open i ng up ce r t a i n a r eas o f t he i mage t o

spec i a l e f f ec t s . Even i n t hese wor ks , whe r e t he r e i s no hor i zon t a l

dr i f t , t he r e a r e a t l eas t t wo k i nds o f mo t i on go i ng on i n each

i mage ; mo t i on , r a t es o f change , a r e a l ways pr esen t i n t he i r wor k .

The i r l a t es t wor k i nvo l ves r as t e r man i pu l a t i on ; each l i ne

o f t he v i deo i mage becomes a ca r r i e r o f ene rgy t hrough t i me . Some -

4 8

t i mes t he i mages a r e ske t ches o f s i mp l e wave pa t t e rns . Some t i mesa por t apak t ape o f a s t r ee t scene i s used , and t he r as t e r i s a l t e r edaccord i ng t o t he br i gh t ness or ene rgy i n t he i mage . So wha t one i ssee i ng i s a t opogr aph i ca l map o f t he br i gh t ness o f an i mage ; whe r et he i mage i s br i gh t , i t l i f t s t he l i nes ; whe r e i t i s b l ack , t heyf a l l . The Vasu l kas ca l l t h i s r eco i l i ng , and i ndeed i t does makeone r ecode t he way t he i mage i s l ooked a t because new k i nds o fi n f orma t i on a r e be i ng g i ven .

Woody exp l a i ns wha t he i s a t t emp t i ng t o do w i t h t h i s newi mage r y , wh i ch can l ook qu i t e s t a r k and unaes t he t i c , because i ti s so new :

You shou l d be pr ec i se abou t your p l easur es , andcommun i ca t e t hose t o t he aud i ence , r a t he r t hant hose wh i ch a r e w i de l y sha r ed . Tha t ' s wha t Ihave aga i ns t any dr ama t i c s t ruc t ur es . Theya l r eady appea l t o an expe r i ence wh i ch i s bu i l tt hrough t he cen t ur i es . . . . I wa l k somewhe r e , andI see some t h i ng wh i ch i s a r t , and I agr ee w i t hi t . Bu t t hen I ques t i on i t . I say " Why d i dI l i ke t h i s? Because i t i s a r t ? " And t hena f t e r a l l , I f ee l f rus t r a t ed t ha t I r ea l l y en -j oyed i t , because t he r e we r e o t he r qua l i t i est ha t we r e m i ss 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 , t han i n t he es t he t i cend o f i t . So t hen I mus t say , " D i d i t sayany t h i ng t owa rds my own process? " And o f t en Ihave t o say i t d i dn ' t , i t j us t ex t ended wha t i sca l l ed a r t , i n i t s beau t y , or i t s accomp l i sh -

men t s , bu t i t d i dn ' t say any t h i ng t o my pe r sona lprob l ems . Some t i mes when I wa t ch peop l e ' s wor k ,I t end t o unde r es t i ma t e i t because i t ' s no t

beau t i f u l . Bu t t hen I have t o r e - eva l ua t e i tand change my pr e f e r ence , because i n t he l ongrun , t ha t wor k wh i ch was no t so beau t i f u l , m i gh thave been mor e i mpor t an t . . . .

Bas i ca l l y a r t prov i des a con t i nuous s t r eam . o f mode l so f consc i ousness . The r e a r e a l ways ce r t a i n h i s t or i -ca l pe r i ods when new consc i ousness i s c r ea t ed , f orexamp l e , when F r eud r eached a new unde r s t and i ng o ft he r e l a t i onsh i p be t ween peop l e . Even t ua l l y t he r ei s a cons t ruc t o f consc i ousness wh i ch has a r t as a

mode l . . . . Now , wha t I am i n t e r es t ed i n i s i f t he r ei s t he poss i b i l i t y o f ac t ua l , t o t a l r edes i gn o f con -

4 9

New Yor k C i t y

sc i ousness i n t he sense o f i t s mode l . Dur i ngt he 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 f or 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 t urn i ng mor e andmor e t owa rds ma t e r i a l , I ' m t r y i ng t o f i nd t h i snew mode l o f consc i ousness w i t h i n t he ma t e r i a l .

