This book was edited by Douglas Davis and Allison Simmons • I ... , ...... I ··-. r-·--····: .. :·:.. .. The MIT Press · Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England Copyright© 1977 by Electronic Arts Intermix, Inc. Photographs by Peter Moore © 197 4 by Peter Moore Photographs by Richard Landry© 1973 by Richard Landry • All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in ' writing from the publisher. This book was set in I BM Composer by Tech Data Associates, Inc. and I BM Selectric by Barbara Altman. It was printed and bound by the Murray Printing Company in the United States of America. Library of Congress catalog card number: 76-29198 ISBN: 0-262-04050~ I Elmer•Holmes BobstLibrary NewYork Universi haveand the been United furthermore States v·djoined .b Yother artists. .m both Europe Preface . I eo is no longer th . pioneers; it is becoming as co .• province of a few Open Circuits conference wa smtmhon us anas event pencil or·th paint. · · The. Thish book is based on a conferen : olars, and television producer~• :~~nded by artists, critics, or the future as well as th e past. WI 1mpllcat1ons f rt m New York City in Jan a e Museum of Modern bears the stamp of that time u:yl 1974. Although this volume For th eir· invaluable· . we would. like t o exprassistance with th·1s pro 1· s1onsabout the nature both ~f ta to_p_resents ideas and conclu- an mstitutio T ess our gratitud ect from the st r~ry art that seem to us val i e ev1~10nand of contempo- o~ dour behalf ~f· Hhe generosity, patiee to several individual:rt, · urt er m1 I award nee and p d1ssemi nation d for all times and worth f h i x, nc., were crucial R w·ise, through Elect ~rsonal efforts n our earl · ussell c ronic Art I We thank ;i;.;-;;:ning, as did How:~~~trticipated ef;e;,:;; Entitled "Open Circuits: An International Conference on the future of Television," the conference appeared at a docisive assistance for theuseum of Modern Art i°'n1and_Norman LloyJ moment in the early development of "alternative" work in the The New York s,;;nference. Finally w~r ending us space and medium.• It had become possible for artists to work on their sistance for the r/ Council on the Arts would like to thank own with videotape-free from the heavy bureaucratic and finan· s1on, and The Napt·Ject from its plann1· , which provided as fell er Foundat· JOnal E nd owment f ng stages to its· concl - cial pressure imposed by television stations-as early as the mid· F ion The CB or the A u- 1960s, when the first low-cost VTR systems appeared on the und, whose gen; S Foundation rts, The Rocke- compilation of th_rous support made th, and the JDR 3rd consumer market. But this work took place in creative isolation. is volume possible. e conference and the It was not until 1970 that the parameters of a large, interna· tional bodY of activity were visible. It was also then that the es· tat,lished television structure began to open up to artists; critics began to write about the phenomenon; private and public Fred Barzyk sources of financial support-once scarce-started to multiply. "Open Circuits" responded to this critical combination of events. Douglas Davis It fulfilled an obvious need both for an occasion and a catalyst. .J Gerald 0 , It brought a stimulating mix of people from around the world Will Grady to one place, each one involved in his or her way in a redefini­ ard van Dyke tion of television-searching in fact for a new television, at once more personal and more imaginative in nature. Here they ex­ changed ideas and often fought over them. The result was any­ thing but smooth and soothing. "Open Circuits" was a provoca­ tion, not a pacifier. It sent its participants and its public home in a combative, determined mood, primed with new ideas. That thev acted upon what theY saw and heard is proven bY the mercurial pace of activity since 1974. Now there are video col­ loctions and exhibitions in almost all the major museums of con­ temporarv art in Europe and the United States. Galleries and public workshops involved with video have multiplied, and uni­ versities and art schools include video as an expocted part of their curricula. The exuberance which informed early work in video (which was largely the result of its potential for political impact) has been controlled and disciplined bY a variety of fac­ tors, including the motivation of the artists themselves. They *The Phrase "O~en Circuits" is borrowed-with gratitude-from an early rnan·t t by Nam'""'P .. k. "' o Preface Vito Acconci Some Notes on Video as a Base vi 82 Captions and Credits for Illustrations Jane Livingston Panel Remarks XII 84 Allison Introduction David Katzive Observations on the Open Circuits Conference Simmons Television and Art: 87 A