Series: Alive From Off Center
Program: World of Photography, The
Date: 1986-01-01
Duration: 00:01:10

Subject: Parodies; Educational/cultural works; Wegman, William
People: Smith, Michael; Wegman, William
Copyright Holder: Copyright holder is unidentified

Clip Description
This short excerpt from "World of Photography" features William Wegman, wearing false facial hair, and somewhat stereotypical artist's garments as he meets Mike for the first time. Wegman starts to explain photography to Mike, including his rule number two – "say no to dirt and dust which can ruin a successful career in photography."

Program Description
This episode of "Alive From Off Center" features "The World of Photography," a work created collaboratively by video artist William Wegman and performance artist Michael Smith.
"The World of Photography" is structured like an educational or instructional video, but ultimately spoofs that genre. The work begins with Mike (Michael Smith) expressing his desire to learn more about the art of photography. Mike arrives at the studio of William Wegman, who takes Mike under his wing and shows him some of the tricks of the trade. After giving Mike a photography aptitude test, Wegman brings him to the equipment cage and gets him outfitted for his first shoot. In the New York streets, Mike goes wild taking pictures, and brings his film back to Wegman, who is taking photos of his dog Faye. A lesson in lighting and darkroom techniques follow, but at some point Mike begins to feel he has lost the aptitude for photography and that he may not be able to find his niche in the art form. As a despondent Mike searches for shots on a ferry and beach, we hear his voice singing the rather forlorn song "World of Photography" in the background. Eventually, Mike decides to give up and communicates his decision to Wegman, who is in the middle of a studio shoot with a couple of clowns. While Mike is dressed like an average guy throughout the video, Wegman sports a beret, false facial hair, and somewhat stereotypical artist's garments. Throughout the work, preconceived notions about the art of photography provide comic fodder. Produced by Michael Smith. Directed by Mark Fischer.

"Alive From Off Center" was established in 1985 as a production of KTCA (St. Paul - Minneapolis) . The show featured independent works by artists in a variety of media. Its showcase format was similar to the Workshop's "New Television" series. At some point the series changed its name to "ALIVE TV." Many works created by or for the Workshop were also shown on "Alive From Off Center." Additionally, some Workshop produced pieces were co-produced and/or commissioned by KTCA specifically for the series. Susan Dowling served as Executive Producer for these programs.

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/World8.HTML