S i nce we l ook a t r ea l i t y mos t l y t hrough oureyes , t he r ea l i t y has t o t a l dependence on pe r -cep t i on , on how i mages a r e f ormed i n t he eye . . . .Bu t t hrough an e l ec t ron i ca l l y - gene r a t ed i mage ,I f ound non - l ens , non - eye poss i b i l i t i es o fr es t ruc t ur i ng t he i mage . . . . I am no t t o t a l l ydependen t on r ea l i t y as we know i t t hrough t hel ens or eye . . . . Through e l ec t ron i cs , I t h i nk t he r ei s a way o f i n t e r ac t i ng w i t h r ea l mode l s , w i t h

mode l s t aken f rom na t ur e , and a new concep t o fna t ur e can be syn t hes i zed .

. . . The c l oses t t h i ng t o a l l t h i s i s r ad i oas 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 f orma t i on o f l i gh t , wh i chr eached our eyes and prov i ded a mode l o f t he con -sc i ous un i ve r se . Bu t now , w i t h r ad i o as t ronomy ,we a r e ge t t i ng a ve r y d i f f e r en t no t i on o f ourun i ve r se . F i r s t o f a l l , we r ece i ve i n f orma 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 or sphe r esanymor 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 lt he t i me . So t ha t sudden l y , t hrough t he i ns t ru -

men t s we have , we a r e r econs t ruc t i ng t he un i ve r sei n some v i sua l sense , because even t ua l l y we t r ans -l a t e r ad i o waves i n t o some v i sua l mode l . We a r e

now t r y i ng t o v i sua l i ze space wh i ch ex i s t s on l y ase l ec t ro - magne t i c f or ces . . . . I t ' s t he no t i on o f t heorgan i za t i on o f ene rgy i n t i me t ha t f or me i s t hekey t o a l l sor t s o f changes w i t h i n l i f e .

New Yor k C i t y has con t i nued t o be t he s i ng l e mos t produc t i ve

p l ace i n t he v i deo a r t wor l d . The r e a r e seve r a l p l aces peop l e can

wa t ch t apes and see 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 I n t e rm i x , The K i t chen , and a t An t ho l ogy F i l m Ar ch i ves , t he

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 , t o

men t i on on l y a f ew o f t he mos t prom i nen t . Some a r t i s t s can wor k

a t t he TV Lab ; i ndependen t a r t i s t s can now f i nd access cen t e r s f or

5 0

equ i pmen t and ed i t i ng f ac i l i t i es . There are f requen t l y exh i b i -t i ons , as we l l as new books and ar t i c l es . A d i scuss i on o f thework o f three ar t i s ts , I ra Schne i der , Pe t er Campus , and B i l l Gw i n ,may serve to i nd i ca t e i n a modes t way the r i chness and d i vers i t yo f work be i ng produced .

I ra Schne i der ' s work has been as cen t ra l to the med i um astha t o f the Vasu l kas .

He was presen t dur i ng the ' very ear l i es tmon ths o f the movemen t , and seems to have been a found i ng member o fmos t o f the or i g i na l groups . Toge ther w i th Frank G i l l e t t e , he d i done o f the ear l i es t mu l t i mon i tor 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 Crea t i ve Med i um " exh i b i t i on he l d a t Howard W i se ' s

ga l l ery i n 1969 . I t was a n i ne -mon i tor p i ece , a conso l e o f mon i torsthree h i gh and three w i de .

Images shu t t l ed f rom mon i tor to mon i tor ,fo l l ow i ng four separa t e programmed cyc l es ; there were l i ve and de -l ayed i mages o f the ga l l ery i tse l f , broadcas t i mages , prerecordedt apes , and gray " l i gh t " pu l ses .

Th i s m i x o f i mages , wh i ch Schne i der ca l l s " i n forma t i on co l -l age , " has rema i ned cen t ra l to h i s work . In the spr i ng o f 1974 , hed i d an i ns t a l l a t i on a t bo th the Everson Museum and The K i t chenca l l ed Manha t t an I s an I s l and . Twen t y- four mon i tors were ar rangedi n 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 torsshowed t apes o f i mages o f the i s l and f rom boa t s ; bus , l and , arch i -t ec ture , and peop l e t apes were a l l p l ayed on mon i tors i n a l og i ca l

par t o f the " i s l and . " The mon i tors were ar ranged a t d i f f eren the i gh t s , fo l l ow i ng the topography o f the i s l and . One mon i tor ,f ac i ng up , d i sp l ayed t ape t aken f rom a he l i cop t er . V i ewers cou l d

move i n amongs t the mon i tors , see i ng spec i f i c b i t s and v i ews o fc 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 have been ed i t ed down i n to a s i ng l e t apeone can wa t ch on a s i ng l e mon i tor .

