----------empyre- soft-skinned space---------------------- Thanks Kathy for your post on glitch, resistance and resilience.
Video was born in resistance. Our medium of electricity describes a phenomenon which reflects this: Ohm - a conductor opposing a message sent through it. We were all about the unexpected, the unanticipated. We tried to create instruments which created images never before seen. I agree with your analysis of the academy today. I think it equally – and sadly – applies to the art world, particularly the area of funding. It seems we must all now conform to the models of the business world. I am with you. Long live bending. On Sat, Sep 12, 2015 at 11:04 PM, Kathy High <kittyh...@earthlink.net> wrote: > ----------empyre- soft-skinned space---------------------- > Hi Sherry, > > Congratulations for getting all the items off for the Hunter exhibition > and for their successful arrival! > > And thank you also for these great comments and assessment of our > discussions. > > You summed up very nicely the materiality of video and the material > concerns of this earlier, and now contemporary, era. Thank you again! > > But there is another side to all this materiality - which is thinking > about how to use technological ‘tweaking’ as a kind of resistance! As a > kind of shifting of consciousness, a radical awakening of how to this > about our present situation and our future. > > My university (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s) president has just > launch a campaign around the theme of “resilience” - and with that she > means resilience to budget cuts, corporate mandates and ever increasing > administrative overhead. All responding to American corporate leadership > and ‘ownership’. > > But I am someone who would rather think about resistance, immediacy, > potential, a crack in the frame, and the means to bend the technology to > shape glitches and erasures. I think Isak’s work speaks beautifully to > this topic as well. There is a broad corporatization of universities on > this country today - so there is a further need for “the glitch” as there > was in the late 1960s, 70s and so on. The glitch as a re-reading of time, > a break in the ‘synchronization of the signal’ and the perceptual shift in > a ‘standard’ reproduction of the world around us. > > "The machine holds within it a potential for the glitch, with the > possibility to generate unforeseen results. Therefore, “malfunction and > failure are not signs of improper production. On the contrary, they > indicate the active production of the ‘accidental potential’ in any > product”, as Paul Virilio noted.” - > “The wilderness in the machine”: Glitch and the poetics of error | > CHRISTINA GRAMMATIKOPOULOU - > See more at: > http://interartive.org/2014/01/glitch-art/#sthash.4s7J7lDC.dpuf > > > These day I welcome the signal bends! > Thank you, Kathy > > > > > On 9/12/15, 9:12 PM, "ETC" <empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on > behalf of e...@experimentaltvcenter.org> wrote: > >>----------empyre- soft-skinned space---------------------- >>Thanks to Isak and Kathy High for bringing up the notions of >>physicality / materiality. >> >>Isak, thank you for posting your work. For me, it is a powerful >>statement about memory and time, and how they intersect in history. >>And a mirror of the degradations of political systems and >>technological systems. Thank you. >> >>The early days of video seem to be an intersection of the immaterial – >>electronic, invisible, signals changing through time (waveform and >>duration, both unknown and unknowable to me) and the physical. >> >>Kathy describes very well the physical-ness of early video. The >>apparatus was heavy. Early ‘portable’ equipment weighed well over 20 >>pounds – some closer to 30. The earliest of portable video systems: >>recorded only in black and white, 20 minutes total record time, did >>not play back (you needed to rewind the tape on that deck with a >>special rewind knob and then play pack the tape on a separate deck). >>The editing was a strange combination of film editing (some people >>used grease pencils on the tape, probably residue from film) and >>guess-work – rewind for 5 seconds and start both decks at exactly