Video art's early history and development are currently being explored in several shows internationally, from the Pompidou's traveling 'Video Art 1965-2005', now stopping at Sydney's MCA, to MNCARS' 'First Generation' (on through 2 April). Both of these exhibitions set their start in the mid Sixties, when the artform made its first widespread appearance (Andy Warhol first screened video as art in 1965), and present a historiography of the medium's variety and polymorphous development over the next few decades.
One year in particular, 1976, often stands as a significant milestone in the history of video art and new media, not only because Ulay & Abramovic, Bill Viola, and other seminal figures in the related field of performance were embracing the medium as a way of recording their actions, fusing the two in unprecedented ways.
1976 also saw the establishment of LVA (London Video Art) in London and VDB (Video Data Bank) in Chicago. LVA was inspired by the 'Video Show' at the Serpentine Gallery in 1975, an exhibit which showcased US and UK artists working with video and made the need for an organisation that would support video art and artists locally imperative. VDB's original remit was a bit smaller in scale. It was started at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago as a collection of student productions and interviews with visiting artists. At the same time, VDB codirectors Lyn Blumenthal and Kate Horsfield started conducting and archiving their own video interviews with women artists who were underrepresented critically in the art world. This art project, a peerless, definitive document of the times, of feminist history and of the new medium's capacity for immediacy, led to VDB's later role as one of the main video art distributors, starting in 1980. The project is ongoing - recent releases include videos by Miranda July, George Kuchar and Hester Scheurwater.
Still from Pixelvision video by Sadie Benning.
Taking place on the occasion of the publication of 'Feedback, The Video Data Bank Catalog of Video Art and Artist Interviews' and MoMA's 'The Feminist Future' symposium, an exhibition is about to open at MoMA's film department (25-31 Jan). 'Feedback: The Video Data Bank, Video Art, and Artist Interviews' will present screenings of video art and interviews with women in the arts drawn from the VDB archives. Over the past thirty years both collections have grown and VDB co-founders Horsfield and Blumenthal have annotated annotated the works extensively. For this presentation, interviews and videotapes were chosen to reflect women's art making and the evolution of feminist theory over the past thirty years. Interviews are by Kate Horsfield and Lyn Blumenthal, and the videos are produced in the U.S. unless otherwise noted. The entire programme looks unmissable, with highlights such as the 'Rainer Variations' featuring Yvonne Rainer's dance and performance works, interviews with Louise Bourgeois, Alice Neel and Lee Krasner, Ana Mendieta, Linda Benglis, Valie Export and Sadie Benning, and a long list of others (click here to view the entire schedule).
Valie Export.
Organized by Sally Berger, Assistant Curator, Department of Film; with Blithe Riley, Editor and Project Coordinator, On Art and Artists collection, Video Data Bank. Special thanks to Kate Horsfield, Director Emeritus; Tom Colley, Collections Manager; and Abina Manning, Interim Director, Video Data Bank; and the Lyn Blumenthal Memorial Fund.
FEEDBACK: THE VIDEO DATA BANK, VIDEO ART, AND ARTIST INTERVIEWS
25-31 Jan 2007
MoMA
11 West 53 Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues
New York, NY 10019-5497
T: +1 212 708 9400
VDB Catalog
Lupe Nunez-Fernandez is former senior editor of ArtReview and is currently based in London and Madrid.
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