Artist

Martha Rosler

Martha Rosler uses photography, performance and writing as well as video to reconstruct cultural reality. Describing her work, Rosler says, "The subject is the commonplace; I am trying to question the mythical explanations of everyday life. We accept the clash of public and private as natural, yet their separation is historical and the antagonism of the two spheres, which have been in fact developed in tandem, is an ideological fiction--a potent one. I want to explore the relationships between individual consciousness, family life and culture under capitalism."

"Martha Rosler's tapes are generally disconcerting, beginning with the most benign set-up and moving beyond, upsetting our assumptions of the norm with a suggestion of humour but an underlying sense of calculated rage." - Karen Henry, Video Guide.

Artist Code: 143

Videography

Secrets From the Street: No Disclosure

1980, 12:15 minutes, colour, English

Vital Statistics of a Citizen, Simply Obtained

1977, 38:00 minutes, colour, English

Semiotics of the Kitchen

1975, 06:09 minutes, colour, english

Critical Writing

Curatorial Incubator v. 13: The Job of Life
by Lisa Steele. Toronto: Vtape, 2016.
Reading the Strange Case of Woman-as-Appliance
by August Jordan Davis. Third Text, Sept 2015, v. 29, no. 4-5. Routledge, 2015.
Star Wars
by August Jordan Davis. Third Text, July 2013, v. 27, no. 4. Routledge, 2013.
Preserving and Exhibiting Media Art
by Julia Noordegraaf et al.
I Say I Am: Women's Performance Video from the 1970s
by Maria Troy. Video Data Bank, 2012.
"Un-home-ly"
by Sholem Krishtalka. Canadian Art, Summer 2011, v. 28, no. 2.
Making GeoPolitics Otherwise: Artistic Interventions in Global...
by Alan Ingram. The Geographical Journal, Sept. 2011, v. 177, no. 3.
Catching up to the Past Catching up to the Present: A Response to...
by Lynn Kazymerchyk. No More Potlucks, Mar. 2009, no. 2.
ZIN TAYLOR: THE BAKERY OF BLOK: Jessica Bradley Art + Projects,...
by Dan Adler. C Magazine, Fall 2009, no. 103.
Chronology Through Cartography: Mapping 1970s Feminist Art Globally
by Marsha Meskimmon. Wack!: art and the feminist revolution, 2007. Los Angeles: The Mocha L.A, 2007.
Untitled
by Unknown. Wack!: art and the feminist revolution, 2007. Los Angeles: The Moca L.A., 2007.
Stories to Tell: Autobiography and Narrative
by Jayne Wark. Radical Gestures: Feminism and Performance Art in North America, 2006. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2006.
Video Art, A Guided Tour by Catherine Elwes (Books)
by Tom Sherman. Border Crossings, Aug. 2005, v. 24, no. 3.
Martha Rosler
by Andrea Carson. C Magazine, Winter 2005, no. 88.
Video Acts
by Catherine Elwes. Border Crossings, 2004, v. 23, no. 89.
Video and the Conceptual Body: A cross disciplined spirit
by Micheal Rush. Video Art, 2003. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2003.
Video purified of television: On why video art wants to be boring
by John Beagles and Dave Beech. Variant, Fall 2003, v. 2, no. 18.
Matter/Flesh/Spirit/Ground: An Overview of the Video Work of Wendy...
by Jayne Wark and James MacSwain. Halifax NS: Centre For Art Tapes and Dalhousie Art Gallery, 2003.
New Wine into Old Bottles: Some Comments on the Early Years of Art...
by Laura Cottingham. Outer & Inner Space: Pipilotti Rist, Shirin Neshat, Jane & Louise Wilson, and the History of Video Art, 2002. Richmond, Virginia: Virginia Mudeum of Fine Art/University of Washington Press, 2002.
Video Art: A Top Twenty