the >>same time. There were glitches. They were unavoidable. >> >>Some people in those days embraced these artifacts of the processes. >>Others tried to ‘overcome’ these flaws and sought to emulate more >>professional standards. >>Today we embrace the glitch, the imperfect, the error, the bug in the >>system, the ghost in the machine. We are very distant from the >>physical, working with the hands, crafting, manipulating the real >>world. I wonder how the contemporary interests in instrument building >>are a response to disconnects with the physical world, and a desire to >>reconnect. A need to be hands-on, to mess with the material… >> >>Notes from the archive: Yesterday, we packed up the ephemera and >>instruments for the Hunter show in September. Sarah Watson and Tim >>Murray have been wonderful collaborators in the process. Today all >>arrived in New York. Life is good... >> >> >>Sherry >> >> >>On Sat, Sep 12, 2015 at 4:36 PM, Kathy High <kittyh...@earthlink.net> >>wrote: >>> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space---------------------- >>> Hi Isak, >>> Thanks so much for your posting. It is so great to get to know your >>>work! >>> >>> “The End of History” effectively and viscerally details the Yugoslavian >>> war in ways that are really compelling. Again the glitch! The glitch and >>> stutter and halting of it all – the interruption. >>> The split of time - and even the split of frames - in times of war. It >>> makes me think of a very different kind of moment. I appreciate how >>>much >>> this piece moved me. >>> >>> How else to explore the limits of representation? Would love to hear >>>your >>> further thoughts. >>> >>> Thank you. >>> >>> Kathy >>> >>> >>> >>> On 9/10/15, 11:56 PM, "Timothy Conway Murray" >>> <empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of >>>t...@cornell.edu> >>> wrote: >>> >>>>----------empyre- soft-skinned space---------------------- >>>>What a coincidence, Sherry. As I spent the night doing archeology in my >>>>study to make way for house renovations, I unearthed boxes and boxes of >>>>catalogues and zeroxed articles on video art. Nothing of the magnitude >>>>in >>>>your incredible ETC archive, but a sharp reminder of the depth of >>>>critical >>>>thought that was birthed by the rapid rise of video art. The rapid rise >>>>in >>>>production of video art brought with it a similarly striking explosion >>>>of >>>>thinking about video and its representations. >>>> >>>>Your mention of the commonplace of "erasure" also brought my eyes to the >>>>new collection edited by Brad Buckley and John Conomos (who will be one >>>>of >>>>our guests later in the month), Erasure the Spectre of Cultural Memory. >>>>It think it's fair to say that the recent return to "erasure" as well as >>>>the emphatic emphasis on cultural memory carried forth by the trauma and >>>>memory theorists of the 90s and early 2000s owes a good deal of its edge >>>>to the practical and critical experimentations with the erasures of >>>>video >>>>tape. A really interesting, and important contribution. >>>> >>>>Tim >>>> >>>>Timothy Murray >>>>Professor of Comparative Literature and English >>>>Taylor Family Director, Society for the Humanities >>>>http://www.arts.cornell.edu/sochum/ >>>>Curator, Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art >>>>http://goldsen.library.cornell.edu >>>>A D White House >>>>Cornell University, >>>>Ithaca, New York 14853 >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>On 9/10/15 3:32 PM, "ETC" <e...@experimentaltvcenter.org> wrote: >>>> >>>>>----------empyre- soft-skinned space---------------------- >>>>>Referring to a conversation with Lynn Hershman Renate wrote, “During >>>>>that chat I asked her why she archived so much and she reminded me >>>>>that as a woman artist she had to ensure that her work was archived >>>>>properly because ‘who else would do it.’” >>>>> >>>>>And Renate’s follow-up question to herself: “how much do we preserve, >>>>>how much space do we have, who will record our history if we do not.” >>>>> >>>>>Both of these made me consider where this impulse to preserve comes >>>>>from. >>>>> >>>>>In thinking back to the earliest days of video, I really don’t recall >>>>>a lot of conversations about