Schne i der says he t r i es to es t ab l i sh cond i t i ons w i th thei n forma t i on he prov i des , and so " gu i de , no t push " an aud i ence a l ong

a rou t e o f pe r cep t i on . H i s l a t es t t ape , B i t s , Chunks , and P i eces ,

does pr ec i se l y t ha t . So f a r , i t i s a b l ack - and - wh i t e f i f t y - f our

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 t he v i ewe r a l ong t hrough d i f f e r en 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 " t o " Tex - Mex " t o " Rock l , " zoom i ng

a l ong l ook i ng ou t a ca r w i ndow , s t opp i ng t o see an e i gh t y - f i ve - f oo t

do l l named Zozobr a exp l ode i n f i r ewor ks a t t he f i es t a . Towa rd t he

end , t he pace qu i ckens , one becomes awa r e t ha t t he sound doesn ' t

necessa r i l y ma t ch t he i mage , and ce r t a i n sequences a r e r epea t ed ove r

and ove r (one r emembe r s espec i a l l y a l i ne o f cows sw i ng i ng a l ong t he

s i de o f a road wh i l e " Pu t on Your H i gh - Hee l ed Sneake r s " b l a r es on

t he ca r r ad i o ) . Schne i de r s t r esses t he nonna r r a t i ve na t ur e o f h i s

a l bum ; he wan t s each v i ewe r t o f i gur e ou t t he i n f orma t i on by h i mse l f .

Pe t e r Campus was i n t he f i l m bus i ness f or seve r a l yea r s . F rom

abou t 1966 t o 1970 he unde rwen t a gr adua l change , d i sen t ang l i ng h i m-

se l f f rom f i l m : even t ua l l y he made t he dec i s i on t o become an a r t -

i s t and began t o do wor k i n v i deo . H i s wor k t akes t wo f orms - he

does bo t h t apes and ga l l e r y i ns t a l l a t i ons . The t apes t yp i ca l l y use

some v i sua l e f f ec t spec i a l t o v i deo , chroma - key or t wo came r a i mages

supe r i mposed , t o se t up a sh i f t i n pe r cep t i on . H i s t wo bes t - known

wor ks , Thr ee Tr ans i t i ons and Se t o f Co i nc i dence , each have t hr ee

pa r t s , and each one bu i l ds qu i e t l y on t he s t a t emen t made by t he pr e -

v i ous pa r t , f rom conc r e t e t o abs t r ac t , f rom w i t t y t o sombe r .

One sees t he i mage o f Campus h i mse l f i n t he t apes ; t he i n -

s t a l l a t i ons a r e t r i gge r ed by t he v i ewe r , who usua l l y dea l s w i t h an

i mage o f h i mse l f . Gene r a l l y , t he r e i s a da r kened room t ha t ho l ds

a came r a and a v i deo pro j ec t or . The v i ewe r wa l ks i n ; h i s i mage i s

p i cked up by t he came r a and pro j ec t ed aga i ns t a wa l l , usua l l y i n

a way t ha t d i s t or t s t he i mage or makes i t e l us i ve i n some way . By

wa l k i ng a round t he space , t he v i ewe r can exp l or e t he pa r ame t e r s o f

t he p i ece - whe r e t he came r a w i l l or w i l l no t p i ck up h i s i mage ,

how h i s p l acemen t i n t he room a f f ec t s t he s i ze and shape o f h i s

i mage on t he wa l l , and so on .

