Environmental video : personal forms for television's public context

Abstract

Broadcast television is a fixture in our lives, a utility comparable to the telephone or the electric current running into our homes. In developing an artistic statement in the video medium, the artist must take this precedent for television's usage as a context against which to model his or her expression. In my work, as documented by this thesis, I address the need to discover personal forms for expression designed for an intimate one- way , communications medium that is evolving towards greater viewer response and participation. I present my thesis in three parts: 1. The script and working charts used for the production of "Performance in Color Video and Live Time." This twelve minute videotape is a talk on environmental art as it applies to the medium of television and its audience that I give as a video performance. It is my first work in video, produced in October, 1979, at M.I.T., and serves as background for the work of this thesis. 2. A written documentation of "Live Time/Video Time," my thesis exhibition presented December 8 and 12, 1980, at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies. It is described first in general terms as a sculptural environment occurring in time and space. Then, individual tapes and events are discussed, tracing an evolution that leads towards an objective of "open theater." 3. The generation of further work and speculation into the use of the television medium as an extension of my thesis work and outgrowth of the work of those artists and writers who are influencing me. I include a proposal of a project for public broadcast television I plan to accomplish within six months of the submission of this thesis.