Series: New Television
Program: New Television
Episode: 408
Date: 1987-01-01
Subject: Interpersonal relations
People: Mason, Ottilie; McFaden, Mark; Rynard, Susan C.
Copyright Holder: Susan C. Rynard

Clip Description
Video essay on silence and the banality of words. A man and woman are shown eating in silence in a restaurant -- the sounds they make are magnified. A nearly empty apartment is shown, followed by the woman walking across a pedestrian bridge. She walks along a highway before stopping and removing some articles of clothing. The couple is shown in the same restaurant. They have a short "conversation," as follows:Woman: "Pale green."Man: "I ran 10K this morning."W: "It was on sale."M: "I'm in line for a promotion."W: "Mexico -- I wanna travel."M: "Would you like some more coffee?"Approximately 5 minutes in length, the work was co-authored by Helen Humphreys.

Program Description
This episode of "New Television" features "The Kissing Booth," "Portraits of a Friend by Friends: Emmett Williams," and "Within Dialogue: Silence."

"The Kissing Booth" features four celebrities discuss kissing, romance, and love. Copyright: Co-Directions, Inc.

"Portraits of a Friend by Friends: Emmett Williams," features associates of artist Emmett Williams giving their recollections of him. Copyright: Joan Logue.

"Within Dialogue: Silence" is a short video piece exploring silence and the banality of words. Copyright: Susan C. Rynard.

Series Description
The New Television Workshop originated at WGBH, a public broadcasting station in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1974 to support the creation and development of experimental video art. This experimental programming included dance, drama, music, performance and visual arts on video and film. As early as 1968, WGBH was committed to the development of video art through residency programs, with artists such as Nam June Paik, and the "Rockefeller Artists-in-Television" project. Many of these early works (pre-1974) were broadcast both locally and nationally.

As an umbrella for arts related programming, the Workshop included "Artist's Showcase, " "Frames of Reference, " "Dance for Camera, " "Poetry Breaks," and "New Television," as well as acquired arts programming. Individual works were created for "Visions," a series produced by WNET (New York), and "Alive From Off Center," a series produced by KTCA (St. Paul - Minneapolis). The Contemporary Art Television (CAT) Fund was co-founded by the Workshop and Boston's Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) in the 1980's, to commission works by video artists. In 1993 the Workshop ceased production at WGBH.

See also: http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/NTW/FA/TITLES/Within98.HTML