Critical Writing Index

California Video: Art or Television

by Mary Stofflet

Studio International, June 1982, v. 195, no. 995, pp. 75-79

Mary Stofflet's article focuses on the development of video art from the late sixties until 1982, with a focus on video art production in California. She discusses the challenges of overcoming the early inclination to "democratize" video art, and the development of narrative and documentary video pieces as separate from installation pieces, video documented performance art, and "video incorporated into performance art"(Stofflet, 76) She describes this development partially as a transformation from installation pieces which mimic sculpture to works which "approximate if not achieve broadcast quality" (Stofflet, 77). Budget cutbacks in the early 1980's led to a lack of "art related viewing spaces," (Stofflet, 76), which Stofflet sees as speeding the development of video art in California. She describes a trend in video art of producing political or entertainment based works, and provides examples of each. She also addresses the difficulty of defining video art, and predicts some of its possible future characteristics.

ITEM 1982.083 – available for viewing in the Research Centre

Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited

Autoparts – Chip Lord

Autoparts – Phil Garner

Big Wrench – Chris Burden

Tokyo Rose – Paul Kos

Homage to Duchamp – Bill Gaglione

Homage to Duchamp – Buster Cleveland

Vital Statistics of a Citizen, Simply Obtained – Martha Rosler

32 Feet Per Second Per Second – T.R. Uthco

32 Feet Per Second Per Second – Doug Hall

32 Feet Per Second Per Second – Jody Proctor

Screen Play – Nina Wise

The Group Called Flipper – Joe Rees

Hero – Daryl Sapien

Bound Feet – Winston Tong

The Dad Triptych – Ilene Segalove

La Mamelle Inc. – Videozine Five

La Mamelle Inc. – Videozine Six

The Whacky, Wonderful, Weird World of Willie Walker – Willie Walker