by John Slyce and Matthew Collings. Modern Painters, Summer 2000, v. 13, no. 2.
Video Mode
by Stephan Pascher. Merge, 1999, no. 6.
I'm Having A Flashback: Video Data Bank revisits video's formative...
by Danielle Schwartz. The Independent, July 1997.
Corpus Loquendi: body for speaking
by Jan Peacock. Halifax: Dalhousie Art Gallery, 1994.
Corpus Loquendi/Body for Speaking: Body-Centred Video in Halifax...
by Jan Peacock. Halifax: Dalhousie Art Gallery, 1994.
The History of Video in the USA
by Mindy Faber and Kate Horsfield. VideoFest, 1992.
Illuminating Video: An Essential Guide to Video Art
by Doug Hall and Sally Jo Fifer. Metuchen, New Jersey: Aperture Foundation Inc., 1990.
Canadian Countercurrents: The Images '89 Festival
by Helen Lee. The Independent, Aug. 1989.
Images '89
by Donna Lypchuk. Cinema Canada, Sept. 1989.
Sexuality and Video Narrative
by Chris Straayer. Afterimage, May 1989, v. 16, no. 10.
Video & Television
by Michael Nash. High Performance, Winter 1988, no. 44.
Consuming Passions: Feminist Video and the Home Market
by Nadine McGann. Afterimage, Summer 1988, v. 16, no. 1.
Videos Blend Art and Politics
by Anonomous. The New York Times, Mar. 1, 1987.
Notes on a Local History: Both
by Bruce Ferguson and Colin Campbell. Toronto: A Play of History (Jeu d'histoire), 1987. Toronto: The Power Plant, 1987.
Video and the Art World
by Michael Starenko. Afterimage, Feb. 1987, v. 14, no. 7.
Comic Horror: The Presence of Television in Video Art
by Bob Riley. The Arts for Television, 1987. Amsterdam: Stedelijk Museum, 1987.
Video Wonderlands Created For Museums and Galleries
by William Zimmer. New York Times, Mar. 6, 1987.
Social studies: Social Engagements: Women's Video in the '80s...
by Lorraine Kenny. Afterimage, May 1987, v. 14, no. 10.
Sex on the Video Screen
by Jamirte Trott. Video Guide, Dec. 1986, v. 8, no. 4.
Modern times: Appropriation of Culture: The IBM Tramp by Stephen...
by David Trend. Afterimage, Apr. 1986, v. 13, no. 9.
Video 84
by Bruce Ferguson. Vanguard, Feb. 1985, v. 14, no. 1.
Drawing From Memory
by David Deitcher. The Art of Memory/The Loss of History, 1985. New York City: The New Museum of Contemporary Art, 1985.
Feminist Video: Reiterating the difference
by Marita Sturken. Afterimage, Apr. 1985, v. 12, no. 9.
From Gadget Video to Agit Video: Some Notes on Four Recent Video Works
by Benjamin H.D. Buchloh. Art Journal, Fall 1985, v. 45, no. 3.
Revising Romance: New Feminist Video
by Marita Sturken. Art Journal, Fall 1985, v. 45, no. 3.
Street Culture
by Merike Talve. Video Guide, Aug. 1984, v. 6, no. 4.
Some Contemporary Documentary
by Martha Rosler. Afterimage, Summer 1983, v. 11, no. 1&2.
Meet the Press: On Paper Tiger Television
by Martha Gever. Afterimage, Nov. 1983, v. 11, no. 4.
Agit.Prop: Walter Philips Gallery / Banff / July 9 to 25
by Leila Surji. Vanguard, Oct. Fall 1982.
California Video: Art or Television
by Mary Stofflet. Studio International, June 1982, v. 195, no. 995.
In View Of Feminism: LA/London Lab's film and video: Hitchcockian...
by Tony Whitfield. Fuse, Nov. 1981, v. 5, no. 8 & 9.
An Interview with Martha Rosler
by Martha Gever. Afterimage, Oct. 1981, v. 9, no. 3.
Interview with Martha Rosler
by Martha Rosler and Jane Weinstock. October, Summer 1981, v. 17.
Video is not television, Performance is not theatre
by Martha Fleming and Douglas Durand. Body Politic, June 1980, no. 64.
Developing Feminist Resources: The Work of Carolee Schneeman &...
by Jane Springer. Fuse, Jan. 1980, v. 4, no. 2.