5 2

Campus t a l ked abou t h i s work :

My depar ture f rom Pa i k , we l l f rom mos t peop l ework i ng i n v i deo , i s tha t I ' m l ess i n t eres t edi n broadcas t t e l ev i s i on than I am i n surve i l -l ance t e l ev i s i on . . . . I ' m more i n t eres t ed i ntha t k i nd o f nar ra t i ve . . . . I don ' t a l l ow any-one to touch the camera ; the camera i s a l wayss t i l l . I t rea l l y i s the human s tu f f i n oppo-s i t i on to the e l ec t ron i c s tu f f . They are p i t -t ed aga i ns t each o ther . Tha t seems to be onef ace t . Ano ther f ace t i s I ' m very consc i ous l y

work i ng w i th t rans forma t i ons o f energy . . . . Youth i nk o f the v i deo process : l i gh t i s focused

by the l ens i n the camera , wh i ch i s pho ton en-ergy , h i t s the v i d i con tube and i s t rans l a t edi n to e l ec t r i ca l energy , comes ou t on the mon-i tor as e l ec t rons , the s t ream o f e l ec t rons

h i t s tha t phosphorous s tu f f and becomes l i gh tenergy , pho tons aga i n , i s focused by the eye ,h i t s the re t i na and becomes neuron energy .The re l a t i onsh i p be tween a l l tha t i n t eres tsme .

I th i nk w i th my i ns t a l l a t i on p i eces , onehas the f ee l i ng tha t the wa l l i s a l i ve w i thenergy . . . . And then on ano ther l eve l , I ' m i n-t eres t ed i n the re l a t i onsh i p be tween l i gh tand mass , mass be i ng the human f i gure . Ibe l i eve tha t the human f i gure be l ongs i n ar t ,and so have consc i ous l y kep t i t i n my work . . . .I f ee l tha t when the [ i ns t a l l a t i on] p i eces aresuccess fu l , there i s a parame t er o f behav i ourtha t i s se t up , and i n order to fu l l y exp l orethe work you have to fu l l y exp l ore a l l theparame t ers o f the p i ece

. . . The i dea i s rea l l y der i ved f rom an Ind i ansense o f t emp l e arch i t ec ture where they hadvery spec i f i c pa ths you wou l d have to t rave li n order to exper i ence the space .

. . . A l though i n my newes t p i ece , I ' ve e l i m i na -t ed even tha t . I ' m rea l l y i n t eres t ed i n form-i ng an a l mos t s t a t i c i mage tha t ' s genera t ed bythe v i ewer . I ' m ge t t i ng to the po i n t whereI ' m i n t eres t ed i n e l i m i na t i ng movemen t , andthere ' s j us t a t rans forma t i on o f energy .

They ' re very i n t ense .

I ' m beg i nn i ng to be i n-t eres t ed i n the v i ewer be i ng t rans f i xed i nsome way . . . . I th i nk my i ns t a l l a t i ons are more

5 3

spec i a l . t o me because they e l i m i na t e the m i nd-body d i cho tomy , the Car t es i an f l aw , because youare th i nk i ng w i th your body i n those p i eces-we l l , no t exac t l y ; you are th i nk i ng w i th yourm i nd / body . They don ' t make tha t separa t i on .

My work a t i t s wors t i s over l oaded w i th con t en t .I ' m cons t an t l y work i ng aga i ns t tha t , t ry i ng to f i tth i s human i t y back i n to i t . Tha t ' s the way I mus t

work . . . . I ' m t ry i ng to make some k i nds o f i n forma -t i on tha t we ' ve a l ways go t t en f rom books access i b l eto the i n tu i t i ve , exper i en t i a l be i ng .

B i l l Gw i n i s perhaps the mos t f i ne -ar ts-or i en t ed o f a l l the

v i deo ar t i s ts . He opera t es f i rm l y w i th i n the t rad i t i ons o f modern

ar t and i s push i ng the l i m i t s o f those t rad i t i ons i n new d i rec t i ons .

He spends ha l f h i s t i me pa i n t i ng and ha l f mak i ng v i deo . He says :

These two th i ngs bear a very c l ose re l a t i onsh i pone to ano ther ; they f eed o f f each o ther . Thethrus t o f my work seems to sw i t ch , to a l t erna t ebe tween the two . . . . Mone t i s a pr i nc i pa l i n f l uencefor my work , i n par t i cu l ar the wa t er l i l i es . Ispen t a year i n Par i s and I spen t a grea t dea l o£t i me i n the Oranger i e w i th those pa i n t i ngs . I t ' san i n f l uence you cou l d see i n my pa i n t i ng I d i da t the same t i me as I rv i ng Br i dge , a l mos t fouryears ago .

