Series: New Television
Program: New Television
Episode: 512
Date: 1989-01-01
Duration: 00:00:46

Subject: Marriage; Dream interpretation; Mythology
People: Jonas, Joan; Karason, Bardi; St. Ignadottir, Ragna; Swinton, Tilda; Vawter, Ron; Wurmfield, Charles; Wurmfield, Esther
Copyright Holder: Joan Jonas

Clip Description
Based on a thirteenth-century Icelandic myth, "Volcano Saga" recounts the tales of a young woman (portrayed by Tilda Swinton) whose dreams foretell the future.

Program Description
This episode of "New Television" features "Volcano Saga" by Joan Jonas.
"Volcano Saga" is an imaginative storytelling stemming from a thirteenth-century Icelandic myth. Sitting in hot springs, a woman recounts four mysterious dreams while her male companion interprets the tales.

Each dream features the loss of a headdress or ring. The man interprets these items to represent the four husbands that the woman will have. Stories told by a female narrator, played by Jonas, are interwoven with the telling of the dreams and feature symbolic accidents, ghosts, apparitions, and animals. Additional voiceover narration is by Ruth Malaczech. The imagery of the work features the landscape and wildlife of Iceland. Images are manipulated to evoke a volcano.

Music includes Alvin Lucier's "Dream Songs," accordion music by Jon Cooper, "Glen Caladh Castle," played by Carl MacKenzie on the violin, and Icelandic song performed by Anne Thorhallsdottir. Produced by Joan Jonas and Alan Kleinberg.

Based on a thirteenth-century Icelandic myth, "Volcano Saga" recounts the tales of a young woman (portrayed by Tilda Swinton) whose dreams foretell the future.

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/Volcano128.HTML