Series: New Television
Program: New Television
Episode: 403
Date: 1987-01-01
Duration: 00:01:11

Subject: Body Image; Reducing diets; Eating disorders
People: Hershman, Lynn
Copyright Holder: Lynn Hershman

Clip Description
In "Binge," Hershman confronts the viewer in series of overlapping confessional narratives in her attempt to address issues of "food, obsession, hunger, and deprivation."

Here she recounts her obsession with food, likening her guilty calorific addiction to a secret affair.

Program Description
This episode of "New Television" features "Binge," Lynn Hershman's attempt to address "food, obsession, hunger, and deprivation."

Loosely documenting her attempts to lose weight, Hershman confronts the viewer in a series of overlapping confessional narratives. Almost all are headshots. As Hershman discusses layering, replication, and distorted body image, the images of herself are occasionally manipulated to visually mirror these psychological concepts. Hershman investigates in depth aspects of her weight gain and loss, following her husband's departure. Her analysis ranges from personal and emotional to objective and sociological. Occasionally, she is seen in a full-body shot, wearing a slip. The work is dedicated to Skip Sweeney, and is approximately 28 minutes in length. Directed by Lynn Hershman.

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/Binge147.HTML