I rv i ng Br i dge , d i scussed ear l i er , i s one o f the c l ass i c t apes

done a t the Na t i ona l Cen t er i n 1972 . Soon a f t er comp l e t i ng tha t

t ape and one more , P t . Lobos , Gw i n came to New York C i t y , where he

has l i ved ever s i nce . In 1973-1974 , he rece i ved one o f the ar t i s t -

i n- res i dence pos i t i ons a t the TV Lab a t WNET , and made a t ape abou t

New York C i t y ca l l ed Swee t Ver t i ca l i t y . I t i s a v i sua l poem , rea l l y ,

se t to a wr i t t en poem by Joe R i bar .

The t ape has much more mo t i on

than h i s ear l i er work ; the camera pans up the l eng th o f Park Avenue ,

down the Wor l d Trade Cen t er , zooms a l ong i n subways . The raw foo t age

i s 16-mm . f i l m s tock tha t Gw i n l a t er processed a t the l ab . He i s a

very me thod i ca l worker ; he knows wha t he wan t s when he goes i n to use

the equ i pmen t , and each b i t i s care fu l l y rehearsed . He exp l a i ns why :

h i s v i sua l work :

W i th v i deo , the med i um can t ake over , much moreeas i l y than w i th pa i n t i ng . In the work i ng re -l a t i onsh i p i t ' s a much more power fu l , aggress i vek i nd o f med i um . Maybe you have to be a l i t t l ef i rmer w i th your i deas , and be care fu l no t to l e ti t ge t ou t o f hand , wh i ch I th i nk happens a grea t

dea l w i th peop l e ' s work . I t ' s per f ec t l y under -s t andab l e . I t ' s a hard th i ng to avo i d . V i deocan be very cap t i va t i ng ; i t ' s easy to do up to apo i n t , and then i t becomes very d i f f i cu l t . Bu tthere i s a cer t a i n amoun t o f s tu f f tha t i t makesa l l by i tse l f , l i ke spon t aneous genera t i on . Youcan s i t there , and you turn one knob , and a l l th i ss tu f f goes on . . . . I f you don ' t know , you can ge tl os t i ns i de o f i t .

There ' s no th i ng wrong w i th tha t ;i n f ac t , i t ' s a wonder fu l way to l earn . Tha t ' sexac t l y the way I d i d l earn . Bu t you need a l ongert i me than the two weeks the TV Lab can g i ve you to

m i x a program : I d i d i t for three years .

From I rv i ng Br i dge to Swee t Ver t i ca l i t y there i s a marked

change o f i n t en t i n Gw i n ' s work . He has been l ed to an i n t eres 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 i n

I rv i ng Br 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 ar t peop l e ' s m i ndswork i ng i n a way tha t was d i f f eren t f rom the wayyour m i nd norma l l y func t i ons . You are g i ven as i tua t i on tha t asks you to red i rec t the way youth i nk . Bu t there i s no e f for t to make any k i ndo f prec 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 ar t to th i nk ,and the way they wen t wou l d be to t a l l y dependen tupon themse l ves - mos t peop l e wou l d vary con-s i derab l y i n the i r responses . I th i nk I wan t tomove i n the d i rec t i on o f a more prec i se s t a t e -men t . At l eas t I wan t to know i f I can maketha t k i nd o f prec i se s t a t emen t i f I choose to .

So tha t I ' m no t a l ways t ry i ng to ge t peop l e toth i nk , bu t tha t I ' m a l so t ry 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 Ver t i ca l i t y ra i sed .I t ' s how to pu t l anguage i n to wha t i s essen t i a l l ya v i sua l form .