history, legacy, archival records and the >>>>>like. It seems that we were all busy making work, making >>>>>organizations, making structures and processes and weren’t engaged in >>>>>thinking about the future of it all. Accepted was the fact of >>>>>impermanence of this new medium, in all its many guises. The tapes >>>>>were electromagnetic. They could – and often were – erased, often to >>>>>allow for a new recording. The tapes were frequently palimpsests, >>>>>imperfect erasures with the flicker of the ghosts of previous >>>>>recordings haunting the imagery. The tapes were fragile, easily >>>>>deformed – stretched, broken. We didn’t expect them to last, really. >>>>>The longevity has been a surprise. >>>>> >>>>>Of course, that all changed as the medium evolved and became more >>>>>accepted by society, the academy and the arts infrastructures. >>>>>Practitioners had territory to carve out and protect, boundaries to >>>>>mark. Our field struggled with how to turn a reproducible medium into >>>>>one that rewards the precious object. Could some of us find a way to >>>>>cash in? Could others of us even make a small mark on history? >>>>> >>>>>Others of us simply went on making work and figuring out strategies to >>>>>help others make it too. And thinking about ways of exhibiting, >>>>>distributing, and eventually saving the works for scholars and artists >>>>>following us. >>>>> >>>>>There wasn’t much interest, really, in the tiny backwater of video >>>>>often referred to as image processing. Those of us engaged, >>>>>recognizing that little value was placed on this art, by default began >>>>>saving materials, tools, letters. I think, though, that this impulse >>>>>to collect, to order, is probably more rooted within us as >>>>>individuals. You either do this, and can’t imagine not doing it, or >>>>>you don’t – you deaccession and move on. >>>>> >>>>>Renate’s point about saving our own histories is well taken, since >>>>>with video in general there was very little interest in the art; if we >>>>>didn’t value it, who would? None of the cultural institutions seemed >>>>>engaged. So some of held on to our collections. Those of us Upstate >>>>>often had the luxury of more space than our colleagues in the city. >>>>>And some of us filled it. >>>>> >>>>>And now many are involved with trying to find homes for these >>>>>collections – places which will put the materials in context, and >>>>>place it in the hands of researchers, students, and scholars. >>>>> >>>>>Sherry >>>>> >>>>>On Thu, Sep 10, 2015 at 12:13 PM, Timothy Conway Murray >>>>><t...@cornell.edu> wrote: >>>>>> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space---------------------- >>>>>> Hi, Sherry, >>>>>> >>>>>> Sarah Watson and I have just completed preparing the videos for >>>>>>exhibition >>>>>> in the ETC show that will open on September 24 at Hunter College. >>>>>>As I >>>>>> was reviewing the screening list, I remembered my early days of >>>>>>viewing >>>>>> experimental tapes during screenings at ETC. What was particularly >>>>>> compelling to me as a young theorist was the conceptual verve of even >>>>>>the >>>>>> most formal experiments with the video tools that were developed in >>>>>>the >>>>>> ETC lab by Nam June Paik, Shuya Abe, David Jones, and others. The >>>>>> flexible analogue tools available to artists at ETC catalyzed the >>>>>> theorization of video as an art form, as well as contributed to >>>>>> philosophies of time, movement, light, and the electronic extensions >>>>>>of >>>>>> montage/collage. >>>>>> >>>>>> As we move through the month discussing video art writ-large, I hope >>>>>>we >>>>>> can celebrate the cerebral demands on the artists who suspended their >>>>>> artistic conventions in order to give themselves over to the emergent >>>>>> concepts of time and space happening via their building and >>>>>>interaction >>>>>> with this emergent gear. >>>>>> >>>>>> Welcome to the month of Video, behind and beyond! >>>>>> >>>>>> Tim >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> 9/10/15 10:15 AM, "Renate Terese Ferro" <rfe...