Hello Jared & co., Apologies if this message is out of sync with the current thread about this topic. I only receive the delayed, digest version of Frameworks. I saw Crystal Palace at the Walter Reade cinema in New York in 2002. Because the venue's video projector was not progressive-scan, the video's flicker was quite visible. In 2011, I saw the video again, interlaced flicker intact, on an old CRT monitor in Ernie Gehr's home studio in Brooklyn. That year, I wrote about the video for an article (to my chagrin, in the print version, an editorial error led to the still images of the video's flicker being omitted). Not long afterwards, Ernie debuted a new version, once again at the Walter Reade theater. He had attempted to use alternative digital effects to compensate for the lack of the flicker "artifacting" on now-ubiquitous progressive-scan video projectors. (I recall a number of freeze frames that lacked flicker and thus made the video seem more static than it had previously been.) He wasn't able to achieve anything close to what he'd done in 2002. We discussed this after the screening. He was pretty unhappy with the results, and I shared his view that he hadn't yet found a satisfying way to revise and remediate the original version. I haven't asked him about since then. I am sure he would also be very interested to know if anyone has figured out how to preserve the flicker via contemporary digital video media. best, Federico
Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2025 13:14:26 -0500 > From: jared ashburn <[email protected]> > To: Experimental Film Discussion List <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Frameworks] field-level processing in video > Message-ID: > <CACFi8AVqrK= > [email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" 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! > > --
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