Series: New Television Workshop
Program: Living with the Living Theater
Date: 1989-01-01
Subject: Documentary films; Parenting; Experimental theater
Copyright Holder: Nam June Paik

Clip Description
"Living with the Living Theater," 1989, was created by video artist Nam June Paik with Betsy Connors and Paul Garrin, and is a documentary-style look at Judith Malina and Julian Beck of the experimental Living Theater drama group. In Paik's style, the footage is played backwards, forwards, and at odd speeds. Segments are juxtaposed with little explanation as to their relationship. Scenes witnessed include interviews with Malina, Beck, the poet Jackson Mac Low and the painter Iris Lezak about communal living and parenting; their children responding to this interview footage; Malina, Beck, and others smoking marijuana at the grave of Mikhail Bakhunin; footage of the Living Theater performing in Berlin in 1967; a news clip of Paik's robot being hit by a car; and Beck's funeral. Rock music by the likes of Janis Joplin and Madonna permeates the work.

This work was never broadcast because Nam June Paik did not have rights to some of the material used.

The "Television Workshop" created several shows that were broadcast on WGBH without being a part of a series sponsored specifically by the Workshop. Additionally, they were commissioned to create shows showcasing video art for national broadcast and created several shows in collaboration with existing series at other stations, such as WNET's "American Playhouse."

Program Description
"Living with the Living Theater," 1989, was created by video artist Nam June Paik with Betsy Connors and Paul Garrin, and is a documentary-style look at Judith Malina and Julian Beck of the experimental Living Theater drama group. In Paik's style, the footage is played backwards, forwards, and at odd speeds. Segments are juxtaposed with little explanation as to their relationship. Scenes witnessed include interviews with Malina, Beck, the poet Jackson Mac Low and the painter Iris Lezak about communal living and parenting; their children responding to this interview footage; Malina, Beck, and others smoking marijuana at the grave of Mikhail Bakhunin; footage of the Living Theater performing in Berlin in 1967; a news clip of Paik's robot being hit by a car; and Beck's funeral. Rock music by the likes of Janis Joplin and Madonna permeates the work.

This work was never broadcast because Nam June Paik did not have rights to some of the material used.

The "Television Workshop" created several shows that were broadcast on WGBH without being a part of a series sponsored specifically by the Workshop. Additionally, they were commissioned to create shows showcasing video art for national broadcast and created several shows in collaboration with existing series at other stations, such as WNET's "American Playhouse."

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/Living16.HTML