Series: New Television
Program: New Television
Date: 1989-01-01
Subject: Interpersonal relations; Homeless youth; Production and direction
People: Amber, Lian; Hershman, Lynn; Koszegi, Zsuzsa; Matthews, Dennis
Copyright Holder: Hershman, Lynn

Clip Description
"[Lynn] Hershman delves into different aspects of truth, illusion, and reality in a quasi-documentary that never lets on exactly where objectivity ends and subjectivity begins. The artist tells the story of an obsessive relationship between a transient young woman and a videomaker, giving no hint as to whether the footage was
staged or spontaneous." -- WGBH press release
Dennis, the videomaker, talks about his mounting interest in a young girl, Lian, who lives on the streets. He introduces footage of her. Lian vacillates between seeming self-possessed and strong and seeming incredibly vulnerable. Dennis' interest becomes increasingly suspect. Lian's therapist discusses her history and the relationship between the two. At one point, Lian is filmed singing in the Hall of Flowers in Golden Gate Park.

The work was broadcast as a segment of episode 503 (1989), and episode 109 (1991), of "New Television."

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/Double199.HTML