Early Video Art | Video Data Bank

Early Video Art is a collection of titles that are central to an understanding of the historical development of video art. This collection includes, but is not limited to, many titles from the original Castelli-Sonnabend collection, the first and most prominent collection of video art assembled in the United States. All of the work in this collection was produced between 1968 and 1980. These works represent important examples of the first experiments in video art, and include conceptual and feminist performances recorded on video, experiments with the video signal, and "guerilla" documentaries representing a counter-cultural view of the historical events of the 1960s and 70s. Many of these tapes represent a desire for a radically redefined television experience that is centered on the innovative, the personal, the political and the non-commercial.

LISTING STYLE:

Paul Kos

Lightning

1976 | 00:01:23

Lightning

When I look for the lightning, it never strikes. When I look away, it does. Filmed inside a car, this tape focuses on observation of natural phenomena, presenting the obverse of the, "If a tree…

Marlene Kos

Lightning

1976 | 00:01:23

Lightning

When I look for the lightning, it never strikes. When I look away, it does. Filmed inside a car, this tape focuses on observation of natural phenomena, presenting the obverse of the, "If a tree…

Paul Kos

Sirens

1977 | 00:06:47

Sirens

Taking its title from the sea nymphs in Homer’s Odyssey—the treacherous spirits whose sweet voices lured sailors to their death upon the rocks—Sirens presents four hallucinatory…

Marlene Kos

Sirens

1977 | 00:06:47

Sirens

Taking its title from the sea nymphs in Homer’s Odyssey—the treacherous spirits whose sweet voices lured sailors to their death upon the rocks—Sirens presents four hallucinatory…

Hermine Freed

New Reel

1977 | 00:12:00

New Reel

In a tape that stands out as one of the earliest examples of the use of appropriated television footage, Freed assembles a collage of images representing American media icons, from Mickey Mouse…

Keith Sonnier

Animation 2

1974 | 00:26:05

Animation 2

Concentrating on abstract shapes and color value, Animation 2 is a record of images manipulated through computer animation.

Lynda Benglis

Now

1973 | 00:11:45

Now

Throughout the video, Benglis asks "Now?" and "Do you wish to direct me?" and repeats commands like "Start the camera" and "I said start recording." As in On Screen, she makes faces and…

William Wegman

Selected Works: Reel 4

1973 | 00:20:33

Selected Works: Reel 4

A newly re-mastered collection of 22 comedic performances to camera, produced during 1973-74.

Keith Sonnier

Animation 1

1973 | 00:13:52

Animation 1

With the Watergate hearings as a backdrop, quotes from various newspapers and magazines--including the story of Robert Smithson's death in a plane crash--build a picture of the confusing and…

Keith Sonnier

TV In and TV Out

1972 | 00:12:38

TV In and TV Out

In Sonnier’s video tape TV In and TV Out, two images are superimposed, one shot off network television and the other shot from a studio performance situation involving some of the…

TVTV

The Lord of the Universe

1974 | 00:58:30

The Lord of the Universe

Sixteen-year-old guru Marahaj Ji attempts to levitate the Houston Astrodome in this 1973 DuPont award winning documentary.

TVTV

Four More Years

1972 | 01:00:00

Four More Years

TVTV's inside view of the 1972 Republican National Convention made broadcast history.