@cornell.edu> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>>----------empyre- soft-skinned space---------------------- >>>>>>>Dear Sherry, >>>>>>>Many thanks for making this initial post about ETC. For our >>>>>>>international >>>>>>>subscribers who have never made the trek to Upstate New York I >>>>>>>thought >>>>>>>it >>>>>>>might be a good idea to talk about where the Experimental Television >>>>>>>Center was located and how it all began in 1972. I was very lucky to >>>>>>>have >>>>>>>a residency at the center in 2006. The aura of years past and >>>>>>>especially >>>>>>>from the international artists who where there before me seemed to be >>>>>>>seeped in the archive of equipment as I worked. To have your >>>>>>>insightful >>>>>>>perspective Sherry and our other guests on that early history I think >>>>>>>might fascinate our subscribers. >>>>>>> >>>>>>>Also subscribers for those of you who have a history in video both >>>>>>>analog >>>>>>>and digital we hope you will join our conversation. >>>>>>>Really looking forward to the month. >>>>>>> >>>>>>>Renate Ferro >>>>>>>Visiting Associate Professor of Art >>>>>>>Cornell University >>>>>>>Department of Art >>>>>>>Tjaden Hall, Office 306 >>>>>>>Ithaca, NY 14853 >>>>>>>Email: rfe...@cornell.edu >>>>>>>URL: http://www.renateferro.net >>>>>>> http://www.privatesecretspubliclies.net >>>>>>>Lab: http://www.tinkerfactory.net >>>>>>> >>>>>>>Managing Moderator of -empyre- soft skinned space >>>>>>>http://empyre.library.cornell.edu/ >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>>On 9/8/15, 8:48 PM, "ETC" <e...@experimentaltvcenter.org> wrote: >>>>>>>First, thanks to empyre and especially to Tim and Renate for the >>>>>>>invitation to participate this month. I have been a long time, mostly >>>>>>>silent observer, and have learned so much over the years from all of >>>>>>>you. >>>>>>> >>>>>>>I have spent over 40 years working with the ETC, a (very) small and >>>>>>>intentionally so media arts ³organization² in Upstate New York. >>>>>>>When >>>>>>>we >>>>>>>decided to end the Residency, Research, Grants and Sponsorship >>>>>>>programs >>>>>>>at >>>>>>>ETC in 2011, I was often asked, ³So, are you closing? Will you >>>>>>>retire?² >>>>>>> >>>>>>>I was unprepared for the query and had no answers. I didn¹t feel >>>>>>>retired. >>>>>>>I >>>>>>>looked at the 1Ž2² open reel videotapes which still fill our beer >>>>>>>cooler >>>>>>>qua >>>>>>>climate-controlled storage facility, and wondered about our >>>>>>>respective >>>>>>>fates. >>>>>>> >>>>>>>At the time we closed many of the ETC programs, I was very involved >>>>>>>with >>>>>>>Kathy High and Mona Jimenez, along with many brilliant scholars and >>>>>>>artists, on completing the two volume book ³The Emergence of Video >>>>>>>Processing Tools: Television Becoming Unglued². Once the book was >>>>>>>finally >>>>>>>published in 2014, I took a step back and reconsidered some of the >>>>>>>topics >>>>>>>we had tried to address: from ideas as general as how do art, science >>>>>>>and >>>>>>>technology intersect, and are the collaborations that evolve specific >>>>>>>to >>>>>>>cultural and social environments; to topics as specific as those >>>>>>>involving >>>>>>>talk of codecs, wrappers and containers. >>>>>>> >>>>>>>We became involved in the topics of media history and preservation in >>>>>>>the >>>>>>>1990s. >>>>>>> - were among the founding organizations of the groups that became >>>>>>>Media >>>>>>>Alliance and Independent Media Arts Preservation >>>>>>> - organized the conference Video History: Making Connections >>>>>>>(Syracuse, >>>>>>>1998) >>>>>>> - participated in the National Moving Image Database (NAMID) >>>>>>>project >>>>>>>of >>>>>>>the American Film Institute as they created a template for cataloging >>>>>>>moving image media works, that addressed specific properties of >>>>>>>electronic >>>>>>>media as opposed to film >>>>>>> - organized several symposia on preservation at Buffalo State >>>>>>>College >>>>>>>and in NYC in 2002 >>>>>>> - began (1996) and continue the History website. >>>>>>> >>>>>>>Some of you were also at some of those meetings, I'm sure. >>>>>>> >>>>>>>One result of the book was a mass of research materials, historical >>>>>>>texts, >>>>>>>artists¹ statements, technical descriptions which have not been put >>>>>>>on >>>>>>>the >>>>>>>History site and even more questions: >>>>>>> - how do we preserve