Historical Primer for an Improbable Alliance 2 Wulf Notes on Video as·an Artistic Medium Herzogenrath 88 I The Aesthetics of Television , Al Ian Kaprow Video Art; Old Wine, New Bottle Gregory The Sociology of the Set 94 Battcock 16 ·:Shigeko Kubota Women's Video in the U.S. and Japan Hol Iis The Withering Away of the State of the Art 96 Frampton 24 Paul Stitelman Observations on the Open Circuits Conference Nam June Paik The Video Synthesizer and Beyond 102 38 ( Interview with Liza Bear) Stephen'Beck Video Synthesis 11 Prisoner's Dilemma" 48 104 Ed Emshwiller Image Maker Meets Video, or, Psyche to Physics -John Baldessari TV (1) Is Like a Pencil and (2) Won't Bite Your Leg and Back 108 53 Video and the Future of the Museum Stan Social Imagistics 112 Vanderbeek 58 Video in the Museum of Modern Art Frank Gillette Panel Remarks 118 Robert 64 Pincus-Witten Establishing a Museum Video Collection in Europe 122 Joan Jonas Panel Remarks 71 Video, Myths, and the Museum Douglas Davis Time! Time! Time! The Context of Immediacy 130 72 Ill The Politics, Philosophy, and Future of Television 11The Support Structure: Change and Resistance Rene Berger Video and the Restructuring of Myth Gerd Stern Support of Television Arts by Public Funding: 207 The New York State Council on the Arts Gerald O'Grady Sound Track for a Tele-vision 140 222 Howard Klein The Rise of the Televisualists Pierre Schaeffer Message for the Alone 158 230 Russell Connor A is for Art, C is for Cable Vilem Flusser Two Approaches to the Phenomenon, Television 170 234 The International Setting ')Hans Magnus Television and the Politics of Liberation Bruce Kurtz Video in America ,i:Enzensberger 248 178 'John McHale Tefefutures: Prospective Observations Edward Video in the United Kingdom 262 Lucie-Smith 183 A Video Chronology Rene Berger Video in Africa and Asia 280 189 A Video Bibliography Wolfgang Central Europe: A Technological Province 286 Becker 190 Toshio Video in Japan Matsumoto 195 Jorge Glusberg Video in Latin America 203 F .,:; .,,' · i 1 :' Captionsand Credits for Illustrations -. f.·, 138 row 1: Davidson Gigliotti (Media Bus), "Hunter Mountain," 1973, black and white, 30 min. Page ii, iii clockwise from top: Keith Sonnier, "Mat Key Radio Track," 1973, color, 10 min. Courtesy Leo Castelli Fred Barzyk at right (photo: Peter Moore); "Open Circuits" tape and audio setup Gallery. Photo: Gwenn Thomas (photo: Leonardo LeGrand);, Howard Wise (photo: Peter Moore); Elaine Varian, row 2: Jorge Glusberg, Christopher Cooke, Willard Van Dyke, Michael Snow,' Jane Jean Otth, "Limite B," 1973, black and white. Livingston, James Herithas, Lydia Vitale (photo: Leonardo LeGrand), Jaime Davidovich, "Road," 1972, black and white, 20 min. Collaboration "with the iv, v left to right from top: Akron Art Institute James Herithas; Willard Van Dyke (photos: Leonardo LeGrand; details); Richard row 3: Serra; Nicholas Schoffer, second from left (photos: Peter Moore); Michael Snow Robert Morris, "Exchange," 1973, black and white, 32 min. Courtesy Leo Castelli Gallery. Photo: Richard Landry (photo: Leonardo LeGrand); Gerald O'Grady, Robert Pincus-Witten, John ,l Baldessari, Allan Kaprow; Peter Campus, Frank Gillette, David Ross, Joan Jonas John Randolf Carter, "Please Superimpose Please." Photo: Peter Moore (photos: Peter Moore). row 4: Charlemagne Palestine, "Purge." Photo: Peter Moore. 1 and opp. Felix the Cat performs for an early video broadcast, c. 1930. Photo: NBC Paul Kos, "Pit and Pendulum," 1971, black and white, 50 min. George Bolling, video director. Photo: Peter Moore 36 Nam June Paik: "Allen Ginsberg," 1971, color. Created with Paik/Abe video syn­ thesizer. Courtesy Galeria Bonino. Photo: Thomas Haar 139 top: Hermine Freed, "Glasses," 1973, black and white, 5 min. Courtesy Leo Castelli 37 Nam June Paik: "Video Commune," 1970. Courtesy Galeria Bonino. Photo: Gallery. Photo: Richard Landry Thomas Haar bottom: 38 Nam June Paik. Photo: Leonardo LeGrand (detail) Andy Mann, "Cold Water," 1974, black and white, 10 min. Courtesy Leo Castelli Gallery. Photo: Gwenn Thomas 48 Stephen Beck. Photo: Leonardo LeGrand (detail) 140 Gerd Stern. Photos: Leonardo LeGrand (details) 58 Stan Vanderbeek and Ken Knowlton, images from computer (video) film series, "Poem Fields", 1965-1970 157 top: John Baldessari, "Some Words I Mispronounce," 1973, black and white, 5 min. 59 Stan Vanderbeek. Photo: Leonardo LeGrand (detail) bottom: 63 top left: Gordon Byerley, "Apple and Lightbulb," 1974, black and white, 3% min. Tom DeWitt, "Zeroit," 1972-1973, color 175 Bruce Kurtz. Photo: Peter Moore (detail) top right: Edward Lucie-Smith. Photo: Leonardo LeGrand (detail) Toshio Matsumoto, "Metastasis," 1971, color. Created with Color Data System, medical testing unit.