Series: New Television
Program: New Television
Episode: 606
Date: 1989-01-01
Duration: 00:01:11

Subject: Dogs
People: Barr, Burt; Mueller, Stephen
Copyright Holder: Burt Barr

Clip Description
"The Dogs" is set on a bright, summer day at a seemingly benign seashore inhabited by a nervous, beer-drinking protagonist and a dark, panting dog. This is a narrative that has no dialogue but is structured in movement - of the man, of the dog (who is both harmless and menacing by turns), as well as all the camera work moving to the right in a clockwise direction that captures images in vivid color, creating an unsettling spin. A psychological study of shifts in memory and the perception of reality, "The Dogs" is both humorous and haunting; a portrait of a man moving through a mythical landscape of fear, longing, and Ballantine ale cans.
The work alternately shows the man seated in a living room interior, drinking glasses of beer and swallowing pills, and walking down an overrun path to the ocean. Along the way, he is startled or distracted by the sound of a barking dog. Eventually, he reaches the ocean. During the piece, "The Star Spangled Banner" is performed by Kate Smith.

Program Description
This episode of "New Television" features Ida Applebroog's and Beth B.'s "Belladonna" and Burt Barr's "The Dogs."

In black and white and color, "Belladonna" plays short sentences and phrases off one another. Spoken texts include excerpts from Joel Steinberg's 1988 trial, testimonies from Josef Mengele's victims, and Sigmund Freud's case history of 1919 "A Child Is Being Beaten." The work is approximately 13 minutes long. Copyright: B Movies, Inc.; Ida Applebroog and Beth B. Productions.

"The Dogs" is set on a bright, summer day at a seemingly benign seashore inhabited by a nervous, beer-drinking protagonist and a dark, panting dog. The work alternately shows a man seated in a living room interior, drinking glasses of beer and swallowing pills, and walking down an overrun path to the ocean. Along the way, he is startled or distracted by the sound of a barking dog. Eventually, he reaches the ocean. Directed by Burt Barr, "The Dogs" is approximately 19 minutes long. Copyright: Burt Barr.

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/Dogs209.HTML