GBH Openvault
Artist's Showcase; Survival Ecology - Hamburger Harmonics
Part of New Television Workshop.
01/08/1980
USART by John Caldwell Dub of A0-01130
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- Series
- Artist's Showcase
- Program
- Survival Ecology - Hamburger Harmonics
- Series Description
Anthology series of experimental, avant garde video productions. Program titles: "DANCE FOR CAMERA - SHOW I: DISTRICT I and PALE COOL, PALE WARM;" "DANCE FOR CAMERA - SHOW II: TZADDICK;" "DANCE FOR CAMERA - SHOW III: GEORGE'S HOUSE;" "SELECTED WORKS - 1974 - 1975;" "THE GIRL WITH THE FLAXEN HAIR;" "SET OF COINCIDENCE;" "ALL ACROSS BOSTON;" " UNTITLED PERFORMANCE BY ROBERT GOLDMAN;" "QUIDDATAS;" "TELEPORTRAITS;" "FOUR SIDED TAPES;" "AMY LOWELL;" "PRIMORDIAL SOUP;" "HOWARD;" "THIRD TAPE;" "PAST FANTASIES;" "SEMI BUFFET;" "EAST ENDED TAPE;" "A COLOR PIECE FOR TV;" "CONTEXTS AND ONE AND MANY;" "THREE TRANSITIONS;" "CITY SCAPE;" "OUT OF TIME;" "NO TITLE." Series release date: 1975
- Program Description
A man conducts an experiment in survival ecology with a house plant as he describes, in a voiceover, how he butchers beef in a slaughterhouse. In his demonstration, the man trims leaves from a plant, cuts them into pieces, burns them, and then plants them in a pot. The man then steps back, doffs his lab coat and gloves, and dons a sports coat and a bow tie. At this point in the soundtrack, the man concludes his description of the butchering process and begins to reflect on his personal response to the job. He rationalizes the butchering of beef to accompanying images of a food chain. He then returns to his experiment to unearth a large metal ball from the pot in which he planted the pieces of burnt foliage. As he does so, the man concludes that his part in the butchering process is merely that of a machine transforming the cow into something more useful. Upon the conclusion of the narration, text images appear which discuss Marxism, technology, and agrarian politics. Little credit information accompanies the work, which is approximately 12 minutes long.
- Asset Type
Broadcast program
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Slaughtering and slaughter-houses
- Topics
- Film and Television
- Creators
- Caldwell, John ()
- Citation
- Chicago: “Artist's Showcase; Survival Ecology - Hamburger Harmonics,” 01/08/1980, GBH Archives, accessed April 25, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_9622707513AB4113B111D0B434C0CC9A.
- MLA: “Artist's Showcase; Survival Ecology - Hamburger Harmonics.” 01/08/1980. GBH Archives. Web. April 25, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_9622707513AB4113B111D0B434C0CC9A>.
- APA: Artist's Showcase; Survival Ecology - Hamburger Harmonics. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_9622707513AB4113B111D0B434C0CC9A