To Deborah, Love Vidiots

The video content—a live-feed image processing tape—shows intellectual discussion among SAIC Video Area students and faculty members. Instead of being a prescriptive monologue from school to students, Phil sits among the crowd and moderates the session. The decentralized and non-hierarchical academic setting—students and faculty sitting on the floor and cushions in a circle—is typical of the ’70s. At times, students burst into laughter, dancing, and lounging on the floor, hence creating a laid-back environment. Students also ask critical, thoughtful, and provocative questions that spark a lively dialogue. Responding to a video submitted by an applicant to the SAIC Video Area–Deborah–Phil encourages and welcomes the bend of perception through media to bring forth new experiences. Embracing the expansive power of video, Phil looks for video works that can “blow him away.” 

He also comments on the newly emerged media tools where he points out the general public’s fear of tech. On a positive note, he summarizes that everyone is learning how to use tech: “Each one of us has a particular degree of sophistication in whatever kind of tech we are talking about; whether it’s using our body, using our painting tools, or using drawing tools, or video tools or whatever; and essentially for me, the live process of living is one of learning to use one’s tech.”

Offering insights on how to approach new media, he says “[tech is] something that allows a person to learn about new potential kinds of spaces, and places, and things to get into. Because people cling to their old world views or their old medium attitude when they come to a new medium…they miss what the new medium is telling them in terms of new places to begin to make sense out of, or to begin to encode your information or whatever inside of, and that’s sort of what we’re all doing. We are all struggling with learning what these new places and new spaces are about, and how to behave in them.”

As a closing note, he sends his best wishes to the younger generation of media artists who intend to join the SAIC Video Area, “If there’s anything I believe in, in terms of new information, it has to do with a younger generation coming on; and all I'm doing is getting older, and I turn 30 this year, you see, so I'm a hopeless case. So the only thing left [that] feels good to do is to do whatever has to be done in terms of allowing the new babies to do it, because I'm over the hill. I hope you come and do it, cause somebody's gonna have to carry it on.”

–Gordon Dic-Lun Fung

For more information, visit the Phil Morton Memorial Research Archive page.