Dear Steve and Adam, The potential of the "early days" of digital video is starting to look like a promising area of research. I'm not sure if I would have said that back then, as I was also somewhat skeptical of film artists making a late turn to video. But, look at what Gehr, Snow, Jacobs, and others have done! I would assume that many avant-garde filmmakers experimented with analog video, even if we never saw the results. The fact that they didn't pursue it would have to be based on the particularities of their practice. For instance, I imagine that Jacobs had a specific rationale for waiting as long as he did, and that it involved much more than just the low resolution of even broadcast video compared to film. In some ways, I think film artists who skipped analog video somehow made the transition to digital more effectively than artists who had been working in analog. I say that as a die-hard Vasulka enthusiast, but seen from now, I think film artists (or maybe just the ones I am particularly interested in) may have thought more critically about the affordances of digital (except Steina and Woody!). I'm not sure; I am just starting to think about this time period in this way. Anyways, thank you all for your input. -JA
On Wed, Aug 13, 2025 at 6:25 PM Adam Hyman <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi all, > > I just looked up when we tried to screen it at Los Angeles Filmforum. It > was Sunday, March 13, 2005. The program was Crystal Palace (2002), The > Astronomer's Dream (2004), and Precarious Garden (2004). I made a note > that Crystal Palace was cancelled due to projection shortcomings. > > It was at the Spielberg Theater at the Egyptian, a room that no longer > exists. It had a progressive projector (not a CRT) but he needed it to be > interlaced to work. > > > > Best regards, > > Adam > > > > > > ----- > > Adam Hyman > > Executive Director > > Los Angeles Filmforum > > > > > > *From: *Frameworks <[email protected]> on behalf of > Steve Polta <[email protected]> > *Reply-To: *Experimental Film Discussion List <[email protected] > > > *Date: *Wednesday, August 13, 2025 at 2:07 PM > *To: *Experimental Film Discussion List <[email protected]> > *Subject: *Re: [Frameworks] field-level processing in video > > > > Dear Jared, > > > > I'm pretty sure that I was at the same screening of *Crystal Palace *that > Mark Toscano references which, if I'm not mistaken, was at Pacific Film > Archive in Berkeley CA on October 7, 2003 > <https://bampfa.org/event/cinema-ernie-gehr-program-1>. At this screening > the work was shown as projected video and was definitely not on a CRT. > Ernie Gehr was there in person and, if I recall correctly, was frustrated > that they could not get the projection system to reproduce what he'd seen > in his piece. This sort of thing—artists being unable to replicate effects > they'd worked with on one video system on another—were not uncommon in > these "early days" of projected digital video. If Gehr has another piece > that attempted this, I don't know what it is. > > > > Steve Polta > > > > On Wed, Aug 13, 2025 at 11:16 AM jared ashburn <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Mark, Adam, Michael, and Robert, > > > > I saw "Crystal Palace" at some point, but couldn't remember the title. It > was that one that provoked my question, so thank you for reminding me. I'm > seeing it described as "An ode to digital interlace, which is to video what > intervals between frames are to film…". Do you happen to remember if it was > displayed on a CRT? I'm trying to figure out the title of the other one you > mentioned, and I do wonder if (and how) he managed to resolve the transfer > to a progressive format. I stumbled upon the same kind of field flicker in > FCP at about the same time he made "Crystal Palace" and was only able to > capture the output through rescan. I think a VTR (analog without an > internal TBC, maybe?) and a display that doesn't deinterlace by default > might work to preserve the field flicker, but I'm not certain. I also don't > know if that could then be transferred to a digital format (tape or file) > without it being deinterlaced at some point. Even if it were, as Adam > points out, most all digital projectors (and LCDs) would deinterlace and > apply frame interpolation, which would kill the flicker. To Robert's point, > perhaps field-based effects are best left to the analog domain. Still, even > there, it required a special instrument (Rutt/Etra or the Vasulkas Digital > Image Articulator —a hybrid device). Michael, I am unfamiliar with Yalkut's > work that you mentioned. I'd be interested to know, and VERY curious to > know what instruments he used. Thank you all for your input. I appreciate > it. -Jared > > > > On Sun, Aug 10, 2025 at 2:45 PM Robert Harris <[email protected]> > wrote: > > The person who most formally, thoroughly, and passionately immersed > themself in the video field, in the formative instant of image generation, > was video maker/filmmaker Al Robbins, working with portapak, reel to reel > video in 1973 and after. > Given the fragile, uncopyable nature of his tapes, and given the generally > galleryizing world of video in the mid 70’s, Al’s work was tragically under > appreciated. > Rather than look to filmmakers who had no interest in analog video, you > should pursue your Vasulka thread, and look to the individuals associated > with the Experimental Television Center in Owego, NY. Founder Ralph Hocking > is deceased, his wife and collaborator Sherry Hocking Miller is still > around. Seek out Peer Bode, Hank Rudolph, David Jones, Neil Zussman. > But for the original artist with absolute investment in the glitch and all > its implications, Al Robbins. > > > > Robert Harris, Professor > Fitchburg State University > > > > > On Aug 9, 2025, at 12:13 AM, jared ashburn <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > Does anyone know if Ken Jacobs, Ernie Gehr, or any other artists besides > Woody and Steina Vasulka have worked at the level of the video field? I’m > particularly interested in practices that manipulate fields (1/60 second in > NTSC), whether for timing-based image alteration or for preserving > field-specific flicker phenomena. Thanks! > > -- > > Frameworks mailing list > > [email protected] > > > https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org > > -- > Frameworks mailing list > [email protected] > https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org > > -- > Frameworks mailing list > [email protected] > https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org > > -- Frameworks mailing list [email protected] > https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org > -- > Frameworks mailing list > [email protected] > https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org >
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