Language i s a wonder fu l th i ng ,

5 5

From I rv i ng Br i des to Swee t Ver t i ca l i t y there i s a marked

change o f i n t en t i n Gw i n ' s work . He has been l ed to an i n t eres 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 i n

h i s v i sua l work :

W i th v i deo , the med i um can t ake over , much moreeas i l y than w i th pa i n t i ng . In the work i ng re -l a t i onsh i p i t ' s a much more power fu l , aggress i vek i nd o f med i um . Maybe you have to be a l i t t l ef i rmer w i th your i deas , and be care fu l no t to l e ti t ge t ou t o f hand , wh i ch I th i nk happens a grea t

dea l w i th peop l e ' s work . I t ' s per f ec t l y under -s t andab l e . I t ' s a hard th i ng to avo i d . V i deocan be very cap t i va t i ng ; i t ' s easy to do up to apo i n t , and then i t becomes very d i f f i cu l t . Bu tthere i s a cer t a i n amoun t o f s tu f f tha t i t makesa l l by i tse l f , l i ke spon t aneous genera t i on . Youcan s i t there , and you turn one knob , and a l l th i ss tu f f goes on . . . . I f you don ' t know , you can ge tl os t i ns i de o f i t .

There ' s no th i ng wrong w i th tha t ;i n f ac t , i t ' s a wonder fu l way to l earn . Tha t ' sexac t l y the way I d i d l earn . Bu t you need a l ongert i me than the two weeks the TV Lab can g i ve you to

m i x a program : I d i d i t for three years .

I rv i ng Br 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 ar t peop l e ' s m i ndswork i ng i n a way tha t was d i f f eren t f rom the wayyour m i nd norma l l y func t i ons . You are g i ven as i tua t i on tha t asks you to red i rec t the way youth i nk . Bu t there i s no e f for t to make any k i ndo f prec 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 ar t to th i nk ,and the way they wen t wou l d be to t a l l y dependen tupon themse l ves - mos t peop l e wou l d vary con-s i derab l y i n the i r responses . I th i nk I wan t tomove i n the d i rec t i on o f a more prec i se s t a t e -men t . At l eas t I wan t to know i f I can maketha t k i nd o f prec i se s t a t emen t i f I choose to .

So tha t I ' m no t a l ways t ry i ng to ge t peop l e toth i nk , bu t tha t I ' m a l so t ry 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 Ver t i ca l i t y ra i sed .I t ' s how to pu t l anguage i n to wha t i s essen t i a l l ya v i sua l form .

Language i s a wonder fu l th i ng ,

55

you know .

There are th i ngs you can say w i thl anguage you j us t can ' t say any o ther way . Atthe same t i me , there i s some th i ng par t i cu l arabou t the k i nd o f responses you can e l i c i t w i thv i sua l th i ngs . And I th i nk , i f you cou l d pu tthose two e l emen t s toge ther i n some way tha t wascohes i ve , you wou l d have opened up the poss 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 ,pure l y v i sua l k i nds , to the k i nds o f spec i f i cs t a t emen t s you can make w i th l anguage .

Swee t Ver t i ca l i t y has s i ng l e vo i ces and choruses speak i ng

the poem as readers ( tw i n i s care fu l to d i s t i ngu i sh be tween readers

and nar ra tors) , and pr i n t ed words s t ream across the screen as we l l .

In h i s mos t recen t pa i n t i ng , a se l f -por t ra i t , phrases and b i t s o f

au tob i ograph i ca l i n forma t i on are wr i t t en on the canvas , bur i ed i n

the pa i n t ed co l l age o f ma t er i a l the way he bur i es h i s words i n the

pass i ng t i me o f Swee t Ver t i ca l i t y . In bo th cases , he i s search i ng

for a med i um versa t i l e enough to ho l d bo th i mage and l anguage .

In th i s move f rom I rv i ng Br i dge to Swee t Ver t i ca l i t y , Gw i n

marks a change tha t has occur red i n many ar t i s ts ' work i n v i deo .

The ear l y f asc i na t i on w i th the l i m 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 i me , i t s ab i l i t y to record " na tura 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 eres t

i n us i ng these i nheren t charac t er i s t i cs to make more spec i f i c s t a t e -

men t s . Th i s i s happen i ng i n many d i f f eren t ways , however , 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 very young th i ng . Ten years i s ashor t t i me . I t ' s i mposs i b l e to see wha t d i rec -t i on i t w i l l t ake . . . i t ' s such an i mmense l y f l ex-i b l e med i um , perhaps the mos t f l ex i b l e med i umtha t ' s ever been made ava i l ab l e . I t j us t can doan as tound i ng number o f th i ngs , so peop l e aredo i ng a l o t o f d i f f eren t th i ngs w i th i t . Bu ttha t ' s exc i t i ng .