TV - The Next Medium
Art in America, Sept. 1969, v. 57, no. 5, pp. 48-55
A positive article relating the evolution of television perception with the evolution of the artist's role. Author John S. Margolies posits that "the generation which has grown up with television and other sophisticated media has evolved a new perception in processing information" (50). He refers to this insight as process-level perception. "Process-level affirms direct, sensory perception, with content determined by individual reference, rather than by formalized, intellectual considerations" (50). The television viewer can switch channels, adjust the image and volume, sit in any position they'd like.
The artist's role in process-level analysis is one of communication. "At the process level, a person who is an artist is one who can experience directly through his senses. His effectiveness as an artist can be judged by how well he communicates his perception. Art, therefore, becomes a two-step process- formulation of an idea and communication of this idea- and the two steps are inextricably related" (50).
In this way Margolies posits TV as an exciting milieu for artists, not as subject matter, but as communicative medium.
ITEM 1969.004 – available for viewing in the Research Centre
Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited
The Underground Sundae – Andy Warhol
Contact: A Cybernetic Sculpture – Les Levine
Tango Electronique – Nam June Paik
Participation TV – Nam June Paik
Simultaneity in Simultaneity – Marta Minujin
HELLO – Allan Kaprow
Archetron – Thomas Tadlock
Capriccio – James Seawright
Electronic Light Ballet – Otto Piene
Black – Aldo Tambellini
Psychedtelevision – Eric Siegel