instruments; what about functionality >>>>>>> - where will the ephemera live: how do we preserve cultural >>>>>>>context >>>>>>> - can you preserve the ethos, the spirit, the hungers of a >>>>>>>particular >>>>>>>time >>>>>>> - what is lost if ephemera is disassociated from instrument >>>>>>> - how does history matter; looking back and looking forward with >>>>>>>contemporary makers >>>>>>> - how can we create environments that nurture collaborations of >>>>>>>art, >>>>>>>technology and science; can we devise models for the sustenance of >>>>>>>these >>>>>>>collaborations. >>>>>>> - what are reasonable criteria for determining which works are >>>>>>>preserved; by whom and how are these determined >>>>>>> >>>>>>>ET is very grateful that the Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art at >>>>>>>Cornell has accepted the ETC¹s collection of ephemera, to accompany >>>>>>>our >>>>>>>videotape collection; it is a very compatible home for us. Over the >>>>>>>summer >>>>>>>I had the privilege of working with two creative and intelligent >>>>>>>Cornel >>>>>>>grad stuents, Alana Staiti and Lauren van Haaften-Schick, on >>>>>>>constructing >>>>>>>an inventory for these materials. It proved to be an overwhelming, >>>>>>>exciting, hilarious, tedious, exhilarating and at time cringe-worthy >>>>>>>experience. It can be difficult to understand the history of >>>>>>>something >>>>>>>you >>>>>>>have been so much involved with. >>>>>>> >>>>>>>The ephemera will form one of the major sections for the upcoming >>>>>>>exhibition organized by Hunter College Art Galleries and the Rose >>>>>>>Goldsen >>>>>>>Archive of New Media Art at Cornell, "The Experimental Television >>>>>>>Center: >>>>>>>A >>>>>>>History, Etc . . . " opening at the Galleries on September 24th, and >>>>>>>running through November 21st. The exibition was organized by Tim >>>>>>>Murray >>>>>>>of >>>>>>>Cornell and Sarah Watson, Curator at Hunter. Also on view are >>>>>>>videotapes >>>>>>>by >>>>>>>over 40 artists, hand-crafted now obsolete analog processing >>>>>>>equipment, >>>>>>>performances by contemporary artists working with custom-designed >>>>>>>instruments, and tools built by artist/technologists for day¹s >>>>>>>practitioners. >>>>>>> >>>>>>>We are always looking for conversations about video and its >>>>>>>histories, >>>>>>>and >>>>>>>I¹m sure I¹ve come to the right place. >>>>>>> >>>>>>>Sherry >>>>>>> >>>>>>>_______________________________________________ >>>>>>>empyre forum >>>>>>>empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au >>>>>>>http://empyre.library.cornell.edu >>>>>> >>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>> empyre forum >>>>>> empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au >>>>>> http://empyre.library.cornell.edu >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>-- >>>>>Sherry Hocking >>>>>Assistant Director >>>>>Experimental Television Center Ltd. >>>>>109 Lower Fairfield Rd. >>>>>Newark Valley NY 13811 >>>>>607.687.4341 >>>>>_______________________________________________ >>>>>empyre forum >>>>>empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au >>>>>http://empyre.library.cornell.edu >>>> >>>>_______________________________________________ >>>>empyre forum >>>>empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au >>>>http://empyre.library.cornell.edu >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> empyre forum >>> empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au >>> http://empyre.library.cornell.edu >> >> >> >>-- >>Sherry Hocking >>Assistant Director >>Experimental Television Center Ltd. >>109 Lower Fairfield Rd. >>Newark Valley NY 13811 >>607.687.4341 >>_______________________________________________ >>empyre forum >>empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au >>http://empyre.library.cornell.edu > > > _______________________________________________ > empyre forum > empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au > http://empyre.library.cornell.edu -- Sherry Hocking Assistant Director Experimental Television Center Ltd. 109 Lower Fairfield Rd. Newark Valley NY 13811 607.687.4341 _______________________________________________ empyre forum empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
